RECENT READS

1) Mistwood by Leah Cypess / YA / *** 1/2

Isabel is as "shifter"... a magical creature of mist and shadow who has been bound to protect the ruler of the Kingdom of Samorna.  She is only found in the Mistwood when the kingdom has a need.    The story is told mainly from the point of view of Isabel.  I loved the way the story was written in that Isabel has no memory of her previous incarnations, powers, actions, or loyalties.  She works to keep this lack of knowledge and power hidden.  As the story progresses, her memories and abilities come back to her in bits and pieces.  It was very well written as I wondered the entire time what was going to happen next as not only Isabel remembered her past but also the secret the current king is hiding from her comes to life.  The end got a little muddled and confusing but I loved the feeling of mystery and foreboding and can't wait for the next book from this author.

2) True (. . . Sort Of) by Katherine Hannigan / JF / *** 1/2

Delly is always in trouble as her ideas of fun always seem to put her on the wrong side of people's good graces. She has been told she's "bad" so many times that she starts to believe it herself.  Her life changes when a new girl named Ferris moves to town. The girl is so full of sadness that she doesn't speak.  She first befriends this silent troubled girl because she is so quiet and boring that surely Delly can stay out of trouble around her.  As time goes by, Delly and Ferris develop an understanding that deepens into friendship.  Delly learns to listen. To be patient. To be compassionate. And to understand the feelings of others.  It also explores the dilemma of when you must decide that a friend's secret that you've promised to guard is too serious not to be told.

Just like the characters in "Ida B" the characters in this book were so real and well written.  The relationships between Delly and her parents, her friends, her siblings, and even her teachers were written spot-on.   My only hang-up is that in real life you would think some of the adults in the story would have figured out what was going on with Ferris. 

3)  The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler / YA / ***

Favorite line: “What in the hell happened to Pluto?!” 

It is 1996.  Emma gets a new computer and with the help of her neighbor Josh, signs in for the first time onto the internet.  They are automatically logged into Facebook.  The problem is.... Facebook hasn't even been invented yet.  They can see their profiles fifteen years in the future including their spouses, careers, and status updates.  Each time they make actions in their present lives, their futures change on Facebook.  What evolves is a story that alternates between delightfully silly (as Emma obsessively plots how to not even meet the future husband she appears to not be happy with and Josh gets a self-esteem boost when Facebook reveals he's married to the hottest girl in school) to serious as Josh and Emma realize that the choices we make today really do affect our futures.  Not once did I think that the two teens were nuts to not use Facebook to find out information that will later make them rich (such as what stocks to buy and what games to bet on) because the story was solely written as a fun relationship type story and not a dissertation on how knowledge of the future could cause cataclysmic warps in the time continuum if you change anything now.

Even though this is a YA book, I kinda think adults will get a bigger kick out of it.  The 1990's references will be something that today's generation just doesn't "get" or at least will not think is funny.  Emma was also incredibly shallow and seemed less like a real  teen but rather how someone my age can stereo-type teens. 

 

4) Plain Kate by Erin Bow / JF / *** 1/2

Favorite line: “Hope will break the heart better than any sorrow.” 

Young Kate loses her mother from childbirth, her father to the fever, then her home as she is accused of witchcraft.  As she struggles to escape her town, she makes a deal with a real witch who needs her shadow in order to worker the necessary magic to seek revenge on those that harmed his sister.  After a stint with a traveling band of gypsies that have a magic of their own, Kate realizes that in order to save herself and the people around her, she needs to get her shadow back and stop the witch. 

This was no light-hearted fairy tale and while it is listed as "JUVENILE FICTION" I would not recommend anyone under probably 15 reading it.  It is a dark fairy tale reminiscent of some of the Grimm Stories.  Kate faces loss after loss and it is horrible stuff that is not for children.  The part I loved the best about this story is the relationship between Kate and her cat, Taggle.  He is Kate's truest family and provides the few comedic parts of the story as he is a talking cat. You can tell the author knows felines.

5) Insurgent  by Veronica Roth / YA / *** 1/2

Favorite line: “Got that gun?” Peter says to Tobias. “No,” says Tobias, “I figured I would shoot the bullets out of my nostrils, so I left it upstairs.” 

The story from "Divergent" continues as Tris and Four work to solve the mystery of why the Erudite faction is attacking other factions and how they can stop them. This book was action packed and full of twists and turns.  I usually don't expect a lot from a "middle book" of a series but in some ways I found this book more enjoyable than the first book.   The relationship between Tris and Four felt much more real and not so "teen-angsty".  There were real emotions portrayed of grief, revenge, loyalty, and perseverance.   Plus I liked the whole underlying theme of making choices and living with the consequences. 

I only had a few minor hang-ups.... I found the sheer number of names confusing and had to often remind myself who was who which is alarming as I read the first book just last week.  The other is that the entire city is supposedly in literal chaos and there are still meals to be found in the cafeteria, the train is still running,  and Dauntless guards are still at their posts at the City fence.  These are some of the first things that would likely stop if a society disintegrated.  Again it re-iterates what I said about the first book. Just because a lot of people get shot doesn't mean a storyline is dystopian.  The other thing that literally drove me nuts is constantly wondering WHO IN THE HECK IS DRIVING THE TRAIN??? 

My recent reads

I didn't write my blog last week and to be honest I can't remember all the books I've read.  Here are the ones I DO remember:

1)

Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham / JF / **1/2

John Grisham is one of a few authors that I'll buy their new books before having read it first.  I think he is a master of plot and suspense, and he writes believable characters that feel very "real".  I have spent many an engaged hour reading his books. One of my favorite books of all time is "Runaway Jury" but I like almost everything he has written, especially his early work.

I found this book in the Juvenile Fiction section of our library.  I was not even aware that Grisham had entered the realm of writing for younger readers.  My opinion is that this attempt did not come anywhere close to comparing to his previous books.  The main character is Theodore, the thirteen year old son of lawyer parents.  He grew up in and around courtrooms and is planning on having a future career in law.  He is precocious and friendly and ambitious.... already building up a future clientele as he gives legal advice to his friends.  He gets in over his head when a friend approaches him with the information that an illegal immigrant cousin of the friend has information about a murder trial currently happening in town. 

It sounds like a great plot, but the whole time it felt like Grisham's intent was to educate younger readers about law including the different types of lawyers, juries, trials, evidence, courtrooms, and confidentiality.  It was like a "how-to" book. It also felt like Grisham was talking down to the reader. There was not a lot of entertainment factor to the book.  I was sure that a few suspenseful elements introduced mid-way through the book would come to fruition, but was disappointed there as well. I'm assuming there will be a sequel to this book but the story did have a very uneventful conclusion so I'm not even really sure on that.  I would recommend this to a young teen who is interested in law but other than that I'd skip it.

2)

Enchantments: A Novel by Kathryn Harrison / A / ***

When I was a young teen I stumbled across the book "Nicholas and Alexandra" by Robert K. Massie.  I had not yet learned in school the tragic story of Imperial Russia and the doomed lives of the final Tsar and his family.  I remember absorbing the story of royal opulence and then the tragic demise of the princesses and the prince. 

Every once in a while odd coincidences occur while reading a book that highlight why I love reading so much.  Over the past few weeks I have been following the Diamond Jubilee in the media.  I admit I'm a bit of a royal watcher, which began when I was a little girl and my mother woke me in the middle of the night to watch the wedding of Diana, Princess of Wales and Prince Charles. Recently as part of the commemoration of the Queen's sixty years on the throne,  ABC produced a wonderful show about the life of Queen Elizabeth II.   Watching the show made me curious about the different crowns and tiaras worn by the queen. I spent several enjoyable hours learning a lot about different pieces owned by the royal family (here is a fun blog entry I stumbled across if you are interested:   http://aestheticusrex.blogspot.com/2010/11/tale-of-tiaras-what-will-queen-bestow.html ).  One of the tiaras I read about is The Queen Alexandra Russian Kokoshnik Tiara that has been worn by Queen Elizabeth II on several occasions.   It has a very distinctive shape that is similar to a woman's Russian headdress (a kokoshnik).  It was made for the then Princess Alexandra in 1888 as she wanted something similar to a crown owned by her sister, who happened to be Marie Feodorovna, the Empress of Russia.  Another thing I read on wikipedia is that several of the current Queen's jewels were purchased by her Grandmother (Queen Mary) from members of the Russian royal family that had escaped capture in 1917 (i.e. The Vladimir Tiara).   

So at the Library I pick up the book "Enchantments" off the "new books" shelf.  It tells the story of Grigori Rasputin's two daughters, particularly that of his 18 year old daughter Masha.  After Rasputin's death in 1917, the two girls are brought to live with the Tsar's family.  It was hoped by the Tsarina Alexandra that Masha would have the same skill at healing that her father had. She is assigned to be a companion to the young tsarevich, Alexei. Not long after, the royal family is removed from the throne and placed under house arrest. The two Rasputin girls are also imprisoned.
The book indicates that Tsar Nicholas II (son of Maria Feodorovna)  reached out to his cousin George V  (who was now King of England and was the son of the Queen Alexandra that wanted a Russian-looking tiara like her sisters) for asylum for himself and his family.  This asylum was granted and then later taken back by George V who feared revolution in his own country. 
I guess with the fact that the tsarevich had hemophilia I should have realised that the two families were so closely intertwined, but I had not made the connections.  Cousins were marrying each other all over the place. 
Anyway, I enjoyed this book and thought it very interesting.   It is obviously a work of fiction as it tells the story from the point of view of Masha, but it was well researched. I love learning history as I read a fascinating story set in a different time period. I enjoy that feeling of wanting to know more, and the resulting search for other information.
This story was called "Enchantments" not because Masha had any mystical healing powers, but because of the stories she invented and told to the young tsarevich. Her assistance to help him escape to other places and times WAS healing to the young prince. 
3)

 Pegasus by Robin McKinley / YA / *

I am a huge fan of Robin McKinley and will always appreciate that she gave me wonderful stories such as "The Hero and the Crown" and "The Blue Sword".  That being said, if this had been the first book of hers I'd ever read, I would never have picked up another of her novels again.  I sometimes wonder if the editors/publishers of previously successful authors do not have the courage to tell their client that their new piece of work needs some serious work.  Goodreads gave this novel FOUR STARS which literally SHOCKED ME.  This book literally took me nearly a week to read as I couldn't read more than a chapter or two at a time without wandering off mentally. The background of the story was lovingly created. I know more about the history of the kingdom of whatever-it's-called than I do about my own country.  The problem is that I found I didn't CARE.  And the Pegasi in this story don't just have wings and mental telepathy skills... they have tiny little hands at their first wing joint.  And to be honest.... the mental picture of this just really creeped me out.

4)

Immigrant Kids by Russell Freedman / JF / ***

N read this book as part of a scout elective.  It told the story of immigrants to America from the point of view of children.  It told about how they came to America, their experience at Ellis Island, and their life as new Americans including life in the tenements, their education, and their need to work.  The book had great pictures and was very interesting and informative.  N enjoyed it as well.

5)

Wild Girl by Patricia Reilly Giff / JF / **

Patricia Reilly Giff wrote the book "Pictures of Hollis Woods" which is an all time favorite.  This book shares the story of another girl finding her way in a changing world.  After the death of her mother, she is left behind in Brazil with family while her father and brother migrate to America until enough money can be earned from their work as horse-trainers for her to join them.  The story begins with Lidie leaving Brazil. A concurrent story is told of a young colt that is removed from it's mother and makes a journey to the farm where Lidie lives.  I liked the story in that it showed the family's readjustment to each other in addition to Lidie's acclimating to a new life.  However, I found the story itself a little formulaic and pat.

6)

Divergent by Veronica Roth / YA / ***

As a fan of dystopian literature, I am seriously shocked I had not even HEARD of this book until my dear friend Ker-Bear told me about it.  She knows how much I like the world-ended-but-dang-I-am-still-here type of book (side point... having friends to talk books with is THE.BEST.). Just like the success of "Twilight" brought on a slew of vampire/occult type books, the popularity of "Hunger Games" seems to have encouraged publishers to print more dystopian types of literature.  These books seem to have a similar theme of, "The government is secretly out to get you and must be over-thrown" (i.e. James Dashner's "The Maze Runner" series, Ally Condies', "Matched" series, Scott Westerfield's "Uglies" series).  I wonder if we are unwittingly raising an entire generation of anarchists.

I did enjoy the story. I didn't LOVE it, but I did like it enough that I would like to read the sequel. To me it almost wasn't even dystopian... it was more of an action-adventure set in the future with some science fiction twists.  The main character chooses to leave the peaceful life of her previous "faction" to join the thrill-seeker crowd.   This faction are the "brave" ones that are charged with the security of the city due to their courage, but the chosen way of exhibiting this trait in the book is to instead to engage in stunt after dangerous stunt.    If the story was based in our time it would be the story of an Amish girl joining a gang in New York and instantly getting pierced, tattooed, and starting to dress immodestly as she falls in love with the gang leader who seems tough but really has a soft center like her (of course). 

The book was not intense enough for me and did not have the trade-mark hysteria-inducing qualities of my favorite dystopian books (such as Neil Shusterman's "Unwind", Nancy Fisher's "The House of the Scorpion", etc).  The scariest part of this book was realizing that unbeknownst to me, my nine year old son was also reading this book.  This is NOT a book for a nine year old.  Sigh.....

1)

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks / A / ***

Favorite paragraph:
“Doesn't surprise me," Nana snorted. "I wouldn't put anything past your late husband."
"He's not dead, Nana."
Nana sighed. "Hope springs eternal.”
I saw the movie made from this book with my besties last month.  It was predictable and honestly not that well acted.  During the climatic scene of the movie I actually had to leave the theatre as it hit me as so inappropriately FUNNY. I could not stop laughing.  That being said, I enjoyed the story line.  So I read the book as we all know that books are USUALLY better than the movie. This one did not disappoint. It tells the story of a Marine who survived several close calls in Iraq after finding the picture of a woman on the ground signed "Keep Safe". After the war he sets out to find this "Lucky Lady".  And the rest of the story is typical Nicholas Sparks magic.

2) 

The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson / JF / *** 1/2

Favorite line:  "Sometimes you gotta walk on your heel and favor your toe even if it makes your heel a little sore."

This is a reread of a book by the amazing Katherine Paterson. This is the author that gave us "The Bridge to Terabithia" and "Jacob Have I Loved".  It is a short piece about the angry Gilly. The story begins as she is set to enter yet another foster care placement. She's loud. She has a potty-mouth.  She is prickly and a bully.  She is placed with Trotter, a large sloppily obese woman with minimal housekeeping skills but a heart of gold.  I think the author deliberately points out the ugliness in Gilly, Trotter, and the house in order to contrast them with the real ugliness that is Gilly's mother, Courtney.

3) 

When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka / A / *** 1/2

Favorite paragraph:

“And if anyone asks, you're Chinese."

 The boy had nodded. "Chinese," he whispered. "I'm Chinese."

"And I," said the girl, "am the Queen of Spain."

"In your dreams," said the boy.

"In my dreams," said the girl, "I'm the King.”

This is a story of the internment of Japanese American citizens during World  War II.  It was written from the point of view of children, which I liked.  Last summer we visited a museum in Delta, Utah that had artifacts of the Topaz Internment camp including one of the housing buildings.  In this book, the family is interred in Topaz so I could easily picture the described scenes in my mind.  This book was simple and poetic. It made for a very poignant writing style.  It was interesting for the family to tell what happened when they came BACK from Topaz to resume life including the interactions with their neighbors.

4)

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka / A/ ** 1/2

Favorite line: “...women are weak, but mothers are strong”

This short novel tells the story of Japanese mail-order brides and begins as they are traveling to America by boat.   The books follows them through the meeting of their husbands, their new lives, adjusting to America, and their hopes and dreams. It is written in an unusual style as it does not tell the story from the point of view of a single or even a few women but of an entire group.   For example, "Home was a cot in one of  their bunkhouses at the Fair Ranch in Yolo. Home was a tent beneath a leafy plum tree at Kelleman's. Home was a wooden shanty in Camp No 7 on the Barnhart Tract out in Lody. Home was a bed so straw in John Lyman's barn. Home was a bunk in a rusty boxcar. Home was an old chicken coop.... " and etc etc for about 100 lines.  While I'm sure some enjoyed this writing style, the collective voice left me feeling a little cool towards this book.  I love STORIES and this was too many snippets of too many voices. The best way I can describe this is that I felt literally car-sick as the view changed too frequently as each variation of the same subject was told. 

5)

 Crossed by Ally Condie / YA / ***1/2

Favorite line: “... when someone knows your story they know you. And they can hurt you. It's why I give my story away in pieces"

This is the second in a series (the first book is titled "Matched). For anyone needing them a fix after "The Hunger Games", then this series is for you. The third book will be released in November.

It is a dystopian tale of a Society that meets every Citizen's needs but the price of this safety is the loss of freedom of choice.  This book continues the tale of Cassia as she works to find Ky and join the Rising against the Society. 

I didn't LOVE "Matched", but I was curious enough to read the next book to see how it went.  "Crossed" was more of the same in that I didn't get into it like I did the Hunger Games but I still want to find out what happens next. 

Books Read Last Week

1)  All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot / A / ****
This book shares the adventures of a Yorkshire vet in the 1930's.  Each chapter is self-contained so the book reads like a series of short-stories.  The little vignettes are well written, interesting, and thoughtful.  This is my second time reading this book and I enjoyed it as much as the first. 
2) Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu and Erin McGuire / YA / ***
Favorite line:  “She'd read once that if you ran into a bear in the woods you should avoid eye contact and you shouldn't run away, but all she knew about wolves is that you should never tell them how to find your grandmother's house.”
I was really conflicted about this book. I know this is dumb but I really could sense that this book COULD have been great.  Sometimes when you are reading you get this sense of, "Wow... this story is timeless..." because it has a perfect mix of imagery, character development, story line, and deep emotion.  This story came soooooo close to me but didn't quite make it... but I swear I could feel that sense of greatness hovering nearby trying to break through. 
The story was based on The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson. I am not familiar with this story at all.  The main character and heroine, Hazel, is struggling with her changing relationship with her best friend Jack.  Both she and Jack have experienced emotional upheaval in the past year as Hazel's parents have divorced and Jack's mother has "checked-out" to depression. They were inseparable, but then out of the blue he won’t even speak to her.  When Jack suddenly disappears, Hazel sets out to find him, because even if he doesn’t want to be found, a friend doesn’t give up on you, even if you’ve given up on yourself.  In the second part of the story, Hazel sets out on a true fairy tale adventure to find her friend.  I didn't enjoy this part of the story as much.  I wanted the conclusion of the adventure to tie into how they were going to face their real life challenges. 
E2 read this out loud to E3 and they both really enjoyed it.

Thank you Graduation Ceremonies.....


For reminding us just how long the alphabet is.


(Jimmy Fallon's "Thank You Notes". May 18, 2012.)

Here we go again...

COUCH POTATO TO 5K
VEGETATIVE STATE TO COUCH POTATO

WEEK ONE (attempt two)
Day one (attempt two)

We started over again this morning.

We had taken a week off to allow my leg to heal.

It was really hard to get up.

My legs were tired. My head was tired. My eyes were really tired. I worried that I’d sunburned my retina’s despite all the warnings on the web about NOT LOOKING AT THE SUN during a solar eclipse. My extremely awesome husband quickly built a pin hole viewer out of a shoe box, tape, and tinfoil (I swear he‘s like McGuyver). We found a website that had a special camera filming the eclipse and streaming it live from Nevada. Darren dug out six pairs of dollar store sunglasses and by stacking all six pairs we could look at the sun and see the eclipse. It was awesome….beyond awesome. And right as the full ring appeared we blasted Johnny Cash “Ring of Fire” LOUD. And danced like fools around the yard in homage to our Mayan ancestors. BUT I don’t know if we really should have looked, even with the sunglasses. So when my eyes were hurting this morning I was wondering if I really had done irreparable damage to my eyeballs.

The morning was cool and clear and calm. The air was beautiful.

We walked our two laps and started running. I was hyper-conscious of my leg … I figured I would start slow and run until I felt something bad (good plan right?). I was so grateful that while I felt lots of little aches and pains, none of them originated from my inner thigh. YAY!!

We have been running 200 yards then walking 200 yards but we still aren’t getting in 8 cycles in 20 minutes. We did six today. I think we need to get a stopwatch so we can do the 60 second run, 90 second walk cycle prescribed in the program.

1) While I Was Gone by Sue Miller / A / **
Well written story but bleh for me. I just didn’t “get” the main character. She may have been written this way… as a person who seems so steady but inherently has a selfishness that leads her to destroy the lives of those around her… over and over and over again.

2) City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare / YA / **
Favorite quotes:
“As far as I’m concerned, this is the worst thing that’s happened since I found out why Magnus was banned from Peru.”  
and
Jace was looking at her incredulously. "Let me get this straight," he said. "You came  here to apologize to me?"
She was taken aback. "Of course I did".
"Clary," he said. "You saved my life".
"I stabbed you. With a massive sword.  You caught on fire".
His lips twitched, almost imperceptibly.  "Okay," he said. "So maybe our problems aren't like other couples".
 
 I so wanted to love this book. I’ve had it pre-ordered for months. I love the first three books of what was going to be a trilogy. They were well crafted and the characters and dialogue were amazing. These last two books feel like a sell-out. The arc of the story is gone. The character interactions feel forced and put in to appease the teenage audience. You can hear the author thinking “KA-CHING“ as she types in each little romantic interlude. Disappointing.