Month: September 2009

Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe

1 Comment

by… um… Edgar Allan Poe
ages: 13+

I saw this on display at the library, it having been chosen as the Big Read Wichita book for October and November. Not having read any Poe since Junior High/High School when I went through a morbid kick where he was my favorite author, I figured what better reason than this to pick up the book and see if I still like Poe as much as I did.

Oh, and I can count it for the RIP IV Challenge… 🙂

First off, I should mention that I didn’t read every story or poem in this book. I read the ones I remembered liking, which are basically his best-known ones — “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Cask of Amontillado”, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, “The Pit and the Pendulum”, and “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee” — as well as a couple I’d never read before: “The Black Cat”, “Ligeia”, “The Masque of the Red Death”, “The Gold-Bug”, and “Ms. Found in a Bottle” as well as assorted poems found in the Poetry for Young People collection we have kicking around the house.

Some general thoughts? When Poe is on, he’s brilliant at mood. “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Black Cat”, “The Pit and the Pendulum” and “The Raven” are all absolutely chilling. One of my most vivid school memories is listening to “The Tell-Tale Heart” in eighth-grade English, the lights out and curtains drawn. Deliciously terrifying. And it still is.

The other thing I noticed about Poe’s horror stories is that his protagonists are liable to flip off at any little thing; they, on many levels, are genuinely crazy. Take the guy in “The Black Cat”, for instance: he totally loses it because the cat is bothering him (obviously, he’s not a cat-person), and hangs it. Then another cat comes along, which he begins to believe is the dead cat out for vengeance, so he tries to kill it with an axe. And ends up offing his own wife, for which he feels no remorse. Sometimes, you just have to scratch your head and ask, “What was Poe on when he wrote this?”

The thing is, when Poe was off whatever it was that he was usually on, his writing is really not very good. “The Gold-Bug” was an interesting exercise in deduction to find a pirate’s treasure, but “The Masque of the Red Death” was odd (and not in a good way, either) and “Ligeia” made no sense at all. (It might have been me, though.) However, I did find that I enjoyed much of his poetry. In fact, my new favorite poem of his is a sweet one called “For Annie“, about a man expressing his love and gratitude for Annie, who helped him through a severe illness. It’s very touching and tender (and sane).

Do I love Poe as much as I once did? No… but that’s probably more of a factor of age and temperament than anything else. Poe was a brilliant writer, and is deserving of the praise he has gotten over the years.

Kidlit Mania

4 Comments

First off: Just a reminder (you’ll be getting a lot of these in the next week), that the Cybils are coming! The nominations for the various categories — from non-fiction picture books through to YA fiction — will be open on October 1st. Anyone can nominate one book in any (or all!) categories, so start thinking about the books you’ve loved this year. I know I’ve got a list forming (first choices and backups, in case my first choices are already taken…) in my head (and on a few pieces of paper).

While you’re at it, don’t forget to pick up some Cybils bling — I’m determined to pick up at least a T-shirt before October, and…

the Kitlit Conference!

I’m SO excited to be going this year; I’ve wanted to go since it was started, and — bad economy and all — the stars have aligned in such a way that I’m able to go, meet, learn and enjoy!

Which brings me to what I need from you (hopefully, you’ve made it through until this point)! Pam has asked me (eek!) and several other awesome bloggers (I feel like an imposter!) to throw together a panel on issues in book blogging and reviewing. It’ll be a bit of a Q&A — we hope (I don’t know, maybe we’ll all just get up there and blather a bit about how wonderful the kidlitosphere is or something) — and we’re soliciting Qs beforehand (so we have some time to think about the As). So… what do you want to know? Any issues that you want to addressed? Any ideas/processes you want me to spill the beans about? Any tips you want me to pass along? Any thoughts? (Bueller? Bueller?) (OK. I did just date myself.)

C’mon, people: I’m begging here!

(And, yes, I know you can’t all come — so sad about that, too! — but I WILL blog about this afterward, so you’ll get your As. I promise.)

Willow

5 Comments

by Julia Hoban
ages: 14+
First sentence: “Maybe it’s just a scratch.”

As it turns out, Heather, Kailana and I all read this book within weeks (days?) of each other, which we realized thanks to Twitter. I had such a grand time doing a buddy review with Kailana, that when she suggested that the three of us review this one together, I couldn’t say no.

The format we used was to each ask one question about the book that the others would respond to. Mine is below the plot summary…. for the other questions/reviews, stop by Heather‘s and Kailana‘s blogs today.

Willow has done the unthinkable: seven months ago, she was driving her parents home in a rainstom when she lost control of the car, totalling it and killing both of her parents instantly. That is she is grief-stricken is an understatement: she is terrified of facing the grief and so has taken to cutting. The physical pain of the razor slicing her skin is for her, much more bearable than the emotional pain of dealing with her parents’ death. So, she goes about in a haze, cutting herself when things get too bad. Until she meets Guy, who finds that as much as Willow wants him to, he just isn’t able to leave her to her destructive ways. It’s because gets involved in her life in ways that Willow didn’t expect that finally allows her to begin healing.

What did you think of the book being written in present tense? Did it work for you, or not?

Heather: I thought it added something to the immediacy of her situation. Made it seem more precarious, more…real. I think if it had been in past tense it would have had that “already happened” feeling and, for me at least, would have made me feel certain that she came out okay. Being present tense kept me feeling unsure, worried, was she going to be okay? Would she learn to deal with her pain in a different way? Or would she seriously hurt herself? It definitely worked for me; in fact, I don’t think I would have liked it nearly as much if it had been written in anyway other than the way it was.

Kailana: I liked the writing style. I thought it worked really well for this story because we learned what Willow was going through with her. We experienced it as she was experiencing it; which I thought was fitting considering how complicated things were for her. Willow was a teenager living her life and the reader got to live it with her, so I think that the present tense was a good idea and worked well for the novel.

Me: This doesn’t really have a lot to do with being in present tense, but I think it can fit here… This the first time I can remember reading a book the main character dealt with pain in such an obviously addicting and destructive behavior. It was painful for me, as the reader, to see such obvious pain in a person, and yet be nearly powerless to do anything about it. Because, on top of being grief-stricken, Willow is a terribly unreliable narrator. Sure, the book is written in third person present tense (which usually drives me nuts), but we’re seeing things from Willows perspective. And, as I could tell more and more as the book went on, Willow was wantonly misinterpreting almost everything around her. It made the cutting more powerful, and the reader more helpless.

It was a good book: gripping and powerful as well as ultimately healing, and in ways that really worked for me as a reader (including the sex scene at the end, which really surprised me). Worth reading.

A Finder’s Magic

2 Comments

by Philippa Pearce/Illus. by Helen Craig
ages: 8 to 10
First sentence: “There was a boy who went to bed in despair.”

Some books are fun and exciting and adventuresome. Some books lure you in with flashy covers, or great blurbs, and keep you there with engaging characters and winning premises. Then there are other books, quiet books, simple books with a simple story to tell. Books that when you finish, you think that was nothing remarkable, except it left you with a smile on your face. And, really, that was sufficient.

The plot is so simple, it’s almost mundane: Till has lost his precious dog, Bess. He’s heartsick about this, and has trouble sleeping one night. The next morning, a strange, little man appears at his gate and announces that he’s a Finder: someone who helps find things (I could use one of these on occasion!). He takes Till through the path of the previous day, and they make it to the meadow where Bess was last seen. Then the Finder begins to work his magic… he gives Till the courage to talk to the old ladies — Miss Gammer and Miss Mousey — who live in the meadow. He gathers information from the other creatures in magical and mysterious ways. And they do find Bess (was there much doubt?) in a wholly unexpected way.

Still, in spite of the plain plot, the book had a certain charm. Much of this was garnered from the inscription: Philippa Pearce wanted to write a book for her two grandsons, and wanted to collaborate with her grandson’s other grandmother: Helen Craig. They came up with an idea, and as soon as she passed it off to Helen, Philippa died. It’s a touching little love story to her grandchildren, a legacy of imagination left in words. But it was also in Helen Craig’s beautiful watercolor (I’m assuming) illustrations, and in the simplicity of the story itself.

I’m not sure who would want to pick this up — it doesn’t really scream read me (though I picked it up on a whim). However, I do think it would make a lovely read-aloud to a younger child. Which is maybe what it’s really meant for.

Dreaming Anastasia

3 Comments

by Joy Preble
ages: 12+
First sentence: “I didn’t always dream about my family.”
Review copy sent to me by the publisher.

Dreams are funny things.

They’re often just manifestations of stress or hopes or fears. But, what if they were real? What if what you dreamed really happened… or was about to happen? And what if you dreamed about someone other than yourself?

Anne has dreams like that: she dreams she’s Anastasia Romanov, grand duchess of Russia, supposedly dead as part of the communist revolution in 1918. Except, as Anne slowly finds out, things aren’t always as they seem. Her life was ordinary — except that her brother recently died of cancer — until Ethan showed up… and then ordinary became extraordinary (and not just because he was wicked hot), as both Anne and Ethan work to put right the wrong that was done to Anastasia nearly 100 years before.

Part historical novel, part fantasy, part romance: this book has a little bit for everyone. The best bits were the ones with Anne and Ethan — told in alternating chapters — as they tried to figure out how to unravel the magic that was done 100 years before. It was intense in the action, the magic wasn’t overpowering or awkward, and while the romance was very, very subtle, there was still enough of it to satisfy. I enjoyed Anne as a character as well, as she struggled to grow into herself and come to terms not only with her dreams, but with her own history as well.

In fact, the only real complaint I have is the font for the Anastasia letters — it’s so incredibly difficult to decipher (and I thought my handwriting was bad!) that I was pretty sure I was missing plot points. Other than that, it was an entertaining read.

Check out the rest of the tour:
Hope is the Word (9/20)
Zoe’s Book Reviews (9/21)
Homespun Light (9/21)
Teen Scene magazine (9/21)
Galleysmith (9/22)
Once Upon a Bookshelf (9/22)
Café of Dreams (9/23)
My Friend Amy (9/23; 9pm EST author chat)
The Brain Lair (9/24)
Ms. Bookish (9/24)
Lori Calabrese Writes (9/25)
Mrs. Magoo Reads (9/25)
Ramblings of a Teenage Bookworm (9/26)
Fantasy Book Critic (9/26)
Into the Wardrobe (9/27)
In the Pages (9/27)
Beth Fish Reads (9/28)
Reverie Book Reviews (9/28)
BookLoons.com (9/28)

From Cover to Cover

4 Comments

Evaluating and Reviewing Children’s books
by Kathleen T. Horning
ages: adult (I’m sure teens could read it, if they’re interested).
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

I think it was Liz who mentioned this book in passing, though the title immediately intrigued me. Lucky me: the library had a copy, so I stuck it on hold.

I never intended to read the whole thing: much of the book is on evaluating and understanding picture books and easy readers, neither of which (while I enjoy reading them) I’m interested in learning how to review better. So, I skipped ahead to the last two chapters: on reading and reviewing fiction.

And, while (as Liz pointed out) this book is a bit outdated (being published in 1997, before the Harry Potter phenomenon) and I’d be curious to see what she thinks about the book blogging communities, it is an interesting book. I learned that what I write (and I probably knew this) is less of a proper review and more of a reaction, and I found that I’m okay with that. I don’t take notes as I read the book — though sometimes I’ve thought I should; I would be able to remember things about the book more when I’m finished — and I don’t really think about themes or style or impact. My approach is to enjoy the book (or try to, anyway), and then blog about that. I am interested in trying to stretch myself, so maybe I’ll pick up a notebook, and start taking notes on the books I read. We’ll see….

Anyway. Not a bad little primer on “proper” book reviewing.

In Which I Attempt Cake

18 Comments

And spectacularly fail.

Life lesson #135: sometimes, even when the recipe is from Bon Apetit, and even when you think you know what the heck you’re doing, all you end up with is cake mush.
The cake wasn’t strong enough to hold the weight of whatever it was I was supposed to do… and so it all kind of fell apart. Thankfully, there was time for Plan B — which was a box cake (shameful!) and some leftover white chocolate/peppermint whipped cream filling. That, at least, turned out.
Thanks for all the birthday wishes: aside from the cake fail, I had a great day!

My Bloggy Goals

5 Comments

Today’s BBAW question is a tough one for me:

Write in 50 words or less…what do you like best about your blog right now and where would you like your blog to be a year from now?

I have never been about bloggy goals. I get on, I write my reviews (and whatever else bookish I can think of), comment a few places and get off. I’ve been doing this for nearly five years. I started this blog for myself, and I told myself that I’d review everything I read, whether I finished it or not. Five years later…. I think those two statements still hold. I still blog mainly for myself (though I’m flattered y’all read it and like it), and I still pretty much review everything I read, whether I finish it or not.

So… in spite of my angst earlier this year, for right now, I’m just going to keep doing what I do: reading books and writing about them. Sure, I’ll probably do more Book-to-Movie posts, because I like doing them (when I remember). And I’ll keep doing at least one author interview a month (because I like the opportunity to “meet” people whose work I enjoy). But other than that? Don’t expect much different around here. (I don’t know… maybe I’ll break out and muse more often. Then again, I tend to blather… so maybe not.)

Do you have any suggestions for what you’d like to see me do? (I promise to think about any suggestions… which doesn’t mean I’ll actually implement them. Just so you know.)

In the Midst of BBAW

25 Comments

I happen to be having a birthday. And, in honor of that, I’m giving you another 25 things about me! (Because, you know that’s exactly what you wanted on my birthday!)

1. You all know I read and write. But what else do I do with my time?
2. I have dabbled with: cross-stitching, sewing clothes and home decor, painting, photography, and scrapbooking.
3. I have never: knitted or crocheted.
4. I feel guilty about that, since they’re much more practical than the stuff I have dabbled with.
5. Not enough to pick it up, though.
6. But, lately, my real passion (outside of books and blogging, of course) is food.
7. I’m not a gourmet or a foodie, and I’m no good at inventing recipes, but I love to cook.
8. I’m a weird stay-at-home mom that way: making dinner is one of my favorite things to do.
9. There’s something calming and creative in the throwing together of ingredients to create something delicious.
10. Bad mom moment: even though I need to teach them to cook, I actually DON’T like it when my kids want to help.
11. It throws me off my groove.
12. Sure, dinner’s gone in 10 minutes… but it’s totally worth it for those 10 minutes
13. (Which means my new hero is Julia Child. She totally rocks.)
14. General cooking is great, but what I really really love is baking.
15. Bread, rolls, cake, cookies, doughnuts, sweetbreads… if it goes in the oven, I’m SO there.
16. I used to say that there was no way I could do the Atkin’s diet because I. Live. For. Bread.
17. I bake bread every week for the family to use.
18. I started doing this because there’s high-fructose corn syrup in the store-bought loaves, and I’m anti-high-fructose-corn syrup as much as possible.
19. But now I do it because I love baking bread.
20. There’s something calming and creative in the throwing together of ingredients to create something delicious.
21. Someday, I’ll even own a baking stone and learn how to bake artisan bread.
22. Until then, I’ll just keep frequenting Panera…
23. And perfecting my cake-making skills.
24. Mmmm…. cake. Life is better with (good) cake.
25. Want to know what cake I’m making me for my birthday? This. Crossing my fingers that it’ll work out.

Book Recommendations

6 Comments

Today’s BBAW topic:

Today we encourage you to blog about a book you read only because you discovered it on another book blog. Preferably, this will be a book you loved! You might also write a bit about the blog you discovered it on!

I get the books I read one of three ways, these days: I’m sent them by publishers/publicists/authors; they’re for one of the book groups I attend; or (and this really is most of them), I’ve seen them on a blog I love somewhere.

So, to specify one book that I loved is not an easy task. Primarily because I have a hard time remembering who recommended what… but also because there are so many!! I did look back through my books that I’ve read this year, and here are ten that I loved that I can remember who recommended them to me! (Aside: I’ve read a LOT of fantasy this year. Who knew?)

1. Beastly — Corinne at The Book Nest. She read this one a year or so ago, and made it sound absolutely captivating. And, because I trust her taste, I stuck it on my TBR list. It just took a while for the library to get it in, but when it finally did and I got a chance to read it, I really liked it, too.

2. The Order of the Odd-Fish — Besty at Fuse #8. Actually, Betsy didn’t review this book; she just mentioned James Kennedy and linked to one of his posts in a Fusenews. I clicked through, and it was love at first laugh. The second the library got it in, I snatched the book and fell in love with it, too. (And, yes, I know I need to go buy the darn thing.)

3. When You Reach Me — Betsy again. The only downside to Besty recommending things is that sometimes she does it SO dang early. She reviewed this one back in April, and if she hadn’t have kept bringing it up, I probably would have forgotten about it. But she wouldn’t let us forget about it. I know I saw it other places (can’t remember where), too, before I finally got a chance to read it.

4. The Year the Swallows Came Early — Natasha at Maw Books and Becky at Becky’s Book Reviews. I think they were part of a tour, which means the tour did its work: I was interested by their reviews (and author interviews), and I found the book to read.

5. Graceling — I’ll pin this one on Abby at Abby (the) Librarian, though I’m sure I saw it elsewhere. It was one of those that got buzz that I mostly ignored until Abby gave me the push I needed to read it.

6. Hunger Games — Everyone! (Click through for the actual list.)

7 and 8. Fire and Hemlock and Poison Study — Kailana at The Written World. Actually, I’m not super sure about these, but Kailana’s the one I associate with them. I don’t remember how or why, and maybe it’s just because she commented and said she loved them. But, somehow they ended up on my TBR list, and I’m SO glad they did.

9. Babymouse — Pam at MotherReader or Jen at Jen Robinson’s Book Page. I’m pretty sure it was one of these two fine ladies that blogged about Babymouse, which prompted me to get them for C, which led me to reading them myself, which led to much Babymouse love around here.

10. We Are the Ship — School Library Journal Battle of the Kids books. See? Silly award contests do have a purpose in the blogging world! I wouldn’t have picked up this book otherwise. (Well, I shouldn’t say that: I’m sure I would have picked it up, eventually. The BoB just sped up the process.)

There you have it: some of my favorites this year, and the people who recommended them to me. How about you? What have you loved so far this year?