Month: September 2009

Library Loot #36

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BBAW may come and go, but Library day is still every Wednesday! One complaint: at storytime, they used to have this really cute sock puppet named Tigger who would “taste” the kids fingers and tell them what flavor they are at the end of every story time. This year, though, no Tigger due to swine flu. My reaction? HUH?! Really?! I know they’re just trying to be safe, but… huh. Stupid. IMHO.

Anyway. On to the loot (which was small again, this week. I’ve not been doing well on picking books for M lately…):

For A/K:
The Dunderheads, by Paul Fleischman/Illus. by David Roberts
Sputter, Sputter, Sput!, by Babs Bell/Illus. by Bob Staake**
Boo-Hoo Moo, by Marge Palatini/Illus. by Keith Graves
Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem, by Mac Barnett/Illus. by Adam Rex**

For C:
The Story of Tracy Beaker, by Jacqueline Wilson
Agnes Parker . . . Girl in Progress, by Kathleen O’Dell
Agnes Parker, Happy Camper, Kathleen O’Dell

For M:
The Summer I Turned Pretty, by Jenny Han*
Hoot, by CArl Hiaasen
Dance of the Assassins (The Devil’s Dances Trilogy), by Herve Jubert
Whalesinger, by Welwyn Wilton Katz

For me:
I’ve almost caught up! YAY! (Which means I can start putting books on hold again, right?) I do want to read The Summer I Turned Pretty, though.

The roundup is either at Reading Adventures or A Striped Armchair.

*Ones that M eventually read.
**Picture books we really liked.

BBAW Meme-Thing

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Today’s BBAW task is a kind of meme. In short:

Please choose one or two questions to answer or try to answer all the questions in five words or less. Or choose a picture to answer a question! Brevity is the goal of today!

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack? Not ususally.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you? Two words: library books. Also: it horrifies my husband.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Book darts.

Laying the book flat open? Sometimes

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both? Both

Hard copy or audiobooks? Hard copy.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point? Depends on how demanding my kids are.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away? Nope. I’m all about context.

What are you currently reading? Three books at the same time.

What is the last book you bought? Catching Fire.

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time? Used to be one; see above for now.

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read? All day, anywhere.

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books? Stand alone.

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over? Shannon Hale. Love her stuff.

How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?) Hubby does: alphabetically by author.

10 Questions for Cass

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So, for BBAW, I signed up to do the partner interview, and I got Cass from Bonjour Cass as my blogging partner. She’s a new blogger, so here’s your opportunity to meet her (she’s pretty cool!). Then go by and check out her blog… (and leave a comment!)

MF: So, Cass: tell us a bit about yourself.
BC: I’m a twenty-something Bostonian (by choice, not birth–I grew up in northern Connecticut). I love city life, mostly not having to worry about driving, especially since I never got around to learning how to drive. I live with my wonderful partner and our two spoiled cats, Gino and Henry. I spend a lot of time reading (shocking, I know), exploring the city, and drinking far too much coffee.

MF: I love big cities, too, though I’ve never really had the opportunity to live in a really big one… How long have you been blogging? Why did you start?
BC: I made the tragic decision to start working in the financial sector last year, right before the recession hit hard, and I was laid off. I started my blog in July after months of following book blogs and feeling frustrated about not being able to discuss all the wonderful (and not so wonderful) books I’d been reading. My partner isn’t a reader and even my friends who claim to be read maybe five books a year. Of course, this is fine, but it’s hard to convince someone who doesn’t read much to tackle books you admit aren’t the best, just so you can discuss them. I use my blog as a way to put my thoughts into a concrete form.

MF: I think that’s a reason a lot of us started! What do you enjoy about reading? What keeps you picking up the next book?
BC: This is a challenging question for me because I don’t feel like I make a conscious decision to keep reading. It’s become a part of who I am, beginning when I was young and my mom would read Little Women to me before bed. I couldn’t wait to learn how to do it myself. I was an only child (now I have three significantly younger brothers from my father’s second marriage), and I was frequently the only kid in the room with a bunch of adults. I started pretending to read–I’d hold my mother’s hard cover copy of IT and mumble out words, pretending I was a witch casting spells–and I would hand write books like When You Give a Mouse a Cookie over and over, even though I only knew the story from memory. When you’re an only child, you learn to make up your own games to entertain yourself, and my games just happened to make me a book lover.

MF: Are you a buyer or a borrower? Why?
BC: Lately I’ve been reading so much I’d go broke if I bought every single book. We have a great local library, and I use the Inter Library Loan system to get everything I want. I buy used books from the independent book stores around–there are many–but I don’t buy many brand new books.

MF: Me either! (I really love my local library, too.) You mentioned in an email that you like YA books. Why? What is it about YA that pulls you into reading them?
BC: In high school I was the president of the town library’s Young Adult Council. They were trying to attract more teens to the library and recruited those of us who spent a lot of time there. Their YA selection was, well, embarrassing. Maybe a couple of Christopher Pike books, maybe some Lauraine McDaniels, but the selection was sparse. Mostly we took books out from the adult section. My favorite book at the time was Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, which I had bought myself, so that was one of my “wins” for the library. The group sparked my interest in YA books, and I just haven’t been able to let them go.
MF: Okay… lightning round… Do you have:

A favorite place to read?
BC: The train. Or a cafe with a good coffee. Or in the library. Or at my kitchen table. Or in my cozy armchair, snuggled with one of my kitties.

A favorite author?
BC: Officially I might say Toni Morrison or Margaret Atwood. Off the record, I might say Charlaine Harris.

A favorite genre?
BC: Lately I’ve been devouring fictionalized accounts of history, like American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld (fascinating fictionalized autobiography of Laura Bush) and Joyce Carol Oates’ Black Water (based on the Chappaquidick tragedy).

A favorite food?
BC: My stepmom’s meatballs, one of the many benefits of being Italian.

Five books that you think everyone should read?
BC: Obviously, this is just the beginning.
  1. The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly: my favorite book of all time.
  2. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
  3. Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Fienberg
  4. The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff: I listened to the audiobook and the narrator made it very funny.
  5. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

MF: That is an impressive list. Thanks so much, Cass!
BC: Thank you!

I Heart My Bloggy Friends

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Happy BBAW, everyone!

We’re supposed to, today, spotlight blogs we absolutely love that didn’t make the shortlist of the BBAW awards. This was actually difficult for me, since many of my friends didn’t make the shortlist!

So, I picked a handful of people that I consider friends, women that if I really need a book recommendation, I turn to them first (sorry, Becky, you made the shortlist, so you’re not here!). I’ve also noticed that we have similar tastes in books, and that we read many of the same books, which makes commenting on their blogs fun (also pretty similar: “OOH! SO glad you loved it, too!”). Anyway, some of my bloggy best friends:

I feel like I really know Corinne at The Book Nest, Dawn at My Thoughts Exactly, and Tricia at Library Queue, even though I’ve never met either one of them, mostly because the four of us are part of an online book group that Corinne started three years ago. They’re all amazing women: smart, talented, inquisitive. Talking books (and other things) with them is part of what makes my blogging and book experiences so much fun.

Can I tell you how stoked I am because Abby from Abby (the) Librarian is going to the Kidlit Conference this year, so I actually get to meet her! Squee! While I don’t always see eye-to-eye with her on books, I completely trust and respect her opinion on them. Besides, how could I not love someone who also unabashedly loves John Green… which also goes for Suey at It’s All About Books. They are women who are made of awesome! (I do like Suey’s book reviews, too!)

I’ve been following Kailana at The Written World and Heather at A High and Hidden Place for quite a while, but it seems like in the last year — possibly because of Twitter? — I’ve been paying more attention to them and their musings (and well as their incredible reading habits!) in the past little while. I’m so glad I did: I’ve found a ton of books through both of them that I’ve either loved, or are desperate to read.

Alysa at Everead is one I discovered — by the benefit of being on the same panel as her — last year during the Cybils. Again, we have similar tastes, and I have gotten a lot of recommendations from her. I admire her passion for books, and her enthusiastic spirit. I just wish she was able to blog more!!!

And, last but not least: Melissa at One Librarian’s Book Reviews. Melissa’s a new friend — she’s a relatively new blogger! — and I think she found me first. But, I’m so glad she did, and she left a comment (or two or three), and that I clicked through to see who the “other” Melissa was. Not only do we share similar tastes, she’s a great writer, who writes interesting, thoughtful posts. And check out her posts from her trip to Europe this summer. Fabulous.

There. Now that you’ve been introduced, you can stop by and say hi to some of my friends!

Catching Fire

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by Suzanne Collins
ages: 12+
First sentence: “
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! (If you haven’t already!)

When Tricia at Library Queue and I realized that 1) we were both reading Catching Fire and 2) everyone else had read it so there really wasn’t much new to say about it, we decided that the best thing to do would be to team up and do a buddy review/chat of our reactions and thoughts about this sequel to The Hunger Games. Since most of you have read it, I’m not going to edit out the spoilers; just know if you’re one of the handful of people who haven’t gotten around to reading it, you might want to come back later, once you’ve finished.

So, our thoughts:

me: SO… what did you think? First impressions?

Tricia: Loved it!

me: Dawn asked if I ever got to the point where I wanted to throw it in the freezer… did you? Did it ever get too suspenseful for you?

Tricia: Nope, I decided to burn right through it.

me: Brave woman.

Tricia: I found it really hard to close it last night at 12:20am on page 260.

me: Well… yeah… so close to the end.

Tricia: What about you? Did you read it straight through?

me: I read most of it in one sitting, but had to stop (at page 253) for a few hours, but I got back to it as soon as I could. It made yoga hard: I kept thinking about the book!

Tricia: That’s funny we stopped at about the same place.

me: Yeah. 🙂 So: are you Team Peeta or Team Gale? (Why is it that we feel a need to divide everything up into teams?)

Tricia: So, going into the book, I was on Team Gale. But I think one of the things that I really felt like Collins did that Stephenie Meyer didn’t manage for me, is really really make me torn between the two.

me: That’s a good point: you really couldn’t root for one or the other, because they were both so good for Katniss.

Tricia: Yeah. I can’t discount the lifelong friend thing. My parents were lifelong friends and it totally worked for them. But, because we’ve really seen so little from Gale in the two books, I’m having a hard time justifying my team. I really love Peeta, especially after reading this book.

me: Me, too. M said, when she finished, that Peeta REALLY rocked. I agree. But Gale’s never really been given a chance. Why do you think Collins chose to do it that way? Not give us too much info about Gale other than they were lifelong friends, and he loves her, I mean?

Tricia: I’m worried about the readers not getting emotionally involved with Gale.

me: Why?

Tricia: Because I’m worried she’s going to kill him off!!

me: Yeah, I can see that. I think she might have a bigger role for him.

Tricia: OK, so you are on Team Peeta I presume?

me: He’s awesome, and Gale’s so much in the background. I thought, too, that Peeta was stronger this time around, altruistic, yes, but also smart, savvy and able to manage himself which is not something he did in Hunger Games. I think Katniss needs him more than she needs Gale.

Tricia: There was something a little pathetic about Peeta in the first book that was totally gone this book. Like he really grew up. At the moment, I totally agree. Katniss does need him. I think it will be hard for Gale to ever fully understand how much the Games has changed Katniss as a person, but Peeta will always have that for her.

me: You know, one of the things I really liked in this book was how Peeta and Katniss needed each other to sleep through the night. I also liked that they managed without sex — that their connection was something more elemental than passionate.

Tricia: Yeah. That was sort of sexy too. Kind of Twilight-ish.

me: Good comparison. Except not as creepy.

Tricia: Right. LOL. So were you surprised by what happened in the book?

me: YES, I was surprised. I was going along the book, and then I hit page 174 (tweeted it, which is why I remember the page number) and it totally threw me for a loop!

Tricia: I am surprised by how much I was surprised.

me: I am, too, especially since I knew going in that there were surprises.

Tricia: Yeah, some of it I anticipated, and other things just had me shocked. And Collins manages to do it BAM at the end of the chapter so you have to keep reading!

me: What shocked you?

Tricia: I was really hoping no one would fight after the holding hands thing.

me: Actually, one of the things that surprised me was the games itself. I thought she’d leave the games behind in this book and just go political. And she did, in a way. Well, not in a way. She did. Just not in the way I was expecting.

Tricia: Yeah, I was expecting a more traditional uprising I guess.

me: And we got some of that.

Tricia: On page 60-something, when they visit District 11, I actually cried. I don’t even remember getting that emotional when Rue died in the last book. But for some reason, it really got me when she was staring at the people’s faces and remembering it all.

me: Speaking of uprisings: President Snow was CREEPY.

Tricia: I could have nightmares about that dude.

me: Oh, MAN. Talk about a good bad guy. He made my skin crawl. And the level of intimidation that he’d stoop to — poor Cinna!

Tricia: Yeah. Love Cinna. He’s kind of a younger Nick Arrojo in my mind.

me: Yeah — how about the mockingjay dress. Totally awesome. He was one of my favorite characters from Hunger Games.

Tricia: Loved the mockingjay dress. I think Collins does a fabulous job with the minor characters. Even annoying Effie and the crying stylists. I love them all!

me: True. Actually, the only person I still really didn’t like was Katniss herself. She’s still too black-and-white, though she’s less so than in Hunger Games.

Tricia: You know, I never really thought about it that way, but I agree with you. She’s still immature. I think this book really highlighted that, especially with Peeta growing up so much.

me: Yeah. Which is probably one of the reasons she got sideswiped there in the end: she wasn’t mature enough to handle what everyone else was doing, and would have probably blown it (she nearly did anyway). Which makes me curious for the next one.

Tricia: So, usually 2nd books in a trilogy are a little rougher for me than the rest. But this one wasn’t. What do you think made this book so different from normal 2nd books?

me: I don’t know: I was thinking that about this book, too. Perhaps it’s because Collins didn’t do what we expected her to do? If you think about it, not much really happened in this book it’s still mostly foundational.

Tricia: Yeah, she seems like she’s got a really clear direction she’s headed. She’s not distracted in her writing.

me: That’s so true. She’s a very tight, very descriptive writer. I don’t feel like she’s telling us more than we need to know which is probably why it’s such an intense reading experience.

Tricia: Nor do I think she’s being influenced by her fans one bit.

me: Good. For. Her. I think being a more seasoned writer helps — she has the whole Gregor series under her belt.

Tricia: Somehow Collins makes a dystopian thriller romantic and heartbreaking and gritty. It’s explosive stuff! Do you think Collins knows exactly how it will all end?

me: Oh, yeah. But I don’t think we can even imagine what’s going to happen.

Tricia: Do you think she’s know that from the beginning?

me: I don’t know. Possibly.

Tricia: I always wonder if writers sketch out the whole trilogy from the start, or if it evolves…or both.

me: Or if she sat down and wrote it all as one long draft, and then perfected it in three chunks. I think sometimes writers just start with one book, and if it does well, make it fit into a series. But sometimes, you can tell that they’ve thought it through from the beginning!

Tricia: Yeah, I think Scholastic booked her for a trilogy from the start on this one.

me: Okay… lightening round…favorite character?

Tricia: This book: Peeta. Yours?

me: Haymitch.

Tricia: Oooh, good call. We haven’t talked about him; why did you like him? (Sorry, not lightning, but I’ve got to know!)

me: Because, like in Hunger Games, there is so much more to him than what we’re really seeing. I liked that we “saw” his games and that he knows more about getting out of the arena alive than anyone else.

Tricia: Yeah. Me too.

me: and then there’s the end… WOW!

Tricia: I’m so SO glad he was there at the end.

me: I think his drunkenness is a mask for something bigger, and Collins hinted at that in the end. Makes me wonder what he’s going to do next. He’s very complex.

Tricia: I hope he’s more sober in the next book though. 🙂

me: Back to lightning round: favorite scene? Don’t give too much away.

Tricia: Having a tough time with that one. You go first.

me: I think I liked the one with Katniss in the woods when she met the escapees from District 8. It gave us a hint of something bigger that was going on, yet managed to not give too much away. And it let us see a bit more into Katniss’s world.

me: Yeah, I agree. OK, I will probably change my mind 1/2 dozen times, but I really liked the scene when the fence goes back online and she gets hurt coming home. And how everyone at home reacts and plays dumb when the Peacekeepers are there. It was serious and funny all at the same time. And I liked the interaction between Haymitch, Peeta, and Katniss there a lot.

me: Oh, that’s a good one. Serious and funny at the same time is something that Collins does well.

me: OK, totally random, but if you HAD to live in a district, which one would you pick?

me: Besides the Capitol? 😉 District 3 or 4. I’m selfish, and I like to live in ease.

Tricia: Remind me, 4 is Finnick…the sea right?

me: Yeah. And three is electronic: Nuts and Volts (I liked them). How about you?

Tricia: I think somehow 12 gets me because my ancestors were coal miners. That, and they had relatively nice Peacekeepers and they were far away from everyone else.

me: So, even though they were poor, they were relatively untouched. Perhaps that’s why the revolution had to start with someone from 12. Hunger Games was a good criticism of popular society and reality television…but I don’t think this one was as much, do you?

Tricia: No, I felt like it was much more it’s own world this time. Any characters you don’t like? Besides Snow?

me: Thresh. I think she makes most of the people sympathetic, and leaves just a couple to be real baddies.

Tricia: I actually really don’t like Joannah, and I think that’s a good thing. How I can dislike someone who’s on the right side…that’s talented writing.

me: That’s a good point. It’s easy to like the likable people and hate the bad ones but to dislike someone who is on the “good” side… but to write someone unlikable who is on the good side. That IS good writing.

Tricia: Did you think someone was going to turn bad? I’ve been worried there’s a mole somewhere. Who saw Gale and Katniss kiss? that never got resolved.

me: Oh, I hadn’t thought of that.

Tricia: I thought maybe Haymitch…at first.

me: Not Haymitch. maybe it’s someone we haven’t met?

Tricia: Right. But snow is getting his info somewhere. Prim?

me: Would it be really terrible if it were Peeta? That, actually, would be interesting. Devastating, but interesting.

Tricia: Yeah, I’m scared I’m emotionally invested in a bad guy!

me: LOL! THAT would be good writing.

Tricia: OK, which book did you like better? I think I’ll go with Hunger Games just because it was first.

me: I think I liked Catching fire better because it was less commentary on society and more a straight-up adventure.

Tricia: I don’t think we could go wrong with either, truth be told. Good stuff!

Good stuff, indeed!

The Moonstone

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by Wilkie Collins
ages: adult
First sentence: “I address these lines — written in India — to my relatives in England.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Ten things about this classic mystery:

1. Basic plot summary: sacred diamond taken from India, gets bequeathed to flighty high-class (Victorian) girl, gets stolen same night. Who done it?
2. I did like this book a LOT better than I liked Woman in White.
3. Though, I think it had some similar problems — it was too slow for almost too long, and all the characters were pretty one-sided. But…
4. About 2/3 of the way through, it takes a sharp left turn which, no matter how clever you are, you will most likely not see coming.
5. And that totally makes the novel.
6. As for characters: I liked Sargent Cuff: he was very clever, though Collins didn’t let us know how much Cuff knew until the very end.
7. Which is kind of cheating, you think?
8. However, Betteredge was a HILARIOUS narrator. As was Miss Clack.
9. In fact, this one was funnier overall than Woman in White. (Which means it really wasn’t all that suspenseful.)
10. That said, it lacks the good baddies that Woman in White had. There really wasn’t a real bad guy in this one, and I felt that loss. One wants a good bad guy to hate.

Overall, though: a fun mystery. Glad I read it.

Twilight of Avalon

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by Anna Elliott
ages: adult
First sentence: “So I say to call the visions into the scrying bowl.”
Support your local bookstore: buy it there!

When the lovely Kailana and I discovered we were both reading this book, we thought it would be fun to do a buddy review. Below are some questions she asked me about the book (as well as a couple I asked her, that I wanted to answer myself!)… Enjoy!

Twilight of Avalon takes two ancient myths — Arthur and Tristan and Isolde — and fuses them together into one story. The story picks up after Arthur was betrayed by his bastard son, Mordred, who also happens to be Isolde’s father. Isolde was made high queen, married to King Constantine, but seven short years after their crowning, Constantine is dead and Isolde fears for her own life. Especially since she knows that Constantine was murdered by Lord Marche, who is scheming for the high kingship himself. It’s only through her own wits, abilities, and the help of a half-Saxon prisoner named Trystan, that she’s able to escape and find a way to prove to the court the truth about Lord Marche.

What lead you to pick up this book? Will you be reading the rest of the trilogy?
I was sent it by the author (or a publicist; I can’t remember), but it was Trish’s review gave me the push I needed to pick it up. And yes, I will be reading the rest of the trilogy.

Do you have a favorite character?
I think I like Isolde best: she’s strong without being overly modern, and yet she had doubts and fears and insecurities. Though, it may just be that she was one of the few female characters in the book, and I needed someone to relate to.

What was your favorite scene?
Hmmm… it’s been a while since I’ve read it (bad memory…), but I think the scenes that stand out in my mind are the ones where Isolde is being a healer. I especially liked the one near the end when she’s helping Heneric recover from some serious wounds. Very touching.

What do you think of the mixing of fantasy and historical fiction? Was it believable?
I read in the material that was sent with the book that the author was going for a Mary Stewart feel — not exactly magic, but more than realistic. And I think, while it’s not as fluid as Stewart’s books, it works well. When you’re dealing with something as far removed from us as mid-6th century Britain, it’s easy to view it as fantasy. Which is perfectly okay with me!

What are your thoughts on the cover and the title?
Hmmm… first reaction: too Marion Zimmer Bradley. Which means I went in with a bit more feminist-mysticism expectations, which really isn’t what I thought the book is about.

What did you think of the “romance”?
Um… I expected something more. Truthfully, from the jacket flap, and the cover and the title, I really thought that there’d be some sort of hot and heavy romance… and there wasn’t. It was a more political book than I was expecting, and while I think Trystan and Isolde work well together, there really wasn’t much chemistry there. Maybe in the next book…

Library Loot #35

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Ah, the ebb and flow of library usage: some weeks the big bag doesn’t even hold all the books. Other weeks, you come away with a teeny-tiny amount because you know if you bring home more books, then you won’t have any more room on the dresser.

And because your daughter just bought Catching Fire, and you know exactly what you’re reading next.

For A/K:
Deep in the Jungle, by Dan Yaccarino
Possum Come A-Knockin’, by Nancy Van Laan/Illus. by George Booth
Booming Bella, by Carol Ann Williams/Illus. by Tatjana Mai-Wyss**
Chester’s Back!, by Melanie Watt**
My Forever Dress, by Harriet Ziefert/Illus. by Liz Murphy
Yours Truly, Louisa, by Simon Puttock/Illus. by Jo Kiddie
Hurry Up and Slow Down, by Layn Marlow**
Say “Ahhh!”: Dora Goes to the Doctor (Dora the Explorer)

For C:
Freaky Monday, by Mary Rodgers and Heather Hach

For M:
Nothing but Ghosts, by Beth Kephart*

For me:
My Life in Pink & Green, by Lisa Greenwald
Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (Enriched Classics) — so I walk into the library, and discover that this year’s Big Read is Edgar Allen Poe. I figured what the heck: I haven’t read Poe in years, and it’d be perfect for RIP IV!

The roundup is either at Reading Adventures or A Striped Armchair.

*Ones that M eventually read.
**Picture books we really liked.

The Beef Princess of Practical County

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by Michelle Houts
ages: 9-12
First sentence: “The arena glowed in the summer night.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

One of the most told stories in fiction is the one where a kid — boy or girl — has something to prove (to theirself or others), and overcomes odds (no matter how small) and trials in order to achieve what they set out to do. This story — about a girl on a northern Indiana cattle farm — is really no different. Libby Ryan wants to prove — to herself and her dad — that she can she can raise and show steers as well as her older brother did. She has to overcome her insecurities, figure out how to raise the two steers she’s chosen, learn how to show the steer properly, and — most of all — learn how to let go.

Initially, it seems like a fairly trite story, and in some ways it is: part of the conflict is some cardboard cut-out baddies in the form of three uber-shallow Darling sisters. There were times when the Darlings seemed to serve little or no purpose, except to show that prissy girls shouldn’t be in the cattle showing racket.

That said, it’s a good cow book. Michelle Houts has a genuine affection for the country and the people who work the land, as well as for the animals, and it shows. The animals are not just background or plot devices, but actual characters: living, breathing entities, with personalities that you, as a reader, come to understand and cheer for. The language she uses to describe the cows — “beautiful eyes, framed so perfectly by those long, wispy lashes” and “cheerful enthusiasm” and “playfully wrapped his long, rough tongue around my hand”– shows that Houts not only knows cows, but has a genuine affection for them.

If it sounds like a book only 4H people would love, it isn’t. Yeah, it’s about ranching and farming and small towns (and maybe I liked it because I have all of that in some form or other in my history), it’s also because it is about accomplishing something difficult and learning how to do the hard things in life.

Which is something everyone can relate to.

Babymouse: Dragonslayer

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by Jennifer Holm and Matthew Holm
ages: 8+
First sentence… oops… didn’t write it down (you’ll see why in a minute)
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Today, I took M across town to Barnes and Noble so she could spend a giftcard she got for her birthday. And while she was killing time figuring out which book to get (or how many), I searched out the newest Babymouse. Figured I could read it by the time M finished her shopping… (Cut me some slack, I didn’t buy the book, so this is totally from memory.)

Say it with me, people: Babymouse totally rocks!

Babymouse’s challenge this time: math.

She flunks a math test, and as retribution (or, rather, extra credit), she is forced to join the mathletes and participate in the upcoming Math Olympics in order to win the Golden Slide Rule. Can she do it? (Of course she can!)

There is so much to like about this one, like the other; from all the fantasy novel references — my favorite: Another Long Book About an Orphan Who Defeats the Dark Side (book one of twelve) — to the math references; to the silly bat (who “talks” upside down) and the total math geek teasing (but they’re good at skateboarding!). And, of course, Babymouse is as winning, and the narrator as snarky as ever.

This one is probably more accessible than Babymouse: the Musical, if only because more people are aware of fantasy novels (I caught, Eragon, Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe, and Lord of the Rings references…) than musicals. And, I have to admit, that while I laughed most at the LOTR (Fellowship of the Slide Rule) pages, this passage totally and completely killed me:

Teacher (who looks like a lion): “You’re late because your locker is a portal into another world where time runs at a different rate and a witch tried to turn you to stone?”
Babymouse: “How did you know?”
Teacher: “It happens to the best of us. Also, the fur coat was a dead giveaway.”

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Babymouse totally rocks.