Author: booknutgirls

booknutgirls http://thebooknutdotcom.wordpress.com I read. I blog. I sell books. I chauffeur my kids. What more do you need to know?

Gilt

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by Katherine Longshore
ages: 15+
First sentence: “You’re not going to steal anything.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

When I first saw this one at the store, I dismissed it as yet another paranormal romance. I mean, really: doesn’t that cover scream paranormal romance??

Thankfully,  Liz B. read it and loved it, enough to make me want to pick it up. Because there was no way I would have guessed from the cover that this is about one of my favorite periods in English history: the Tudors.

More specifically, it’s the story of Catherine Howard, Henry VIII’s sixth wife. How she came to power, and how she fell from it as well. However, Longshore does us the favor of not making Catherine (or Cat, to her friends) the center of the story (even though she often wanted to be the center of attention!), instead making a friend of Catherine’s, Kitty Tylney, our eyes and ears. In this way, we get to see the corruption and the power grabs from the outside; Kitty is close enough to be affected by the power, but not so close that she succumbs to it.

In many ways, this is Phillipa Gregory-light. And I say that with all the affection I can muster. I love Gregory’s Tudor books (even if I can’t get through the Other Boleyn Girl) for their sweeping dramatizations of history. Longshore did much of the same thing: giving us sweeping vistas, beautiful dresses, corrupt men and women using girls as pawns in their elaborate games. (And all the sex was off-screen.) I also liked, much like Liz, that this was a side of Henry VIII that we don’t often get to see. Many stories have been written about his earlier wives, but I knew next to nothing about Catherine Howard. Granted, it’s fiction, not history, but I felt that Longshore did her research and did an admirable job weaving the history into the story.

It was captivating, engaging, and all those other words people use to gush over books. I’m looking forward to the next book that Longshore writes.

Code Name Verity

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by Elizabeth Wein
ages: 14+
First sentence: “I am a coward.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Things this book is:
A World War II book.
A book about friendship, between two young women, specficially.  Funny.
A book about torture.
A book about the Resistance.
A book about women pilots.
A book about things a person will do to save their skin.
An amazing example of voice. Seriously, the characters leap off the page.
Unputdownable. (Yeah, I know. Still, it fits.)
Freaking awesome.

Things this book is not:
Trite.
Another Holocaust book.
Boring.

In other words: if you haven’t yet read this story about Maddie and Verity, and been captivated by their story, you are missing out.

And yes, it really is just as good as “they” all say.

Time Snatchers

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by Richard Unger
ages: 11+
First sentence: “I can’t stop crying.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by my place of employment.

Caleb steals things.

Not just anything: artifacts from history.

See: he works for Uncle as a time snatcher, someone who goes through history procuring important artifacts for clients.

On the one hand: this is way cool. The idea of time travel for theft is a clever one, and Unger comes up with some pretty neat technology to make it happen. In addition, Unger finds some great minor moments in history to feature in the book.

The hitch: Caleb doesn’t do this by choice.

He and all the other snatchers in Uncle’s employ — including Caleb’s love-interest, Abby, and his arch-nemesis (we need a nemesis?), Frank — are orphans, and Uncle is, shall we say, less than a kind benefactor. Caleb and his fellow snatchers are there until death, pretty much. There is no way out. 

And this is the other hand: it all sounds quite grim and hopeless. This book is one bit of drama on top of another: Frank is stealing Caleb’s snatches out from under him, he’s being groomed to be the next Uncle, and then he kidnaps (for Uncle, of course) a kid — Zach — Caleb befriended on one of his snatches. That’s not even mentioning the fact that Caleb thinks that Abby like-likes Frank. It’s not a happy book. It’s not a light book. And while the premises is a good one, it’s not even a fun book.

So, of course, Caleb has to risk everything to get Zach back to his family. It’s the only human thing for Caleb to do. And here we come to my real problem with this one: it just petered out. I’m not sure how it could have done anything else, but a good third of the conflict that was introduced wasn’t resolved. Which I don’t mind, generally speaking, but it kind of seemed pointless.

And in the end, I didn’t like this one as much as I hoped it would.

(Just for the record: because this is a Cybils nominee, I’ve been asked to make sure y’all know this is my opinion only, and not that of the panel.)

The Books of Elsewhere: The Second Spy

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by Jacqueline West
ages: 9+
First sentence: “If you believe that death is about to spring upon you at any moment, you won’t spend much time watching television.”
Others in the series: The Shadows, Spellbound
Review copy provided by the publisher.

Hm… how to do this without spoiling the other two? Well, first go read the other two! (Seriously: you won’t regret it. This is one fine middle grade series.)

Olive has managed to thwart the evil McMartins so far, a little bit by chance and luck, and a little bit through skill. However, thwarting is not the same as getting rid of. And, so Olive has been creeping around, hoping that Annabelle McMartin doesn’t kill her. That, and she’s starting sixth grade, and middle school, which is its own beast. Granted, the two — being afraid for your life and starting middle school — aren’t necessarily compatible. But, thankfully, Olive has the cats and Rutherford on her side.

Or does she??

Another fine, deliciously creepy, intriguing, fun addition to this clever series. I liked that West used trust and friendship as the backdrop for this tale, exploring this pretty traditional and mundane (though important) topic in such a unique way. But, beyond that, every book is well plotted, and wraps up nicely (my favorite thing!), while leaving room for yet another adventure with these fun characters.

And now that I’m all caught up, I have to wait for the next one to come out.

(Just for the record: because this is a Cybils nominee, I’ve been asked to make sure y’all know this is my opinion only, and not that of the panel.) 

Sunday Salon: State of the TBR Pile 9

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It’s high summer. And this is what I have on my stack….

Ghost Knight, by Cornelia Funke (I had this one on my stack, then I took it back. And now I’ve checked it out again. Maybe this time I’ll even read it.)
Breaking Stalin’s Nose, by Eugene Yelchin (the only Newbery honor book I haven’t read)
Circus Galacticus, by Deva Fagan (it looked interesting)
The Black Cauldron, by Lloyd Alexander (because I need to revisit Prydain)
Wonder, by R. J. Palacio (for a paid review)
Second Thyme Around, by Katie Fford (it’s my fluff)
With a Name Like Love, by Tess Hilmo (recommended by a blog reader; I just can’t remember who! If it was you, let me know so I can give you credit)
Froi of the Exiles, by Melina Marchetta (because I NEED to read this)

The one that’s missing (because it’s downstairs on the shelf) is Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt (because it’s been too long since I’ve read it, and it’s for a paid review as well).

What’s on your pile this July?

The Sherlockian

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by Graham Moore
ages: adult
First sentence: “Arthur Conan Doyle curled his brow tightly and thought only of murder.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

It’s 1900, three years after famed author Arthur Conan Doyle killed off his most famous character, when he receives a box with a pipe bomb in it. It doesn’t kill him, but it does set him on a trail: someone murdered an innocent woman, and Doyle’s going to figure out who it is.

It’s also 2010, and Harold White has become the newest inductee into the Baker Street Irregulars, the most prestigious of the Sherlockian groups. While at the conference, he discovers the murder of the group’s most illustrious scholar, Alex Cale, who had recently found a diary of Doyle’s that had gone missing 80 years before.

Both men will find themselves knee-deep in mysteries that will confound them, and have them asking the ultimate question: What Would Sherlock Do?

I have to admit that I’m not a Sherlock buff. Sure, I like the new BBC series (and even the old one, with Jeremy Brett), but I’m not really a fan. And nowhere near the fanatic that the characters in the book are. And yet, I found myself strangely compelled by this mystery. Partially, I think, it was having Conan Doyle (and Bram Stoker!) be a character. I found his inner life interesting (even if it was mostly fictionalized), especially his loathing of his most famous detective. Harold, as well, was a fascinating character; smart not because he was brilliant, but because he was well-read and able to connect the dots.

But the mystery left a little to be desired. I felt that for all the build-up that we were given, the solution to the mystery was, well, a bit lame. Perhaps that was the author’s intent: the fun was in the journey, but not in the resolution.

And if that was the case, then he succeeded: because getting to the end was a lot of fun. Even if the end was a bit, well, lame.

Stickman Odyssey: An Epic Doodle

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by Christopher Ford
ages: 11+ (though my 8 1/2 year old read it and quite enjoyed it)
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: The Wrath of Zozimos

Admittedly, I read these backwards, this one being the first in the series, and Zozimos’ backstory. So, if you’re going to do this right: you need to read this one first. But, even if you don’t, it’s still quite a fun read.

I’m gathering from the title and the back that this is basically the story of The Odyssey in simplified graphic novel form. In his quest to return to Sticatha, Zozimos washes up on the shore of a country where a beautiful princess is being protected by her father from a horrible prophecy. Zozimos ends up in the dungeon, before going on several adventures to prove his worth. Along the way, he meets a couple of people — the frog man, Atrukos, and the strong man, Praxis — who help him. Actually, that’s the big Lesson to be Learned: that even though Zozimos is all sorts of awesome (well, not really), he needs his friends in order to Get Things Done.

The good news: you don’t have to know the original epic in order to enjoy this one. It’s one adventure after another, with lots of sword fighting, humor, a wee bit of romance, poop jokes, and friendships. I’m sure boys will love this one, but I have to say that both C and A really found it to be all sorts of fun.

As did I. Here’s to more Stickman adventures.

Shadow of Night

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by Deborah Harkness
ages: adult
First sentence: “We arrived in an undignified heap of witch and vampire.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: Discovery of Witches

How about this for a brief teaser: if you liked Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, you’ll probably really like this one.

The long explanation is a lot more complicated, however. There were elements of Shadow of Night that I really liked. And there were some that I didn’t. But my major problem with the book — and this is one I have with many works of “adult” fiction — is that I thought a good third to half of this book was wholly unnecessary.

Because of the conflicts set up in Discovery of Witches (which I won’t go into, but partially are caused by the love Matthew and Diana have for each other; witches and vampires aren’t supposed to mate.), and because Diana needs help figuring out what kind of witch she is (and to control her magic), they end up in the past. In England, circa 1590, to be exact. Which brings me (so soon?) to problem number one: too often, I felt Harkness was using her status as a historian to show off. I got the sense that she set the book in the past not because it best served the story (though in some ways, it did), but because she KNOWS STUFF and wanted to share. Too often I was pulled out of the story because of some name dropping (though Diana has a moment of exasperation, wondering out of all the people in England in the past, how come Matthew knows all the famous ones. That kind of helped.) and historical elements. It was hard for me to enjoy the past because she kept pulling me out of it with details about clothes, food, the weather, and blasted Christopher Marlow.

Anyway. Matthew and Diana aren’t in England very long before they cause a ruckus and get sent to Sept Tours, Matthew’s ancestral home. Where his dead father is still very much alive. And who forces them to get married. (In way too many pages. Followed by many, many more pages of [not graphic, or even titillating] married sex.) Back to England they go, where (in some of the best passages) Diana begins to figure out that she’s a unique sort of witch, and gets a handle on her magic. Oh, and manages to get pregnant by the vampire.

Before you think that Harkness went all Breaking Dawn on us, she didn’t. Oh, sure, there are influences there: Matthew is just as protective and oppressive as Edward; apparently it’s in a vampire’s “nature”. The difference is that rather than being pushed around, Diana takes him on. Thank heavens for that; in many, many ways, Diana as a character is the best part of this novel. She’s strong, interesting, clever, inquisitive, and plain fun to be around as a character.

There’s more, of course: It’s a nearly 600 page book, and Harkness finds ways to fill them out. And it’s not a bad book, per se: I did finish it. Because even with all the extra historical stuff, and the poor plotting (for my YA-saturated brain), I am invested in Matthew and Diana’s story. Which means, I’m already asking when the next one will be out.

If you’re still interested in this one after all that, I’m offering a giveaway of this book. I’ll even throw in a set of five pins, and a temporary tattoo. Maybe you’ll like it more than I did. You have until Friday, July 13th (ooooh, auspicious) to enter.

Throne of Glass

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by Sarah J. Maas
ages: 14+
First sentence: “After a year of slavery in the Salt Mines of Endovier, Celaena Sardothien was accustomed to being escorted everywhere in shackles and at sword-point.”
Review copy provided by my place of employment
Release date: August 7, 2012

At first glance, this should be a great fantasy novel. A strong, but not exactly noble, heroine (is there an assassin theme this year?) is put up against twenty three other people (Hunger Games!) in competition for the spot to be the king’s Champion (i.e., heavy) and win her freedom.

Of course she’s Beautiful, Desirable, Awesome, Cool, Flawed, Intelligent, Perfect, and both the prince and the Captain of the Guard is in love with her. (Or so I assume; I never actually got to that point.)

It has Everything a Woman Fanasty Reader wants, right?

Well, there is one problem: the writing is crap.

Sorry. I suppose I should beat around the bush, and I do have to admit that it may be me, not the book, but honestly I had no patience for this (all from the ARC, so maybe the editing will get it together in the next month…):

“She curtsied, looking up at him beneath lowered lashes.” (*eye roll* I understand she’s playing a part, here, but this is just lame.)

“She actually did trip on her dress, and her shoes cut into her heels quite terribly, but he would hear none of her objections as he dragged her into the hall.” (Blah blah blah. There were a lot of instances like this, where I just wanted to say: Really, we don’t need to know how many buttons are on her dress, or whether or not her heels hurt terribly. Get. On. With. It.)

“‘Save it for the competition,’ he said softly, but not weakly.” (SERIOUSLY??? Why does “softly” imply “weakly”? Why do I care?)

“Ahead, Cain turned a corner, heading north — back toward the castle. [repetitive] Like a flock of birds, they followed him. [What have they been doing up to this point?] One step after another, never slowing down. [I didn’t think, giving the previous two sentences, that they had been slowing down.] Let them all watch Cain, let them plot against him. [Okay then: she switched Point of View here, didn’t she?] She didn’t need to win the race to prove she was better — she was better without any kind of validation that the king could give her! [You keep telling yourself that, dearie.] She missed a breath, and her knees wobbled, but she kept upright. The run would be over. Soon. [Not soon enough.]”

There were more, but that pretty much gives you an overview of my irritation. I know that by reading so many middle grade and young adult fiction books, my patience with plotting and wordiness has become limited. But, this was egregious even for a crossover novel (was it supposed to be teen? Adult? I never did figure that out).

So, I bailed. The romance(s) were moving too slowly for me (too much simpering, not enough smouldering), the author kept telling me rather than showing me stuff, and the whole plot was taking way. too. long.

One other note: this author has a huge fan base [don’t shoot me!], and has written several on-line prequels leading up to this novel. I don’t think reading on-line fiction should be a prerequisite to enjoying a novel, and yet I felt that I was missing something when reading this one. Yet another reason I bailed.

But I’m sure some people will luuuuuvvvv it.  Just not me.

Sunday Salon: Final Top 100 Chapter Book Poll Results

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Here, in all its glory, is Fuse #8’s final chapter book poll list. And, because I like lists, I’m going to make this a meme of sorts. How many have you read (89, for me; the first one I haven’t read is #24, and I have no excuses for that)? What’s your reaction to the list? What’s missing?

As for me, the big omission is the Percy Jackson series. I love me some Harry Potter, but out of the two series, I have an easier time selling the Greek mythology to kids. That, and I’ve found it has a wider appeal. That said, there were only three on my list that didn’t make the top 100, so I’m satisfied. Also: I need to read Elizabeth Enright. Obviously, I’m missing something here.

#1 Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (1952)
#2 A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (1962)
#3 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (1997)
#4 The Giver by Lois Lowry (1993)
#5 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (1950)
#6 Holes by Louis Sachar (1998)
#7 From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg (1967)
#8 Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (1908)
#9 The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (1978)
#10 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (1977)
#11 When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (2009)
#12 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (1999)
#13 The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (1997)
#14 The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (1938)
#15 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1911)
#16 Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (1975)
#17 Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (1964)
#18 The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander (1964)
#19 Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1932)
#20 Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (2000)
#21 The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (1961)
#22 The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (1973)
#23 Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (1989)
#24 Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary (1968)
#25 The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis (1995)
#26 Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne (1926)
#27 Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1935)
#28 The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (1995)
#29 The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall (2005)
#30 Matilda by Roald Dahl (1988)
#31 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865)
#32 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor (1976)
#33 Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien (1971)
#34 Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls (1961)
#35 Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume (1972)
#36 The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (1958)
#37 The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt (2007)
#38 Frindle by Andrew Clements (1996)
#39 The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (2007)
#40 Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (1990)
#41 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (1900)
#42 Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright (1957)
#43 Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson (1980)
#44 Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt (2011)
#45 Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell (1960)
#46 The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi (1990)
#47 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868)
#48 The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket (1999)
#49 My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett (1948)
#50 Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (1989)
#51 The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, A Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo (2003)
#52 Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace (1940)
#53 The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (2008)
#54 Half Magic by Edward Eager (1954)
#55 All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor (1951)
#56 A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1905)
#57 The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken (1962)
#58 Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome (1930)
#59 The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo (2006)
#60 Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (1999)
#61 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (1964)
#62 Clementine by Sara Pennypacker (2006)
#63 The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson (1978)
#64 The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois (1947)
#65 Wonder by R.J. Palacio (2012)
#66 The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly (2009)
#67 A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck (1998)
#68 The High King by Lloyd Alexander (1968)
#69 The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan (2006)
#70 Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech (1994)
#71 Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles (2005)
#72 Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (2009)
#73 The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson (1972)
#74 Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (1970)
#75 The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright (1941)
#76 Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (2007)
#77 My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George (1959)
#78 Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild (1936)
#79 The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (1967)
#80 The Four-Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright (1942)
#81 The Witches by Roald Dahl (1983)
#82 The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden (1960)
#83 Ozma of Oz by Frank L. Baum (1907)
#84 The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1940)
#85 Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (1997)
#86 Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie (1911)
#87 The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger (2010)
#88 The BFG by Roald Dahl (1982)
#89 The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary (1967)
#90 The Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston (1954)
#91 Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren (1950)
#92 Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen (2001)
#93 Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson (2001)
#94 Ramona and her Father by Beverly Cleary (1977)
#95 The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1943)
#96 The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis (1954)
#97 The Diamond in the Window by Jane Langton (1962)
#98 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (2000)
#99 The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner (1942)
#100 Love That Dog by Sharon Creech (2001)