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?

Peeled

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I have loved Joan Bauer for years, ever since a book group I was part of did Rules of the Road (I think that was the one that started me on her). She’s never written a bad book; sure there are some that I liked more (Hope was Here, Sticks), but honestly I liked them all. And this was no exception.

Hildy Biddle is a high school journalist at a struggling high school newspaper in a small town (known mostly for its apple orchards) in upstate New York. Life is pretty normal — and boring — until someone is arrested at the abandoned Ludlow house (site of two murders 30 years before, and associated with the death of a girl 5 years ago), and the town paper is drumming up the fear business. All that’s left is Hildy and her friends on The Core to get to the bottom of the story.

Far-fetched? Probably. Entertaining? Very. Perhaps it was because I was in Hildy’s shoes in high school — having dreams of becoming a journalist (dreams which didn’t die until I became jaded by my experience with the paper in college) — and feeling a need to not only tell the story, but to get to the bottom of it. (If I had had a newspaper adviser like Baker Polton, I may have led a different life…) I really related to her, and to her struggle against the odds. Bauer attempts to do a lot in this book. Because not only is this a story about a journalist-in-training, but it’s the classic David-and-Goliath story. Small town invaded by large corporation wanting to “progress”. Farmers versus devlopers. Small town verus city. (Feeds right into my buying local and building community sentiments.) Throw in a little dealing-with-death, and first-blush romance, and you’ve pretty much got this book in a nutshell.

Perhaps because she’s doing so much that the book felt uneven for me. I liked the reporting parts. But the rest of it kind of felt forced. I liked Zach, but the romance fell flat. It’s nice to know that she misses her dad, but I really wasn’t all that interested in her struggle. Thankfully, those parts weren’t that prevailant so they didn’t bother me all that much.

Even with the flaws, it was a really good book. But then, it’s Joan Bauer.

A Geeky Photo Tour

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This week’s Weekly Geek was basically photos of my books and reading nooks. (Well, they’re not nooks, but I liked the rhyme.)

First stop: the chair where I do most of my reading. It’s in the basement, near the TV, mostly because…

I read while these two — that’s A and K — watch TV. Usually, at least one of them is sitting in the chair with me!

Though, when I want peace and quiet, or I’m just sick of kids, I head upstairs to this corner of the living room to read.

Stop two: book piles. This is M’s to-be-read pile from the library. It’s not as high as it was during the summer because she’s discovered there’s a lot of homework associated with 7th grade!

And the corner where I keep all my to-be-read books. It’s not that big right now, either — I’ve had the pile on the dresser up to nearly the top of the lampshade before. Maybe I ought to work on that…

Stop three: our bookshelves. We don’t have as many books in the house as other bibliophiles, mostly due to my hangups with buying books (you should see Hubby’s work shelves… alas, he’s on a work trip, so I can’t get into his office right now…). But we have at least one in every room. Except the bathrooms…

Stop four: other’s WG posts. Go check out these photos: Suey’s dream libraries (I’d love a whole room dedicated to books, too… granted, I’d have to buy them first…), a wonderful collection of bookish photos at Restless Reader (also gave me a Halloween costume idea!), and the eclectic collection at Mysteries in Paradise.

Crown Duel: Crown and Court Duet, Book 1

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Melaria is a Countess who doesn’t act like one. Not only does she run around barefoot wearing old horse blankets, but she loathes everything about court: from the clothes and the people and the intrigue to the tyrannical King Galdran. So, after her father’s death, when she and her brother Branaric decide to go to war against the king — for various offenses, not the least of which was intending to break the Covenant with the Hill People not to chop down the colorwood trees — she’s all for it. In fact, Mel’s in the thick of it. That is, until she gets her foot caught in a trap, and ends up in enemy hands. From there, her life becomes more interesting and more complicated, especially after she’s thrown into the hands of the Marquis of Shevraeth, who keeps popping into her life at the most inconvenient (well, not always) of times.

This was an absolute blast to read. A terrific fantasy (light on the magic, heavy on the world-building, but not so much that the characters were slighted), and a terrific adventure. M read this one before I got to it, and her comment was that “Mel has anger management issues. But then, she’s a red head.” I didn’t quite agree: up until near the end, I thought her rage and anger were pretty much justified. Close to the end of the story, you kind of want to smack her upside the head, but she does figure things out. Thankfully. I do like how she becomes bookish at the end, too. That was a nice touch.

I’m also glad I liked it enough to actually buy it and the second one, Court Duel, because the library doesn’t have that one, and I don’t think I could live without knowing the rest of Mel’s story…

2008 Challenge #4: YA Romance

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I’m so glad I signed up for this one; it hit my mood this summer just right, and I loved most of the books I read.

An Abundance of Katherines, John Green
13 Little Blue Envelopes, Maureen Johnson
Love, Stargirl, Jerry Spinelli
Suite Scarlett, Maureen Johnson
Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer
The Juliet Club, Suzanne Harper

My favorites, hands down were The Juliet Club and Suite Scarlett. Both, for me, were everything a romance (well, romantic comedy) should have. And both were just perfect light, fluffy, summer reads.

Thanks for hosting this one, Becky!!

Suite Scarlett

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Not that I had any doubts, but any book that comes highly recommended by Leila, Erin, Shelf Elf, Abby and Becky is one that I’m going to absolutely love. I’ve been wanting to get my hands on this one for a while — since Leila’s review, actually — so I did a little happy dance when I checked (one of many times over the months) and it was at the library. I put a hold on it, and I couldn’t wait to delve into it when I got it home. (I did have to wait — nearly a week — because I really needed to finish The Three Musketeers. But as soon as I finished that one…) I have to say that I had an absolute blast.

Basic plot: Scarlett Martin has turned 15, which means — since her family owns and lives in a hotel in New York City — she has just been “given” a suite to take care of. That means, however, that she automatically becomes the go-to person for whomever stays in that suite. In this case, that would be Mrs. Amberson, a former theater diva who has come back to NYC after years in Thailand. Scarlett’s life — for better or for worse — is at the mercy of Mrs. Amberson, and as a result, so is the rest of her family. Thankfully (or not) that ends up involving not only romance (for Scarlett), but a dash of revenge and deception not to mention theatrical intrigue (involving Hamlet of all things).

Suite Scarlett is your quintessential romantic comedy. That’s not to say it’s cliched or boring or formulaic; quite the contrary. There’s just enough suspense and twists and conflict to keep me interested on a non-romantic level. I loved every minute of the ride that Maureen Johnson put me through– lots of laughs and smiles and swoons, but also curiosity about how it was all going to turn out — from the initial dedication: “This book is dedicated to anyone who has ever played a dead body on stage or screen. It takes a big actor to lie on the ground and keep quiet. Droop on, my lifeless friends.” All the way through to the very last sentence.

The best thing — aside from the laughs; I love it when an author actually gets me laughing out loud — was the characters. They’re so vividly drawn that you feel that you could sit in some coffeshop chatting with them about the weather. I especially liked Scarlett — just the right balance of innocence and cleverness spiced with a bit of daring — and who has me wrapped around her little finger from the get-go. But, in addition to her, I absolutely loved just about everyone else. Spencer, her 19-year-old brother, was just one of those guys you want to pack up and take home. Lola (she’s 18, just graduted and trying to figure out what to do with her life) was a bit uptight, but I could tell that she really cared about the hotel and about her family. (A side note: I really liked how family-centric this novel was.) Maureen, 11, was a bit of a prick, but for a good reason. And even she managed to find a way to make me like her. Mrs. Amberson was a riot, and I liked Eric (he’s the love interest — Johnson, among her other talents, does a good job with the chemistry between the two of them), even though he was a bit earnest for my taste. Then again, a little bit of Southern earnestness never hurt a novel.

I could go on gushing… but I’ll just leave it up to you to go find the book so you can gush about it yourself.

Just about perfect (for a YA romance, anyway).

The Three Musketeers

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I read The Count of Monte Cristo about 10 years ago, and I remember really liking it. I also remember it taking me nearly 3 weeks to read, but I’ve always thought it was because it was 1500 pages long. However, The Three Musketeers, which is roughly 1/3 of the the length took me about as long to get through, so maybe it’s the way Dumas writes and not the length of the book?

Because Dumas is a long-winded writer. In one of the Breaking Dawn reviews, someone pointed out that Stephenie Meyer writes lousy sentences but tells good stories. The same could be said for Dumas. The story — convoluted and complex and labyrinthine as it is — is a lot of fun. The actual page-to-page reading…. not so much.

We begin with d’Artagnan (that’s ar-tanyan; I had problems until someone pronounced it for me), a young hot-headed Gascon (I’m sure there’s some significance here, but not knowing 17th century French history, it was lost on me) headed to Paris to become a musketeer. He’s denied his request, but because he’s courageous, willing to get into duels, and a good swordsman he 1) makes friends with three musketeers — Athos, Aramis, and Porthos — and gets a place in the king’s guards. From there things get complicated. D’Artagnan falls in love with his landlord’s wife, gets involved with the queen’s affair (of sorts) with the Duke of Buckingham, chases a mysterious stranger who offended him, gets involved with the pretty evil Lady de Winter, is involved in a “war” (of sorts) with England, doesn’t quite save the day, and ends up getting promoted. In all this, his three friends come along, mostly, for the ride, though Athos plays a more significant role than either of the other two. Trust me, it makes slightly more sense reading it than typing the plot out.

Was it worth it? I’m not sure. On one hand, it’s a classic adventure story that has inspired movies and other novels for a couple hundred years. There must be something there. On the other hand, it’s incredibly dull for long periods of time interspersed with quick — and interesting and fun — bursts of action and plot. I suppose what Dumas really needed was a good, solid editor, someone to say: “Hey, Alexandre, do you really need four sentances to say what could be said in one? Or, do you really need to include Latin poems? Really? And the point of the whole Porthos-Madame Coquenard chapters are?”

Either that, or I just need to find a good, solid abridged version. At who knows: ten years down the line, I may be telling people that I absolutely LOVED The Three Musketeers, even though it took me three weeks to read.

It’s About Time

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That I decided to do Carl’s R.I.P. read. This is the third year, and I’m only now getting around to being brave enough…

From Carl’s site

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.

There is just something about this time of year, when the ghosts of past Autumns and the Autumn to come chase away the dog days of summer, that entices one to read books that fit into the above categories.

And so, on to the particulars:

1. R.I.P. III runs from September 1st through October 31st, 2008. But I’m no stickler, start reading now if you feel so inclined.

2. Choose one of more of the perils listed below:

Peril the First:

Read Four books of any length, from any subgenre of scary stories that you choose.

Peril the Second:

Read Two books of any length, from any subgenre of scary stories that you choose.

Peril the Third:

Read One book of any length from one of the subgenres listed above.

This peril is for those who want to participate but don’t want to get bogged down in a long list of books. It is also for those who feel this type of reading is not their proverbial cup of tea but are willing to challenge themselves by giving just one book a try.

3. Leave a comment here announcing your intention to join and a link to the post* on your site, if you have one and choose to post about R.I.P. III.

I’m doing Peril the Second (and a half); if I find another book that someone else reads, I’ll add it on later.

1. Dracula, Braham Stoker
2. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
3. Coraline, Neil Gaiman

I don’t know if I’m excited or wary…

Breaking Dawn

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Well. I got around to reading this over the weekend. I’m not going to weigh in on the controversies. (Though I do have to say that people who get all worked up over a work of fiction are a bit uptight. And, yes, I know I get lumped in that. I got all upset about Eclipse, after all.) I’m also not even going to try for a spoiler-free review. You’ve been warned.

Initially, I wasn’t excited about reading the book, but I actually became curious about it after Andi’s review . I kept reading reviews though, and I have to admit that I knew more than my fair share going in. So, I can’t say if my reading experience is entirely fair: I was bored. Honestly. For about 3/4 of the novel. I think part of is that Meyer needs a long break from writing. This horrid writing schedule Little, Brown — at least one book a year! — is keeping her on is showing. The stories are lame, the writing is bad, the editors are lazy. Either that, or intimidated. Because there was an awful lot of unnecessary passages in here. Did we really have to have all that leading up to the wedding? Did we really have to have all that with the pregnancy? Did we really really have to have all that waiting?? It seemed so pointless. Cut a good two to four hundred pages out and this might — MIGHT! — have been a decent novel.

I complained about this in the Host, and it fits here: Meyer has pacing problems. Just when the book starts to pick up, she grinds it to a halt with pages and pages of description (really? Khakis and a sweater pullover? How quaint!) that do nothing for the plot. It was frustrating.

Speaking of the plot, I didn’t think it was all that great, either. I kept rolling my eyes. It just felt so over the top. From the super vampire sperm (okay, I can accept that; Meyer is inventing her own vampire lore, after all) to the super half-vampire baby (and I agree: the name is horrible) , to Jacob imprinting on the baby (oh, puh-lease. What a consolation prize. Can’t have Bella? Here, have her baby instead. Ugh.), to Alice conveniently arranging the entire ending. Bah.

I liked it better than Eclipse, but that’s not saying much. I think Twilight’s the best, though, and I have to say that I’ll keep recommending that one. But with one caveat: don’t bother reading the rest. They’re not nearly as good.

The reviews that I read:
Heather’s review
Corinne’s review
Tricia’s review
Becky’s review
Leila’s review
Julie at Best Books’ review

Operating Under the Influence of ABBA

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I had to wait until I got home (yay for home!) and could load up the pictures off my camera to share this story with y’all…

First a confession: I’ve gone to see Mamma Mia twice in the past three weeks. I suppose that’s not that bad — it could be worse — but I have to admit that I’ve had more fun than is probably reasonable for a 35-year-old to have at the movie. The first time, I went with a group of gal pals (eek, did I just write that?) here in Wichita. And it was lots of fun; I giggled all the way home. But the second time took the cake. Not only did I go with four sisters-in-law (as “payment” for letting our husbands play D&D the entire day before) but I had the experience of sitting next to a gay guy who was as infatuated with Mr. Darcy as I am. It truly made the movie. (Me: Sigh. Him: “Ah, Mr. Darcy.” Me: “That’s why we’re all here.” Him: “I just LOVE Mr. Darcy!” and at the end… Me: *laughing* “That is just priceless!” Him: “I’d pay $20 admission to see Colin Firth dressed like that!” I just about died laughing.) He even didn’t mind the singing, toe tapping and giggling from the five of us. In fact, he shook our hands and thanked us for the experience.

Anyway, whether it was the goofy fun of the movie, Meryl Streep dancing and singing at 59 years old (we were all mightily impressed), or the fact that we were all intoxicated from laughing too much (no alcohol, if you can believe that!), but one of the SILs suggested that we do a lip synch to Mamma Mia for the family talent show the following night. We all — still on an ABBA high — thought that was a brilliant idea, and headed over to Claire’s. At 8:55 p.m. We had more fun than should be allowed for a group of mostly 30-something women (toting two infants, too!) and spent more money than should be allowed for a family talent show number. We made the cashier’s night (the store closes at 9, but the cashier kept the store open for us until we were done…); she laughed at us the whole time, gave input on what would “work best” and said that she wished she could come see our final product. After much searching and trying on, this (and this is the whole point of the story, because I thought this was so wonderfully tacky that I had to share it) is what I came up with:

We did, in fact, go through with the number — we rehearsed for two hours! — and blew the “house” (well, our parents, our husbands, Hubby’s oldest sister and her husband, and all the grandkids) away with the number. I told Hubby that I only wanted stills and not a movie, and I have to admit that I regret that decision. But here’s a still one of the other husbands took of our dance:

(I’m there on the far end…unfortunately, I’ve taken off my glasses. I think they’re the best part…)

I’m back on the wagon now. No Colin Firth. No ABBA. Life is nice and boring and predictible now. (But isn’t it delightful to be completely crazy once in a while?)

One More for the Day

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When’s the last time I put up five posts in one day?! (Never?) Anyway. The August Estella’s Revenge is up. Go visit it. For my own records… I interviewed J. Scott Savage, who is an absolutely delightful — and funny — person; and submitted four — probably more than I needed to! — reviews: Rapunzel’s Revenge (wonderful! It’s Shannon Hale, how can it be bad?!), Apples and Oranges (could have been good, but wasn’t), The Traitor Game (ditto), and Farworld: Water Keep (it surprised me how much I liked it). I’m sure there’s other good stuff, but I’m still on vacation, and I need to actually shower sometime today. Oh. That’s probably overshare. Sorry. 🙂 Enjoy.