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?

Black Powder War

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When we last checked in with Temeraire, I wasn’t all that thrilled with the story line. However, Hubby insisted that the next one in the sequence was worth slogging through Throne of Jade, so I kept with it.

And he was right.

If anything, Naomi Novik is becoming a better writer. The first book was solely carried on the novelty of the idea. The second she tired subtlety and totally fell flat. But this time, she managed delightful ambiguity along with all the daredevil adventures and suspense. And, I have to say, it’s the best of the three.

Laurence and Temeraire are waiting to leave China and head back to England when 1) a fire breaks out on the ship and delays the journey and 2) they get urgent orders to head to Turkey to pick up some eggs that were bought by the British government. They decide, because of incident number 1, that it would be faster to go overland. For that, they need a guide, and get a sort of nomad, Tharkay, to fill the role. I loved Tharkay as a character. Is he loyal to Temeraire and Laurence? Is he a traitor? What is his deal? Kept me guessing the whole book.

That, and Lien (the dragon of the bad guy in book two) becomes a rogue element, eventually signing up with the French army as part of her revenge against Temeraire. There’s a brilliant passage where she confronts Temeraire and explains what she’s going to do to him. Chilling.

On top of that, they endure sandstorm, avalanche, mistrust, betrayal, loss, death, and a host of other things before their journey is done. Yeah, it’s a little over the top, but I was left hanging, desperate to know what happens next.

Great reading.

Bwaa-haaa-haa!

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So, a while back, Leila posted about Shannon Hale’s new book, Austenland, which isn’t due out until June. And while I wasn’t exactly green with envy, I was just a little bit jealous. Then I got to thinking: hey, I write for Estella’s Revenge. I wonder, if I contacted Shannon Hale’s people, if I could get a copy of the book, too. And, so I did. And ta-da! I have in my grubby little hands, an advance review copy of Austenland. (does a little happy dance)

Y’all will just have to wait on what I think of it, though. I’ve got an interview and review lined up for the June issue, to coincide with the pub date.

In other news, I’ve got Rick Riordan’s latest, Titan’s Curse, coming, too. M is REALLY happy about that one.

I think I like this book reviewing thing. (grin)

The Sea of Monsters

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M has been after me to read this book for quite a while. Ever since we picked it up a couple months ago at a book fair, and she devoured it. So, she was quite pleased that I finally did get around to reading it. “I’ve wanted to talk to you about the ending for a LONG time,” she said.

With good cause. Rick Riordan’s written one of the best endings I’ve read in a long time.

But, first the rest of the book. It picks up with Percy just finishing seventh grade, a year after The Lightening Thief ends. He’s hanging out with a mentally-challenged, oversized kid (okay, we find out he’s a Cyclops) named Tyson at his school, and on the very last day, some laistrygonians attack him and Tyson, blowing up the school, putting Percy on the run. He ends up at Camp Half-Blood again (his mother had told him he wasn’t going to get to go), and discovers things there aren’t right. Someone’s poisoned Thalia’s tree, weakening the magic borders surrounding the camp. Long story short, he ends up on an adventure to get the Golden Fleece to save Camp Half-Blood.

I really liked the illusions to the Odyssey here. Percy’s satyr friend Grover is captured by Polyphemus (the Cyclops from the Odyssey), and manages to convince the big guy that he is a lady Cyclops. Polyphemus wants to marry Grover, but Grover insists that he needs to weave his bridal train first. But, in a brilliant nod to the original, he unweaves it every night. Loved that. I also liked how they used Nobody to get into Polyphemus cave to rescue Grove. Okay, I guess I really liked the whole Polyphemus section.

It really was an intense little book. There came a point where I knew I couldn’t put it down, and I even had to ask M if they managed to succeed in their quest. (She answered,”Well, yeah…” with a gleam in her eye.) And, as I’ve said before, it’s got one of the best twists at the end that I’ve read in a while.

All that said, I’m eagerly anticipating the next installment. Can’t wait to see what happens to Percy next. (After M reads it first, of course.)

One book down for the Once Upon a Time Challenge.

Save the Chocolate

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I know it’s not book related, but I had to do something. I found this over at Food Chronicles… the FDA is considering a petition by U.S. Chocolate Industry, through its Chocolate Manufacturers of America (CMA), and in collaboration with the Grocery Manufacturers Association to change the definition of chocolate in this country. They want to replace the cocoa butter with vegetable oil and real milk with milk solids. So, instead of eating chocolate, we will be left with this imitation-chocolate-like substance, that will probably taste overly sweet and be just icky. Enough of our lives are processed, does chocolate have to be, too?

Thankfully, it is America, and if we act NOW we can do something. Go here for details, and follow the links. It’s easy; it takes about 5 minutes, but only if you leave an impassioned comment like I did. Please. It’s chocolate.

Throne of Jade

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So, I admit that back in January I was so taken with the idea of His Majesty’s Dragon, that I didn’t bother telling y’all about the book at all. The reason being: there really isn’t that much to tell. Man (Laurence) gets dragon (Temeraire) and learns to love said dragon, fighting in conflicts with him. It was a world- and idea-driven book.

Which tends not to be enough to warrant another book. I found with Throne of Jade, that the world had lost it’s novelty and that the story left behind wasn’t quite enough for me. Not that I abandoned the book. Novack kept me turning pages for one reason: I wanted to know how on earth Laurence and Temeraire managed to stay together. For the basic premise of this book is that the Chinese government is highly offended that Temeraire (who is a Chinese Celestial, and is only supposed to be reserved for royalty) is being used as a pack animal, and in a war to boot. So, they are demanding that Temeraire be returned to China.

And what ensues is pretty typical. There’s a Bad Guy, whom you are supposed to suspect. And the Good Guy (Laurence) is supposed to over come all (assassination attempts, jealousy of Temeraire, uncertainty, boredom), and he does. There’s an Annoying Diplomat, who manages to get his way in the end, even though he’s not interesting at all, but rather a great big prick. There’s the Good Bad Guy, a Chinese noble who ends up being on Laurence’s side, but I, at least, saw it coming.

Enough complaints. You do have to read this one, though, because it focuses on Novak’s higher arc: revolution for the English dragons. Temeraire has to go to China, if only to see how dragons in China are treated.

And Hubby assures me that Black Powder War is much better.

An Instance of the Fingerpost

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The local library’s Read Outside the Box program is coming to an end, and for my final book, I decided I wanted to read a mystery. Browsing around Book Girl’s Nightstand a while back, I was reminded (she mentioned her Murder on Monday group) that she was a big mystery reader. (I know that more of you out there are mystery readers; I just happened to be at her blog at the time.) And I found this gem of a book, by Iain Pears.

I can’t go into the plot; it would spoil the book. Basically, it’s the same murder mystery from four different perspectives. It’s difficult, writing from the perspective of four different characters (some you like more than others), but Pears does so very effectivly. And as a result, he gives us a wonderful look into Truth and Perspective and how subjective “facts” are. That alone makes this book worth your time.

The book is long and it sometimes drags, and I had to keep going back and forth between the sections to remember who was who. All the historical figures (whom I could never quite keep straight) had a tendency to muddle the story at times. But none of that detracted from the book for me. It’s a great murder mystery, and I thought the political intrigue and the historical elements give it a great feel. In the end, I put it down knowing I just read a fabulous story.

If I could find more mysteries of this quality, I’d probably read more of them.

Once Upon a Time

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Ah, another challenge. There are so many going around out there, that I feel like I need to pick and choose, or I’ll never get to read just for “fun” and I’ll always feel like I’m doing assignments. I finished college too long ago to feel like that.

At any rate, there are a number of fantasy books on my TBR list that I’ve been wanting to get around to, so I figured this was as good of an excuse as any to read some of them.

So, the quest I’m taking is:
Quest Three: Read at least one book from each of the four genres of story (Mythology, Folklore, Fairytale, and Fantasy), and finish up the challenge with a June reading of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

1. Mythology: The Sea of Monsters, by Rick Riordian. I’ve been meaning to read this one for ages (since The Lightening Thief, actually), and since it’s based on the Odessy, which I read for the Classics Challenge, I figure I might enjoy it that much more.

2.Folklore: Warrior Girl, by Pauline Chandler. Okay, so Joan of Arc technically isn’t folklore (more historical fiction), but it does have some folklorish elements to it. Either that, or The Legend of Lady Ilena, by Patricia Malone. I am a sucker for King Arthur books.

3. Fantasy: The Riddle-Master of Hed, by Patricia McKillip. I’ve been meaning to read this for ages, ever since I heard about it on Sound and Spirit. It’s the first in a trilogy. I’d love to say I’ll read all three, but since I’ve had a hold on the copy the library has of the whole trilogy since September, I probably should just say I’ll read the first and go from there. (Maybe I can Book Mooch the second?)

4.FairyTale: This one was hard for me. Not because I couldn’t choose, but because I had to find one I hadn’t read! I finally came up with Wildwood Dancing, by Juliet Marillier. It’s a retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses (I can’t remember the name of the fairy tale): the one where they are forced to dance every month at midnight until the youngest breaks the spell (or something like that; I know I’ve read it at one point). I know Bookshelves of Doom hated it, but since I can’t come up with any other fairy tales, I thought I’d give it a try.

And I’ll finish it off with Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, which I’ve never read.

The Search for Delicious

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It’s been spring break here, and while we’ve been enjoying less-than-lovely weather (no snow, thankfully, but lots of rain), we’ve managed to get a few things done around the house. Like digging up a place for an herb garden, and painting one of the many rooms that need to be painted. And go on a brief weekend trip to Oklahoma City. Which is where The Search for Delicious comes in. We — my husband and I (the girls weren’t interested, preferring to plug into various electronic devices) — listened to the book on the drive down. And thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

It’s a quaint little book, by Natalie Babbitt. DeCree, the prime minister of an unnamed country, is writing a dictionary. And all is going well until he hits upon the word delicious. He writes: “Delicious as fried fish.” But no, the king won’t have it. In fact, no one can agree on what delicious is. And so, Gaylen, DeCree’s adpoted son, goes out to poll the people about what they think. As a result, town turns against town, people against people, all being riled up by Hemlock, who wants to be king. It’s up to Gaylen to save them all.

We were worried about this turning into an adventure story, but I think it redeems itself quite nicely in the end. There is Adventure and unusual beings (woldwellers, mermaids and dwarfs to be exact), but it all works quite nicely together.

And we got a superb audio rendition of the story. It was narrated by Natalie Babbitt herself, with a cast of actors playing/reading supporting roles. It kept us completely engaged in the story, and even drew the girls in, in the end.

A most wonderful way to pass a long drive.

Ten Books I Can’t Live Without

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Kailana over at The Written World is collecting bloggers lists of books that they can’t live without . (I found it through Bookgirl’s Nightstand; she’s got a great list). It sounded like fun, so I’m throwing out my ten.

In no particular order:

1. My Jane Austen fix: Pride and Prejudice (or Persuasion). Can’t live without it. In fact, I need to read it again soon. It’s been too long.

2. I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith: This one has shown up on a couple people’s lists. So totally charming, so totally engaging. So totally wonderful.

3. The Orange Girl, Jostein Gaardner: It’s a wonderful little book. A letter from a (dead) father to his son (who’s 11 when he reads it), it’s the story of how he and his wife met. Just about perfect.

4. My Name is Asher Lev, Chaim Potok: Out of all the Potok books I’ve read (which is most of them, at one point or another), this one touched me the most. I liked the sequel, too, but not as much.

5. Beauty, Robin McKinley: Ah, to only put one Robin McKinley book down. That is a shame. But, this one is here not because it’s my favorite, but because it was the first one I ever read by her. And I really like it.

6. A Little Princess (or Secret Garden), Frances Hodgson Burnett: I love her stories, I love her story telling.

7. Maps in the Mirror, Orson Scott Card: I’d put one of his novels down, but I find too much at fault with them. With Maps in the Mirror, you get the best of Scott Card without all the excess: it’s a collection of short stories.

8. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams: Babel fish, Marvin the robot, Zaphod Beeblebrox, and don’t forget your towel.

9. The Giver, Lois Lowry: Again, I love much of what I’ve read by her. This one is not only representative of everything, but is really the best. Well, maybe Number the Stars comes close, too.

10. The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness, Joel ben Izzy: Ah, a nonfiction book. I think I meant to keep this all fiction, but in thinking about my list, I couldn’t not leave some non-fiction off. This one is slight, but powerful. It’s his journey in learning how to be happy where he is in life, and to stop wishing for something other than what he had. Powerful.