First Sunday Daughter Reviews: January 2015

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It’s been a Christmas break full of TV and movie watching, and not much reading (though A has had to do some, which has completely stressed her out. ) Even so, they all got books for Christmas, so I thought I’d share what they received.

M, being very much the college student, asked for a Hindi dictionary for her classes, as well as this one:

which she says is excellent.

C has been pining for the other two books in the Selection trilogy for months, so she wasn’t surprised to see this on Christmas morning:

Yes, she’s already reread them both.

A didn’t really ask for books, but Santa couldn’t resist the lure of pretty new covers and got this:

which means she’s the proud owner of both the new Harry Potter AND Percy Jackson covers. It’s the inside that counts, though. Right?

And K got a graphic novel, for which she was very happy (even though her initial reaction was “What is this?”)

She’s read it through several times, and absolutely loves the story. And since she’s gotten into Ever After High recently, she got this as well:

She has been quite happy to read and reread those stories.

As for me, my online book group did a Secret Santa and I got this from Angie (at Angieville).

The chocolate was yummy, the bag is delightful, and I’m trying to decide whether or not to actually read the book (which was a joke. Promise). Still, it made me laugh when I opened it.

What bookish gifts did you get?

My Best of 2014

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Lots went on this year. Personally, it was rough for me and I spent a lot of time in the slumps, though you can’t really tell from the totals. (A look at my Goodreads shelf and there are a lot of 3 and 4 star books.) Well, a couple of things were different: I read a lot more graphic novels, more YA than Middle Grade, and I reread a lot more than I used to. It was the year of #WeNeedDiverseBooks, and I’ve started paying more attention to the (lack of) diversity in my reading. (Seriously. I need to either keep better track of it and/or read more.) In retrospect, it wasn’t a bad year reading, though I think I read less broadly than I usually do. But, tomorrow’s a new year (and the Cybils’ shortlist announcement!) and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to find some great books out there.

By the Numbers:

Middle Grade Fiction: 52
YA Fiction: 62
Graphic Novels: 24
Non-Fiction: 18
Adult Fiction: 19
(Number of those that were sci-fi/fantasy books, not counting graphic novels: 57)
(Number of those that were by authors of color: 12)
(Number of those that had prominent characters of color — that I can remember: 24)
(Number of those that were audiobooks: 14)
(Number of those that were rereads: 17)

Grand Total: 175

Abandoned: 9

And now this year’s awards:

Best Adult Fiction: The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry
Best YA book: Everything Leads to You
Best Middle-grade book: The Great Greene Heist
Best MG Fantasy: The Greenglass House
Best YA Fantasy: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Best Sci-Fi/Distopian: The Infinite Sea
Best Graphic Novel: Sisters
Best Non-Fiction: Gulp
Best MG/YA Non-Fiction: Port Chicago 50
Best Romance: The Crane Wife
Best Mystery: The Killer’s Cousin
Best Audiobook: Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography

And in other categories…

Cover love: 

  


  
Don’t judge a book by its cover: The Winner’s Curse, Everything Leads to You

Best in-person book group book: Gulp

Best YAckers book: Reality Boy

Couldn’t finish it, but a Great Discussion: Cloud Atlas

*Blush*: The Chocolate Thief

Kids’ Books for Grown-ups: The Night Gardener, Egg & Spoon

A Year of Memoirs: The World’s Strongest Librarian, Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography, The Art of Asking, Dad is Fat, Rethinking Normal, Brown Girl Dreaming, Lifesaving Lessons

We Got Art: The Art Forger, The Art of Asking, I’ll Give You the Sun, Isla and the Happily Ever After, The Summer Prince, Girl in Reverse, Under the Egg, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, 

Favorite reread: Graceling/Fire

Twists FTW: We Were Liars 

The Summer of John Green: Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, Will Grayson, Will Grayson, Let it Snow

My Favorite John Green book: An Abundance of Katherines

Best John Green discussion: Looking for Alaska

Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic isn’t overdone (yet): The Summer Prince

Not Out Yet, but Worth Looking For: Ms. Rapscott’s Girls, Mosquitoland, The Terrible Two

Begs to be Read Aloud: The Night Gardener

Poetry? Who knew?: Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty, The Importance of Being Ernest, What the Heart Knows

Give it up for religion: Zealot, I Love I Hate I Miss My Sister, So Long a Letter, Killing Jesus, Hereville: How Mirka Met a Meteorite 

Superheroes!: The Princess in Black, Shadow Hero, Minion, Dangerous

Why Not Talking Cats: Cleopatra in Space, Mouseheart

History (Real and Alternative): Sugar, Madman of Piney Woods, Boys in the Boat, One Summer, The Inventor’s Secret, A Horse Called Hero, Wanderville, Hidden, Port Chicago 50, Dollbaby, March, Book One 

Books I should have read AGES ago: Obsidian Mirror


Mean Girls: Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass

Awesome LGBTQ+: Everything Leads to You, I’ll Give You the Sun, Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography, Drama, Afterworlds, The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher, The Vacationers, The Summer Prince, Will Grayson, Will Grayson, City of Heavenly Fire, Grasshopper Jungle, Rethinking Normal

WTH Did I Just Read: Grasshopper Jungle

 Evil Incarnate: Half Bad

 Snorting milk outta my nose award: Life of Zarf

Series I devoured: The Casson Family 

I’m in love with everyone: Blue Lily, Lily Blue

Woo-hoo, they’re back!: Ghosts of Tupelo Landing, Thursdays with the Crown, The Whispering Skull, Cress

Waaaah, it’s OVER: The Hero’s Guide to Being an Outlaw, Unmade, Dreams of Gods and Monsters, The Blood of Olympus, The Mortal Heart, The Grimjinx Rebellion, Return of Zita the Spacegirl, The Last Present, The Bitter Kingdom

Loved it, but can’t seem to sell it: Blue Lily, Lily Blue, The Shadowhand Covenant/The Grimjinx Rebellion, Shadow Hero

Indulging in my desire to carry around a photo of Nathan Fillion: Raging Heat

Books I finished but didn’t feel the love for: Dear Committee Members, The Bridge of San Luis Ray, S. , Riverman, Egg & Spoon, Dorothy Must Die, Fablehaven


Author everyone else loves that I discovered I liked: Jim Gaffigan (Dad is Fat, Food: A Love Story), A. S. King (Reality Boy), Rene Telgemeier (Smile, Drama, Sisters)

Author Events I dragged the girls/family to: Gabrielle Zevin (she was the best one!), Kristopher Jansma, Stephen King, Wendelin Van Draanan, Linda Greenlaw, Robert Gates

What are some of your bests this past year?

December 2014 Round Up

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I always feel like the December wrap-up gets a little short-shrifted, with the best-of post coming at the True End of the year. Even so, I read some books this month. And I should round them up.

My favorite?

The Greenglass House

I didn’t expect to like this one, but it’s stayed with me. A delightful story.

And the rest..

Adult Fiction

The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Dear Committee Members
Joyland (DNF) (audio)

Middle Grade

Arcady’s Goal
The Grimjinx Rebellion
The Madman of Piney Woods
Ms. Rapscott’s Girls
Sugar
The Terrible Two

Graphic Novels

In Real Life
I Remember Beruit

Non-Fiction

The Art of Asking (audiobook)

YA

Mosquitoland
Obsidian Mirror

That’s it for me for this year. Stay tuned tomorrow for my 2014 round up!

Ms. Rapscott’s Girls

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by Elise Primavera
First sentence: “Attention, Busy Parents!”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: March 10, 2015
Review copy handed to me by the publisher rep.
Content: It’s a good mix of illustrations and print; while it’s out of the beginning chapter book phase, it’s a good one for reluctant readers. It will be in the middle grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Ms. Rapscott likes things rough. An orphan at an early age, she figured out how to make her Way in Life. And this is a skill she wants to give to young girls. Especially young, neglected girls of Extremely Busy parents. At the start of this summer school term (though you wouldn’t know it by the weather at the lighthouse that serves as the school; it’s always storming), five girls are on their way — arriving by pre-paid post (yes, in boxes) — for Ms. Rapscott to mold. There’s angry Beatrice, lazy Mildred, timid Fay, and competent Annabelle as well. And, of course, Dalhlia, who was so tiny (and her parents so absent-minded) that she fell out of the box and went missing.

At first glance, it’s easy to call this one a modern-day Mary Poppins. Ms. Rapscott serves as a kind, but firm nanny (or boarding school mistress) who gives the girls cake and ice cream for dinner and pie for breakfast, and yet demands tidiness and hard work. There’s a slight magical element — flying boxes, for one, but also her assistants, two dogs who handle the day-to day operations. It definitely feels like one of those books. (I felt chastised, reading it as a busy parent, for not being more attentive to my kids. And I’m pretty attentive. Maybe I was just having a down day when I read this.)

But it’s more than that: Ms. Rapscott doesn’t just straighten up these unruly daughters of busy parents; she helps them learn to be parents. I’m not quite sure what kids will think of this — I need to get K to read it — but as a parent, I saw that Primavera was advocating for the need for variety in a kid’s life: too much pie is bad, but some pie is good. Too much TV and staying in PJs all day is bad, but sometimes, it’s what is needed. Adventure, exploring is good, and can be Learned From. But, mostly, being helpful, cheerful, and optimistic is the best. And, perhaps, that’s something we all need to be reminded of.

It’s a delightful little read.

Mosquitoland

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by David Arnold
First sentence: “I am Mary Iris Malone, and I am not okay.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: March 3, 2015
Review copy handed to me by the publisher rep.
Content: There’s a whole lot of language, both mild and strong. There’s some creepy characters, including a serial rapist, but nothing is graphic. It’ll be in the teen section (grades 9+) of the bookstore.

Mary Iris Malone, Mim to everyone but her mother, is not happy. Her father, in a whirlwind, divorced her mother — who then disappeared — married the waitress at the local Denny’s, then relocated the three of them — Mim had no choice — to the middle of nowhere, Mississippi.

This does not sit well with Mim, who just wants her mother back, her old life back, her home back. So, when she’s called to the principal’s office and overhears her dad and Kathy talking about Mim’s mom with the principal, she snaps. She takes off from school, packs a backpack, grab’s Kathy’s coffee can stash of money, and heads to the Greyhound bus station. She’s headed back to Ohio this Labor Day weekend to see her mother, come hell or high water.

It’s not as easy as it sounds; there’s perils in them thar woods, and Mim is in for one of those life-changing adventures. There are some creepy people on the road, but she makes friends, both causal and the best-friend-types. And she discovers that maybe humanity — and Kathy — aren’t as bad as she’s always made them out to be.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Seriously. It started out slow and kind of awkward; Mim is a tough shell to crack and a prickly one at the beginning. But the more time I spent with her, the more I grew to love her. The more she revealed about her family and her life, the more I enjoyed spending time with her. And her adventures were fantastic. The people she met were fascinating and quirky, and I wanted to go on more adventures with them. I was almost sad when the book ended because I wouldn’t be spending more time with Mim and her friends.

I’m not sure this is a book for everyone. But for those who love good road trip adventures, and quirky characters, it’s a gem.

Obsidian Mirror

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by Catherine Fisher
First sentence: “The boy put on the mask outside the door.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: Nothing objectionable, but it’s slow to start and is a  bit confusing. Not for the reader who gives up easily. It’s in the YA (grades 6-8) section of the bookstore.

This has been on my shelves for a long time. Seriously. I had the ARC, but gave that up, and finally, again, decided that I really needed to read this one. And I was in the mood this past weekend to indulge myself.

I shouldn’t have put it off. (Or maybe I should have: I’ve got the second one waiting to be picked up at the library. Shhhh. I know I said I wasn’t going to. But it’s CATHERINE FISHER.)

There’s three parts to this story. One is Oberon Venn, a very wealthy explorer who has spent the last two years in a depression because he was he cause of the accident that killed his wife, Leah. He will do anything to get her back. Including time travel. He and his trusty slave — there’s more to that than meets the eye — Piers are hidden out at Venn’s estate, trying to do just that: travel through time through the Obsidian Mirror.

The second player in this drama is Jacob, the son of Venn’s best fried. Who is missing and presumed dead. Or at least that’s what Jake thinks. So he’s headed, along with his unsuspecting teacher, Wharton,  to Wintercombe Abbey to force answers from Venn. Little does he know the web he will be tangled in.

The final player is the most complicated one: Sarah is possibly an escapee from an insane asylum. Or perhaps she’s a traveler from the future, a future where the mirror has destroyed the world, in order to destroy the mirror and prevent Venn from bringing his wife back.

There’s so much going on in this one, it’s hard to know where to begin. Yes, it’s slow and incredibly confusing to start with. I kept thinking “HUH?” But, I know Fisher’s work, so I stuck it out, and was richly rewarded. It’s time travel mashed with a mystery mashed with faery stories (yes, the Fey show up, and play a role), and if you give it time, it will begin to play out — it’s the first of a trilogy — in some incredible ways.

I can’t wait to read the next one.

Arcady’s Goal

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by Eugene Yelchin
First sentence: “I’m a risk taker.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content:

Arcady is the best soccer player. Period. So much so, that when the inspectors of the home he’s been placed in come, the director makes a show out of Arcady’s skills. He — Arcady calls him Butterball — puts Arcady up against increasingly larger players, expecting him to beat them. And he does.

But, when one inspector, who’s not quite like the others, comes to visit, Arcady ends up being adopted. Which is not something Arcady bargained on. Nor he he bargain that his new father, Ivan Ivanovich, comes with secrets of his own.

One of the things Yelchin does best is humanize Stalin’s Russia. It’s so easy to push everything from that era off into Things/People were Bad. And Stalin put everyone in concentration camps. But, Yelchin gives us the stories of the children — Arcady ended up in a home because his parents were taken for being enemies of the state — and how Stalin’s policies affected everyday life. They’re simple stories, but they paint a picture of a people who were wronged — even if they weren’t taken — by their leader.

It’s a simple little book, full of illustrations. And there’s a lot of talk about soccer, so there’s an appeal for the soccer lovers. But mostly it’s a portrait of a relationship between to damaged people, and the path to healing.

2014 Advent: Nativity Displays

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For years, there was a virtual advent tour going around the blog, 24 days  of Christmas stuff at various spots. I don’t know what happened to it this year, whether I just missed signing up for it, or it doesn’t exist this year, but I realized this past week that it doesn’t feel like Christmas without a Christmas-y post on the blog.

I also realized that one of the things I haven’t shared here was my collection of nativities. Our church put on a huge nativity display this year, and while my collection isn’t the biggest or the fanciest or the coolest (there were some pretty neat ones I should have snapped pictures of), I’m still quite proud of it.

This one is the oldest one we own. I don’t know where my parents got it, but it was “mine” as a kid, and they actually gave it to me my freshman year of college, when I had bout of homesickness. I’ve been displaying it every year, ever since.

We do have a few international ones:

We didn’t pick this up in Ireland, but loved the stone, Celtic feel of it. The star is a Moravian star, which we picked up on one of our many trips to Pennsylvania.

This one we actually got in Rothenberg, Germany, when we went there on a day trip the summer of 1999. It gets used twice a year, once on story night, and once on Christmas Eve. Which is probably why it’s not turning as well as it used to.

This one we also got in Germany, when some diplomat friends of ours were going to Israel and asked if they could get anything for us. We said a nativity, and this is what the brought back. Yes, I do sense the irony of putting it up in front of the Game of Thrones books.

And this one my brother brought back from Venezuela for me. It usually sits high out of the kids’ reach at home, but I liked this arrangement so much, I think we need to figure out a way to do this at home as well.

This one, out of all of the displays, gets the most use. The girls, when they were younger, loved playing with it, rearranging the pieces, switching the hair on the wise men and shepherds. It’s gotten used for church, and sometimes I’m surprised the backdrop is still standing, or that the angel still has her wings (she lost her halo years ago, though.)

These next few we either just picked up at the store because we liked it, or were given to us.

In the “homemade” category, we have:

I made the ornament, as well as the picture frame above it.

This one was the handiwork of my sister-in-law.

And these, my mom made. I figured the best way to show them off was to put up our crazy nativity puppet play we do every year. It’s good for a laugh or three.

And that’s ours. Do you have any nativities that are special to you?

Audiobook: The Art of Asking

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by Amanda Palmer
Read by the author
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: Amanda doesn’t check her language. There’s a ton of swearing, of all shades. And she’s pretty frank about pretty much everything. It’s in a couple of sections at the bookstore: self-help (which it really isn’t) and biography (where it fits a bit better).

When this book came in, the conversation with one of my bosses as I was shelving this went something like this:

Her: “I saw Amanda Palmer once. She was intense.”
Me: “I didn’t know who she was until she started dating Neil Gaiman.”
Her: “You know, she’s her own person.”

That last sentence really does sum up this book quite nicely: Amanda Palmer is, for better or worse, her own person. And she is not ashamed of any of it.

Nominally an expansion of her TED talk, it’s more a meandering look into what makes Amanda Palmer tick. On the surface, it’s not a book for everyone. Amanda is frank, which means that sometimes she (and her music) will rub you the wrong way. BUT, she is frank. Which means she’s honest, and that gives the book a refreshing clarity. She talks about a lot of things: her time as a street performer, her music, her relationship with Neil Gaiman, but at its heart, it comes down to one thing: she is interested in the connections between people and how we ask for things.

Because of who she is, this is framed in music terms: a musician asking her fans for support, help, love, money. But what she says — that there are ways to ask that isn’t begging, and that it’s the connections (what she calls the net) that makes asking possible — is applicable for just about everyone. It got me thinking about gifts and connections, and how we work at relationships, and about how I’m much too hesitant to ask for things. At one point, she says that asking without condition is a gift, because it allows the other person to give. That’s something that resonated with me.

I enjoyed the audio version of this quite a bit as well: while Amanda’s voice was sometimes difficult for me to hear (which is entirely my fault), I loved hearing snatches of her music (I prefer her later, ukulele songs to the Dresden Dolls stuff) and her Neil Gaiman voice (seriously: she had a slightly British affection when she had him talking. It was quite adorable). But, mostly, I felt like she was in the car with me, explaining her life view, and how, just maybe, it might make my life a little bit better.

Highly recommended.