The House of Hades

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Heroes of Olympus, book 4
by Rick Riordan
ages: 12+
First sentence: “During the third attack, Hazel almost ate a boulder.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: The Lost Hero, The Son of Neptune, Mark of Athena

First off: I liked this one SO much better than Mark of Athena. I am glad for that.

The plot picks up right after MoA left off (actually, one of my favorite things about the book is the dedication. I love how Rick knows his fans.), with Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus and the rest of the seven (Leo, Hazel, Frank, Jason, Piper) plus Nico are on the Argo II. Both sets have one goal: make it to the House of Hades and shut the Doors of Death before Gaea raises the giant army.

From the start, you know that the heroes have to fail. If they succeeded, there wouldn’t be a need for a fifth book. And yet, I like how Rick (we’re on a first-name basis  now, you know) plots this one. They do fail, but not completely. And, along the way, they learn some valuable lessons about themselves and each other.

To be fair, this was an incredibly crowded book. While I’ve enjoyed this series, I do have to admit that, in many ways, making it so huge with so many view points and so many main characters is a drawback rather than a plus. I enjoyed the book as a whole, sure, but I also felt like there were things missing. There is so much going on — not just Percy and Annabeth sludging through the monster hell, but also the impending battle back at Camp Half Blood, or the rest of the heroes’ adventures — that bits are bound to be left out. And part of me wants those stories, as well. Granted, those aren’t the stories that Rick chooses to tell, but I still feel like there’s something missing.

Even with the crowded feeling, I did enjoy the book. Rick has a gift with creating characters you just love (Bob! Nico! Frank! Leo! Hazel! Even Piper had a chance to be awesome!) and — I know I’ve said this before — he still has a gift for making you want to turn pages, to find out what’s next. And just when you start to think it’s slogging (at least this time), he switches the action somewhere else. (On the other hand, that’s probably a contributing factor to the busy-ness of the book.)

No, this isn’t my favorite series Rick has written (give me the original Percy Jackson and the Olympians!), but it’s a good one. And I’m more than happy to go on a journey one more time with Percy and crew. And I do think I’ll be sad when it’s over next year. Which means, in spite of my quibbling, it really was a good book.

(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.)

Heaven Is Paved With Oreos

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by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
ages: 11+
First sentence: “Darling Sarah!”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

When I heard that Catherine Murdock wrote a new book in D. J. Schwenk’s world, the first thing I did was put in on hold at the library. It’s been years since I’ve read Dairy Queen and it’s companion books, but I have fond memories of them. And while I didn’t love this one as much as the originals, it didn’t disappoint.

Fourteen-year-old Sarah Zorn is best friends with Curtis Schwenk. And since that’s not really acceptable in middle school (as C finds out more often than not), they’ve come up with their “Brilliant Outflanking Strategy”: let everyone think that they’re dating, even if they’re not. Except, that doesn’t really work: right before Sarah goes to Rome with her grandma, Z (yes, that’s what everyone calls her), Curtis “breaks up” with her.

But, as things go, Lessons Are Learned in Rome (Italy is a good place for Lessons), and Sarah comes home a Wiser and More Mature person, one who is more willing to face the unknown. A lot of that is due to her grandmother’s story, which we learn over the course of the book.

Told in journal-style (is there a name for that?), we see the world, both Wisconsin and Rome,  through Sarah’s eyes. She’s a lovely person to have as a companion through this journey. And even though Z’s story is a non-traditional one, I found it hard to judge her for it. She was who she was, and even Sarah’s questioning of that didn’t stop me from enjoying Z. (Maybe it’s because I’m a hippie at heart.) My favorite part was the Rome section. Murdock only had Sarah and Z spend a week there; I wished it could have gone on much longer, and in more detail. But, I did like how the act of going changed Sarah, and the results that came out of that.

So, no, it’s not as strong a novel as Murdock’s original series; in many ways it feels tacked-on after the fact, an unnecessary cousin tagging along. But that didn’t stop me from really liking it.

Deadly Heat

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by Richard Castle
ages: adult
First sentence: “NYPD Homicide detective Nikki Heat double-parked her gray Crown Victoria behind the coroner van and strode toward the pizza joint where a body waited.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: Heat Wave,  Naked Heat, Heat Rises, Frozen Heat

I’ve always kind of thought that you couldn’t pick up these books without having first watched the show. But, after finishing this one, I realized that really the only frame of reference you need is Frozen Heat. It picks up almost directly where that one leaves off, and ties most directly into it, giving us some nice loose ends all wrapped up.

Nikki knows who actually killed her mother. What she doesn’t know, is who called the shots. And that’s something she’s determined to do, even though the Department of Homeland Security Agents Bell (who happens to be Jameson Rook’s ex) and Callahan keep getting in her way. In addition, she’s faced with a serial killer, nicknamed Rainbow, who is playing games with her. And yes, she’s next on his list.

She’s also getting flack from her incompetent commander for juggling two cases, something which Nikki resents. But, determined as she is, she (and Rook, of course) doggedly persevere, and manage to solve the crimes in the end.

Much like season 5, this was a bit lighter, but also like Frozen Heat, it’s really it’s own beast now. I recognized a few plotlines from the season, but mostly, that’s not what I was reading this for. No, now I’m invested in Nikki Heat the character (not Nikki Heat as a reflection of the way Stana Katic plays Kate Beckett… man, that’s confusing!), and her own personal journey. And this one, I think it’s safe to say, is a pretty decent mystery. I suspected the end, though the clues were there, and if I had been paying attention I would have figured it out. I also liked the way the two storylines intersected in the end, and how they helped each other resolve. I liked that both Nikki and Rook had a chance to shine.

I’m sold on this as a series now, which means I’ll be sad if the show ever ends and these disappear. Unless, of course, the ghostwriter decides to keep it up. In that case, I’ll keep reading them.

Texting the Underworld

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by Ellen Booraem
ages: 10+
First sentence: “Death stalked the spider, pre-algebra book in hand.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Conor O’Neill has fears. Spiders, safety, his father pressuring him into taking the entrance exams to one of the elite high schools in Boston. Even with his fears, Conor’s managing. Until his worst fear comes true: a banshee shows up in his window, waiting to keen for a death of one of Conor’s family.

At first, Conor tries to keep the banshee — whose name is Ashling — a secret, but (of course) that doesn’t work. She’s bored waiting for the death to happen and it’s her first time out of the Underworld since her death 1600 years ago. She wants knowledge, and (of course) middle school is a good place to get it. Except for the whole “if people see you keening when something dies, they die too” thing.

It’s more complicated than that, obviously. There’s a side story about one of Conor’s former lives in which he had a relationship with Ashling. And there’s a trip to the Underworld so that Conor can cheat death (not his own; and he doesn’t, really, in the end. Spoilers, I know.).

While I liked Booream’s treatment of Celtic mythology (and other; there’s some Greek and African mythologies in there as well) and her modernizing of banshees (and the Underworld, for that matter), in the long run, this just didn’t work for me. I think my main problem with it was Conor. He was so insecure, so unsure of himself, that I felt that, for most of the book, he was just spinning his wheels. I wanted him to be proactive and DO something instead of just being reactive to everything around him. And by the time that happened, I felt like it was too little, too late. (And his younger 10-year-old sister Glennie was just annoying.) I did like Ashling, however; I thought Booream caught the idea of a supernatural being — especially one who wouldn’t have encountered the modern world — enthused with the mortal world. I liked Ashling’s discovery of cell phones, computers, buses, even sidewalks. That charmed and amused me.

I’m just disappointed it wasn’t all like that.

(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.)

In Which I Drive 7 Hours for An Author

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First, some background. I discovered The Lightning Thief on a shelf in my library in Macomb, Illinois. The cover was Awful…

(Even Rick thought it was awful.)

but I gave it a chance, and fell in love. I passed it to M, who adored it, as well. Over the next eight years, I would have another daughter, bringing the total up to 4, and we continued to buy (and love) Rick’s books. All of us. (Yes, we even got Hubby on the bandwagon.) And Rick became more and more popular.

Then, we finally got old enough to start thinking about going to author events. And #1 on the list of authors we would ALL love to see was J. K. Rowling. But we knew we’d never see her, so the real #1 was Rick. We know we should have seen him 7 years ago before he got HUGE, but that wasn’t in the cards. So we waited for him to come relatively close. We did think about going down to see him in Austin last year, but the timing wasn’t right, so we didn’t make it.

But THIS year, he came to St. Louis (only 7 hours instead of  9) and it happened to be on a weekend night, on a week when the girls had a small fall break. THIS WAS IT. And I bought the tickets, made the arrangements, and we were off.

(Hubby didn’t come; he went to Texas for a conference instead.)

The day of the event, we spent a good 5 hours at the St. Louis Zoo in the morning and then went swimming at the hotel in the afternoon. This is important because A, who is the BIGGEST fan of them all, ended up with a huge headache from dehydration, but still insisted on going to the event. (When I asked her the next day if it was worth it, even with the headache, she said, “HECK YEAH.”)

A remembered her Annabeth hat, but forgot her Camp Half Blood shirt,
so we made a quick trip to Target and found a purple shirt to make Camp Jupiter. 

It was at the St. Louis County Library, and we got there a half hour before the doors opened. The line was already halfway around the building. So we waited.

Wrong fandom, but we thought it was awesome anyway.
Finally!

Once we got in, there was more waiting, but we had two copies of the books. They were snagged by A and C.

Look! A signed book!
We weren’t the only ones reading.


Eventually, the waiting ended, and the program began! Rick Riordan was a TON of fun. His teaching background comes out in presentations; he knows his fans and exactly what to say. From references to Twitter and Tumblr, shipping and “Everyone’s favorite character…. Octavian! Oh, wait. LEO!” He basically told his path to becoming Rick Riordan Successful Author, and even though I knew most of it already, it was still highly entertaining.

The best picture I took.

Rick took this one. We’re about a third of the way back,
all the way on the left. No, you can’t see us.

Then, at the very end, he did a really brief Q&A. I was smart enough to know that this part was truly unique, and turned on the camera to record. I missed the first question which was, “Rick, why are you so sassy?”

And then it was over. Too soon, I might add. I think we all thought we could have stayed there all night, but the hour was fabulous.

K won a Camp Jupiter shirt, which I didn’t take a picture of, and we made it back to our hotel, exhausted, but thoroughly happy. There are very few people (I’m not related to, anyway) I’ll travel any distance to, but I’m definitely glad I managed to get the girls to this one.

Boxers & Saints

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 by Gene Luen Yang
ages: 13+
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

I didn’t quite know what to expect going into reading Gene Luen Yang’s newest graphic novels. I did know that they were a pair, and I read them back-to-back. But what I got…. wow. I think, after I turned the last page, the best comparison would be a Zhang Yimou movie. Both sweeping and intimate, these graphic novels pack a powerful punch.

They center around the Boxer rebellion in China which culminated in the summer of 1900. In Boxers, we follow the story of Little Bao, a third son of a village peasant. He’s not respected, and his older brothers push him around a bit. He loves opera, and he spends all his free time watching it, which doesn’t help his situation at home any. He does long for respect, and gets his chance when a young man by the name of Red Lantern shows up. Red Lantern teaches the village men kung fu, and ends up taking Little Bao under his wing. This becomes crucial when Red Lantern is killed by the imperial army, and Little Bao takes over his duties as leader of the rebellion. Their mission? To enact justice in behalf of those who are being bullied.

However, what starts out as justice soon becomes a crusade to rid the land of foreigners, mostly Christians, and those Chinese who have converted. Little Bao becomes increasingly more ensconced in this crusade, and increasingly more uncomfortable with it. Along the way, he meets Vibiana, a Christian convert.

In Saints, we see Vibiana’s side of the story. We discover that her conversion to Christianity is more an act of desperation rather than true devotion. A fourth daughter of a deceased father, she is often neglected and beaten at home. She finds refuge in the home of Dr. Won, the village acupuncturist, who introduces her to Christianity. Soon afterward, she sees visions of Joan of Arc, which she doesn’t understand but finds comfort in. After one particularly brutal beating, Vibiana leaves her family and goes to work in a Christian orphanage, which is where she meets Little Bao.

I shouldn’t have to say this, but these stories are both tragedies. And yet, possibly because of this, there is much to think about. I love the tagline on the backs of these: “Every war has two faces.” Yang does a superb job not only showing the horrors of war, or the decisions of a leader, but also that there are many different sides to a story, and that every truth is a valid one. The ending is tender and horrible, and left me wondering about the nature of faith, devotion, and fanaticism.

In short: brilliant.

Flora and Ulysses

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by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by K. G. Campbell
ages: 8-12
First sentence: “In the Tickham kitchen late on a summer afternoon…”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy pilfered from the ARC shelves at my place of employment.

Flora is a cynic. Her mother is a romance writer and Flora is positive that she loves the shepherdess lamp more than her own child. Her father is awkward, his opening line being, “George Buckman. How do you do?”

Then one day, a squirrel gets vacuumed up by Flora’s neighbors ultra-spiffy vacuum, and (after they determine that it’s not dead) gains superpowers. Well, he can communicate with Flora, type out poetry, and fly. Flora is convinced that means the squirrel — which she named Ulysses after the vacuum — is meant to save the world.

I wanted to love Kate DiCamillo’s latest with my whole heart. I didn’t. I liked it well enough; Flora is clever, and Ulysses is cute. But, I never felt like I connected with the characters. I felt that while it was clever and sweet, it lacked heart and depth. (Yeah, I know: it’s for younger readers. That doesn’t mean it can’t have depth.) I did like the illustrations, quite a bit, and I liked what DiCamillo was trying to get across here.

So, chalk it up to me and my slight reading slump. It may be a lot better than what I ended up thinking it was.

(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.)

State of the TBR Pile: October 2013

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For the next few months, I have two TBR piles (that’s not counting the three ARC piles for work): The Ones I Want To Read and The Ones I Need To Read For Cybils.

First, my smallish Cybils pile (the nominations are open for a couple more days, if you want to see this pile grow…):

The Strangers (Books of Elsewhere 4), by Jacqueline West
Guys Read: Other Worlds, ed. Jon Scieszka
The Hostage Prince, by Jane Yolen (Actually, it’s not nominated yet. Huh.)
What We Found on the Sofa and How it Saved the World, by Henry Clark
The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud
The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, Kathi Appelt
The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two, by Catherynne M. Valente (Hmm… Not Nominated… yet….)
The Real Boy, by Anne Ursu
How to Catch a Bogle, by Catherine Jinks (Again, not nominated. People. Work on this.)

And for my “want to” pile:

Totto-Chan, by Tetsuko Kuroanagi
Will in Scarlett, by Matthew Cody
Shadows, by Robin McKinley (though, honestly, I tried to start this the other day, and disappointingly, it didn’t grab me)
Rose Under Fire, by Elizabeth Wein
Are You Experienced, by Jordan Sonnenblick
45 Pounds (More or Less), by Kelly Barson
The Bitter Kingdom, by Rae Carson

What’s on your pile?

The Clockwork Scarab

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by Colleen Gleason
ages: 12+
First sentence: “There are a limited number of excuses for a young, intelligent woman of seventeen to be traversing the fog-shrouded streets of London at midnight.”
Review copy pilfered off the ARC shelves at my place of employment.

Years ago, I remember when Colleen Gleason came out with the Gardella vampire books. I won the first one, if I remember right, and I remember liking it quite a bit. And so, when I got wind that she was writing a YA books, starring the “niece” of Sherlock Holmes and the half-sister of Braham Stoker, I was excited. And the cover is sooo pretty. I had high hopes.

The basic story is this: There have been a series of disappearances and apparent suicides in late-19th century socialite London. Miss Holmes and Miss Stoker are invited by Miss Irene Adler (I had to remind myself who she was), to help assist in this investigation. There are suspicious circumstances surrounding the deaths/disappearances of the girls, and there’s a mechanical scarab left at every scene. There are, of course, several love interests, including a Lieutenant, a mysterious gentleman who goes by the name of Pix, and (most interesting), a time traveler from the future.

That’s all the plot I got from the handful of pages I read. See, in spite of my high expectations (or perhaps because of them?), I couldn’t make it very far in this one. It just wasn’t clicking for me. Miss Holmes was interesting, but Miss Stoker was… off. And I was put off by the talk of clothes and hair, and the swooning over the boys. Much like Etiquette & Espionage, I felt like Gleason was dumbing herself down, and that wasn’t sitting right with me.

True, it has all the markings of a good YA mystery, but in the end, I bailed.

Exile

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by Shannon Messenger
ages: 9+
First sentence: “Sophie’s hands shook as she lifted the tiny green bottle.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: Keeper of the Lost Cities
Review copy snagged off the review shelves at my place of employment.

First off: kids like this series. So, take everything I say about it with a HUGE grain of (adult) salt. Also: spoilers for the first one. Obviously.

Sophie is still living with the elves. She’s still multitalented, which many of her age-mates find annoying. She’s still trying to get used to living with her adopted family. And she’s still trying to figure out who the Black Swan are, and why they created her.

It’s a lot for a 12-year-old to handle.

Especially since she found a rare alicorn — part unicorn, part Pegasus — in the woods and brought it home. It could “reset the timeline” (no, I have no idea what that means), and so Sophie’s been given charge (reluctantly) by the Council to tame and train the alicorn. Which, of course, she forms a bond with.

Much like the first one, this one was TOO long. Sure, there was a lot of white space and the text is big, but at 570 pages, I was exhausted before I was halfway through. And, much like the last one, I feel like Messenger has a good story in here. This time, though, she needed an EDITOR to hack her stuff down to 250 pages. (Especially all of Sophie’s anxiety moments. ENOUGH ALREADY.) I did like some of the characters — Keefe, especially– and I thought Messenger tied up the story nicely while leaving some threads for the next book.

(Can I hope for that one to be shorter??)

But, as I said at the first, kids do seem to like this series. It’s good for those who aren’t old enough for Harry Potter or want more like that. But it’s just not doing it for me.