December 2012 Round Up

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As we come to the end of another year, I think I should be thinking about goals. What I want to accomplish, what I want to change. But honestly? I’m not sure I have it in me to change much. As always, I need to be more involved in the community, but between reading (I suppose I could cut back on that?), working, and being mom, something had to give.

That said, I do miss the community, and I will try harder.

My favorite this month?

Hands down, Days of Blood & Starlight. I adore Laini’s writing and this one was no exception. (For the record, The Raven Boys is a close second.)

Middle Grade (or the last of this year’s Cybils books):

The Cabinet of Earths

Darkbeast
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There

The Icarus Project

Iron Hearted Violet

Keeper of the Lost Cities

Nanny Piggins and the Wicked Plan
Ordinary Magic
The Prairie Thief
The Prince Who Fell From the Sky

Small Medium at Large

Starry River of the Sky

The Storm Makers

The Seven Tales of Trinket
Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy

Signed by Zelda
YA:
Burning Blue

The Raven Boys

Under My Hat

Non-fiction:

Cool Dead People

Audiobook:

In the Garden of the Beasts
Size 14 is Not Fat Either 

And tomorrow: the best of post!

Keeper of the Lost Cities

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by Shannon Messenger
ages: 10+
First sentence: “Blurry, fractured memories swam through Sophie’s mind, but she couldn’t piece them together.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

A young boy girl is raised among humans, never knowing that he’s she’s not one of them. He She manifests some special abilities, but mostly what he she does is lay low, living with his her family, knowing somehow that he’s she’s different than they are. Then on his eleventh birthday a school field trip soon after she turns twelve, he she is found by an emissary of the different world, gaining a glimpse into his her real future: that of the wizards elves. As he’s she’s introduced to this world by a soon-to-become good friend, he she learns that his place in the world is a unique one: that of the Chosen One Keeper. (Possibly; it’s not really clear.) He She is sent off to Hogwarts Foxfire, the wizard boarding school elf nobility school, where he she makes friends, endears himself herself to some teacher and offends others, shows incredible abilities in certain areas, gains a mentor, and ends up breaking a lot of rules. He She succeeds in thwarting the evil that he she faces in the end, but it’s only a temporary fix. How can he she, a mere boy girl, save this world?

If you haven’t figured it out by now, my main problem with this one — that I started with high hopes: a separate world with elves! Cool! (And, no, that’s not a train on the cover. I thought it was) — was, that by about halfway through, I realized it was Too Much Harry Potter Knockoff, and not enough cool elves doing cool, unique, elvy things. I thought that Messenger had a cool idea for the world, but in the end, just wasn’t able to pull it off as well as I’d hoped.

That, and  I realized that halfway through, at 488 pages, this was Much Too Long. All of which makes me kind of sad.

(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.)

Iron Hearted Violet

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by Kelly Barnhill
ages: 10+
First sentence: “The end of my world began with a story.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Princess Violet is not beautiful. In fact, she is the furthest thing from it. But, she is gregarious, intelligent, and well-loved by all. She isn’t entirely satisfied by this arrangement: she thinks she’d much rather be beautiful than anything else. So, when the 13th God, the Nybbas, starts whispering in her ear, making promises to Violet, she’s willing to risk the entire mirrored world for beauty.

Or, so she thinks.

That’s about as far as I got. It’s not a bad premise, though the illustrations don’t do Violet’s deformities justice, but the execution drove me batty. Generally, I have no problems with intrusive narrators (I liked A Tale Dark and Grimm and the Incorrigibles of Ashton Place books, after all), but this one drove me batty. First of all, the narrator is an actual character in the story, and an adult one at that. And the story is written in first person. All of which doesn’t add up to me. Who is the main character? Violet. Then why is this storyteller guy (who calls me “my dear” all the time, too!) telling the story?

Sad to say, even though I think that this book has a good moral (be accepting of yourself, and you may change the world), I never got past the annoying narrator to get to that point.

(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.) 

Ordinary Magic

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by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway
ages: 10+
First sentence: “The day of my Judging dawned bright and clear and hot.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.

Abby has grown up in a place, and a family, where having and doing magic is normal, every day, expected. So, of course on her 12th birthday, she has her Judging, when they determine not whether she has magic, but at what level she is. Except, it doesn’t go as planned: Abby has no magic. Is what they call an ord. Which means, generally speaking, her family and friends will shun her, she’ll get sold into slavery, and die an early death.

Except, Abby’s oldest sister, Alexa is working with the government and has set up a boarding school for ords to teach them how to live without magic. How to survive in a world where no one wants them. How to find a place where they are needed.  And Abby’s family is such that they’re not going to shun her, so she’s packed off to boarding school.

So far so good. I adore the reverse magic thing Rubino-Bradway has imagined, and I loved Abby’s family, and how they stood together. It’s so rare to have a fantastic family in kids books, I was just reveling in the fact that the parents were not idiots and the siblings all really adored each other and wanted to protect Abby.

But that’s also problematic: see a kid can’t have adventures with hovering parents. Boarding school is a good solution, but I do have a question: why do they all need to feel like we’ve gone through the whole school year? Can I blame that one on Harry Potter?

Because once Abby gets to the school, not much happens. (To be fair, not much happens in Harry Potter, either, but Rowling kind of makes us forget that.) They go to class. Abby ends up on kitchen duty. She makes friends. They have a spot of adventure at the Yule Fest, where Abby gets kidnapped, but then it’s back to, well regular school. She meets the king. And there’s a spot more of adventure, and the book ends.

It never really peaks climatically, and while it’s all very interesting, and charming, and I love Abby and her family, and I liked that Rubino-Bradway was dealing with prejudice, it just never really seemed to go anywhere. Which I found, ultimately, unsatisfying.

(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.)

Burning Blue

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by Paul Griffith
ages: 14+
First sentence: “Sent the night before the attack.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Nicole Castro has the perfect life: she’s beautiful, popular, talented, kind, and has the best boyfriend ever. Until one day, when an attacker sprays half her face with acid, burning away everything.

Jay Nazzaro has been homeschooled for the past couple of years, ever since an epileptic fit at school ruined his chances for a normal existence there. He’s back in school, as a junior, on meds (sometimes), and trying not to let his… talent as a hacker become public knowledge.

That is, until he and Nicole strike up a conversation. Sure, Jay’s been crushing on her for forever, but he realizes that there’s more to her than a beautiful face. And that with his talents, he’s probably the only one who can catch her attacker.

This one has a lot going for it (except for the cover, which will deter guys from reading this one, even though they would enjoy it): it’s an issue book, talking about beauty and identity, but it’s also a mystery. It’s not a brilliant one (I figured it out), but it is solid, and there’s a nice twist at the end. It’s not deep, or earth-shattering, but it is a solid piece of work, one that became more engrossing as the pages went on.

Which means, I’ll probably check out some more Paul Griffiths here soon.

Audiobook: Size 14 is Not Fat Either

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by Meg Cabot
read by Kristin Kairos
ages: adult

Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

I read a Meg Cabot book years ago, and didn’t have much love for it. Since then, I’ve felt I ought to give her a second chance, but nothing really pulled at me and said “READ ME!” So, I never did.

Then, one day, I found myself without anything to listen to in the car, and saw this sitting on the library shelf. I figured now was the time to give Meg Cabot another shot.

Heather Wells is in her second semester as assistant director of Fisher Hall, a dorm residence hall at New York City College. Last semester (the first book in the series, which I missed; I seem to be doing that a lot this year) wasn’t all that hot, with multiple murders, but Heather has high hopes that Fisher Hall will be able to shake its “death dorm” reputation. That is, until the head of one of the residents ends up in a pot in the cafeteria. Heather is bound and determined not to get involved this time — investigating is for the police! — but you know there wouldn’t be a book if she actually listened.

On top of the investigation for the dead girl, there’s also the problem of Heather’s ex-fiance who is getting married. Except he keeps calling her. And turning up drunk on her (well, her ex-fiance’s brother’s; he’s her landlord) doorstep. Which is not helping her plan to get together with her ex-fiance’s brother, Cooper.

So, yeah: even though there’s a mystery — and it’s not a bad one, either, even though I kind of called the ending, which I never do — it’s also a comedy and a romance. In short: just plain fun.

I don’t know if half the reason I liked this one so much was because the narrator was just so fabulous. (You know, I’ve never really determined what a “fabulous” narrator is. Maybe it’s just one of those “you know it when you hear it” things.) She made driving around town a fun experience, and I was actually a  little bummed when the book ended (and Heather didn’t get together with the guy I wanted her to!).

I’ve got to go out and get the next one (unless I need to go back and get the first one?), just so I can find out what happens next.

I have the best bookgroups

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And both did a holiday swap this year. First up, from my YAckers group:

My swapee (swaper? Am I the swapee?) was Holly from Book Harbinger sent this… the candy was cake balls. YUM. And the books were these:

I literally did a happy dance. As soon as the Cybils are over, I’m digging into them! *happy*

And for my long-time Nook friends, I was (at least) quite grateful that one of our members threw together a swap at the last minute, because I got Kellie as my gift giver. (I’ve wanted her to give to me for years, because she gives such lovely, thoughtful presents.) And she didn’t disappoint.

So cute. I’m keeping the tags. And inside?

 We have the game already (it’s one of our favorites), but M has been threatening to take it, so now she has her own copy!

As for the slippers, I stuck them on.

And haven’t taken them off!

Hope you had a happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas!

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“Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew… [A]nd it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alife possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!”

The Storm Makers

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by Jennifer E. Smith
ages: 10+
First sentence: “Only Ruby knew about the stranger in the barn.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Twelve-year-old Ruby and her twin brother Simon are trying to get used to living on 10 acres in Wisconsin rather than a suburban Chicago home. Sure, it’s been a bit more than a year since they moved — in order for their parents to pursue their inventing/artistic dreams — but it still doesn’t really feel like home.  Especially this summer, when it’s so hot, without any rain, and the crops are withering. (Talk it the hand: I feel your pain! Summers in Kansas ain’t no picnic.)

Then Weird Stuff begins to happen to Simon. Or because of Simon: a rainstorm. A freak electrical shock. And a couple of strangers turn up (one nice, one not-so) to tell Simon that he has Special Powers, that he’s a part of an exclusive club: the Storm Makers.

So far, so good, right? I did like Smith’s play on the whole global warming/changing weather thing. And if you’ve been paying attention the past few years, she worked several major disasters into her story linnke, And I did like the neat twist near the end. But, overall, I didn’t feel this one held together. Mostly because it kind of felt like Savvy, but not as cool. And the “bad” guy was kind of wimpy; I never truly got the sense that he was All That and then some. Sure, yeah, I was told he was, but I just didn’t feel it. And while I liked Ruby — from whose point of view it was told — I never got a handle on Simon, either. Since he was half the whole twin thing, I felt like I should have gotten to know him at least a little better.

It wasn’t bad. But it wasn’t really great, either.

(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.)

Cool Dead People

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Obituaries of Real Folks We Wish We’d Met a Little Sooner
by  Jane O’Boyle
ages: adult

First sentence: “More than two million people die each year in this country.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

There isn’t really much to say about this slim little collection of obituaries. Either you will be fascinated by reading about dead people — most of whom accomplished something, but weren’t really Big News — or you won’t.

Thankfully, I was. There were several people who caught my attention, from the woman who was responsible for publishing George Lucas’s novels, Princess Bride, and Mists of Avalon; to the brother of Jackie Robinson; to a stone mason who helped build Rockefeller Center; to Hitler’s secretary; to the second wife of Anne Frank’s father.

It’s not a really deep or profound collection, but it kind of made me reflect on what  people would say about me. It’s mostly just fascinating. There ought to be more of these out there.