The Book of Nonsense

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by David Michael Slater
ages: 10+
First sentence: “It was downright embarrassing to get treated so shabbily, especially after the way she’d gone on about how great the place was.”

There are some books that grab you and won’t let you go. Ones that you’re dying to get to night after night, the ones that your kids beg you to keep reading. This one started out that way. It’s an interesting premise: a book of “nonsense” that a couple of twins — Daphna and Dexter — discover is actually a key to an ancient language of magic. There’s an evil, twisted villain, who’s hypnotized the twins’ dad, and is trying to kidnap Dapha so she’ll work for him. There’s Emmett, a creepy red-eyed bully. And, at the beginning, it’s all very exciting and interesting.

But.

Yes, our circumstances didn’t lend for reading every day: we were often sick or busy. But days would go by and C wasn’t asking me to read. And the times when she did, and we couldn’t, she wasn’t horribly disappointed. And I wasn’t terribly thrilled while reading it, either. The chapters were long, and we could never remember what had just happened from one to the next. So, we’re abandoning it, and moving on to something else. Sure, we take the chance that we’re leaving just at the best part, that something spectacular will happen to make the book absolutely fabulous, and we’d be hooked and can’t wait for the sequel.

The problem is: neither one of us is terribly interested in finding out whether or not that’s true.

Sunday Morning Meme-ing

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Becky tagged me for the Six Things meme, and (aside from tagging, which never makes me happy) I’m happy to do it. 🙂

The rules: Link to the person who tagged you. Post six things that make you happy along with these rules. Then tag six others (letting them know, of course). Let the person who tagged you know when your entry is complete.

Six things that make me unquestionably, blissfully happy:
1. My girls (when they’re being good and playing together well, or being funny. But not when they’re screaming at each other.)
2. When Hubby comes home from a long trip (like last night).
3. Cake.
4. Girls Night Outs (whether it just be hanging with friends, or book group, or whatever)
5. Reading
6. Music (listening, playing, watching, dancing, whatever…)

And now for the hard part… six people to tag: softdrink, Charlotte, Sarah, Alysa, Andi, and Trisha.

Well-Seasoned Reader Challenge Roundup #7

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This week’s quote is from one of my favorite travel writers, Bill Bryson. He says:

But that’s the glory of foreign travel, as far as I am concerned. I don’t want to know what people are talking about. I can’t think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything. Suddenly you are five years old again. You can’t read anything, you have only the most rudimentary sense of how things work, you can’t even reliably cross a street without endangering your life. Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses.

Review-wise, it was an infinitesimally slow week. (You can see all the reviews here.)

Tiny Librarian checked in this week with Dishing with the Kitchen Virgin, by Susan Reinhardt, a collection of “food stories, culinary missteps, and recipes from yummy to yucky.” Tiny Librarian’s verdict: “A quick, funny, foodie read, perfect for this challenge.”

Lily read one of my all-time favorites, Reading Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisi. Lily writes, “For me, Azar Nafisi gave me the greatest gift a writer can give to a reader: a new appreciation for literature, which sadly and quite unconsciously I have started to take for granted.” Very true.

And Amira checked in with Banker to the Poor, by Muhammad Yunus, which deals with microlending and the World Bank, two things I know absolutely nothing about it. Amira writes, “The book is recommended, although it didn’t really clear up any of the controversy over microcredit, for me.”

Here’s hoping for more next week!

Ranger’s Apprentice: The Siege of Macindaw

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by John Flanagan
ages: 10+
First sentence: “Gundar Hardstriker, Captain and Helmsan of the Scandian ship Wolfcloud, chewed disconsolately on a stringy piece of tough smoked beef.”
Release date: August 11, 2009

I haven’t read any of these books, but M is a die-hard fan. So, when Abby was doing an ARC giveaway, I knew I had to enter for her. And I (well, she) won! Because it was a bloggy thing, though, I felt kind of like I should put up a review, and since I wasn’t going to read the book, I thought it would be interesting for me to do a Q&A with M about it, instead.

Summarize the plot, but don’t give away the ending! In the fifth book, one of Will’s (that’s the main character) best friends, Alyss, is being held hostage by the evil Sir Keren, who is betraying the kingdom to Will’s country’s northern enemies. So, Will and his warrior friends plan a siege on the castle, Macindaw (hence the title), to save Alyss and the kingdom from their enemies.

What did you like most about the book? First of all: warriors and romance. Big, hulking, Viking-like people that are really stupid, but hilarious. Will’s mentor, Halt, makes the book really good, though you don’t see a lot of him. Will also makes the book really funny while he is seiging, with his romance problems. Hilarious.
What did you like least? That the good guys could do no wrong. Will’s ideas always worked. Horace (that’s the warrior friend) always killed his adversaries, and Alyss was a damsel in distress, which she wasn’t in the 5th book. She was resourceful in the 5th book, but, no, as soon as she’s caught and thrown in a castle, she’s a damsel in distress and Will has to go and save her.

Who is most likely to enjoy this book? Why? Well, actually, I’ve gotten three or four boys reading the Ranger’s Apprentice by saying “YOU’LL LIKE THIS BOOK.” So. Anyone with imagination who likes fighting (the romance doesn’t kick in until the sixth book).

What did you think of the main character? Will’s funny, resourceful, smart, and any other good word you can think of because he’s the main character and he has to be that way. Unfortunately. (And unlike Mr. Darcy.)

Any other particularly interesting characters? Horace — really fun guy, and a really good warrior. The Sorcerer of Mackindaw (can’t say his name). Really funny guy. I can’t say more, because it would give away a major plot point.

What did you think of the ending? I’m waiting for the next book. Hand it to me now.

Really Quick

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I don’t usually do this, but before I left today, I checked my email and found this:

76 days until the release of Rick Riordan’s

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 5: The Last Olympian

www.PercyJacksonBooks.com reveals cover image for the highly anticipated fifth and final book in Rick Riordan’s blockbuster series.

Rick’s blog, http://rickriordan.blogspot.com/, features exclusive short interview with Blackjack the Pegasus.

At 12:01 am EST, on Wednesday February 18, 2009, www.PercyJacksonBooks.com will unveil The Last Olympian cover image. Leading up to the one-day laydown on Tuesday, May 5, 2009, Percy fans who visit the dedicated website (www.PercyJacksonBooks.com) will be treated to exclusive content that will be posted on a regular basis including: teaser videos, downloadables- chat icons and wallpaper, new never-before-seen character art from the series, discussion board/message post, an all-new quiz, and soon-to-be-announced sweepstakes information!

In addition to the interview with Blackjack the Pegasus on Rick Riordan’s blog (http://rickriordan.blogspot.com/), Rick will be sending out a series of inside details on a weekly basis about The Last Olympian that will only be available on Twitter: http://twitter.com/camphalfblood.

More exciting news to come!

We’re all — well, me, M and C — are a bit fangirly about this. We can’t wait!

Library Loot #7

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A really, really small haul this week, entirely because I stopped by the library yesterday to return DVDs (and pick up new ones for the girls) because I’m out of town today and we won’t get to do our usual library run.

However, I can’t help but pick up books for M while I’m there (she can never have too many books):

Life As We Knew It, Susan Beth Pfeffer
Melting Stones, Tamora Pierce*
The Boy Book, E. Lockhart

Did you get anything interesting?

The roundup is over at A Striped Armchair.

*Ones that M eventually read.

The Graveyard Book

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by Neil Gaiman
ages: 10+
First sentence: “There was a hand in the darkness and it held a knife.”

This book has been read by practically everyone (if you haven’t read it, why not?), and I don’t have much to add. So, some not-so-random thoughts (since everyone else has written a review of it):

I agree with those (like Natasha, most recently) who don’t like the cover or the illustrations. I’m not sure they added much to the book. And they just kind of weird. In cases like this, I’d much rather leave everything up to my imagination.

That said, I did like the story. It helped knowing it was patterned after Jungle Book; the pacing is a bit weird, and I think it would have bothered me if I didn’t know it was a conscious decision on Gaiman’s part to write it that way. But knowing that, I was able to put aside my irritations when they cropped up (which wasn’t often).

That said, I loved the story. I loved the intensity of the first and second-to-last chapters. During those, at least, I couldn’t put the book down. I loved Bod and the life that Gaiman imagined for him in the graveyard, including his relationships with the ghosts and Silas. There were moments of just pure wonderfulness, as well as small touches (loved the gravestones), throughout the novel.

I’m still trying to decide if it’s the best fantasy I’ve read in a while, or even if it deserves the Newbery. I think so, if only because it’s so different from anything else. Granted, different doesn’t always mean good, but in this case, I think different is unique and interesting. Which is really the best way to describe Gaiman’s work.

And this is no exception.

Teaser Tuesday, February 17

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  • Grab your current read.
  • Let the book fall open to a random page.
  • Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
  • You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
  • Please avoid spoilers!

    • My teaser this week is from Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before, by David Yoo

    With Mia nowhere in sight, I felt a nervous tightness in my chest due to lack of experience looking my classmates in the eye (it was the equivalent of my more socially well-adjusted peers being forced to stare down mountain lions), but at the same time I felt deeply excited to be finally reintroducing myself to high school society. I took what felt like a ceremonial deep breath and began my first pass down the main wing.

    The roundup is at Should be Reading.

    A View of Jerusalem

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    by Erin Sheely Tolman
    ages: adult (though it’s perfectly suitable for younger readers)
    First sentence: “On August 22, 2000, I departed Salt Lake City, Utah with 175 other college age students to travel to the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies located on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem, Israel.”
    Review copy sent by the author.

    I’ve never been to Jerusalem. Actually, to be completely honest, I’ve never really had much desire to go to Jerusalem. I’m just not a Middle Eastern, desert kind of gal. Even so, I do think, on some level, that religiously at least I ought to want to go to Jerusalem. Walk where Jesus walked and all that.

    As such, I never expressed much interest in BYU’s Jerusalem Center while I was at BYU. I knew people who went — most notably Hubby’s older sister and younger brother — but I kind of thought, well, it’s there. That’s nice.

    After reading Erin’s book, I think I’d like to visit; it sounds like being in Jerusalem (and at the BYU center) is a singular experience.

    This book chronicles her time in Israel, from her classes in the center, to her wanderings around the city itself, to some of the field trips scheduled by the professors. It also happens that she was in Jerusalem in September of 2000, when the Second Infintada — the war between Israel and Palestine (though it seems like they are always at war) — began. I expected more about her feelings and experiences being there at that time, and I was a bit disappointed with what seemed to be just a travelogue (though I did enjoy seeing Jerusalem through her eyes). Erin did get more into her thoughts and feelings (and those of her family watching the news at home) near the end of the book. I also thought it was a nice touch to add her feelings as her husband left for Afghanistan three years later; it brought the story full circle. The book is best, though, when Erin writes down her observations and thoughts about the city and the sights she is seeing; it can be very evocative, almost poetic at times. My only real regret is that we didn’t get to see any of the photographs she so often talks about.

    As a spiritual book, I wasn’t terribly touched (but that may just have been me; I’m a hard soul to move…), though I appreciated that Erin was trying to share her testimony about Jesus and the places he was with others. I just wasn’t able to connect on that level.

    That said, it’s a worthy reflection on her time in Jerusalem, an interesting memoir of her time in an interseting place. And worth reading.

    Even More Matrimony Giveaways (and a winner)

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    I was neglectful, and didn’t announce that I had picked a winner (though I was responsible and informed her and Mr. Henkin about it…). The winner of my Matrimony giveaway was (drumroll please):

    Sorry to all those who didn’t win; thanks for playing. 🙂

    Which brings me to the NEWS. Lisa, of Books on the Brain, tried to leave a comment (dang word verification) and couldn’t, so she emailed me this:

    Hi. I just wanted to let anyone who was interested in this book that did not win from Melissa that I am also running a Matrimony giveaway on my blog (along with a whole bunch of other giveaways this week).. so if you’re really interested, come on by! The giveaway links are in my left sidebar.

    I’ll help you out: here’s the link to her Matrimony giveaway. Go, give it another try. 🙂