My New Teacher and Me!
Written by Al Yankovic, Illustrated by Wes Hargis
Reason for Reading: I met Weird Al Yankovic when he was at Barnes and Noble for the signing of his new book My New Teacher and Me! I was impressed at what a nice person he seemed to be – he smiled and laughed and joked for 4 hours straight as hundreds of people flocked up to him to get his signature, babies pulled his hair, teens pressed phones to his ear so he could talk to someone not present, and so on. I loved watching his facial expressions – his face is so animate! And, clearly, I had to get his signature on a few copies of his book – for the children of friends. 🙂
Genre: Children’s Picture Book
Review
Billy is excited to meet his new teacher Mr. Booth – but Mr. Booth isn’t too excited to meet Billy. Mr. Booth questions Billy about why the boy is covered in dirt, and Billy launches into an imaginative story about how he was digging in his backyard and found a dinosaur. When Mr. Booth expresses skepticism, Billy’s story gets wilder and wilder. Finally, Billy teaches Mr. Booth a lesson that the most inventive people in the world were also the most creative thinkers – they were people who didn’t yield to hard-set rules set by color-within-the-line leaders. This is a fun story, with great illustrations, and something to think about. Perfect for little kids. 🙂
The Stonekeeper’s Curse, by Kazu Kibuishi
The Stonekeeper’s Curse, by Kazu KibuishiReason for Reading: My nephew loved this series 🙂
Genre: Children’s Fantasy Graphic Novel
Review
In this second book of the widely popular children’s graphic novel series Amulet (see the review for the first book here), Emily and Navin’s mother is still in a poison-induced coma, and the kids must journey to a dangerous forest to find the cure. They are led by a fox-man Leon Redbeard, who says that it is his job to bring them safely to a lost city of guardians. They are chased by the Elf King’s son Trellis, whose loyalties are questionable. This was a cute second book in the series – though the plot is still very childish and light. The kids (especially boys!) love it. 🙂
Chasing the Prophecy, by Brandon Mull
Chasing the Prophecy, by Brandon MullReason for Reading: I love Brandon Mull! 🙂
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Review
In the final book of the Beyonder’s trilogy, Rachel and Jason’s group must separate into two teams – each against “impossible” odds. Jason’s team goes in quest of a lost prophecy while Rachel’s lays siege upon Maldor’s fortress. All must learn to have faith in each other – a task which is much more difficult than it seems.
I loved the Beyonders series. I eagerly awaited the publication of this book, and read it the moment it was released. I wasn’t disappointed. Brandon Mull has a vivid imagination – he’s created a world that’s very different from the standard epic fantasy – most of his creatures are of his own design, and follow a very creative set of rules. This book is much like the classic epic fantasies like The Hobbit in that there’s a lot of traveling/walking, and most of the action takes place while on the move. Personally, I’ve always liked that format of fantasy – not sure why it appeals to me so much, but it does. 🙂
I can’t wait until Mull publishes another book! 🙂
Merlin’s Blade, by Robert Treskillard
Merlin’s Blade, by Robert Treskillard
Reason for Reading: A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Genre: Young Adult Christian Fantasy
Review
Merlin has been living peacefully as the blind son of a village blacksmith when druids invade the area with an evil stone that usurps the minds of the villagers and turns them against God. Merlin is the only villager who is unaffected by the stone’s powers. His problems become worse when the High King Uther and his infant son Arthur arrive in the village and are attacked by the druids. Merlin must save his village as well as the young prince. This was a fun retelling of the young Merlin’s back-story. It’s marketed as a Young Adult Christian Fiction, though I think it could be enjoyed by a wider audience. Merlin’s Blade isn’t “preachy,” which is a complaint of many Christian Fiction books, though it does (understandably) perceive the worship of a stone to be an “evil” act. The druids are portrayed as mostly bad (or at least mislead) people, but I appreciated that some of the druids were actually rather likable. I’m a fan of Christian fiction writers who are able to see the humans behind the non-Christian characters. So, if you’re a fan of retellings (especially YA retellings), I think this is a book you might enjoy. It took some interesting liberties with the story of Merlin and Arthur, but it was also rather fun to see how that sword got stuck in the stone to begin with. 🙂
I’ll be waiting for the next book in the series!
James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl
James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl
Reason for Reading: To keep up with my nephew’s book reports
Genre: Children’s Adventure / Fantasy
Review
After the tragic death of his parents, James has been living with his horrible neglectful, hateful aunts Sponge and Spiker. One day James is given a magical bag by a mysterious stranger – and in his excitement he trips on the root of a peach tree and dumps all the magic on the tree. Soon a peach larger than a house has grown out of the tree. James crawls into the peach and begins the adventure of a life-time.
This is another classic kids story that I read as a child and haven’t picked up since. I’m glad I had a reason to pick it up again, because it was really funny and silly and it had a lot of nostalgia for me. Dahl has just the right amount of humor and whimsy in his books. 🙂
After reading the book, my nephew and I watched the 1996 stop-action movie. It was a cute movie that followed the basic story-line well enough. But it was a bit too sentimental and it lacked the dark humor of Roald Dahl’s story. Cute for an hour’s entertainment, but nothing I’m going to watch again and again.
Lone Wolf, by Kathryn Lasky
Lone Wolf
Written by Kathryn Lasky, Narrated by Erik Davies
Reason for Reading: I rather liked the Ga’Hoole books, so I thought I’d try this series out, too.
Genre: Juvenile Fantasy / Anthropomorphism
Review
As an infant cub, Faolin was taken from his mother and abandoned to die. He was found by a bear who nursed him through childhood. Now as a young wolf, Faolin is once again on his own and he must find a way to rejoin his own kind. This was a cute little story, and I enjoyed it. But I don’t think I would have enjoyed it half as much if I hadn’t read the Ga’Hoole books first. Although the story of Faolin is independent of the three story lines in the Ga’Hoole series, Lasky’s world-building in this book was a bit dependent upon the other books. The world would have seemed confusing and frustrating to me if I didn’t already know all about it from the Ga’Hoole books. This is why I gave the book only 3.5 stars even though I thought it was really sweet. I will continue with this series myself, but I recommend to all of you – continue with this book if you loved the Ga’Hoole books as I did. But if you haven’t read the Ga’Hoole books, start there. 🙂
Maisie Dobbs, by Jacqueline Winspear
Maisie DobbsWritten by Jacqueline Winspear, Narrated by Rita Barrington
Reason for Reading: Real Life book club
Genre: Historical Fiction / Mystery / Women’s Fiction
Review
Maisie Dobbs is disappointed when her first case as a PI is to investigate a potential infidelity; however, things get a little more interesting when her investigation brings to light a suspicious death in a home for soldiers injured in WWI. But investigating the home turns out to be more dangerous than she’d thought.
This book was WAY outside my box. I generally don’t read women’s fiction or books that have a feminist leaning – though sometimes I enjoy such books. So this mystery wasn’t for me. The mystery part of the story was very light – she investigated a potential infidelity at the beginning, and at the end she investigated a suspicious home for injured soldiers. The middle half of the book was all Maisie’s background and character development, which I found off-topic and a bit contrived. Maisie is one of those WWI women who did absolutely everything the stereotypical WWI literary woman does. She got caught up in the feminist movement (somewhat), was educated beyond her class and gender, lied about her age so she could be a nurse in France, etc. etc. It’s like Winspear took a list of WWI woman stereotypes and checked them all off. Thus, I felt absolutely no empathy for Maisie’s character because she felt so fake to me. The little touch of mystery at the beginning and the end wasn’t enough to save the book.
I can see that many readers would love this book – if you like women PI’s, especially of the historical variety, then this is probably a good book for you. The series IS popular. It just wasn’t for me. *shrug*
Anna Dressed In Blood, by Kendare Blake
Anna Dressed in BloodWritten by Kendare Blake, Narrated by August Ross
Reason for Reading: I wanted to check off category 12 in Reading Outside the Box
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance / Horror
Review
Cas Lowood has always worked alone on his quest to dispatch murderous ghosts and discover the demon who killed his father. But when he moves to Thunder Bay everything changes – first, he has an explainable fascination with Anna, the ghost he’s come to kill; second, he accidentally picks up a team of teenagers who insist on tagging along as he rids the world of Anna’s horror. And Cas isn’t quite sure he wants to kill Anna anymore…
I picked this book up because of the fascinating cover art. (Yup! I’m one of those people.) I’m glad the cover was so awesome, because I enjoyed the book. Yes, it was sort of a copy of the TV show Supernatural, but that’s ok. Every story has its origins in another story, right? This book was fun and quick – I enjoyed the mystery and characters. If you like teen ghost stories, this would be a good book to pick up. But I recommend you pick up the physical book and not the audio book. Ross annoyed me with his too-clear annunciations, his pauses, and his slow reading. It ruined the rhythm of the narrative, and made the dialog fall flat. There were several times I wanted to give up on the book just because the narration was annoying me – and I generally am pretty laid back about audio books.
The Ghost Map, by Steven Johnson
The Ghost MapWritten by Steven Johnson, Narrated by Alan Sklar
Reason for Reading: Science, Religion, and History group read
Genre: Non-fiction – Medicine and History
Review
The Ghost Map follows Dr. John Snow on his quest to discover the cause of a terrible cholera outbreak in Victorian England. Johnson makes investigative epidemiology so interesting that I could almost see it dramatized (and fictionalized) into a TV show – people DO love their investigative TV! 🙂 But that’s beside the point, I guess. At the time of this outbreak in 1854, the popular theory for the spread of cholera was miasma – deathly air that carried disease. After a LOT of investigative footwork, Snow drew a map of the cholera outbreak, demonstrating that the pattern followed streets that led to a particular well (the Broad Street pump) rather than following a circular pattern you’d expect with the spread of bad air. This map, and the investigation leading up to its creation, revolutionized epidemiology. In fact, many consider Snow the “first epidemiologist.”
I really enjoyed this book. The writing was engaging (it had a few boring parts in the end when Johnson was describing the map in great detail – I think that may be a problem with listening to the audio book rather than actually reading it, though). The subject was fascinating. Sklar did a good job of narrating the book, and except for the very end with the description of the map, I was quite pleased with the book’s audio version. If you have any interest in epidemiology, or the history of medicine, I highly recommend this book.
Some Quiet Place, by Kelsey Sutton
Some Quiet Place, by Kelsey Sutton
Reason for Reading: A free copy of the ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Genre: Teen paranormal romance
Review
Elizabeth Caldwell doesn’t remember a time when she felt emotions – her whole life has been blocked by a wall of nothingness where her feelings should be. Instead, she is able to see the personifications of Emotions all around her – Anger touches her former friend Sophia. Longing touching Joshua, the boy who has a crush on her. And Fear touches her mother, who claims Elizabeth is not her child – but perhaps a changeling that has taken the place of her daughter after a tragic accident at the age of 4. With the help of Fear, who has formed an obsession with the untouchable Elizabeth, she searches for answers to the questions that haunt her dreams. How did she become this way? Who is she? Is she in danger?
In some ways, this was an amazing book. I really loved the idea. I enjoyed thinking about Emotions as external personifications – powers that influence us by their touch or mere presence. I enjoyed the allegory of hiding your emotions in an abusive relationship – whether that be the result of an abusive parent or cruel bullies at school. I felt that this was a refreshing change from the dystopias, vampires, and werewolves that are popular these days. In this way, Sutton deserves 5 stars, and she has a lot of potential as a writer.
On the other hand, this book does have the earmark of a debut novelist. Some things could have been done with more subtlety or finesse. The ending felt a bit long and clunky, for instance. And I sat through the entire book feeling that Elizabeth was an incredibly empathetic person considering she didn’t feel emotion. Was that intentional? Maybe. In fact, I’m inclined to give Sutton the benefit of the doubt and say that it was quite intentional. This was a very difficult character to develop, and Sutton did an amazing job of writing a character that had no emotions – but with whom I could relate.
I’m sad to say, this book DID have the dreaded love triangle. *sigh* I DO feel love triangles have a place in literature – my favorite Shakespeare play, Twelfth Night, features one – but lately (ever since the Twilight series, I think) it seems to be the basic romantic cop-out. Story doesn’t have enough romantic tension? Put in a love triangle! I wish more writers would take the time to think of a different technique to create tension. Isn’t there enough tension created just by the fact that Elizabeth doesn’t acknowledge emotion?
So, yes, I have a few quips about this book…but overall I think it was really creative and unique and I certainly hope Sutton continues writing. I have no doubt her debut-novel style will quickly vanish as she develops her career as a novelist. 🙂
Hibernator's Library 