Books in Bed

Kissing Kate

2008, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Fiction, Queer, Young Adult /

Kissing Kate was a nice little lesbian YA book. A little too “perfect” – how many teens find exactly the kind of friend they need to help them deal with a problem like “Kate”? Not too many. Actually, I’m not too sure many adults find the perfect friend to help them deal with a problem like “Kate”.

Ah well, it’s feel good YA rather than problem YA. So, it’s all good.

And now that I’ve noticed Lauren Myracle is one of the authors in “Let it Snow”, maybe I’ll go pick that up from the library tomorrow. John Green and Lauren Myracle… must be good?

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The Jew Store

2008, Books in Bed, Non-Fiction /

I was ambivalent about reading The Jew Store and I’m not sure why. It was in the “book club” section of the library which generally means a lot of people liked it, so I shouldn’t have been wary. But, having grown up in the south and read an awful lot of books about race and culture in the south… I was afraid I’d hate it.

I didn’t hate it. It was good. It was often amusing. It wasn’t a great book but it wasn’t bad either. I liked the Bronson family. I liked the small town Tennessee people. It was all very nice, even the not so nice pieces were “nice” – and that’s probably why it wasn’t a great book, just a good one.

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The Miraculous Life of Edgar Mint

2008, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction /

It took me an awful long time to read The Miraculous Life of Edgar Mint and I don’t know why. It’s a pretty short book. It’s a very good book. I read a good while every night. It just seemed like it never ended – and then when it did, wah! That was NOT the ending I wanted. It wasn’t a horrible ending but still, sigh. I wanted the miraculous life to really end miraculously – but, life is miraculous even if it ends a wee bit differently than you might like it to.

Really. Very good book.

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Octavian Nothing: The Kingdom on the Waves

2008, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Fiction, Young Adult /

TW could not get into volume two, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: The Kingdom on the Waves but I didn’t have a problem with it. I found it a much quicker read than the first one – the journal entries of Octavian were shorter and quicker.

I liked the new characters introduced but found the ending a little less than satisfying, particularly since it appears as though there will not be a third book.

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Change of Heart

2008, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction /

I was a little shocked to see a Picoult novel I hadn’t read just sitting on the library shelf. It made me nervous. I’m that disconnected from the library and reading that I haven’t read the latest Picoult? ugh. I need to get some library lists built and get serious about catching up! (And my 2009 challenges need to be less… challenging…)

So, I picked up Change of Heart and TW starts making Picoult jokes (like she always does) and about 3 pages into the book, I start making groaning noises. Picoult just gets more and more like a teen “problem book” with every new novel she puts out. When will it end? By 10 pages, I was making Picoult jokes. And I said to TW…

“I’d like to write Picoult a letter. I need her advice. Advice that only she can give that will drastically improve my quality of life. I’d like to know what products she uses on her hair.”

I went back to the book and about 50 pages later the woman ANSWERED MY QUESTION. I do believe she is The Messiah. I believe.

(And for those who have read this book, you’ll “get it”. Seriously. It was kind of weird to read that book and have her answer the question I really had just asked… all out of the blue and stuff. Very weird. )

Another winner from Picoult, jokes or no jokes – ridiculous problems or no ridiculous problems. Great characters. Interesting material. Fun to read even though it was hard to read.

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Art of Modern Rock: Mini Poster Girls

2008, Books in Bed, Comics & Graphic Novels, Feminism, Poetry, Women /

Art of Modern Rock: Mini Poster Girls was not quite an impulse purchase but I didn’t go to Women and Children with the intention of buying it. I saw it, I remembered giving someone (The half child?) a book of rock posters that was really cool and as I flipped through it, I realized this was the “Perfect for Michelle” version of that book. And it is.

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Airborn

1 Comment / 2008, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Favorites, Fiction, Printz Award Challenge, Young Adult /

When we started listening to Airborn in the car, the little kids were with us and they were confusded. Airship? They didn’t “get it”. I said “think Edge Chronicles but a little more realistic”. By the time TW and I finished today, I’m thinking it was very Edge Chronicles like. Cloud Cats sound like something you’d find in Edge Chronicles book.

It was a fun adventure book. Good girl and boy characters. Nice ending. Good Printz book that kids might actually read.

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Chloe plus Olivia

1 Comment / 2008, Books in Bed, Classics, Favorites, Feminism, From the Stacks Challenge, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Queer, short stories, Women /

Thank freaking goodness I am very, very familiar with the work of women like Judy Grahn, Audre Lourde, Adrienne Rich etc etc etc. If I was not familiar with their work, I would still be reading Chloe plus Olivia well into the new year.

800 pages of lesbian lit. Aye yi yi. Text book style lesbian lit. Oy.

This was one hell of a lesbian anthology and if I had it to do all over again, I’d have read an author a day or skipped around a bit based on what my preference of the day might have been. Trying to read it straight through was not a fun experience and reading lesbian lit SHOULD be a fun experience.

By page 500, I was sick of lesbians… sick of masking… sick of the romantic friendship… sick of the man trapped in the womans body… I did not even want to think about the dangerous flowers or the amazons at that point. I just wanted it done. lol

There are some great writers in this anthology, some I’ve never read and a few I’ve never heard of. Great anthology, really. Just don’t try to read it straight through.

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A Northern Light

1 Comment / 2008, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Feminism, Fiction, Printz Award Challenge, Women, Young Adult /

I’m a little disappointed that I saved A Northern Light for last book (in paper, the real last book for the challenge is on audio, and in the car CD player now.) for my Printz Challenge. It was good, really good, but it didn’t leave me excited or thrilled about Printz the way some of the other really great books might have.

I struggled a bit with the story being told from two different points in time, I’m not sure it was necessary. I also think it’s one of those things that causes teens to throw up their hands and give up on a book. YA authors should not do it unless it just really really must be done. And in this case, I don’t think it needed to be done.

I liked the “word of the day”, I liked the “word of the day duels”, I liked all of the characters and for a brief moment I wanted to live somewhere with a “pickle boat” – then I regained my senses. I also liked the end, not happy – not sad – just “right”.

Good book… should have read it earlier in the challenge.

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