I just read the last of the easy readers from the Cybils finalist list and while I liked Maybelle Goes to Tea a lot and thought Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig was amusing in a dumb sort of way, I loved, loved, loved I Will Surprise My Friend!. I laughed all of the way through it.
I’m thrilled that Mo Willems won but I think he should have won for I Will Surprise My Friend instead of I Love My New Toy.
The last of the Cybils Easy Readers Read More »
Of all the graphic novels on the Cybils list, I was most interested in Rapunzel’s Revenge. I almost put off reading it ’til last because I was afraid it would interfere with my reading of the others. I was so sure it was going to be the BEST – and apparently I was right about that since it did win the Cybil.
Rapunzel’s Revenge is a great book. It’s wonderfully drawn. It has fantastic characters. It’s just “tense” enough for young kids to read without being too scared but “tough” enough for older kids to not be bored.
If all graphic novels were like this one, I’d be a total convert to the genre. And by the way, Liz loved it too.
Rapunzel’s Revenge Read More »
The Devil in the Junior League is on my From the Stacks Challenge and it’s pure junk chick lit. But fun chick lit. An excellent book to read in between the self help I read a couple of days ago and the graphic novel I’m going to read next.
Frede Ware is awesome and so is Nikki Grout.
Fun. Just what chick lit should be.
The Devil in the Junior League Read More »
RJ and I were talking about books one day and for some reason or another she mentioned Skinned. I thought it was a title on the Cybils finalists list so I told her I wanted to read it. She brought me her copy and it was then that I realized it wasn’t on the list at all. So, I didn’t read it. It’s been sitting on my desk for a month.
When I finished the Percheron Saga and had no book waiting for me on the library shelf, I picked it up.
And I hated it.
I read 20 pages, put it down and bugged TW. I picked it up and read 30 more pages. Put it down and ranted about what a horrible book this was.
The next day, I read 20 more pages and wanted to call RJ to ask her why in the hell she liked this book. I read 50 more pages and told TW I did not want my brain cut up into pieces and downloaded so it could be put inside of a machine body. She questioned my decision because she apparently thinks this sounds like a good idea. She. Is. Whacked.
I read 30 more pages and went to bed.
The writing isn’t great. The characters have no redeeming qualities. None. Not one.
I finished it today and it was only in the last 30 pages that I found myself enjoying it – wondering what would happen next to these people I don’t like even a tiny bit.
All of that writing and only the last 30 pages made me glad I read the thing? Ugh. I don’t think I’ll bother with the rest of the series – unless RJ talks me into reading them.
Well. I didn’t see that coming. Or that. Or that. Or that. Or that. In fact most of Goddess was not what I expected. Or I expected bits and pieces but those bits and pieces did not at all go in the direction I expected them to go in.
I cannot decide if I loved it or hated it. Which is maybe a good thing? Or not so much since I was so much in love with both book 1 and book 2.
I would like a new series written about the “giants” and what they did off in the mountains. That would be a fun series, I think.
Every “new year” I go back through my reading list for the previous year and try and reserve books in series that we started but haven’t been able to keep up with for one reason or another. I also click into my “favorites” category and look for books written by authors who I really enjoyed the year before.
One of the series we didn’t keep up with was the Percheron Saga by Fiona McIntosh. I think the problem was that our library in Florida only had the first book and I never made the time to ILL the next book.
Well, thank goodness for our new library system (damn I love living here!) because Emissary was excellent.
It took me awhile to remember all of the characters but within the first 50 pages, I was deep into the story again and could barely put the book down. Goddesses, demons, dwarfs, odalisques, eunuchs – what’s not to love?
I think I need to take a break from the Cybil YA books, they’re all going to pale in comparison to Disreputable History etc… Take I Know It’s Over, for example.
Damn good YA relationship book. No pulled punches on the abortion issue and a fairly good job with the gay issue. But, I was bored and I think it’s because I kept thinking “it’s nowhere near as good as Disreputable History….” I bet if I head read it before Disreputable History… I’d be raving about how good this book was.
But I’m not.
So no more Cybils YA for me for awhile. Middle grade fiction and graphic novels, here I come!
When TW was reading The Disreputable History of Frankie Ladnau-Banks she made it sound like just another coming of age story… turns out, it’s a hell of a lot more than that. It’s not even just another girl dates one boy but likes another, boarding school, coming of age story.
This little book is one of the best pieces of YA I’ve ever read. Ever. But, then again, it speaks to the feminist in me.
I see that my behavior disrupted the smooth running of your patriarchal establishment.
Heh.
I’m buying it. A couple of copies actually. Maybe one of our girls will develop just a little bit more “Frankie Landau-Banks-ness” if they read it.
After I finished DHoFLB, I picked up the middle grade, Diamond Willow written by Helen Frost (whose Printz Honor book, Keesha’s House, I loved.) I was a little worried about it because it’s prose… written in diamond shape…with bolded words that tell another mini story.
I worried for nothing.
I loved this book. Totally different from Keesha’s House.
My two favorite Cybils Read More »
I’m a Lubriderm fragrance free sort of woman.
For years and years, a large bottle of Lubriderm could be found wherever I was – wherever I spent the most time. Next to the chair I rocked my babies. Next to my side of the bed. Next to my computer. It’s the only skincare thing I really use and the only product (besides Aveda Rosemary Mint shampoo) that I’m really loyal to.
But, I’m also practical and thrifty.
So when my big bottle of Lubriderm was empty, a few weeks before we moved, I didn’t replace it. We had a ton of travel sized bottles of various types of lotion – picked up at a drugstore while on a trip, because I forgot to bring a small travel sized bottle with us or carried home from a hotel. I figured I’d just use those until we moved.
I’ve been digging through the drawers in the bathroom, pulling out a new mini bottle of some relatively non-offensive smelling lotion and just making do with those. And it’s been fine. A pain in the ass to dig around to find a new bottle every few days but I’m thrifty and I should use this stuff instead of wasting it.
I’ve dug into the pockets of all of our suitcases, searching for lost and hidden bottles of lotion and I was pretty sure the only thing left was lotion I will not use – the Aveda Rosemary Mint lotion and the Holiday Inn Garden Botanika version of Mint lotion. I do not like either one of those. They burn. Oh, and also Avon Silicone Glove that my ex MIL gave to TW. I hate that stuff. It makes me feel like I have, well, a silicone glove on whichever part of my body I use that stuff. I am not into gloves. Or silicone.
The other day, I was desperate for lotion. It’s cold and dry here and my entire body feels cold and dry. So I went back to the bathroom and searched and searched and searched and I hit paydirt.
Terralina Body Lotion – small travel size, a bit of BlogHer Con swag from 07, I believe. Thank BlogHer. Thank Gina. Thank God. I totally needed that. And, I like it.
The only question I have about it is this… is it supposed to be a little bit yellowy creamy color or is that what happens when you use really old body lotion product? Whatever. I don’t care. Terralina has saved my life this week.
Thank you Terralina (and BlogHerCon) Read More »