August 2010
Beautiful Malice
It’s disconcerting to read a novel written by “Rebecca James” – particularly a novel like Beautiful Malice. I’d like to keep our Rebecca James far, far away from this book because she’s already got such a thing for “being safe” – this book might just scare her over the edge. I could NOT put it down even though I wanted to put it down because I knew really bad stuff was going to happen – I just had to keep reading and reading and reading.
Now someone tell me – is this or is this NOT YA? When I first started hearing about it, before release, I heard it was YA. But, it’s not catalogued YA. It feels a little YA but then again NOT YA. I know a lot of YAs are going to read this thing and a lot of adults might not… What do you think?
Paper Towns
Good grief John Green is brilliant. He writes such smart teenagers. I really like that. There’s nothing worse than reading YA and having a bunch of stupid stereotypical vapid teens. In Paper Towns, even the vapid teens were smart, or at least not stupid. If I’m not careful, I might find myself a bigger John Green fangirl than Sassymonkey.
I know I am but what are you
I am not a Samantha Bee fan. I didn’t have any intention of reading her book, I Know I Am But What Are You. TW picked it up from the “just back” shelf. I rolled my eyes. I rolled my eyes as she read it, too. Even though she was laughing out loud – over and over again. I don’t remember exactly what it was that caused me to change my mind – but something TW said, about one of the stories. I don’t think it was the stolen stockpot – I think it was after that. Whatever it was, it swayed me. I read it. It was funny. I like Samantha Bee a little bit now. But just a little.
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Devil Bones
I was trying to backtrack through the Temperance Brennan series to figure out exactly how the Ryan/Tempe break-up happened. So, I grabbed Devil Bones on audio. Turns out TW had already read it in print – and she kept sharing spoilers all the way through it. She’s annoying. Really annoying. I enjoyed the book, though. I’d have enjoyed it more if I’d listened to it without TW – and her spoilers.
Oh, I still didn’t go back far enough. This one was early in the break up, when Tempe first hooks back up with Charlie. I think I need to go back one more…
Cybils Shortlist: Five Children’s Non-Fiction Books
In no particular order, here’s what I thought of five of the children’s non-fiction books from the Cybils shortlist:
Faith – nice picture book for those who want to introduce young children to a variety of religions and cultures. Beautiful photos of children participating in faith based activities. TW leaned over while I was reading it and said, “Is that a UU book?” – which made me laugh. It would certainly be UU approved.
Down, Down, Down – interesting but a wee bit boring. The pictures were nice enough but considering just how crazy some deep sea creatures really look, it was a bit of a let down.
I think I liked Moonshot more than any of my kids would have. Apollo 11 just doesn’t seem all that interesting to little kids today. It happened too long ago and a world without Velcro is just not something they can comprehend at the age that this book is geared to. And if we want the older child to learn about Apollo 11’s history, then we can do better than this – it’s just too young for the school aged child and too old for a toddler. It’s fun for you if you sit down and look closely at the artwork – and then compare the real photos with the drawings…
14 Cows for America is a super nice, feel good story about 9/11 without really talking about 9/11. I liked it. I liked the art. I liked the softly told story. I liked the feel good message. I just liked it.
Mermaid Queen was my favorite. As much as I have griped about attending synchronized swimming meets with RJ (and then Liz), I do have a fondness for water ballet and I’ve been a big Esther Williams fan all of my life. Annette Kellerman should be better known than she is. I really loved this book. I should buy it – for the girls, of course.
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Breathers
I’m a big fan of zombie books and was pretty pleased when my library had a table full of zombie books on display. Most I’d read, but a couple were new to me and looked good, so I grabbed them. Breathers is the BEST zombie book I’ve ever read. The BEST. Funny. Sad. Interesting. I didn’t want to put it down last night – laugh out loud funny and I almost cried in a couple of places at the end. Read it and be sure to tell me what you think. Zombies are people, too!
How to Say Goodbye in Robot
I’m finally starting to dig into the YA books from the Cybils shortlist. How to Say Goodbye in Robot was a nice book to relax with, after the long crazy week that is BlogHer Con (and its aftermath.) I expected to read it slowly but it was so darn good that I read it in just two sittings. Excellent book, an unhappy/happy ending. Just right.
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girlspoken
Once again, Sassymonkey recommended a great book – one that she can’t get at her library, even though she’s Canadian and it’s a book filled with Canadian girls’ voices. I really liked the pieces they selected for the book – nice well-rounded selections. Not all miserable. Not all happy. Just right.
Buy this one for your teen daughter (unless she’s 14 and swears she hates poetry, then just buy it and leave it lying around – she might just read a wee bit if you aren’t watching.)