The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale

2012, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Favorites, Fiction /

I was more amused by The Cheshire Cheese Cat than I expected to be. An animal story done well is a wonderful thing – and not as easy to find as you might think, considering the overwhelming number of animal stories published for kids every year. But, it was the appearance/mentions of Wilkie Collins that did it. And, the role Dickens played in the story.  Brilliant way to, softly, introduce Victorian authors to middle grade (or younger!) readers.  (As a bonus, Skilly reminded me of the Fake Cat and her love of cheese – how could I not love this book?)

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Catching Up on Cybils — Five Down

2012, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Fiction /

I knew we’d be spending a lot of time at home this weekend, new puppy and all that… so I went ahead and reserved a bunch of the books from the Easy Readers/Early Chapter Books. Generally speaking – I didn’t love them.

These are all perfectly fine books – Clementine was my favorite because I really like Clementine.

I Broke My Trunk – Mo Willems. I know it’s sacrilege to say so, but sometimes his books are boring. This is one of those books.

Dodsworth in Rome – I do not understand these books. OK I understand them, I am just not sure why one might read them to/with their kids. Kids should read travel books and learn about wonderful, famous places but I’m not sure that Dodsworth and Duck are the best books for that.

Aggie Gets Lost – I always want more from an Aggie story than I get. In this case, I really wanted more and it was just the same ole Aggie story stuff.

Frog & Friends – The balloon story was cute. The other two were fine.

Clementine and the Family Meeting – I really like Clementine. I like her a lot. She’s an awesome 8 year old with some of the same problems any other 8 year old might have. I like her parents and I like her teachers/principal. I even like her friends.

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Two Cybils — Middle Grade SciFi & Fantasy

2012, Audiobooks, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Favorites, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

We’ve been listening for Icefall for months. It started a little slow for me but by the end of the first disk, I was hooked. I loved Solveig and Hake. And  Alric. And Munnin. I loved the storytelling, too. And I hope there really will be a sequel. I’d like to find out what happens with Solveig and Hake next.

Tuesdays at the Castle is a book I’ve probably checked out three times and never managed to read – once it was lost for the entire check out time in Elly’s room. I don’t know why I kept putting off reading it, I loved the castle and the children – particularly Celia, obviously.

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The Miseducation of Cameron Post

2012, Books in Bed, Fiction, Queer /

In The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Cameron is a lesbian – she’s been attracted to girls for… forever. Unfortunately, she lives in small town Montana and her parents die the day after she kissed a girl for the first time.

It all goes downhill from there.

She falls for a straight, popular girl in high school but the girl is not so straight.  She does, however, tell everyone that Cameron took advantage of her (all summer long!) and Cameron is sent off to a special Christian boarding school to learn how to not be a lesbian.

Lots of bad things happen. Some good things happen, too.

I liked the book, well enough – but I had trouble getting into it and staying in it. Too depressing because this still/really happens to kids. (Not just the deprogramming schools/camps, but the rest of it, too…)

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The Prisoner of Heaven

2012, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction /

I love these books. I really do. But, once again, I wish I had read them all close together – there are bits and pieces of Shadow of the Wind and The Angel’s Game that are muddled and only became more muddled as I read Prisoner of Heaven. I own Shadow of the Wind in print… I’m thinking about buying the second and third for Kindle and then sitting down and re-reading all three, back to back to back.

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How to Hepburn

2012, Books in Bed, Favorites, Non-Fiction, Women /

My mom sent me the link to How to Hepburn when it’s price was reduced on Kindle. I didn’t buy it but I did immediately reserve it because I am a Katharine Hepburn fan. Possibly because I am kind of like her, lol. Don’t wallow, just get on with it. Marriage – bah. Etc. etc. etc.  Err the Spencer Tracy thing… not so much. But, I’m not judging her. We all have our fucked up baggage to deal with. Also, it kind of worked well for her (see that no marriage thing…)

Fun book. I liked it a lot.  There’s nothing new in here, nothing surprising if you know anything about Katharine Hepburn – still, I almost wish I’d bought it after all.

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Pandemonium

2012, Books in Bed, Fiction, Young Adult /

Book two, Pandemonium – I was really looking forward to this one because I liked Delirium so much. I’m guessing that this is a trilogy, based on how book 2 went. It was one of those books created primarily to set up book three. All very predictable. What happens to Lena when she goes across the fence…leaving Alex behind… exactly what you expect. Now what will happen in book 3 to fix this messy business? I hope it’s a good book 3…

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Saints Astray

2012, Books in Bed, Fiction, Queer, Women /

Book two – Saints Astray… I read it. A long time ago (I’m way behind, darn conference and redesign…) I liked it. I liked the way the women (whose names I’ve forgotten by now) hooked up with the rock band and the rock band found their cause. I can totally see that happening. This would actually be a fun series. GMO & lesbian partner go out and save the world, or at least change the world – right wrongs, do good things, etc. Fun!

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