Chronicles of a Book Evangelist

it's always ourselves that we find in the sea... or Weekly Forecast: August 6, 2012 - August 9, 2012

After a couple of very stressful months, we decided to load the family up and head to the Gulf for a few days.  We have a very special island we go to a couple times each year that just nourishes all of our souls (making the two days on the beach worth the two days of driving!)  Excluding the few fishermen who hang out by the rocks and the island wildlife, we have the entire island to ourselves.  We spend hours picking up shells, building sand castles, swimming, and just soaking up the beauty.  Every time I sit there watching the sunrise -- waves washing over my legs, my kids playing behind me -- it reminds me of ee cummings' maggie and milly and molly and may: 

 

maggie and milly and molly and may

went down to the beach to play one day

and maggie discovered a shell that sang

so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles, and

milly befriended a stranded star

whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing

which raced sideways while blowing bubbles: and

may came home with a smooth round stone

as small as a world and as large as alone.

For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)

it's always ourselves we find in the sea

 

 

Our mini-vacation has left me feeling very refreshed but also a little lazy... I'm still on coastal time.  Next week will be a little on the light side with only three reviews:

On Tuesday will be Burn Mark by Laura Powell, which, to be truthful, should have already been posted LONG ago.  It was such an odd book for me... there were parts that I really loved, and others that I really didn't.

 

 

 

 

 

On Wednesday I will be posting the review for Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake.  I loved this book.  Even though each of the books are quite different, I would put Anna Dressed in Blood with the Curse Workers books, Hold Me Closer, Necromancer, and I Hunt Killers on my quirky-fun-male-protagonist-books-i-love shelf.  I also love it for all the reasons I love Supernatural (which I may or may not have been re-watching on Netflix).

 

 

On Thursday I will finally post my review for Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan.  I have been sitting on this review forever.  I cannot even begin to say how much I loved it.  My love for Unspoken is all wrapped up in my love Mary Stewart and gothic novels; but it is more than that as well.  Unspoken is funny and smart and fresh...and I should be saving this for the review!

 

 

 

I am still trying to keep my new books to a minimum until I wade through my enormous TBR pile, but I simply couldn't resist The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke (and I wasn't the only one!)  

That's it for me.  What are you reading this week? 

 

 

 

Weekly Forecast: May 28, 2012 - June 1, 2012

We have been dashing around like mad the past few weeks, trying to get the school year finished while desperately wishing we were picking berries or swimming at the river instead.  Even though I've still been reading, I've been a bit slow going on the reviewing side of things.  However, I am super excited to announce that Kate Milford (author of The Boneshaker, The Broken Lands, and The Kairos Mechanism) granted me an interview via e-mail that I will be sharing on Monday.  I was really impressed with a lot of what she had to say.  Plus she's giving away a paperback copy of The Boneshaker!

I will only be posting a few reviews next week.  On the list are Burn Mark by Laura Powell, Exiled by J.R. Wagner, and, for my Classics Challenge, Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.  

I'm still holding off on acquiring new things to read as my list of books waiting to be read is miles long!  Hopefully, within a few weeks, I'll be reading away beside the river, eating way too many blackberries, and months away from our next grammar lesson!

To find out what other bloggers are reading, check out Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer's Sunday Post or Tynga's Reviews' Stacking the Shelves.  What are you reading this week?

Weekly Forecast: May 14, 2012 - May 17, 2012

I've been having some TypePad related issues with my "Publish On" option: basically, it isn't always auto-publishing when it is supposed to do it.  I think I've figured out what was going on, but I am sorry about last week's reviews coming a little late, and will watch this week much more closely.  

Last night I finally broke down and read all the blog posts that had built up in my Bloglines since Tuesday morning, and looked at all the tweets I'd been ignoring.  Basically, I spent a few hours reading, a few more sobbing while my husband did his best, "there, there," and stayed up way later than I should have reading children's books. I didn't really want to write a whole new post  (I think I've said everything I can for the moment), but I do want to share a few great tributes, lists, and thoughts about Maurice Sendak.  I think it speaks to how amazing a person he really was that most of the tributes focus not just on what a gifted illustrator or author he was (and boy was he), but also on how -- even though they never met him -- Sendak became an important part of each of their lives.

• The New York Times wrote the best all-around obituary/tribute, if you're just going to read one.

• Stephen Colbert released some outtakes from his excellent interview in January that are a more touching, less grumpy.

• Sergio Ruzzier wrote a wonderful piece about being chosen for the Sendak Fellowship:

He is a very warm, sweet and witty person, but also very honest.  He told me what he liked in my books and what he didn't like. His main concern was that some of my choices were too safe and tame.  “You need to be brave,” he said to me... talking with him, while walking in the woods with his dog Herman, made me remember why I draw and tell stories. 

• Neil Gaiman talks about reading Sendak to his sister and daughter, and gets the New Yorker to unlock a comic of a discussion between Art Spiegelman and Maurice Sendak.  From the comic:

In reality, childhood is deep and rich. It's vital, mysterious and profound. I remember my own childhood vividly... I knew terrible things... but I knew I mustn't let the adults know I knew... it would scare them.

• The Diamond in the Window has a beautiful piece about finally getting that quiet night with a colicky baby thanks to Where the Wild Things Are.
  

• Laurel Snyder writing for The Jewish Daily Forward, has a lovely tribute to Sendak's unfailing honesty.  She said everything that I wanted to say, only better:

Sendak’s legacy is one of gifts and challenges: The challenge to be honest with ourselves always, to see our children as people and to trust them to survive, but also the challenge to find magic in the world, or to make it for ourselves.

• And, finally, Flavorwire compiled a list of some of his best illustrations and quotes. 

I have nothing now but praise for my life. I’m not unhappy. I cry a lot because I miss people. They die and I can’t stop them. They leave me and I love them more. … What I dread is the isolation. … There are so many beautiful things in the world which I will have to leave when I die, but I’m ready, I’m ready, I’m ready.

Maybe I should have just created a whole new post after all?  Next week Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, Precious Bones by Mika Ashley-Hollinger, and Dead Time by Anne Cassidy will all be up for review.  There may be a few more, it just depends on how these last few weeks of school go!

My list of books to read for review is MONTHS behind at the moment, so I have basically stopped requesting anything new, and haven't went to the library in weeks.  However, I did get one beautiful, wonderful, shiny, fabulous book in the mail that I have already DEVOURED.  Yes, I am talking about my awesomely physical advanced review copy of Kate Milford's The Broken Lands.  I know I am basically starting to sound like a broken record here, but I really love Kate Milford's writing, so if you have not yet looked into her Kickstarter project, please do.

(And yes, that beautifully multicolored silk is the curtains in my living room, and I had to do some serious decoratorial negotiating with my husband to get them!)

To find out what other bloggers are reading, check out Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post or Stacking the Shelves from Tynga's Reviews.  What are you reading this week?

Weekly Forecast: May 7, 2012 - May 10, 2012

What better way to start a Monday than with a creep-tastically scary horror/mystery novel about mercreatures?  You're right, there isn't one.  I have my reservations about some aspects of Anne Greenwood Brown's Lies Beneath, but was overall pretty impressed with it.  

 

Yes, that is how much I loved I Hunt Killers.  I barely waited a week before reading and reviewing my next Barry Lyga book,The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl.

 

 

The rest of the week is all about Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl Series.  On Wednesday I will review the first book: Artemis Fowl.  With so many books out in the series, I am wondering how I haven't read it before...

 

 

On Thursday I will review the very awesome Preloved by Shirley Marr.  I seriously devoured this book in a single night; it was wonderful!  (I also spent the rest of the weekend watching 80s movies with my kids and forcing my husband to endure my 80s channel on Pandora.)

 

 

 

 

This week I purchased Black Wood (A Witch Rising #1) by Jayde Scott, and was approved by Random House for review copies of Hanging by a Thread by Sophie Littlefield and Velveteen (Velveteen #1) by Daniel Marks.

To find out what other bloggers are reading, check out Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post or Stacking the Shelves from Tynga's Reviews.  What are you reading this week? 

Weekly Forecast: April 30, 2012 - May 3, 2012

I am so excited and honored that I get to start next week by participating in the Celebrate Diana Wynne Jones Blog Tour.  There is an awesome Celebrate Diana Wynne Jones Tumblr set up, and tons of people are contributing all sorts of pictures, posts, thoughts, letters, quotes, art, and everything else you could imagine to honor and celebrate what a fantastic woman and writer she was.  If you haven't checked it out, you should.

 

On Tuesday I will be reviewing Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday.  It was a quick and fun read, but also surprisingly had much more depth that I originally anticipated.  Hartley reminded me a lot of Veronica Mars.  I think it is safe to say that I will be reading the sequel, Social Suicide, (which came out on April 24th) just as soon I can!

 

Wednesday will be all about Kady Cross.  I know I had some issues with The Girl in the Steel Corset, and I still had some with The Girl in the Clockwork Collar, but it was better.  I actually really liked the short story prequel to The Girl in the Steel Corset, The Strange Case of Finley Jayne. 

 

As if I haven't mentioned it enough, I LOVE Stacia Kane.  Seriously, she just keeps getting better and better.  Urban fantasy series rarely keep my interest and remain so well written for as long as her Downside Ghosts series.  On Thursday I will be reviewing the short story "Home," which takes place between Sacrifical Magic and Chasing Magic, as well as the fifth book in the series, Chasing Magic.  If you don't want to be spoiled, stay far, far away!

 

 

 

All of these short stories that tie into series that I am reading or have already read are really making me happy.  I think I am going to make more of an effort to seek them out in the future.  So, when I saw the Chaos Walking short story prequel The New World by Patrick Ness for free at Barnes & Noble, I snapped it up.  I also purchased The Iron King by Julie Kagawa and The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga based on how much I liked The Immortal Rules and I Hunt Killers.

I was also approved for review copies of Dead Time by Anne Cassidy from Bloomsbury Publishing, and Scarlett Dedd by Cathy Brett and On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave by Candace Fleming from Random House Publishing.  I'm really excited about these three -- they all have something I've been looking for!  Mystery, good illustrations, or well written short stories.

To find out what other bloggers are reading, check out Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post or Stacking the Shelves from Tynga's Reviews.  What are you reading this week?

Weekly Forecast and In My Mailbox #11

***Don't Forget To Enter the GIVEAWAY for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie***

Next week starts with one of the best young adult, male-point-of-view, or mystery/thriller books that I have read in a really long time.  I absolutely adored Barry Lyga's I Hunt Killers.  I will also be reviewing the short story prequel "Career Day."  Mr. Lyga has so won me over that, though I own an e-book copy of I Hunt Killers, I will be purchasing it in Hardback, and the rest of the Jasper Dent books are now auto-buys for me.  YES.  That. Good.

 

Tuesday I will be reviewing Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride, as well as her follow-up short story, "Death and Waffles."  Even though the books and young men are very different in various ways, I find myself loving Sam and Hold Me Closer, Necromancer for the same reasons as Cassel from Holly Black's Curse Workers series.  Unfortunately, I have the same problems with both series as well (But really? Pretty minor problems.)

 

Wednesday is World Malaria Day.  To recognize that, I will be reviewing Shana Burg's Laugh With the Moon.  It is a middle grade novel that tackles some very big world issues, but still remains wonderfully entertaining while doing so.  I also have tons of links to various organizations that will let you know what you can do to help stop malaria.  

 

Thursday I will be reviewing All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin.  I am telling you, it is impossible to say, read, or type that title without singing "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier..."  Darn you, Killers.  It was okay.  Unfortunately, it didn't quite live up to my expectations.  

 

 

 

 Despite my repeated laments about how long I would have to wait until I could read my pre-ordered copy of Stacia Kane's Chasing Magic, I won't actually have to wait that long!!  I will not humiliate myself by telling you just how much jumping and dancing and screaming and generally-acting-like-an-idiot occurred when I got the email from Del Ray approving me for an ARC of Chasing Magic, but I will say it was enough to make my normally tolerant husband worry for my sanity.  

I was also approved by Strange Chemistry for ARCs of Shift by Kim Curran and Blackwood by Gwenda Bond.  Shift looks like it could be a really awesome time travel book (and I am always looking for fun new takes on time travel!) and I have been wanting to read Blackwood since Leila revealed the cover on bookshelves of doom.  

Check out what other bloggers are reading at The Story Siren's In My Mailbox page.  What are you reading this week?  Did you get anything new that you are super excited about?

Weekly Forecast and In My Mailbox #10

Next week will kick off with my very first giveaway!  I am very excited to be participating in this year's World Book Night.  To help show just how excited I am, I purchased a copy of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, the book I will be giving away on April 23, to give away here on the blog.  Come back on Monday for the review and the details on how to win Part-Time Indian.

 

On Tuesday I will review The Good, the Bad, and the Undead by Kim Harrison, second in The Hollows series.  (I reviewed the first one here.)  I was very happy with this installment--most of the problems I had with Dead Witch Walking were cleared up, and, as Emma Woodhouse would say, I had the  "triumph of a lucky guess" about some of the other characters.  

 

On Wednesday I will have a (long overdue!) review for Markus Zusak's The Book Thief.  It is so powerful and wonderful and sad and beautiful that I really just can't say enough good things about it.  So, yes, the review will probably be full of fangirl type gushing.  But hopefully in amidst all the squee there will be something worthwhile as well!

 

Finally, I will be reviewing Julie Kagawa's first Blood of Eden book, The Immortal Rules.  This is actually my first Kagawa book (ducks and hides).  I know, I know!  I'll definitely be on the lookout for the rest of her books now!  I really like a lot of what she did with this one, and think it will be a really fun series.

 

 

 

I got a few new books this week for review that REALLY made me happy.  My pre-order for Stacia Kane's short story Home in the Downside Ghosts series came in this week!  I did a happy dance, promptly read it, and then became sad again thinking I have to wait over two more months for Chasing Magic.  *Sigh*

I was also approved for review copies of the adult paranormal fantasy The Department of Magic by Rod Kierkegaard Jr., the very steampunk young adult novel Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti by Genevieve Valentine, and the young adult dystopic romance The Glimpse by Claire Merle.  (Which, of course, reminded me of this wonderful blog post from Phoebe at The Intergalactic Academy.) 

Check out what other bloggers are reading at The Story Siren's In My Mailbox page.  What are you reading this week?

Weekly Forecast and In My Mailbox #9

Very exciting things ahead:  This week will be middle grade heavy with TWO reviews of middle grade novels, some steampunk, and and a little Jack the Ripper...

I will start the week with Philip Pullman and his Two Crafty Criminals.  I attempted this one as a read aloud with my son, but he was just a bit too young as yet.  He enjoyed it a lot, but we were constantly stopping to define words or explain things, which really messed with the flow of the story.

 

Tuesday will bring the humorous and witty Maureen Johnson with the first book in her Shades of London series, The Name of the Star.  It was everything I expected it to be: funny, quick, quirky, and intriguing.  Not to mention: ghosts, Jack the Ripper, boarding school, and LONDON.  There was really no way I could not like this book.

 

Wednesday will usher in more middle grade goodness with Caitlen Rubino-Bradway's Ordinary Magic.  I love that Rubino-Bradway subverts the trope of the "ordinary" character magically becoming the heroine; in this novel a girl who is labeled an "ordinary" for her lack of magic in a magical world then goes on to show how very extraordinary one can be without magic.

 

Finally, Thursday I'll look at the first book in Kady Cross's Steampunk Chronicles series, The Girl in the Steel Corset.  There are a lot of interesting things going on in this book!

 

 

 

 

 

On the new book front, I downloaded Stray (Touchstone #1) by Andrea K. Höst for FREE this week!  (Find it on Barnes & Noble or Amazon.)  I was also approved by Harlequin Teen for and ARC of The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa.  VERY exciting!

Check out what other bloggers are reading at The Story Siren's In My Mailbox page.  What are you reading this week?

In My Mailbox #8

In My Mailbox is a weekly Meme sponsored by The Story Siren where you share all the new books you get each week to read or review.

After reading this post over at Stacked, I think I am going to go with a modified form of In My Mailbox. I will start posting an overview of what reviews will be coming up in the next week along with a brief description of any new books I may be really excited to have gotten or have learned about - not every single book that I have bought, got, or borrowed.  I think that will be a better fit for my blog.  So, without further ado, my new books from this week:

 

I purchased the second book in Kim Harrison's Hollows series, The Good, the Bad, and the Undead from Barnes & Noble - I really can't wait to find out how things go with Ivy.  Thanks to Catie, I am officially hooked on Stacia Kane!  I had to talk myself out of waiting up until midnight on March 27th to see if my pre-ordered copy of Sacrificial Magic would be available.  After reading Wendy's review of I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga, I had to pre-order it from Barnes & Noble as well.

I received review copies of Artemis Fowl and The Arctic Incident from Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series from Disney's Hyperion Books.  I also received Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross (score!) from EgmontUSA.  The five star reviews are really stacking up for this one - I hope I like it!

I also borrowed The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau from my local library, which I will be reading with a friend for a read-a-long.  It should be fun!

What was in your mailbox?

In My Mailbox #7

In My Mailbox is a weekly Meme sponsored by The Story Siren where you share all the new books you get each week to read or review.

 

As I mentioned on Friday, Algonquin had their Lucky 7 sale where seven different books were only $1.99.   I picked up Dan Kennedy's Rock on: An Office Power Ballad, Gossip of the Starlings by Nina de Gramont, and The Resurrectionist by Jack O'Connell.

 

Again with the single author theme...this week it is Patrick Ness.  I borrowed The Knife of Never Letting Go from my local library, and my husband bought me A Monster Calls from Nightbird books while we were on our date-night.  (Yes, we go to bookstores on dates.) 

 

Random House kindly provided me with review copies of C.K. Kelly Martin's Yesterday and Sara Rees Brennan's Unspoken.  (Okay, there is a small - read VERY LARGE - chance that I screamed and jumped up and down in excitement when I opened the email approving me for Unspoken. Possibly.  Maybe.)

 

Last and definitely not least, my wonderfully smart, kind, and lovely friend Rhi sent me a package.  It arrived on a very cold, grey, foggy, rainy day - aka a perfect time!   Not only did it include a copy of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer and The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson (who is, btw, the absolute funniest person to follow on twitter), it also had TEA!  and COOKIES/BISCUITS! and also cute little bookmarks for my kids!  I really love my friends.  (I should have provided pictures, but, you know, the lighting was bad that day.  And how was I supposed to not drink some hot tea on a day like that?  Or not open shortbread cookies with chocolate and caramel?  It would have taken way more self control than I possess to wait until I had pictures to open everything!)

What was in your mailbox this week?