13 quick book reviews

1.

Bones of Faerie
by Janni Lee Simner
Rating: 3.5
Format: urban faerie, YA
Reason for Reading: 999 challenge

20 years ago a war broke out between the humans and the faeries. the world hasn't been the same since. the world is shattered. nature has turned against people. liza has grown up in a small, isolated town that fears newcomers and turns them away. she has grown up to believe that faeries are bad, evil.

liza's world turns upside down when her father leaves her newborn baby sister on a hillside to die because she has faerie pale hair. soon after her mother disappears. after liza's mother vanishes, liza begins having visions. fearing her faerie powers she flees her town in search of her mother.

during her quest she comes across another town, one that lives quite differently from her own. she also will stumble into the heart of the faerie world and witness the scorching after effects of the war.

this was an intriguing novel. i was invested in liza's character and her quest. i like that it showed the devastation on both sides, that no one is without fault, but i wanted to know more about the war itself and why it started in the first place.

2.

Dingo
by Charles de Lint
Rating: 3.5
Format: fantasy, YA
Reason for Reading: 999 challenge

this was my first de lint novel. rhinoa is always raving about de lint, so i finally picked up one of his novels. i am glad i did.

one day while working in his dad's store, miguel meets the new girl in town, the mysterious lainey and her dog em. they have an immediate connection. the next time miguel sees her, she is distant and standoffish. shortly after meeting lainey, miguel starts having strange dreams of the australian outback and a man trapped in a tree. johnny, the school bully, is having the same dreams. together they try to figure out what is going on and what it has to do with lainey and her strange dog.

i really enjoyed this novel. it was a quick read and a great introduction to de lint. i look forward to reading more of him.

3.

Suite Scarlett
by Maureen Johnson
Rating: 4.0
Format: YA
Reason for Reading: 999 challenge

scarlett martin and her family live in a hotel, the hopewell hotel, which has been in their family for years. at one time it was prosperous and always booked. now it is falling into ruin with zero guests. it is a martin family tradition for a child to receive a key on their fifteenth birthday to one of the rooms. it will be their room to take care of for the next year.
scarlett receives the key to the empire suite. her birthday happens to coincide with the family letting go the beloved cook and the last hotel employee. the hotel is officially empty as the japanese businessmen have checked out. but not for long. amy amberson, an aging starlet, arrives on the scene. she has returned to new york after a long absence and will be staying in the empire suite. ms. amberson is quite a character. she is eccentric and soon scarlett finds herself in an assortment of fiascos.

i cannot tell you how much i enjoyed this book. the characters are well written. i enjoyed the family dynamics between scarlett and her three siblings. ms. amberson was a riot. i felt like i was right there with scarlett. i read this book a while ago, but the images are still sharp in my memory. a fun and memorable coming of age story.

4.

chibi-vampire vol 13
by Yuna Kagesaki
Rating: 4.0
Format: manga
Reason for reading: 999 challenge

i find this series gets better with each volume (save for that one near the beginning). karin and kenta finally admit their feelings and it seems like things might work out between the two. we also find out the cause of karin's bloodletting. some hostile vampires are in town and they are after karin. a vampire war is on the verge of breaking out and it's all about karin. can kenta and her family save her?
this volume really kicks the story up a few notches. it is full of action. i couldn't turn the pages fast enough.

i have been trying to find the final volume for a while now but neither the bookstore nor the library has it in stock.

5.

Wintergirls
by Laurie Halse Anderson
Rating: 4.0
Format: YA
Reason for reading: 999 challenge

this was a chilling, disturbing read about a teen in turmoil and angst sliding down that slippery slope of anorexia and other self-destructive behaviors.
the novel opens with the death of lia's ex-best friend, cassie. cassie called her 33times the night of her death but lia never answered. this haunts lia through the whole book.
the story is told through lia's perspective. one of the things i liked best about wintergirls, was the unconventional way it told the story-incessant repetition, different font sizes, strikethroughs, blank pages. it made me feel the story viscerally, as if i were in lia's head, feeling her pain and turmoil. it was kinda scary.
the story really delves into lia's family life, slowly reveals the backstory of her friendship with cassie and their unhealthy competition to be the thinnest. it is painful to watch lia fall further and further but as a reader, i never gave up hope that she would stop sabotaging herself and finally accept the help she was constantly shunning.
i also liked the lyrical, poetic nature of the writing. it reminded me of the way francesca lia block weaves a story with myth and poetry.

6.

Three Cups of Tea
by Greg Mortenson
Rating: 4.0
Format: nonfiction
Reason for Reading: 999 challenge, book club with autumn

i had been wanting to read this one for a while but couldn't bring myself to pick it up for various reasons. finally, i did.
this book tells the story of greg mortenson, mountaineer turned school builder for children in the middle east. it is a fascinating story of how one man found purpose in life. i think the work he does is incredible. his quest to educate children, especially girls, in a country where fundamentalist islam education runs rampant is fraught with challenges and danger. but he is blessed with an incredible support system, including the clerics of islam themselves.
i found the story inspiring and fascinating. one person truly can make a difference.
my biggest complaint, i suppose, is how often mortenson is separated from his wife and family. his wife must truly be a saint to live practically at the poverty line and supporting two children singlehandedly since her husband spends a good eight months out of the year in afghanistan. it just doesn't seem like his kids really know their father. it made me imagine what it would be like for them when they got older. would they understand why their father is away so much or would they grow to resent him for his long absences? this was something that bothered autumn as well and we discussed it at length during our book chat. we also recognized that our perspective was colored by our less-than-ideal upbringings.
i recognize that what mortenson does is hard work. and that there are plenty of children out there with parents who hold important jobs that demand too much of their time, such as doctors, politicians, etc. i suppose i just identify with the children more who may grow up in a lonely household yearning for the missing parent's attention.

7.

The Conscious Bride
by Sheryl Nissinen
Rating: 3.0
Format: wedding
Reason for Reading: am an engaged person

this book explores the shadow side of all things bridal. in this culture we are so inundated with this idea that our wedding day is the "happiest day of our life" or being engaged is the "happiest time of our life" and if you are feeling anything less than this, something is wrong with you. or worse, perhaps you shouldn't be getting married at all.
all of these sentiments kind of remind me of hearing how high school would be "the best years of my life." well, i always thought that was just sad. and i apply that to wedding fluff as well. if this is the "happiest day of my life" well then i am going to have a long, sad life ahead of me with nothing to look forward to. i really don't understand these sorts of statements.
the conscious bride helps women explore all their feelings about the upcoming wedding. feelings that range the entire spectrum of emotions. she interviewed a lot of women and shares their stories and quotations throughout the book to give you the sense that you are not alone if you feel a little sad or confused or lost. it's ok to feel like you are losing something. it's ok to mourn your singlehood or losing your name (if you choose to do so).
she references mythology a lot and jungian concepts, which for the most part i enjoyed but found heavyhanded in some instances.
i found the questions at the end of each chapter useful for my own self-exploration. i didn't get as much out of it as i thought i would, but maybe that's because i did a lot of exploring on my own and wasn't feeling pressured by the wedding industry, as i have been ignoring it for the most part.
i think other women would find this book useful, especially younger brides.

8.

Marcelo in the Real World
by Francisco X. Stork
Rating: 4.0
Format: YA
Reason for Reading: 999 challenge

marcelo has a form of autism, akin to asperger's syndrome. he hears internal music. he sleeps in a treehouse in his backyard. he has an obession with religion. his mother is nurturing and empathetic. his father less so. his father isn't even sure there is anything wrong with marcelo. the summer before marcelo's senior year his father tells him he is to work in the mail room of his law firm. that it is time for him to live in the real world.
everything changes for marcelo when he finds the picture of a little girl with half a face. he finds himself entering the real world more fully than he could have previously imagined as he searches for this girl and strives to help her.
this was a well-written story that delves into ethics, the law and the duality of human nature. seeing the world through marcelo's eyes made me see things in a different way. i don't know much about autism, but it seems to me that a person with autism (based only on readings) views the world through the lens of innocence and purity. i almost envy that.
if you enjoyed the curious incident of the dog in the night-time, you most likely will enjoy this novel as well.

9.

Incantation
by Alice Hoffman
Rating: 4.0
Format: historical fiction, YA
Reason for reading: 999 challenge, i love alice hoffman

another compelling read by hoffman. a chilling story of love and betrayal set in the middle ages during the spanish inquisition and told through the eyes of 16 year old estrella. she leads a carefree life until the day she and her best friend, catalina, the public burning of a rabbi's books. the inquisition has come to their town and awakened fear and hatred in the townspeople.
estrella has never questioned the ways her family is different. but when she sees an edict in the square, she realizes that her family does indeed have a terrible secret.
i really like the way hoffman can make you feel submerged in the story, as if you are living it side by side with the protagonist. i found this story haunting and sad with a bittersweet ending.

10.

Tithe
by Holly Black
Rating: 3.5
Format: urban faerie, YA
Reason for reading: 999 challenge

sixteen year old kaye fierch has lived a nomadic life with her would-be rock star mom. after her mom nearly dies at the hand of her boyfriend, the two pack up again and head back to new jersey to stay with kaye's grandma.
kaye has always been able to see faeries. now back at her mom's childhood home she becomes once again ensconced in the world of faerie, a more dangerous world than she experienced as a child. along the way she catches the attention of a faerie knight and the ire of a faerie queen. kaye also learns the secret behind her odd blonde asian looks.
this isn't the best book out there i've read with edgy faeries but it was an entertaining one.

11.

My Life in France
by Julia Child
Rating: 3.5
Format: biography/memoir
Reason for reading: 999 challenge, compare/contrast with movie

after i saw the movie, julie and julia, i immediately checked out this book. prior to reading this, i really didn't know much about julia child, save for that she was a famous chef who loved french cooking. i really enjoyed reading about her adventures abroad and the struggle to getting her cookbook published. i enjoy reading about food but there were some parts that went into too much detail and lost me a bit. most likely, it was because so much of the cooking centered on meat-centric dishes. i really enjoyed learning about her and her relationship with her husband. overall, it was a fun and entertaining read.

12.

Julie and Julia
by Julie Powell
Rating: 0
Format: biography/memoir
Reason for reading: 999 challenge, compare/contrast with movie

on the other hand, this was not. again, after i saw the movie, i immediately checked out this book. i thoroughly enjoyed the movie, which of course piqued my curiosity about the book it was based on. that's usually how it is for me. i also wondered why the movie was based on two books, instead of just the one.
this was book was absolute drudgery. i know, i know, you may be asking, why did you continue? why not stop while ahead and put yourself out of unnecessary book misery? because of morbid curiosity i suppose. i just couldn't stop. i thought about it. i am normally a fast reader. mainly because once i start a book i can't stop and will continue reading until i've finished it. this book, however, i read a few pages and would put it down. it just did not sustain my interest. two weeks (two weeks!) after trying to read this and not getting very far, i stubbornly sat down and vowed to finish it.
i can't even really tell you what was so unenjoyable about it. the writing wasn't really all that great. julie, as a character, wasn't all that likeable (however, she was much more likeable in the movie). she was overly dramatic and whiny. essentially, i just found the book boring.

13.

The Five Love Languages
by Gary Chapman
Rating: 3.0
Format: nonfiction, self-help
Reason for reading: 999 challenge

i didn't enjoy this as much as i thought i would. i have heard so much about it and it's been on my tbr list forever. but once i read it, i wasn't all that impressed by it. i did find the love language info useful, but i guess the information about it is so prevalent outside of the book, that i felt like i didn't really learn anything new by reading it. i also didn't care for some of the author's assertions about love. namely that the "in love experience" is a body chemistry induced state that tricks us into marriage. once we are married we will wake up one day andrealize that we are no longer "in love" with our partner and henceforth must CHOOSE each day to love our partner. he kind of made love sound like drudgery. i agree, that to an extent, love is a choice, but his spin on it seemed so negative.

and that concludes my book reviews. this catches me up by several. i have a few more to catch up on and then i will be current! :)

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