The Sunday Salon: Mini Review

I have several books that I have read this year and haven’t gotten the chance to review yet, and figure I will do several shorter reviews. You may notice that these are book that I rated lower. I figure that I usually have more to say about book I really like than ones that I don’t. These fit that especially because I didn’t feel strongly about any of these books, but wanted to talk about them a little.

Avalon High

by Meg Cabot

Rating: +

Summary

Avalon High seems like a typical high school, attended by typical students: There’s Lance, the jock. Jennifer, the cheerleader. And Will, senior class president, quarterback, and all-around good guy. But not everybody at Avalon High is who they appear to be … not even, as new student Ellie is about to discover, herself. What part does she play in the drama that is unfolding? What if the bizarre chain of events and coincidences she has pieced together means — as with the court of King Arthur — tragedy is fast approaching Avalon High? Worst of all, what if there’s nothing she can do about it?

Review

This was a great concept, but I thought the execution was not very good. The parallels were too direct and obvious and the story was very predictable. I got what would happen right away and once it was explained to the characters, it got worse. I wish I had liked it more, but I just didn’t think it worked. It was too trite and obvious.

Reading the OED

by Ammon Shea

Rating: ++

Summary

An obsessive word lover’s account of reading the Oxford English Dictionary cover to cover.

Review

I loved reading about A J Jacobs reading the encyclopedia, so I thought I would love to read about someone reading the OED, especially since i love words. This book lacked the cleverness of Know It All and was not as entertaining and I thought it would be. i read through the Cs and couldn’t read anymore. It took a fun concept and made it…well, not so fun.

If you love words, it is worth a try though. You might find some great new ones!

Black Beauty

By Anne Sewell

Rating: ++

Summary

An autobiography of a horse.

Review

I think this was a very clever book. Seeing things from the point of the view made me like horses a lot more (I have never been a big fan) and made me think about the horrible ways people sometimes treat animals. IT also made me think about how much animals return love and affection. I didn’t love the story, and probably would not really recommend it, but I am glad that I picked it up.

Project Princess

By Meg Cabot

Rating: +++

Summary

Mia goes on a school trip during spring break to buld homes for the less fortunate in West Virginia

Review

It is one of the in-between books in the Princess Diaries series and is very short. I liked that Mia was doing something to help others and thought that it did make her realistic because she thought about her boyfriend in addition to thinking about doing good deeds. If you have read the rest of the series, you should read it. If you skip it, you won’t miss too much though.

Read this week

The Guinea Pig Diaries by A. J. Jacobs

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

Project Princess by Meg Cabot

Little lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodges Burnett

The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

Currently Reading

The Love Story of J. Edgar Hoover by Kinky Friedman

The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

I hope you have a great week!

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Title: The Secret Garden

Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett

Publisher: Candlewick

Hardcover: 272 pages

ISBN: 978-0763631611

Rating: ++++

Super short summary:

The story of an unhappy little girl, her invalid cousin, and the healing power of friendship and love.

Review:

I cannot believe I never read this when I was younger. I know I watched a movie version several times and loved it, but I didn’t get to the book 9so not like me). I really enjoyed reading it. The language is beautiful and the setting is descriptive. It is one of those books you can lose yourself in…and I did!

I love how the kids grow and change. It seemed very realistic. They were spoiled and stuck up because of their situation and once they were given the chance to grow and improve, they did. It also really made me want to start gardening in the spring. It sounded beautiful and relaxing. I remember that when I saw the movie I always wanted to go help my mom garden.

I thought that the concept of “Magic” was very interesting. There wasn’t magic or being outside that made the kids better, it was that they were working hard and were in the Sun for the first time. Now, I don’t think that nature and the Sun have magical powers, I just think that getting outside is good for kids, especially when it gives them a sense of purpose and excitement.

If you haven’t gotten to read thsi yet, go get it! It is a quick read and is a really enjoyable experience!

The Sunday Salon: Oh Amazon You Have Done It Again!

I am sure you have all heard that Amazon has stopped selling Macmillan books because of an eBook pricing issues. Thanks to Apple raising the pricing point to $15, Macmillan thought it should negotiate the same deal with Amazon. Well, Amazon did not like that and stopped selling Macmillan’s books.

Amazon has made yet another mistake in eBooks. This one is very serious. If I had a Kindle, I would be furious with Amazon. Why be mad at them and not at Macmillan? That is simple. Now all of the other publishers can say, “We think we would raise the price point to $15″. If Amazon doesn’t like it, they will stop selling the books. The publishers should be 100% fine with that arrangement. They still have other ways to sell books. The party that will really hurt will be Amazon. ALL of the publishers should do this so that Amazon has absolutely no books to sell, other than self-published, which people are not buying. If Amazon has no books to sell, suddenly they are the ones who need the publishers and not the other way around.

Amazon has had a stronghold on this market for too long and I really think this is the year that will end. There are people who have the Kindle who are boycotting books that are over $9.99. There are a few problems with that and with those people.

1. Why is $9.99 the magic number? Because that is what Amazon told you should be the magic number? Way to think for yourselves and really figure out how much you want to pay for books.

2. You really think that just because you bought a Kindle that you should get a new book that costs everyone else $20-$30 for less than $10? The same editing, marketing, and work went into your copy as everyone else’s. Oh, and they have an entirely new department that is working on yours and they still have to format everything to Amazon’s format, which costs extra money.

3. You don’t think the author’s hard work and time and talent is worth very much do you? They make less on a book that is going for $9.99 than $15. But that is okay because you bought a Kindle and put the money to Amazon instead of the author. They will understand right?

Here’s to hoping that publishers, agents, and author’s will stand up for themselves and that Amazon will realize that they need every else.

ETA:

Amazon has released a statement. They will be changing their prices because “Macmillan has a monopoly on their books” and they say that “customers can decide if $14.99 is too much to pay for an eBook”. Which I don’t think they will…but I am glad Amazon has realized they can’t bully Macmillan into lowering their price. I have a problem with part of their statement though – “And we know for sure that many independent presses and self-published authors will see this as an opportunity to provide attractively priced e-books as an alternative.”

I think this is a slap in the face to publishers and this may cause them to stop taking crap from Amazon. Self-published works and independent presses are not going to be replacing traditional publishers…ever. People don’t buy self-published books unless they know the person and for Amazon to make this kind of statement against publishers really bugs me.

Read this week

Absolutely Maybe by Lisa Yee

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Currently Reading

The Guinea Pig Diaries by A. J. Jacobs

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

I was hoping to read more, but I was really sick Monday and Tuesday and didn’t even have the strength to do that. I was able to reschedule my interview for Wednesday and I think it went REALLY well…I am still waiting to hear. I also have another interview next with for an unpaid internship with one of my idols in the editing world. I am so excited about it!

Library Loot (1)

Library Loot is hosted by Eva of A Striped Armchair and Marg of Reading Adventures that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

I feel like I am not reading enough. Somehow, I have decided that is because I am not actively trying to read books from my spreadsheets like I was last year. I decided to fix that today and went on a massive trip to the library.

I went armed with three Post-Its of books I wanted to look for/look at. The first was from my two spreadsheets – one that lists books I want to read and one that lists the books from 1001 Books You must Read Before You Die that I have not read yet. Now, I can’t just look at the list and pick something because it is too overwhelming. A couple months ago, I turned to random.org and put in the range and it gave me the next 100 books I will read off both lists. Then I forgot about those lists for a couple months until today! The other Post-Its were books from a book that I cannot promote more to book bloggers – 1001 Children’s Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up. The book is split up into ages +, so I decided I would start at 8+ and go from the beginning and go get some books that they had that I had never read (or don’t remember reading) and that was a Post-It. The last Post-It was not for books that i would actually take out. They were all of the 0-3 books that the library had. I figured I could just read those while there (but will include them on my list, but not on my list of books read).

Well, here is my list with total pages of each section. From what I have out right now it is 4.656 pages. Luckily, a big chuck of that is in the larger print of books for young people!

0-3

The Runaway Bunny written by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Clement Hurd (the second I picked it up, I realized I had read it as a kid).
Bedtime for Frances written by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Garth Williams
Bathwater’s Hot written and illustrated by Shirley Hughes
Elmer Takes Off written and illustrated by David McKee
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt written by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury (another that I realized I had read)
Kipper written and illustrated by Mick Inkpen

8+ (2214 pages)

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
The Adventures of Pinocchio by C. Collodi
Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
Back Beauty by Anna Sewell
The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

and a couple bonuses that I grabbed while looking for other things

Stuart Little by E.B. White
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

1001 Books (944)

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Cider House Rules by John Irving

Other (1498 pages)

The March by E.L. Doctorow
The Love Song of J. Edgar Hoover by Kinky Friedman
I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb

On Hold

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Size 12 is Not Fat by Meg Cabot
Project Princess by Meg Cabot
Surfacing by Margaret Atwood
Tales From Shakespeare by Charles Lamb
Water-Babies by Charles Kingsley

plus 6 picture books.

I am first on all of these (they are at other branches), so I should get them Monday or Tuesday.

Did I get any of your favorites? Any of your least favorites? Is there anyway I can read all of these plus the books on hold even in six weeks? Let me know in the comments

Absolutely Maybe by Lisa Yee

Title: Absolutely Maybe

Author: Lisa Yee

Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic)

Hardcover: 274 pages

ISBN: 9780439838444

Rating: ++++

Summary (from WorldCat.org):

When living with her mother, an alcoholic ex-beauty queen, becomes unbearable, almost seventeen-year-old Maybelline “Maybe” Chestnut runs away to California, where she finds work on a taco truck and tries to track down her birth father.

Review

My heart broke for Maybe. A mom who is an alcoholic and is constantly criticizing her. Being different from everyone else around her and feeling invisible. Having her mother’s latest fiancee try to rape her. Yeah, she is definitely a character that it is hard not to care about.When her mother got mad at HER about Jake, I wanted Maybe to do something drastic and was glad that she did.

An environment like that can’t be healthy for anyone and she found a way to get out, even if it was running away. I will agree with some other bloggers, sometimes Maybe gets overshadowed by some of the other characters, but I still really liked her. I also thought that it was good that she wasn’t always assertive to her friends. She has not had the easiest living situation with her mother and parade of stepfathers, so I could easily see someone in her situation be complacent with friends on things that don’t really matter in the long run.

I don’t want to give away too much of the book because it was so great to read it and not know any of what was happening, but I will say that it was a great read. ALL of the characters were great (well other than the ass Jake) and Lisa Yee has to voice of the teenager down perfectly. It felt realistic and authentic and I couldn’t put the book down.

Here is a warning though – while reading this book, you WILL crave tacos. Good tacos, Delicious tacos. Thinking about it makes me want some…too bad I don’t have anywhere to get them!

Have you read any other books that have made you want food lately?
Here is what some other people had to say – if you did a review, let me know in the comments and I will link to it!

Presenting Lenore was not a big fan and wrote a good review about why.

Katie’s Bookshelf thought it was ok.

This counts for both the
2010 YA Challenge
and
2010 TBR Challenge

The Sunday Salon

This week felt so long, even though the work week was only four days. Those weeks are always the longest. I had an okay reading week. I want to read a lot more, but things seem to get in the way. Mostly TV and movies, my husband and I try to really get our money’s worth for Netflix, so we watch it often…usually during times I may have read. I also love a lot of the current TV shows – Modern Family, Biggest Loser, Make it or Break it (I know it is bad…but I like it!), Better Off Ted, American Idol, Community, 30 Rock, Lost and so many more. All that and we still have a season of Mad Men and most of Dollhouse on the DVR too. I really don’t read as much as I want to.Or do my cross stitching.

In other news, we had a bunch of friends over to play board games last night and had so much fun. It is an interesting group of people and we laugh a lot. That also meant I went to bed really really late and woke up at 11 this morning. Oops!

Tomorrow, I have an interview to be an intern at a major agency. I am very nervous, but i need to remember that getting this far is a big deal and I just need to show them why they need me. This internship would change my life in many ways and I have been working hard to prepare myself. If I get it, I will have a bus ride three days a week to read!

Posted this week

I blogged about some of my favorite book blogs.

I reviewed Love, Stargirl.

I also joined the 2010 Blog Improvement Challenge and I might be getting a Mentor to teach me some more about blogging!

Read but not reviewed (mini reviews coming soon!)

Grim Tuesday by Garth Nix

Avalon High by Meg Cabot

Reading the OED by Ammon Shea

Currently Reading

The Guinea Pig Diaries by A. J. Jacobs

Absolutely Maybe by Lisa Yee

Current Contests

My book survey contest is still going on. Right now, one person will win a book, but there is still time for more books to go out. The list on the post is just a sampling of what you may win, I will add some more once the contest is over!

I hope everyone had a great week last week and everyone is ready to have another great week.

Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Title: Love, Stargirl

Author: Jerry Spinelli

Publisher: Knopf

Hardcover: 274

ISBN: 9780375813757

Rating: +++++

Summary: Love, Stargirl is a sequel to Stargirl. While the first book looked at Stargirl from Leo’s perspective, this book is from Stargirl. It is one long letter to Leo, that is essentially a diary. Stargirl has moved from Arizona to Pennsylvania and she is suffering from heartbreak. Leo has dumped her and she cannot deal with it. Her parents have decided that homeschooling is probably best, so Stargirl gets to interact with a wide variety of people. There is Dootsie, a five-year-old who wants to be Stargirl; Betty Lou, who is suffering from agoraphobia; Alvina, the tough girl that beats up boys and doesn’t fit in; Charlie, who sits by his wife tombstone all day; and several other characters. Through these people, Stargirl begins to hope again.

Review:

This book has gotten many mixed reviews. Some people say that Stargirl shouldn’t care about what a boy thinks of her and it shows that she is just a typical girl. I disagree. Stargirl loves people and animals and the world around her more than any of us could.Since she has so much love, wouldn’t the removal of returned love hurt her more than any usual person? I would think so! Love is hard! Losing love is even harder, even Stargirl will have a hard time with that.

She hasn’t lost herself completely. She takes the man by the tombstone donuts and a birthday present. She befriends the people that most people ignore. She does nice things for people around her all the time. She is still a one-of-a-kind Stargirl. I love that we got to see her parents in this book. They obviously love their daughter and help her whenever they can. They accept her for who she is and encourage her in whatever she is trying to do. It is a great example of parenting.

I wish I could have been more like Stargirl. She didn’t care if people thought she was strange, she did nice things for them and asked for nothing in return. In the first book, she found out who had a birthday and sang to them. She continued this every day. You know some of these people were sad because they friends or parents did not really acknowledge it and Stargirl made them smile.

I don’t want to give away the ending, but it was a perfect ending to the book. People came together, they tried something new, and she help change her community for the better.

I love the idea of Stargirl. The closest I saw to a Stargirl was my fourth grade teacher. She made sure every student got acknowledgment on their birthday (or half-birthday if they were born in the summer) and also just made sure that every student felt like they were special. She would figure out what everyone was talented in and she let them shine. She would also go above and beyond to help students with whatever it was that they struggled with. Other teachers might have thought she was strange and some of her practices were unique, but I still can remember how she made us feel. My best friend invited her to the Academic M dinner they had for senior who had over a 3.5 and everyone who was in that room that had her made sure they went over to give her a hug.

Have you know any Stargirls (or Starboys)?

Some of my favorite blogs

I have seen several posts about book blogs lately and have been introduced to a lot of new ones lately, so I thought I would highlight some of my personal favorites. I haven’t highlighted all of my favorites, just a few. I may do this every couple weeks.

The Zen Leaf

This blog is done by Amanda and the first thing I will say is that we don’t often agree on reviews (ex. The Book Thief, Maus, American Gods). That said, her reviews are what got me reading her blog in the first place. She has a great writing style and puts her opinions out there, even if others have disagreed with her!

She is running the 2010 GLBT Reading Challeng. I didn’t join officially, but I am going to be looking at everyone’s list and reading some more GLBT books. She also does Death book hour with Death and Baby Death – something that I won’t explain too much, you just need to see it! All around, a great blog!

Reading With Tequila

Jennifer runs this blog and the first thing I loved about it was the design. I also love the challenge tracker on the sidebar, I think it is so well-done and check it out a few times a month! She does great, to the point reviews and I love her rating system! We don’t have the same taste in books, so I have found some new things to read on here.

She also does a great weekly post that you will start seeing here soon (I hope!) “What Should I Read This Week” where she puts four possible books and has others vote on what she should read…and tell her why. I love the idea! All around, this is a great blog!

Chasing Ray

This is done by Colleen Mondor who is reviewer for Booklist, Bookslut, Eclectica Magazine and the Voices of New Orleans. She is opinionated and outspoken -a great combination. She is one to talk openly about issues in books and publishing. She has made me think about these issues and what I think needs to happen to improve the industry. If you do not read this blog already go read and comment – there are always great discussions in the comments!

Steph Su Reads

This blog won the Book Blogger Appreciation Week’s Best Writing Award for a reason. Her reviews are fantastic and I love reading everything she writes! I have also picked up books based on her reviews. It is a fun one to read!

Reading in Color

Reading in Color is a book blog that reviews YA books about people of color. I do not usually pay attention to race when I reading books, but this blog makes me think about it a little more. The reviews are good and it is a great place to go to in order to read more diverse books. I thoroughly enjoy reading everything she has to say, even if I do not agree 100%. I am so happy that I found this blog.

Sophisticated Dorkiness

The title of this blog is enough for it to be on my favorites list! There is more going for Kim’s blog other than just the name! She does the Blog Improvement Challenge, which is a challenge to improve your blogging (which I am doing this year!). She has good reviews and a great site!

As Usual, I Need More Bookshelves

Elizabeth runs this great blog. Yes, like the others she has great reviews. I also love her set up. She also does 451 Fridays. To borrow her words,

“451 Fridays is based on an idea from Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. In his novel, a group of people (Bradbury calls them Book People) are trying to keep the ideas found in books alive. Instead of actually saving the books, the Book People each “become” a book – memorizing it, word for word, and passing it down to the next generation. 451 Fridays asks what books you feel passionate about. What book do you think is so important that you would be willing to take on the challenge of “becoming”?”

I enjoy reading it every week!

You’ve GOTTA Read This!

I love Sandy’s writing style. I also love reading what she has to say every Monday about movies. She has a very wide variety of tastes in books and movies, which makes her blog accessible to many. To keep it simple, Sandy’s blog makes me smile…(almost) every time I read it.

Bermudaonion’s Weblog

Kathy’s blog is another fun one to read (ok, they all are or I wouldn’t love them, but still). She holds great contests and makes it easy to find them with a sticky post. She reviews a VERY wide variety of books and I have picked up several based on her reviews. She does posts called ‘Our Life in France” which is a great way to get a little glimpse of another country.

S Krishna’s Books

Another blog that reviews a very wide variety of books. She opens my eyes to a lot of books that I haven’t read, or sometimes even heard of, before. She is very honest in her reviews, which I appreciate. The only problem is that she reads so much and she reads it so fast that I will never catch up with all of the books she has recommended. It is a great blog. She won the BBAW award for Cultural Blog, so if you like reading about other cultures, she has a lot of great books for you!

Do you read any of these? Did you just check them out for the first time? Do YOU have favorites that I might not know about? Let me know if you do! I would love to hear from you.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Title: The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins

Hardcover: 374 pages

Publisher: Scholastic Press

ISBN: 0439023483

Rating: +++++

Summary (from flap):

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 an 18 to participate in the annual Hungar Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

16-year old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before–and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she become a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to stat making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Review:

I knew The Hunger Games would be great. I knew it would make me think. I did not know that I would cry by page 24. This girl has given up herself for her sister, an ultimate sacrifice. In return, she gets the ultimate sign of respect from the people of District 12. A gesture that means thanks, admiration and goodbye to someone you love. A gesture that she deserves, She says that, for most, family devotion only goes so far on reaping day. But she is not most. With this, Suzanne Collins brings us a character to root for, hope for, and one that will captivate us through the entire series.

The Hunger Games is a prime example of what young adult books can and should be. It makes the reader think, it is well-written, and it brings characters and places to life. It tackles issues like loyalty, courage, and hope. It even contains a love story that is tragic and true.

I hope there is never a nation so powerful that they can pick 24 children and give them a death sentence. And they continue that every year and force all of their citizens to watch it. And no one speaks up because they are too scare. Especially when the poor people are more likely to be forced into this situation – children paying because their parents couldn’t make a better life. I would hope that in our world other nations would come to the aid of the people or that a rebellion could take this system down.

The choices that Katniss must make are too difficult to imagine. First, she chooses to save her sister. That is one I could see – she has protected her younger sister for so long and knows that she couldn’t last past the first day. Then she has to choose whether or not she should trust Peeta, the boy who saved her long ago and loves her now. She has to choose whether or not she will kill others to save herself, if she even can. Her tough and high pressure choices continue throughout the book and she keeps making the tough and right decisions that she must make to save herself and her allies.

One death in particular really got to me and those who read the book will know what I am talking about. The compassion and love that Katniss showed toward her fellow tribune member showed the humanity that the Capitol was so against. It was a beautiful scene and I think it showed us so much into her character.

I had originally planned to try to read this book slowly and take notes..but I couldn’t. I devoured it in a few hours today. It was one of those books I couldn’t put down. I cannot wait to read the next two books. I don’t know why I waited this long to read this book!

Just some of the other links to review – again, if I missed your please let me know!

Mrs. Magoo Reads
Pop Culture Junkie
The Zen Leaf
Medieval Bookworm

This counts towards the
2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge
and
2010 TBR Challenge

Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor – a Mini Review

Title: Seeing Redd

Author: Frank Beddor

Hardcover: 371 pages

Publisher: Dial Books (Penguin)

ISBN: 0803731554

Rating: +++

Review:

This was the second book in the Looking Glass Wars series. I loved the first book, but this one was a little of a letdown, a problem that can often happen in the second book of a trilogy. It felt like a transition book. The first book stood on its own, this one did not. The ending did not feel like an ending, it felt like one giant cliffhanger. I found that I was still sitting and waiting for the climax, which will happen in the next book. I don’t like it when authors do that. It is one reason I like the Harry Potter series so much. Each book is a complete story and stands on its own. Yes, there are things you want to know that you won’t find out until the enxt book, but the stories do wrap up well at the end of the books.

That said, I still think that this book was at least okay. The advances in the plot were surprising and interesting. It was still a fun book to read. I love the Wonderland that Beddor has created. Redd is an excellent main villain. Arch…not so much, but he is just a side character so I can forgive it to some extent.Since he seems like he will be a central character in the next book, I hope there is more depth added.

I look forward to reading ArchEnemy and hope that I enjoy it more than I enjoyed this book.

Did you like this book more than I did? Tell me why!