Signed Books Arrived Today

YIPPPEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!! My signed copies of The Passage and The Twelve arrived today. So exciting!!!! A big THANK YOU to my friend Evil, who handled all the details and another BIG THANK YOU to Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore in San Diego for not only shipping the books out but also making sure my name was spelled correctly.

Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Truth be told I was ‘forced’ to read The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I’ve seen the movies and the TV shows. I’m a big fan of the BBC series but I was fearful that the book would be dull and boring. It was written over a hundred years ago. I was very wrong. Sherlock Holmes is as relevant today as he was a hundred years ago.

“It is pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped this truth that in these little records of ours cases which you have been good enough to draw up, and, I am, bound to say, occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much to the many causes celebres and sensational trails which I have figured, but rather to those incidents which may been trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made my special province.” – The Copper Beeches, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

I think the key to the continued success of Sherlock Holmes are the trivial events. While originally published in the 1890’s, the story of Sherlock Holmes is still relevant and interesting because Doyle primarily focuses on people and their issues. No matter how much the world has changed, people and the things that motivate them are still the same. I think that this is why Sherlock can be in a movie set in the 1890’s or in a TV show set in present day England because the key to Sherlock is not so much the setting but the people that make up the plot. 

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was a truly an enjoyable read. I am going to add all the Sherlock Holmes stories to my reading list.

Moved to the East Coast

Last week I moved to the east coast. It's an adjustment. I am still trying to figure out what I'm doing but I feel less crazy and I finally started to re-read The Passage. I hope to have more reviews up in the coming days.

Fictionwise

Fictionwise, which was launched in 2000 and acquired by Barnes & Noble in 2009, is in the process of winding down operations, with Fictionwise.com (including eReader.com and eBookwise.com) ending sales December 4. Customers will not be able to access the Fictionwise Bookshelf after December 21. In an e-mail to customers Friday, Fictionwise offered step-by-step opt-in instructions "to transfer your Fictionwise.com Bookshelf to a Nook Library." Once the e-books are transferred, they will be in ePub format.

From Shelf Awareness

Just another reason/example of why eReaders aren't as great as everyone thinks they are. What happens to your content when a company closes? Here there is a transfer but what if there wasn't?

eReaders

 So, apparently a new study says that over a third of eReaders are only used once. I have to admit that I fall into that category. I LOVE, LOVE my iPad, just not for reading. I read one book on it. It was okay. I like to underline, make notes in the margins, bend pages that I think are interesting, etc. In other words, I don't just read my books. That kind of relationship doesn't exist with eReaders. I understand the appeal to have 100's of books on one device. Believe me, as I plan a move across country, I understand the appeal a lot. But you cannot share an eReader. You cannot walk up to a friend and say "Here, stop what you are reading and read this." :/ And yes, I have done that before. I realize that's an extreme. Most people just let others borrow books. But you get my point. You also can't have eReaders signed. Although I've seen it done. :/ But those things are small, what happens when you run out of space on that thing? I also love having them around. I am always surrounded by friends. :)

eReader Article

The Passage by Justin Cronin... and dreams

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that The Passage by Justin Cronin is the only book that I have ever dreamed about. And in fact, long after reading the book I continue to dream about it. YES, it is THAT GOOD. Well, I recently started re-reading it, so it is fresh in my mind before I start on The Twelve. And the dreams have already started. In this one, I was at a wedding and telling a guy just how good this book was. LOL I even recommend this book in my dreams.

Path of Beasts by Lian Tanner

I want to begin on a positive note. Museum of Thieves, Book 1 of the Keepers Trilogy by Lian Tanner was probably the best book I read in 2010. So, I was shocked when I hated City of Lies, the 2nd book in the series. I am happy to say that Path of Beasts is a better book than City of Lies but not nearly as good as Museum of Thieves. It is possible that because Museum of Thieves was such a good book that nothing will come close and it clouds my judgement on the other two.

With that being said, Path of Beasts starts a few minutes after City of Lies ends. Goldie and Toadspit are back in the city of Jewel along with their new friends from Spoke, Pounce and Mouse. Tanner does an okay job bringing the story to an end. The book is entitled Path of Beasts but the path is only a chapter or two part of the story. The Fudleman, the villain of the series, is back and he once again wants to take over the city of Jewel. Sadly, this is the same plot as in book 1. The children save the day in book 1 and everyone is determined never to let the Fudleman rule the city again, cut book 3 where once again all the adults are totally helpless and the children are left to save the day. I understand that this is a kids book but I would have liked a different plot and not a repeat of book 1.

My biggest disappointment with City of Lies was the lack of the magical Museum of Dunt. The museum really is a character in its own right and I am happy to say that it plays a big role in this book. I think a lot of the magic in book 1 was getting to know the museum and those in charged with keeping it safe, the Keepers. This is a Keepers Trilogy and yet the Keepers are not a main point in the rest of the books. I guess I assumed that the next two books would deal with training the Keepers and other mysteries of the museum and not Goldie and Toadspit's journey of taking down the Fudleman.

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

I LOVED The Scarlet Letter in high school. It is a book that I think of fondly but I have not read it in uh 20 years. :O So, when I heard When She Woke by Hillary Jordan is based on The Scarlet Letter, I immediately forgot about the 30 to 40 other books I have laying around the house and went out and got it. That was September 24^th and I JUST finished it.  I think part of the reason it took me so long to read is because it is brutally honest. While I am unsure what I expected When She Woke to be, I was not prepared for it. It is possible that I remember The Scarlet Letter through rose colored sunglasses.

When She Woke takes place in a future United States where people who commit crimes are punished by having their skin colored, Red, Blue or Yellow, depending upon the crime. “After the Second Great Depression, to relieve the financially crippled federal and state governments of the prohibitive cost of housing millions of prisoners” it is decided that “melachroming all but the most violent and incorrigible convicts was not only more cost effective than imprisoning them, it was also more of a deterrent against crime and a more humane means of punishment.” We meet Hannah Elizabeth Payne, who has just been chromed Red for the abortion of her unborn child. I think based upon the title I thought the book would be about Hannah’s life after she woke up from the melachroming process. In actuality, it is about her waking up from her sheltered life.

The book deals with abortion, crime and punishment, faith, what it means to be a woman, etc. You know really simple topics. The result is an often disturbing and frustrating book that provides glimpses behind the characters’ facades and then challenges us to do better in our own lives.  While Hannah has an affair just like Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter, I think that the similarity between the two pretty much ends there. I think it is a misrepresentation to say that When She Woke is based on The Scarlet Letter because it oversimplifies the complexity of Jordan’s book. Furthermore, I don’t recall Hester Prynne growing and changing as a character mainly because women in 1650’s couldn’t. Jordan allows Hannah “for the first time in her life, there would be no limits to what she could do or who she could be, no one to tell her what she should and shouldn’t think about.” That in the end is very satisfying. 

My only real ‘issue’ or ‘concern’ with the book is Hannah’s lack of chemistry with her lover, Aidan. The reader is only provided tiny flashbacks of their encounters. I never really ‘understood’ why she wanted to be with him. There was no real appeal to him. Maybe that is because we meet the ‘Red’ Hannah who is constantly transforming and growing as a character and we never completely see the shelter Hannah who would fall for such a lame-o.

Please VOTE

okay this is my only post about voting... I was born in Communist Poland. I don't remembering living there but I remember spending summers in Communist Poland. Even at 10, 11, 12 years old I was in awe of the Awesomeness of America and how everyone could voice their opinions freely. I am sad to read the posts of others and how hostile they are when a political opinions are shared. Maybe I am an idealist and maybe I am wrong and I don't understand what it means to be an American but sharing different views is the foundation of America. The Founding Fathers didn't all agree on everything. They struggled with their decisions but they all wanted a better life. I think we all share that. I don't hide that I am a Democrat or who I was going to vote for, not to push my ideas on anyone, not to make my Republican friends feel anger towards me. I do it simply because I am FREE to do so. I LOVE how everyone's vote counts and yet in the end what matters most is OUR vote. We, Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Greens, whatever, must come together and TOGETHER decide our future. The beauty of America is that we can do this peacefully and openly. People are literally dying in other parts of the the world to be able to have this right. Please vote.

Book Stores Are Awesome and So Are The People Who Shop There

my faith in humanity was restore today at Skylight Books. Yes, its been lacking the last few days with the stupid HR stuff... I went to Skylight Books because yesterday and today they are celebrating their Sweet 16. Plus they have this "Draw your own discount - from 10% to 75%! - at the register when you make your purchase" going on. So, I go to pick up The Passage and The Twelve by Justin Cronin. I find The Twelve easy enough but not so much The Passage. I get in line to ask about it, when the guy in front of me sees that I am buying The Twelve and gives me his copy. I guess the store got some damage copies and were giving them away. I was stunned. He said he wasn't going to read it and that the would just give it away to someone else. WOW!!!!

Skylight Books

The Passage and The Twelve by Justin Cronin

Ah crap! There is just never enough time to read everything that I want to read. If the definition of a good book is a book that stays with you long after you read it, or you continue to think about it in new and different ways or if you have dreams, or in my case nightmares, long after you read the book. Well, then The Passage by Justin Cronin is a GOOD book! No book has ever taken me on such a roller coaster ride of emotions the way The Passage did. One minute I'm loving it, the next I want to throw it out the window and not because the writing was bad but because the heart break was just too much. I know, I know it's probably hard to believe that a story of a vampire apocalypse could do that. But that's just it, The Passage was so much more than about vampires. It was about relationships and building communities in the aftermath of the apocalypse. Dr. Cronin is an English professor and so the writing is phenomenal. I am always hesitant to mention the vampires because I worry people will think Twilight or bad writing. Not so. And now the 2nd book in the series has been released. I'm not sure when I will get to it. Hopefully soon. I do want to re-read The Passage before I start The Twelve. Wish me luck in finding the time to do that.

Shelf Awareness Review of The Twelve

BAD... just BAD

Eve and Adam by Michael Grant, Katherine Applegate

uh...well...see...hmm...

This book was recommended to me at the American Library Association Annual Conference. I was excited about the concept, girl creates the perfect boy. The characters were okay and the story was also okay. I was just disappointed that it wasn't better or more or something. I didn't feel anything for these characters. They could literally live or die and I wouldn't feel anything for them. I love, LOVE Young Adult books. But this one... :/

Below is a link to a much more positive review.

Shelf Awareness Review

Louis Vuittion and Literary Salon

Fancy Louis Vuitton opens a Paris Literary Salon. Oh la la.

Los Angeles Times

Teen Opens Bookstore to Pay For College

This is a cool story. I wondering if he would ship books out of state...

Teen Opens Bookstore

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer is probably my favorite book of 2012. While it came out awhile ago and I read the Advance Reader's Edition almost a year ago, I've been recently reminded just how awesome this book is. A student of mine just finished reading this book after I suggested that she might like it. She loved it and cannot wait to read the 2nd installment.

Cinder is the retelling of Cinderella, where Cinder is a cyborg.and lives in New Beijing. She is a second-class citizen and the property of her evil stepmother. There is a also a prince and an evil Queen. Cinder is such an original take on Cinderella that you welcome the original parts and love the new twist and turns.

I've already read Scarlet, the 2nd book in the series and I am soooo HAPPY to say that it's even better than Cinder. Scarlet doesn't come out until February 2013. I cannot wait until book 3 and 4 come out. I haven't been this hard-core in love with a series since The Hunger Games.

Iron Hearted Violet by Kelly Barnhill

I really, REALLY wanted to like this book. I even wanted to love it. But I did not. I'm not sure what was missing. Maybe nothing. Maybe I'm just too old to see the magic in this book. Princess Violet is a GREAT character. All of the characters are great. But the story is lacking that magic, that 'something', that makes me want to have to entire world read this book.



Shelf Awareness Review

The Last Dragonslayer: The Chronicles of Kazam, Book One by Jasper Fforde

I loved this book!!! It is sooooooo well written. If anything, it's probably the most well written books I have read all year. For a lack of a better way of describing it, at it's core it is a simple story but it is so well thought out with believable and lovable characters that it's hard to put the book down.

Jennifer Strange, the narrator, is a 15 year old indentured servant. Jennifer is the acting manager for the wizards of Kazam Mystical Arts Management in the Kingdom of Hereford of the Ununited Kingdoms. Fforde does a wonderful job blending old and new to create an alternative world where magic is real and indentured servants are a common occurrence. Oh and dragons are real too in this world and it turns out that Jennifer is the last dragonslayer. She is faced with the tough choice of 'following her destiny' or doing what she thinks is best.

A fun read for all ages!

Shelf Awareness.com Review

If only I had the $$$$$

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/9571826/In-pictures-JK-Rowlings-2.25m-home.html?frame=2353060

Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin

I picked up a copy of Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin at ALA (American Library Association) Annual Conference a couple of weeks ago. Honestly I liked the cover and title but what made me pick it up was on the back it had "...birthplace of chocolate..."

I wasn't aware this was a series. They always are. So, I read All These Things I've Done, the 1st book in the series. It is the classic bad boy and good girl love story only with a new and refreshing twist. The girl, Anya Balachine is the bad girl and the boy, Win Delacroix, is the good boy. Add some mob hits and make chocolate illegal and you have an engrossing and suspenseful story that is unique.

It Is My Blood is just as much fun to read as the first book. I think it took me less than 24 hours. Yes, it was that good and no I could not put it down. I don't want to give anything away. But like with any story involving the mob, nothing is what it seems.

Both books are well written with enough twist and turns to keep you guessing. I cannot wait until the next book coming out!!! A very fun read.

Crewel by Gennifer Albin

One of my favorite books this year... I'll admit it, I didn't love it at 1st. But once the sh*t hit the fan, I couldn't put it down. The ending... well, it was a game changer and I cannot wait until the next book comes out!!! A very fun read!!!

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/max-issue.html?issue=24#m47