Recommended for Fairy Tale Folk

Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales (Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Edition)

I adore Grimm's Fairy Tales. I guess it's because I'm such a sucker for fun fantasy. These are all the original tales - where the princes don't always kiss the beautiful maidens to wake them up, where witches die in horrible ways, and you learn everything that wasn't in the Disney movies. Hee. It's actually very interesting to see all the differences. I like this book not only for the stories, but also for the ideas. As a writer of fantasy, I've begun to look for some of my favorite tales and discover how to work them into new ways. Yay! Even better, for every Grimm's Fairy Tale in one really good-looking book, it's a great price. I own a bunch of these leatherbound editions. I'm happy I have the one I do (the cover is different and to be honest, I like mine better). But if you love fairy tales and want all the originals in one awesome book, this is the way to go!

Notes from the playlist: "Crescendolls" by Daft Punk

World War Z by Max Brooks - Zombies Done Right

 

Pros: Strong enough that it got me thinking: how I would handle a zombie apocalypse

Cons: The format may turn off some; no idea *when* this takes place

 

The Bottom Line: It's definitely a different sort of book, one that may or may not give you the willies, but will likely make you wonder - would you survive a zombie outbreak?

 

 

The July book for Calico Reaction's 2011 ABC Book Club. I'd been meaning to read this for a long time. Brooks is the creator of the Zombie Survival Guide - a big seller in the store.

We've seen it all before.  In movies.  In other books.  Tales of people trying to survive during a zombie apocalypse.  There are so many takes on zombies now, too.  Do they walk?  Can they run?  Do they think?  So many questions - let's hope we never found out.

 

But Max Brooks seems to have taken the idea of zombies and thought it out in a very real way.  He's considered all sorts of possibilities, such as mass evacuations, wintertime and frozen zombies, survival methods, rebuilding afterwards, and much more.  Brooks has built his story upon the zombies we're all used to; the slow, stumbling types that need a shot to the brain to kill them.  The kind that can be cut in half and still function.  The kind that moan and groan and keep going like the Energizer Bunny from beyond the grave until they die or find more suitable prey.  And what happens when they go fall into water like rivers and oceans?  Brooks has an answer for that too.

 

World War Z isn't your typical story.  There is no central protagonist.  Instead, the book is a series of interviews that the author has with survivors of the war.  That can actually make it difficult for some readers who need or would rather have a traditional style story.  This was actually the July choice for the ABC Book Club, and a few people actually didn't finish it, something I found interesting in itself.  But that aside, there were times when even I got impatient.  Sometimes I found the stories, well, a little boring.

 

The author takes us across the globe to different people, from the former Vice President of the United States to a blind man in Japan who survived in a forest alone.  He speaks with owners of dogs trained to deal with zombies, and a young woman out killing zombies half frozen in the ice.  It's a wide array of characters, and because of this sometimes I got confused when people would reference others.  I'd wonder, "Was that person interviewed?  Am I supposed to know who that is?"  He takes you from the very beginning of the zombie war to some of its final stages.

 

I can understand why this is housed in the fiction section of the store rather than the science fiction or horror section (though Barnes & Noble doesn't actually have a horror section).  It's not so much about the zombie war as it is humanity's reaction to it.  How we panicked.  Why millions of people died.  How the pandemic spread.  How we fought back.  How we grew innovative and resourceful.  How we survived.  Brooks brings in the psychological aspect of it for soldiers fighting against zombies.  Points out how politicians and bureaucrats can completely screw things up (though that's not really anything new).  Oh, and by the way, the zombie attack is China's fault. Thanks China.

 

The biggest issue I had with this book was that I had no idea when the war took place.  I had no sense of time, and the things Brooks tossed out didn't help.  People would reference past events that we're used to, like Vietnam and past presidents.  This made it sound like the war took place either in the 1990s or in the 2000s.  And yet the technology that some of the soldiers had when they started to fight back was well beyond what we have now.  It was cool, to be sure, but it threw me off completely.  Their gear was more like 2030s than now.  Was the zombie war to have taken place in an alternate universe?  I never understood, and anytime Brooks threw out a token of time, it only served to throw me off again.

 

It was engaging.  It didn't have the sort of interviews - or perhaps it was style I was looking for - that I thought it would have, but it made for a pretty good read.  The creepiest part was that it got me thinking: What if there was some kind of zombie apocalypse?  Would my family and I survive?  I knew if we could get into the woods, particularly Colorado's Rockies where we were most comfortable, we probably could.  The biggest problem I foresaw was actually getting to that location.  Too many cars on the roads trying to go somewhere.  I thought about it a lot and started freaking myself out.  Especially because of my sister and how she lives across the state.  How would she be able to get to us?  Would we have to abandon her?  It gives me the willies to even think of stuff like that.  And that's what makes this book creepy.

 

Of course, if you don't start getting paranoid and thinking like Forrest Griffin, you'll just enjoy it for what it is.  It's good stuff.  Definitely different, and one of the driving forces behind the zombie revival (pun not initially intended, but hey, it works doesn't it?) in the publishing world.

 

NT

Notes from the playlist: "Secrets (Matrick Lightning Edit)" by OneRepublic & DjMatrick

Purchased for My Shelf

Listography by Lisa Nola

Not so much a book to read as a book to play with (sort of like Wreck This Journal). It's a simple premise - each page has a different question or subject you can make a list about. Yep, that's it. But it's fun to think of things for hypothetical situations - "What occupations would you like to try?" - to things that will bring back memories - "List bands you've seen live." - and things that will make you think - "List the ways you've changed since your teens." You can also make a few lists of your own at the back, and at the front you can look through the entire list of, well, potential lists. It's a fun thing to do that will show people a little bit of yourself (if you're keen on sharing). So have a good time!

Notes from the playlist: "Captain Jack's Theme" by Ben Foster

F in Exams by Richard Benson - A for Effort

Pros: Hilarious answers
Cons: Only if some of these people didn't get the points

The Bottom Line: Ever find yourself stuck on a test question and throwing in a snarky answer instead? Well, here they all are at once!

I love stumbling upon books at work. That's how I found the nifty Wicked Plants and plenty of other cool books. Sometimes it's fiction, and other times it's something ridiculous like this book.

F in Exams has a simple premise. When a student finds him or herself unable to give the correct answer, they offer up something else - an answer that's wrong yet right all at once, and always very funny. These are hilarious answers to all sorts of questions, and if you don't find at least one of them amusing, I think there's likely something wrong with you.

Some of the questions may even still be right, but the student has done something else to make it funny, such as throw in a drawing for kicks. But most of the time they're just not what the teacher is looking for - even if I'm sure they're technically right in some manner. And these aren't just all snarky answers either. Some of them are surprisingly witty. In fact, if I were a teacher and a few of these slid across my desk, I'd just have to give a few points simply for sheer creativity.

The book is relatively small in shape and is only 130 pages long. There are chapters for each subject one might encounter in high school; Chemistry, English, History, Math, and so forth. You'll quickly breeze through all the hilarious answers and wish there were more at hand (and yet at the same time, you may wonder just what these students' test scores were and think perhaps it's okay that the book isn't bigger, if you catch my drift).

So, how about a few quick samples so you can see the kind of amusing things you'll be getting into?

Q: What is the highest frequency noise that a human can register?
A: Mariah Carey

Q: What was the main industry in Persia?
A: Cats (complete with cat doodle)

Q: Give a brief explanation of the meaning of the term "hard water."
A: Ice

Trust me. Find this little blue book in a bookstore (or even look inside it online) and flip through it. You'll be laughing in no time.

NT

Originally posted at Epinions.com

Notes from the playlist: "Valse Moderne" by John Leach & George Fenton

Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor - Not Onyesonwu

Pros: Quite different from anything you've read in a while
Cons: The ending is slap-dash and confusing

The Bottom Line: Time to read a book that puts all the touchy issues out there without preaching about them. It makes you think, but doesn't force you to.

Welcome to post-apocalyptic Africa. The Nuru and Okeke are killing each other. For years the Okeke have been slaves to the Nuru, but now they are trying to rise up, and the Nuru put them down in return. Onyesonwu is an Ewu child - a child of violence (rape). She is shunned and feared. But she has extraordinary powers. She can shape shift. She can visit the spirit world. And now she is about to embark on a journey that will change the lives and the history of the people of her world. Now it is time to face the meaning of her name - who fears death.

Despite the darkness in this book, it was a great change from everything I'm accustomed to reading. I haven't ventured to another continent for a while, and I honestly don't think I've ever been to Africa in a novel (at least, not that I can remember), much less a post-apocalyptic version. The author, Nnedi Okorafor, doesn't hesitate to bring up a lot of topics people usually prefer to leave out of their work or at least mellow out a little. In here you'll get genocide, rape, racism, sexism, female circumcision, and more. Don't let that scare you away from this book though, really. The things Okorafor uses aren't pushed at you in some agenda. She uses all of these elements as story elements. They further the plot, and each has significance. Yes, even the cricumsicion.

Now, if you try to attach some sort of similarities to skin color in Okorafor's story and today - don't. People have been trying to figure it out and she does in some interviews mention where she got inspired, but overall, this is the future folks, and people don't have quite the same skin color as they do now. This isn't a white vs. black thing - it's a Nuru vs. Okeke thing, both cultures that don't actually exist in reality. Still, the concept of slavery and suppression does exist and are meant for the story and hopefully to make one think.

Onyesonwu is an interesting character. You'll often root for her because she goes through so many awful things, and still at other times you'll wish she would just chill out a little. She can be impulsive, quick to anger, and emotional at moments when doing the opposite would serve her better. Usually she doesn't do the opposite because someone is telling her to and obeying isn't exactly is something Onye is fond of doing. Still, you'll hope she wins and that the ending won't be what you expect - even if you know what it will be about halfway through the book. And even Onye knows, but she perseveres.

I was glad that Okorafor utilized so many other characters. Mwita, Onye's soulmate, is a great guy and I really liked him. She also has several friends who made Onye's ordeal a little better. At first I was worried they might just fade away, but they stuck around, which was nice because they added some extra dimension to the story as well.

I don't want to get into things too much because I don't want to spoil anything, but I do have to say that the ending could have been better. Not different - just worked on a little more. This book was the June reading for Calico Reaction's book club, and pretty much everyone agreed that the ending was rushed. Even now I'm not exactly sure what Okorafor wanted to do or what she intended. I'm not really sure or even convinced about a few things, and disappointed in at least one aspect, but it's not a very big one.

But if you're good with visiting a genocidal area of post-apocalypse Africa, interested in seeing magic in it's most powerful forms, and can handle some touchy subjects (I had a Darth Vader "NOOO!" moment when the circumcision rolled around. Not so much because it was graphic or I didn't want to read it, but just because I'm aware of how many issues that awful practice can lead to and just....BAD, you know), then you'll read this book morning until night hoping that everything works out in the end...and hey, maybe it does...

NT

Originally posted on Epinions.com

Notes from the playlist: "I Can Carry You" by James Newton Howard

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin - Winter is Coming

Pros: Full of kings, giant wolves, dragons, intrigue, battle, and more.
Cons: Only if you can't handle long books with plenty of court politics.

The Bottom Line: It's a solid fantasy book, full of rich history and multiple stories. If you want a lot of magic and excitement though, look elsewhere.

Yep. Nicole's finally read George R. R. Martin. Or you could say I jumped on the bandwagon. Hey, with HBO making a series featuring Sean Bean and Jason Momoa (yum!) how could I resist? Besides, for years people have been telling me I should read them. Well, one down, six to go (yes, I know there are only four books on the shelf - he has three in the works).

Enter a land where summers and winters can last for decades at a time. Where a massive Wall keeps the Others at bay in the far north. In the south, plots brew and politics reign. It is decided by the king that Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell is to be the next Hand of the King. The previous Hand died under rather...interesting circumstances. He hopes to find out why he was murdered and so leaves his beloved home for a place where, if you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. Surrounding his story are the stories of his children whose lives will help shape this land of the Seven Kingdoms. And across the sea is another force seeking to return-one with the blood of the dragon.

That's the best I can come up with short of pasting in the blurb from the back of the book. Each chapter is given to a different character, which makes for some nice diversity in point of view shifts:

~ Lord Eddard Stark - Lord of Winterfell
~ Lady Catelyn Stark - Eddard's wife
~ Jon Snow - Eddard's bastard son
~ Sansa - Eddard's eldest daughter
~ Arya - Eddard's youngest daughter
~ Bran - Eddard's second youngest son
~ Tyrion Lannister - dwarf son of Lord Tywin Lannister
~ Daenerys Targaryen - youngest daughter of King Aerys II Targaryen

Everyone is often in a different place. While many of them start out their particular narratives at Winterfell, they eventually split up and go to all sorts of different places. Frankly, I wish I had a big topographic map of Martin's world so I could really get a sense of where things are and how much of a pain it is to travel - or even better, one of those raised relief maps. That would be nifty. You get to see the massive Wall in the north, which keeps out the Others as well as brigands. You travel to King's Landing where all of the ugly backstabbing court action happens. You get to move down the Kingsroad with an army or two on their way to pummel one another (that's where I think a good map would be the most handy).

Everyone, with their different ages and places in life, has a unique piece of the story to tell. Sometimes I even found myself skipping ahead to that person's next chapter to see what happened to them before flipping back and continuing in order. My particular favorites were Daenerys, Arya, and Tyrion.

Whether you can handle this giant story depends on what you like to read. I enjoy fantasy, but I like fantasy with less court politics. I tend to avoid that sort of thing because politics suck no matter where you are. So if you're hoping for all sorts of battles with ugly creatures or magic everywhere etc., this isn't the book for you. There are those sort of fantasy elements, but they are few and far between. Still, I also like a good, well-written story, which is why even all the politics didn't get me down. While this book wasn't sort where I was so enthralled that I had to keep reading (if I hit a Catelyn chapter, I found it pretty easy to make that my stopping point), the stories were intriguing enough to keep me interested (particularly the three above). Likewise, Martin gets extra points for including the direwolves and all their awesomeness. Me, pass up a book with giant wolves that aren't evil? High fives all around.

I loved Martin's descriptions, even if I think he is one of the only guys I've ever read that describes clothing and armor in detail *almost* every time someone appears on the page. But he makes it sound so cool, and does it quickly and effectively that it's okay. The trickiest part about this book and probably the subsequent books is all the people and all the names. There are a lot of them to keep track of. Even Martin acknowledges at the back that there were truckloads of details to keep in mind and pay attention to. I think I might have been okay had he not used more than one name for a person on multiple occasions. You might get full names (Lord Petyr Baelish), slightly shortened names (Lord Baelish), first names (Petyr), or a nickname (Littlefinger). And just like that, four names. If you don't pay attention, you'll get lost rather quickly. And as I said, there are a lot of people involved.

I'm definitely going to continue reading the series (after the way this one ended, how could I not?), but I'm not leaping to purchase all the books yet. I can get them from the library, and I'm perfectly content to wait. Besides, I have other books I need to read on deck, so I'm all right with the break between novels.

NT

*It's kind of interesting to see how many people actually continue on with this series. I put a hold on the next book, and the wait in line is much shorter than for this one.

Notes from the playlist: "Lonely Dusk" by Machine Vandals

Little Pink Pup by Johanna Kerby - A True Piggy Story!

Pros: A super cute tale of a piggy and some puppies
Cons: I think the design of the book could have been a bit better

The Bottom Line: If you love stories that warm the heart and involve animals, this is a book you ought to take a look at.

Pink was just a little piggy. A really little piggy. So little, he was the runt of the litter, and anytime he tried to get milk from his mama, his other bigger siblings would push him out of the way.

That's when the owners of the pigs decided to give Pink a chance with their dachshund, Tink. She'd just had a puppy of her own and fostered a few others, so adding in Pink sounded like a good idea. It was. Pink soon became one of her puppies - a pink puppy! He hung out with his new siblings and did well. He was still a runt (when he was 3 pounds, his siblings were 12!), but that was okay. When he eventually returned to the barn, he always got visited by his new siblings and even had his doggie bed brought in!

It's often a customer that will draw my attention to a fun book, and that was the case here. We had two in stock - I've been trying to sell the other one because it's such a cute book. Though I think some of the pictures and the overall way they're presented could have been done a little bit better (kind of like an awkward cut and paste - a surprise considering this is from a big publishing house), it's enough that kids will read, see the pictures, and know what's going on.

I'm a big sucker for stories like these. I love great animal tales with happy endings and unique pairings. The images are photographs taken by the owners. They'd put them online and got such a following they decided to turn the story into a book. I think it was a good move. It's a really cute story and kids will be delighted to see the tiny piggy all cuddled up with a bunch of puppies. I mean, come on - piglets and puppies? It's cute overload in this book! And you can't tell me Pink isn't 100% comfy in his doggy bed in the picture of him sleeping in it. Hah - it's like a real world Babe! Minus the sheepherding part, of course.

Strangely enough, Barnes and Noble places this story in the nature section rather than the non-fiction picture book section. If you can't find it, just ask someone. The text is simple, not too much per page, so it's a relatively easy read for kids. It's worth taking a look at, and kids who love animals or a little bit of goofiness will appreciate this heartwarming story.

NT

Originally posted on Epinions.com

Notes from the playlist: "Palm Tree Escape" by Hans Zimmer

June Book Giveaway!

It's that time again! Free books, free books! Everybody loves free books!

To win a book, Tweet, Like, or otherwise link to this blog. That's it! Then leave a comment anywhere on this blog with a link to your tweet or blog or whathaveyou so I can take a peek for myself. Don't forget to include your email address in your comment so I can contact you in case you win.

There are seven books to choose from, but I'm only giving away one!

Click HERE for further rules and details about my book giveaways.

Here are the books available for the giveaway. They vary wide in audience and genre. They are in paperback format, except for Praying For Strangers, and Okay For Now which are hardcover. Click the covers for more information about the book.



Think about which book you want and throw a link my way. The contest will end Monday, June 27th at 12:00am (central time). The winner will chosen via random number generator and be notified via email on the 28th. I will also leave a post announcing the winner that day as well.

Good luck!

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson - Sumerian Computer Drugs

Pros: Um...different.
Cons: A lot of little things (style, dated, abrupt ending, etc.)

The Bottom Line: It was an interesting book, but it's not as good after you've already experienced similar things.

For the May book in Calico Reaction's 2011 Book Club, Snow Crash got chosen. I picked it because it sounded like a good time and I wanted to read something by Neal Stephenson. Wish granted, though I'm pretty indifferent on the results.

I started reading this book late and actually only finished yesterday. A lot of times I had to force myself to pick it up and keep reading because I just wasn't all that into it. You know when you get a book that's interesting and has some nifty stuff going on, yet it doesn't do it for you? Yeah, it was one of those.

Hiro Protagonist (yep, that's his name) delivers pizzas for the Mafia and is the greatest swordsman in the Metaverse (think the Matrix...or maybe Tron). He's pretty handy with his sword in reality too. A new drug is circulating - Snow Crash. And it's doing some pretty funky stuff. Though he's not too excited about getting into the mix, Hiro has no choice but to deal with a wildcard guy named Raven whose brain is hotwired to a nuke, a Kourier girl named Y.T. who can skateboard (if you can call it that) like no one else, the Mafia, and an ancient virus that's about to bring about the Infocalypse. Heavy stuff man.

Sound weird? Well, it is. In the world Stephenson creates, there's no nations anymore - at least, not like we know them. Everything's run by giant companies and all sorts of weird stuff. The United States is pretty much gone, with land cut up into areas for everyone else like the Mafia, Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong, and plenty of others. Advertisements glow in your face, technology is everywhere and nowhere all at once, and generally it sounds like a place where I'd probably have to shoot myself. It doesn't sound like there's open land anywhere. Frankly, I kept wondering where people were getting their food. The whole place sounded like one bit city with tons of roads and slums and all sorts of junk. Overpopulated and overloaded. It sounds like the sort of society that, once it began, would only run for about 20 years before folding and collapsing in on itself. But I digress.

Snow Crash is sort of like a Dan Brown novel mixed up with Blade Runner with some crack thrown in. It takes technology and tries to blend it up with Sumerian theology and then some. While reading it, I thought that Stephenson must have done a heck of a lot of research (at the end he acknowledges that this book was really hard to write - which I believe). There's a lot of interesting stuff in there, yet I still failed to see quite how the Sumerian bits matched up with what was going on in the present. I mean, I know what Stephenson was doing, but I just don't see how it could work. I wasn't buying what he was selling.

Because this book was written in '92, there is some dated stuff in there. I found the timelines confusing, because people were in WWII and Vietnam, and yet it sounded like the time Hiro lived in should have been well into the 2000s. Instead it sounded more like he kept it in '92 - just a radically different version of '92. It didn't work for me. And I about keeled over when one girl said (twice), "Smooth move, Ex-Lax." Are we doing that? REALLY? Ugh. That was a stupid phrase when it came out. Why would you even include that in your book? And because I've already seen and read so many things that do what Stephenson does, even if he did do it first (or was one of the authors to do it first), the impact is lost on me.

I also wasn't a big fan of the style Stephenson went with. It's written in present tense, which is often reserved for first person "I" format. Instead, we're in third person. And it was almost like Stephenson waffled between the typical third person view and an omniscient style. It was hard to get into. Personally, I'm not a fan of present tense, but I've read plenty of stories where the author does it well. Here, I don't think it worked very well.

The beginning was a little confusing because of it - I didn't know if we were following some random pizza dude or the actual main character. Things eventually got more interesting, but it seemed to take a while for the story to get where it intended to go. About two-thirds of the way into the book things got a lot more interesting and I found it harder to put the book down. But then I hit the end and actually said out loud, "Wait - that's it?" I flipped a few pages to make sure I really was at the end of the book. It was really abrupt and I was still left with some questions. The sudden ending made it seem like everything that had happened wasn't really such a big deal after all. And it felt strange not to end with Hiro and use Y.T. instead.

It's different enough and strange enough with some great use of language and innovation to merit the four stars. Despite all my fussing, it is above average. I can't relate to people who loved it bunches, and in truth, the head of the Book Club herself kept falling asleep while reading it - which I can understand. It appeals to a certain audience I think, which is fine. So I do recommend it, but if you find you can't work your way through it, you might as well stop and move on to something else. But otherwise, you might end up falling in love with it. I did really like Y.T.....

NT

Originally posted on Epinions.com

Notes from the playlist: "Break Your Heart" by Taio Cruz

Purchased for My Shelf

Physics of the Future by Michio Kaku

A few years ago I spotted Physics of the Impossible, got all googly-eyed, and promptly bought it. So when I saw Michio Kaku had a brand new book with more science goodies inside, I once again got all googly-eyed and knew I had to have it. Full of all sorts of cool science (a lot of which is actually in the developmental stage - nifty!), you may have times where you sit and think, "huh?" but hey, it's bound to happen. It happened in Physics of the Impossible too. Some of this stuff is a bit out beyond my comphrehension, whereas other I have to exercise my already wild imagination. If you like science fiction as well as science fact, then this is your type of book.

Notes from the playlist: "Stripped" by Shiny Toy Guns

The Sea Serpent and Me by Dashka Slater - There's A Sea Serpent in My Bathtub!

Pros: Fun and magical, beautiful illustrations
Cons: None

The Bottom Line: A very sweet book to read to your kids and one that I'm sure both of you will enjoy.

The other day at work (at Barnes & Noble, whoo!), the schedule had a minor hiccup in it and my managers popped up, “Hey Nicole, how would you feel about doing Storytime today?”

Uuuuuhhhh.... I pretty much flatlined, but seeing that neither of them were going to do it and our scheduled Storyteller was MIA, I gave in. The last time I read to kids was...actually I’m not sure. I thought maybe when I babysat but I don’t think that’s right. Probably when my little sister was still little. She’s 21 now. Either way, I picked out a few books, and one of them was facing out and it caught my eye, The Sea Serpent and Me by Dashka Slater. How often do you see kids books with sea serpents in them? So I grabbed it up and sat down to read to the small gaggle of gathered kids.

I’m glad I picked that one. It was really cute and the kids seemed to enjoy it more than the first book, How Do Dinosaurs Go to School?. The story is pretty simple. One day a little girl is about to take a bath and turns on the faucet when plop! A tiny sea serpent comes out with the water! She asks him where he came from and he explains that a tornado sucked him up, carried him around, and dropped him in a lake where a pipe sucked him up and plopped him into her bathtub. He needs to go back to the sea, and she agrees to take him, but the next few days bring rain. The sea serpent keeps on growing and soon, he’s so big, he has to go back before getting smooshed up in the house! Except when they both get to the beach, he doesn’t want to leave...

I’ll leave you to imagine whether or not the two friends stay together, but it’s a happy ending either way.

The book doesn’t rhyme or use words that are too simplistic, and instead has a lot of fun ideas and imagery. I’m not sure what the illustrator, Catia Chien, used, but it looks mostly like watercolors, something I always have high respect for because A.) they look fabulous and B.) I could never make watercolors look good. They’re colorful and creative, and really nudges your imagination when the sea serpent tells his new friend about how big he’ll get, what he saw while being carried by the tornado, and what he sees in the sea (“Fish shaped like violins!”). It was so cute, and I love the way Chien drew the serpent, with the little fins on his head and his sometimes goofy smile.

I had a lot of fun reading this aloud and the kids enjoyed it too, some looking a little “Ooh, aah” at the pictures and others simply smiling and staring as I showed the book around. I asked them little questions as we went, “Do you think there are fish shaped like violins in the ocean?” or “Would you want a sea serpent to fall into your bathtub?” I got answers from most of them, haha.

I thought the end was particularly cute, especially when the girl gives the sea serpent a little kiss on the head. I almost wanted to go, “Aaaaw!” Definitely recommend this to adults and children alike (c’mon adults, remember what it was like to be a kid!).

“If you had a sea serpent, would you give him a little kiss?”

“Yeah.”

“Me too.” =D

NT

Originally posted on Epinions.com

Notes from the playlist: "Song for Sienna" by Brian Crain

Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain - No, Not the Candy Kind

Pros: Oooh Gretchen is out! And hey, no serial killers! (er, apart from Gretchen anyway)
Cons: I’m starting to not like Archie…at all. And I don’t buy Gretchen’s escape.

The Bottom Line: Ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome? Yeah. Archie's got that. BAD. Makes for an interesting story.

Hmm. Apparently I forgot to write a review about the first book. Anywho, in case you're just tuning in, this is the second book in Chelsea Cain's Gretchen Lowell series. Gretchen is female serial killer who has a Hannibal Lecter-like grip over detective Archie Sheridan. You could get away with reading this book first, but it would be better to read Heartsick first.

This time around, Archie is brought into a string of deaths that may or may not be connected with a government official and a journalist. While trying to decipher all the clues, Gretchen Lowell escapes and guess what? Surprise, surprise - she wants Archie. Will he be able to face her and solve the case? Or will stopping Gretchen once and for all be the last thing he ever does?

First off, Cain gets kudos for bringing all the elements of her story into use. For example, there's mention of a forest fire a few times early on in the story - later on that comes into play. Each character is distinctive, and I really like Henry. Susan has her moments, but she can get kind of annoying at times. Of course, I have no idea why she would be allowed around in some situations, but oh well, that's fiction for you, right?

The murder story is interesting, and even though it had its flaws, I was glad for something different. I mean, if there's a serial killer on the loose in every book, well that's a bit of a problem. Likewise, since most serial killers tend to kill women (as with the first one - and with the exception of Gretchen), I'm just not going to read that. It's too creepy. As a woman, the idea freaks me out, which is why if I read anything with murder mysteries, I tend to want them on the stupid/fun/cozy side. The realistic ones only succeed in giving me the heebie-jeebies.

The main line - Archie vs. Gretchen - is what everyone reads these books for. Gretchen is one messed up woman. I wouldn't classify her as crazy. That's just too easy. No, her brain is wired differently. She knows what she's doing. But she doesn't see things the way most people do. Like Mr. Lecter as she is so often compared to (even by moi). It's a really twisted up game of cat and mouse - like if Tom and Jerry weren't cartoons for kids and did real damage to each other. Yeah. Messed up like that. It's interesting, but I do have a few qualms about it. First of all, I don't buy Gretchen's escape. At all. One, you don't move someone that dangerous with just two guards. Two, do you know what kind of weapon you need to cut off head? Do you know how much time and effort that would take? Sorry, but that's just not feasible.

I'm also getting to the point where Archie needs to either kill Gretchen or die himself. Not that I don't like Archie, but whoa is that guy scrambled. Then again, I guess I can't say he didn't try...

It's a good yarn if you like murder mysteries that aren't ridiculous/cozy/fun. It's dark, bloody, and with the appropriate number of decomposing corpses here and there.

NT

Originally posted on Epinions.com

The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein - Indeed She Is

Pros: A solid science fiction read
Cons: Not for everyone – a lot of telling/info dumping

The Bottom Line: If you feel like reading some Robert A. Heinlein, this isn't really a bad place to start, but you have to know what you're getting into beforehand.

As a part of the Book Club run by Calico Reaction, April's book was The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein. I was all for it (and yeah, so my review is a tad bit late), and eager to do a bit more Heinlein. I'd already read Starship Troopers, so something else might be interesting.

To be sure, it was. Mannie lives on Luna (the moon) where originally Earth sent convicts (sort of like England with Australia). But over time, it's grown into its own little nation, but the Authority is still screwing everyone over. It's about time for a revolution. At first, Mannie isn't on board, but as the idea grows, it may be possible. With the help of a professor, an energetic young woman, a man from Earth, and a computer that's become self-aware, pulling off their revolution might just work and Luna will once and for all be free.

This s one of those SF books that you read and think, "Tee hee, the 80s" because there are clearly a few things that Heinlein didn't think ahead on. Mostly because it's hard to think so far ahead. I can't specifically remember what some of those instances were, but there were a few and it doesn't really matter anyway because, hey, it's Heinlein and you ought to know better.

What may turn people off at the onset of this book is that it's in first person and Mannie doesn't speak English in the way we do. There are a lot of articles missing, and initially I thought I'd gotten a bad copy of the book and whoever was in charge or proofreading should have been fired. Then I realized what was going on. Mannie has some Russian in/around him, so that's how I managed to cope. I started to read it and use a Russian accent in my head. Okay, so I was going off movies instead of actual Russian, but I found that it helped a great deal and after a while began to read quite fluidly. (And anyone who thinks it's too hard, try to decipher some of the tod's speech in The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams).

While I did enjoy the book, it did take some time to get into. It moves slowly at first, and it wasn't hard for me to put the book down. It maintained my curiosity though, so it wasn't too terribly hard to pick back up after things got interesting. However, at a certain point, there's no true action and instead we're pretty much being told the story by Mannie. Not as it's happening, but as it has already happened, which means no "showing" and a whole lot of info dumping. A lot of things in this book are the very same things most writers, agents, and editors today will tell you not to do because it turns off readers, plain and simple.

There are ideas in this book I found quite interesting, I liked how Heinlein displayed the role of women on Luna (there aren't many, so they pretty much have the run of the place in a way, and messing with a woman is an offense punishable by death), though I didn't quite understand line marriages. But that's sort of unimportant in the big scheme of things.

Bottom line, did I enjoy the book? Yes. Would I recommend it? Sure. But you need to either be familiar with Heinlein's work and/or style first otherwise you might be confused or turned off and possibly put the book down after a handful of pages.

NT

Originally posted on Epinions.com

Notes from the playlist: "Obsession" by Sky Ferreira

A Lifetime of Secrets by Frank Warren - How Many Secrets Can One Lifetime Hold?

Pros: A book you can't put down.
Cons: I've got nothin'.

The Bottom Line: More secrets for the world to share. They can even teach us something if we're willing to open up...

Back in 2004, a man named Frank Warren started the PostSecret project, a community art project that took in postcards from people of all backgrounds. These postcards, sent anonymously, all contained someone’s secret. It is now 2007 and Warren has received thousands and thousands of postcards all carrying secrets. What started as a famous blog and an art exhibit has transformed into four fascinating books, the original PostSecret, My Secret, The Secret Lives of Men and Women, and this book, A Lifetime of Secrets.

The central theme to this particular collection of secrets goes from the cradle to the grave. Secrets people have carried about their childhood, school, moving into parents, marriage, old age, death, and all that can happen in between. The secrets aren’t just notes on everyday postcards. They’re creative, unique, and utilize all sorts of mediums to tell their secret, from paper clippings and watercolors to yarn and staples, from personal photos and study notes to x-rays and crayons. Each secret is a piece of art in itself, and each one is poignant that may strike a chord somewhere inside you or make you giggle with a memory or simply feel for whomever wrote that secret, either in joy or in sorrow.

It’s a truly fascinating read and I read this right after finishing My Secret. I finished both in about an hour, but your time may be faster or slower. It depends on how much you want to examine and admire the postcards themselves or zero in on the secret you’ve just read. Here are a few, though it’s really best to go find the book at a library or bookstore so you can actually see the scribbled or scripted handwriting or pasted letters onto a sheet of paper or designer cardstock. The presentation adds 20 times more punch to the secret. Some I can’t even write because you need the photo or background to understand the rest of the secret, and some secrets are too deep even for someone to write down anonymously.

I wish my dad was still alive…so he could scare away the boys.

======

My mom had an affair with the first boy I ever kissed and I don’t know who I’m more embarrassed for—me, him or her. ???

======

I steal spoons from restaurants.

======

I stopped wearing panties to the office weeks ago. Work has never felt so refreshing!

I’d love to list more, but they’re all just so interesting. I’ll probably read this book a few more times before I have to return it to the library, and by then I hope the other PostSecret books are back so I can get my hands on them. You never know what secret you’ll get from someone, be that person a 10-year-old by admission or someone working to beat cancer or someone ready to let go of the rest of the world. There’s even a secret from someone who heard about PostSecret.com and slipped their own secret inside a book at the bookstore. I’d thought of mailing in my own little secret, but I think perhaps I’ll leave mine inside this book instead (or maybe one at the book store) as an extra bonus secret to whomever takes the book home next.

NT

Originally posted on Epinions.com

Notes from the playlist: "Airplanes" by B.o.B (featuring Hayley Williams)

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion - Mmm, Brains...And Love

Pros: Unique ideas, solid voice, I loved R
Cons: Nothing

The Bottom Line: Isaac Marion goes back to the supernatural aspect of zombies and takes it to a new and unique level. Bravo!

I don't know what it was that started the whole zombie renewal. It's hard not to notice when you work at a bookstore. Maybe that's just the natural progression of the supernatural world. Vampires. Werewolves. Fairies. Then zombies. I'd read books before that featured a zombie here and there, but I'd never read a zombie book. You know, all zombie, all the time. When I saw this advance reading copy in the breakroom, I chuckled and opened it up the first page. I kept reading. Then I hoped no one else intended to take it home and read it because by then I wanted to.

R doesn't remember his name. It's hard to remember things when you're a zombie. You groan, you stagger, and you occasionally eat people. Brains are the best part because when you eat a brain, you get a glimpse at what it was like to be alive again. But when R eats the brain of Perry Kelvin, something much stronger happens. So strong, he does something no other zombie does; he protects something precious to Perry - a living girl. Julie. From then on, they form a bizarre friendship that may, somehow, change everything everyone thinks they know about zombies.

I remember the days when zombie appearances were supernatural. Gradually, thanks to other books, video games, and a plethora of movies, zombies were the result of some virus gone wrong (or in some cases, right I guess). Ever since then, I've been in the grip of zombie condition = virus infection. Author Isaac Marion works to bring back that original supernatural power - a condition that we can't explain. In R's world, people don't remember what exactly made the zombies, and by the end, it's something else entirely anyway. I liked that. A lot. Zombies by virus are boring, but Marion creeps around and plucks out various ideas on how zombies might work, and whether or not the Dead can come back.

Because this is an ARC book, which means it's an uncorrected proof and therefore potentially unfinished, these might not be in the final copy, but I hope they are because I thought they added a really nice touch - images from Gray's Anatomy. No, not the stupid TV series. The book. Instead of zombie pictures, you get what we actually look like under the skin. The bone and muscle. It's zombie-like, yet not. Hard to explain why I liked it so much...it was just cool. It worked.

The relationship between R and Julie is interesting indeed, and one might thing initially Julie would be more freaked out than she is, but when you consider the world she's grown up in and what she's had to deal with, it worked for her. I liked R's voice and it was hard to put down this book. There are things that aren't explained, but they're the sort of things I'm okay about not knowing. I can see some people finishing this book and maybe giving it weird looks, but I'm glad this was my first zombie book. I had a good time.

Normally with ARCs, once I read them, I give them away or take them back to work. However, in this case, I can't bring myself to do either of those. I enjoyed this book and I want to keep it around. When it comes out in paperback, however, I intend to buy my own copy in order to support the author as well as own a copy that doesn't have "ARC" written all over it in permanent marker.

NT

Originally posted on Epinions.com

Notes from the playlist: "Skinny Love" by Birdy

April Book Giveaway Winner!

Well, I'm a little late in posting this, so if you were here ealier, sorry!

But I've chosen a winner via Random Number Generator and the winner is...

Teiira! Congrats, you get yourself a copy of Wither!

Thanks to everyone who entered! Keep on visiting for book ideas and of course, free books!

April Book Giveaway!

It's that time again! I've got a sweet little selection of books for you this time around. But I've also upped the entry fee.

This time, in order to be eligible to win a book, Tweet, Like, or otherwise link to this blog. That's it! Then leave a comment anywhere on this blog with a link to your tweet or blog or whathaveyou so I can take a peek for myself. Don't forget to include your email address in your comment so I can contact you in case you win.

I have seven books to choose from this time, but I'm only giving away one!

Click HERE for further rules and details about my book giveaways.

Here are the books available for the giveaway. They vary wide in audience and genre. They are in paperback format, except for Praying For Strangers, which is hardcover. Click the covers for more information about the book.



Think about which book you want and throw a link my way. The contest will end Monday, April 25th at 12:00am (central time). The winner will chosen via random number generator and be notified via email on the 26th. I will also leave a post announcing the winner that day as well.

Good luck!

Chocolate Wars by Deborah Cadbury - Inspiring, Sad, and Delicious

Pros: Fascinating read for history buffs, business leaders, and chocolate lovers
Cons: None

The Bottom Line: Even though it's a book placed in the business section, it's an excellent read for people who love chocolate, history, or those looking to make their business better.

This is one of those books that you see once and are curious about forever after. After that first glance, it randomly pops up and reminds you that it's there, and that maybe you should read it. But despite my ridiculous love for chocolate (and it is ridiculous), I couldn't get past the business part. I don't think the blurb on the inside jacket did this book any justice either, looking back at it now. Finally, though, I just wanted too much to read about some of my favorite chocolateirs, Cadbury and Hershey, and pulled it off the shelf.

I'm not just being cliché when I say that this book is fascinating to read. It begins year and years ago, in the infancy of chocolate when the Kisses and Crème Eggs we know and love today were as unheard of and impossible as dark matter floating out in space. Two Cadbury brothers struggle to save their father's failing business, which sells cocoa drinks to the people of England. You're transported to Vevey, Switzerland to watch as eventually Daniel Peter creates the first milk chocolate bar (I love you, Daniel), and Nestlé begins its rise. You'll spot familiar names such as Lindt, Tobler, and eventually the famous Milton Hershey and Forrest Mars.

You'll read how the companies discovered their own recipes for making milk chocolate, how they fared through two world wars, how they continued to grow and change as the years progressed and globalization became a driving force in the world. You'll know where Kit Kats really came from, and why Hershey produces goodies with Cadbury's name on it, and why I really, really don't like Kraft right now.

It's difficult for me to review this book because I really want to rant about how things have changed so much, and how a company 180 years old is now under the ownership of a big corporation like Kraft. I like Kraft foods, to be sure, but let's face it, everyone hates corporations and the fact that their CEOs earn millions if not billions of dollars each year when the people on the lowest rungs still make junk. Did you know the gap is now 344:1 when it comes to the pay ratio? And that was in 2007.

Indeed, a lot of this book was historically intriguing, fun to read, and knowing how awesome Milton Hershey and George Cadbury were is inspiring. I really wish the heads of businesses were like them, with goals and amazing selflessness instead of being *expletive**expletives* and seeking only to satisfy shareholders for the short term and focusing only on the bottom line. The fact that Roger Carr of Cadbury refused to pose for a picture shaking Irene Rosenfeld's (of Kraft) hand is simply awesome. My hat is off to you, sir.

It was still interesting even as I reached the end, though by then things had gotten sad. I almost wanted to cry, which seemed so odd, but what can I say? Knowing what I know now about the company, it was depressing to see it fall into such indifferent hands. I'd known that Hershey had their name on Cadbury's chocolate, so before reading this book I'd thought that at some point Hershey had bought Cadbury, which with their mutual goals would be fine. Instead I learned that Hershey bought Cadbury U.S., but not the entire company - that went to Kraft. And the way it all happened was just truly saddening. The way things work with shareholders and buying companies and so forth is a grand idea, but so many people transform it into a sad, flawed one. Do I trust that Kraft won't completely ruin the Cadbury brand? Yes. Do I trust that they'll run it the same way that George Cadbury would have and won't screw over a lot of people over time? Heck no.

But I'm getting off track. If you like history, then this one stretches from 1861 to the present (or as close as Deborah Cadbury could get before publishing this book) and takes an in-depth look at the creation of numerous businesses and the people involved. Some may believe that because a member of the Cadbury family wrote this book, it's going to be skewed - but in her introduction she states her intention is to be as objective as possible. I believe she stayed true to form. After all, with the truckload of research she did, all the proof you need for what's in this book is at the very end in the bibliography. As for business owners, I think it's a good look at what works and how a company can flourish by doing the right thing - and that doesn't mean just staring down at the bottom line. And if you love chocolate, then it's a great way to learn about your beloved food and the people responsible for its creation and growth.

I love chocolate. I've seen images of people cutting down the pods from the cacao trees and letting the beans dry out in the hot sun. I've always hoped that everyone involved with the making of such a great thing has a good time in the process (not always true, but I really want it to be and think it should be). Now I know the history behind so many of the chocolates I enjoy - how Nestlé kind of sucks, how Mars was kind of a jerk, how Cadbury was so instrumental to changes for the better, and how Hershey learned from Cadbury to make what they do today. My one hope out of all of this is that Hershey never folds and falls into the hands of some bigger company at the mercy of short term return shareholders and people in it for the profits.

So read this book and learn all sorts of new things. And Hershey, if you're reading this, keep doing what you're doing, and don't let what happened to Cadbury happen to you. Then I really might cry, for that would be the loss of one of the last great things in the world.

NT

P.S. I couldn't have picked a better time to read this book because Easter was the time that all the Cadbury and Hershey chocolates come out in force. I frequently read while eating Creme Eggs, Mini Eggs, and I even tried their Dairy Milk chocolate because I recognized the name from the book.

Notes from the playlist: "Derezzed" by Daft Punk

Recommended for Mythical Creature Hunters

The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures by John and Caitlin Matthews

Yes indeed. As a writer, I like to have good, solid reference materials right on hand. I got tired of surfing the web and sifting through all the junk to find reliable information - yes, even on mythical creatures. So I turned to the one source I knew wouldn't let me down. Books. After checking out several, I decided that this book would be the best. After all, it's subtitle is: The Ultimate A-Z of Fantastic Beings from Myth and Magic. Jackpot. I wish it had some images, but hey, I can deal without them. This book gives descriptions of the creatures, their origin, and where they're often found in literature or various fables. It's a handy volume for all sorts of things, whether you just want to see what other culture believe in or you're looking for your next magical beast for your novel.

Notes from the playlist: "The Face" by RyanDan

Recently Finished

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

I recently saw Angels & Demons again (the book was better) and thought I might re-read the book. Then I remembered it was in St. Louis with my sister. Then I remembered I never got around to reading The Lost Symbol. So that's what I did. While I believe most people would agree that The Lost Symbol isn't as good as Brown's previous books featuring Robert Langdon, it's still a pretty good read. In this book, Robert has to cast disbelief aside and crack the code left by the Masons on a stone pyramid in order to save a friend. With science, God, and a madman thrown into a mix, once again it's a dangerous combination and worse, he's only got until midnight. It does keep you on your toes, but does have a frequent number of flashbacks and a few writing devices most writers would shake their heads at. It's enjoyable, however, this, ladies and gentlemen, is the reason why writers should be given plenty of time to work on their books and they should be given the same editing attention as an author's first book.

Notes from the playlist: "Powerhouse" by Raymond Scott

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness - THEN USE IT

Pros: Creative world, ideas, and hot dang if Ness didn't fail to kill his darlings.
Cons: It made me angry, angry angry and JUST KILL THAT PERSON ALREADY.

The Bottom Line: Viola is my frigging hero.

First of all, let me say that rating this book at Epinions was very hard for me to do. There were so many different elements of this book that did different things and made me feel various ways that choosing a final star rating was tricky. Obviously, I managed it and I managed a four, but for a while it was a three. I'll explain.

But first, a quick book sum up:

Todd is just like anyone else in Prentisstown. He can hear everyone's Noise - all their thoughts jumbled together. Animals can talk too. So it's all Noise, all the time. No room for privacy, for secrets, and definitely no possibility of quiet. Until one day Todd notices a hole in the Noise. A silence all its own. That's when it all goes downhill. Todd has to flee and it seems like everyone in the town is after him. He doesn't understand why, though he's quickly discovering that everything he knew is a lie.

Most of the time while reading this, I was angry. Angry at a lot of things. Angry at Todd for making certain (astoundingly stupid) decisions. Angry at other characters (and at the same time, the author) for holding off on not telling Todd the truth about, well, anything. Angry at the author for holding off on that truth for so long because by then a lot of people (myself included) had guessed it. Angry at one particular death that did, in fact, make me cry, and angry because one character who should have died very early on, did not (and the fact that said character didn't defies all logic, hence making it look stupid as well).

I do give props to Patrick Ness for creating a story that evoked emotions from me, yet at the same time, I don't think you want your reader sitting there angry for most of the book. It's becoming a particular pet peeve of mine when a character fails to tell another character something important when they have time even for a short version. Instead, they spend that time yelling at each other, things like, "You have to run now!" and "But why? What's going on?" and "Don't talk now, get your stuff and go!" etc. when all that needs to happen is for one person to say, "They killed your dad and now they're here to kill you so GET OUT." That is in no way related to this book, by the way. Pure example. Or when other characters think they have all the time in the world despite the main characters telling them they don't and they're clearly not lying. Drives me insane.

I also give Ness props for creating a unique world where everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts. You'll figure out why and where this place is etc. as you read, and it's an interesting story with even more interesting truths that appear later. Knowing that, however, makes it weird when something like squirrels appear. Are they really squirrels, or did the people there just decide to call them that for their similar properties?

And, while a part of me really, really hates to do it, Ness gets credit for having the guts to do away with the one character that made me cry. They say to writers, "Kill your darlings." And actually, it's almost not even so much the death as the way it happened that made me cry because I could totally see the look in the eyes, I could easily picture how it all went down and it just broke my heart. You suck Ness. But my writer side applauds you for your cajones.

However, I must take points away from Ness due to the other character that was like the friggin' Energizer Bunny from hell. For what the character wanted, the person made it a lot more difficult than it needed to be, but whatever. And I just do not, DO NOT believe the person would have escaped the very first time. I don't. Sorry.

I'd also like to say that people who refuse to kill people who intend to kill them are morons. I'm sorry, but if you try to kill me over and over and overoverover again, no, we're done. That is something that also drives me insane. Even more so when something minding it's own business gets killed and yet nope, we can't kill the other people because that makes us bad. NO. Sorry, but my personal philosophy just really gets in the way here and I ended up saying things out loud like, "I swear, if this person doesn't $#@%! die, I am going to be SO mad."

Ironically enough, the ending didn't really bug me because I'd read other reviews mention the, ah, abruptness, so I was easily able to guess how things would play out, abruptness aside. Still, if you want to know how everything plays out, you'll need to get books two and three. Will I? Maybe. It's hard to say. With how I felt about this one, if book two is anything like this, I'd rather not. I don't want to spend another four hours of my life being nothing but frustrated and angry.

So why, if I'm complaining this much, did I give the book four stars at Epinions? (and I apologize for the wild ramble)

Because it really is a good story. It's got a lot of cool ideas and things going on. It keeps you on the edge of your seat, and Ness gets his characters to do things that make you react and he really knows how to make bad guys that you really hope die in painful ways. As a writer, he makes some bold choices that can easily have readers loving him or hating him. The style of the book is in Todd's voice, which includes slang, present tense, and, of course, Noise. It's risky, but he pulls it off. And I'm only one person. Even though I spent most of my time being mad, I know a lot of people will react in different ways, so I like to step back and take a look at it as objectively as I can (also why I didn't write the review the same day I finished the book). In that respect, it is a four star book.

Do give it a try if you like speculative fiction, teen dystopia, or some of Ness's ideas. Whether or not you'll want to move on to the next few books will all depend upon how you feel about this one.

NT

And yes. Viola is my frigging hero in this book. THANK YOU.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that Ness did a good job with Todd's dog, Manchee. At first I gave a lot of credit to dogs, thinking that they'd have maybe a bit more to say, but then realized after thinking about my own dog, they very well may not. After all, I've even pictured what my dog thinks when we play with him - his little brain with a ticker tape machine going:

Ball! Ballballballballballballballballballballballballballballballballball...

Originally posted on Epinions.com

Notes from the playlist: "Carnival of Rust" by Poets of the Fall

Recommended for Libyrinthians and More

The Boy From Ilysies by Pearl North

The second book to Libyrinth, this one is even wilder with all sorts of twists and turns going on, from cultural clashes to scheming queens, technologically advanced/magic pens and what it means to change. This is a teen book that has a lot going on and takes all your attention. You'll keep reading it even when you figure you should probably go to bed since you have to get up early the next day, but hey, it's worth it. It picks up right where Libyrinth left off, with a boy named Po who has to figure out how he fits into the new world they've made and how he can help save the entire Libyrinth. No pressure, right?

Read the Epinions review here!


Notes from the playlist: "Streets of Gold" by 3OH!3

Recommended for Collectors and Shakespearians

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

Yes. I'm one of those people who decided to buy the entire works of William Shakespeare, sonnets, plays, and all. But why not? I love some of his plays - Julius Caesar is a personal favorite. And there are several I never had the chance to read and some English classes I took buchered them (I'd looked forward to reading MacBeth for the longest time, only to have it ruined). So I wanted the chance to read them and enjoy them on my own. Barnes & Noble offers this sweet leatherbound version for only $20 that I snatched up during a shopping spree one year. It's not abridged or otherwise messed with, but if you want footnotes and translations, you'll have to turn elsewhere. After all, this is all of Shakespeare's work - there's no room for anything extra.

It's also a heck of a lot cheaper than buying a bunch of single books - especially if you're in college (the only snag is those professors with their "preferred" books).


Notes from the playlist: "Like the Sun" by RyanDan