Happy 200th Birthday Charles Dickens and the ALA Youth Media Awards

I apologize for the second paragraph (having some formatting problems). 


Apparently today is Charles Dickens' 200th Birthday and I found this article on FB that I wanted to share, which contains ten facts you probably didn't know about the author. Apparently bells rang all over London in celebration of his birthday, his resting place in Westminster Abbey was cleaned up, my favorite English actor Ralph Fiennes did a reading from Bleak House at a memorial service for the author at the Abbey (which was also presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury) and Prince Charles cut a cake in honor of the occasion with Camilla at the Dickens Museum. My favorite Dickens work, and yes I'm sorry to say the only one I've actually read, is Tale of Two Cities. It is such a sad story but a good one and of course one of the most quotable of his books, i.e. "It is a far far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known;" and "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." I, like so many others, have seen countless adaptions of his works, such as A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and Great Expectations. I will say though that British actor Simon Callow's portrayal of the great author himself in the BBC production The Mysteries of Charles Dickens is quite good. Here is an interview with the actor about the show. 

The American Library Association (ALA) has released their picks for the 2012 Youth Media Awards after their Midwinter Conference in Dallas on Jan 23. Here is the press release that lists all the award and honor winners. I was surprised by how many I had never heard of. Most of the time I wonder what the people on the award committees are thinking as I sometimes can seriously not get why they picked the books they do pick, but I guess they must be seeing something that I don't see. Anyways, yay to Jack Gantos for winning the Newberry! He is one of my favorite children's writers. I have not read Dead End in Norvelt yet but it is on my to-read list.Congrats to Brian Selznick for a Schneider Family Book Award (ages 9-13) for his amazing book Wonderstruck: A Novel in Words and Pictures. Thanhaha Lai, one of the Newberry honor winner's book Inside Out & Back Again about escaping Vietnam and coming to the US looks interesting. I also want to check out the Caldecott honor book Grandpa Green by Lane Smith, the Coretta Scott King Author Award and honor Ilustrator award winning book by Kadir Nelson Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans, and more that I have yet to discover on the ALA award list. 

Picture Book Month

There are so many great picture books out there, it is great that they've finally have devoted an entire month to celebrating them. A friend of mine from the State Library posted this link from author/illustrator Yuyi Morales, on why picture books are important. This author created two of my of my favorite Bilingual Children's books Just a Minute and Just in Case, which feature Senor Calavera! Here is a list of activities relating to picture books. 

Laini Taylor, Jane Yolen, C.W. Gortner, Michelle Moran

Haven't done book reviews since August, as I've been rather busy learning to be a mother and applying for jobs and interviewing, but I have managed to read a few books since then. I am currently reading a random fun book called The Secret History of Elizabeth Tudor, Vampire Slayer, figuring it would be an in-between book, between historical fiction and YA books, as that has been mostly what I've been reading lately. 

Children

Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters by Jane Yolen

Cute rhyming picturebook about two little monsters who are getting ready for bed. 4 stars, recommended for ages 3-8. 

Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin

I discovered this book by accident when I found the video of the author performing the book with a couple of guitarists. All the kids in the video loved it and I thought it was pretty adorable too. Pete gets some white shoes and then proceeds to step into all different colors and every time he does, he sings a little song about his shoes. Very good book for storytimes. 4 stars, recommended for ages 3-8. 

This Little Piggy with CD: Finger Plays, Clapping Games, and Pantomime Rhymes by Jane Yolen

A book of mostly British & American nursery rhymes (predominantly ones I had never heard of)that are used for babies and toddlers. They are in the form of lap songs("To Market, To Market"), finger plays ("Where is Thumbkin?")and clapping games ("Pease Porridge Hot"). I loved the background knowledge on each of the songs, along with fairly detailed instructions for each of them. I love the illustrations, which are nice for kids to look at, though I agree it is hard to hold up the book and perform the songs. Good resource for new librarian or parent.  4 stars, and recommended for ages 2+.

Young Adult

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

I had been waiting for months for this book to come out and it was so good, I finished it in two days, could not put it down. Laini Taylor is such an amazing writer with fantastic detailed descriptions of everything that is happening with the character and her stories just draw you into the book and make you never want to leave. Which made things kind of frustrating when you found out that this is the first book in a series and you will have to wait at least another year for a sequel (though I am secretly glad that we will hear more from the main character as she is one of the most interesting ones I've ever read about).

This book is about Karou, a 17 year old girl who lives with an unusual family and always feels alone. She wants someone to call her own, someone to complete her. She is a fantastic artist and is famous for her notebooks, in which she draws these otherworldly characters that her classmates can't stop looking at. Everyone thinks they're fantasy, but it turns out they are real. One day, on one of her errands she encounters an angel who nearly kills her, though she doesn't know why. As the angel comes back to find her, she begins to unravel things about her past that she had forgotten. Will Karou ever find true love? Who is the angel and what connection does he have to her? 5 stars. Recommended for ages 15+.

Adult

Nerfertiti by Michelle Moran

A well-researched and interesting take on one of Egypt's most famous queens, this book is seen from the viewpoint of Nefertiti's sister Mutny. I really liked Mutny's character who had a good head on her shoulders compared to Nefertiti, who just came off selfish, whiny, and a little bit sad. While I enjoyed the book about the Heretic King (Akhenaten) and the Amarna period for its lush historical detail, I would give this book 3 1/2 to 4 stars for it's long-windedness. I would be interested in reading her book on Mutny's daughter Nefertari, The Heretic Queen. 4 stars. 

Brigid of Kildare by Heather Terrell

I really enjoyed this feminist viewpoint of the life of the Irish fifth century St. Brigid and her fascination with the Virgin Mary. The book gave a history of the saint and how she came to create the Book of Kildare, an intricately designed work that contained the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John but prominently featured a gorgeous illustration of the Virgin Mary at the beginning of the text. The novel switched back and forth between 5th century Ireland of Brigid and Roman scribe Decius and modern-day Ireland when a historical appraiser named Alex discovers the Book of Kildare in a hidden compartment of a reliquary box in the Catholic convent of St. Brigid. Reading this books makes me want to discover more book about the Druid culture and Early Christianity and how these two were blended to encourage more people to join the faith. 4 stars. 

The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner

Ok I realize that I am reading this from a 21st century woman's point of view and not a 16th century woman's POV and that is a little skewed, but this book pissed me off. I would not have put up with what Juana of Castile went through, betrayed by her husband and father and sequestered away in a castle to rot. Despite this, I enjoyed reading about her story as I didn't know much about Spanish royal history or about Juana herself. 

Juana of Castile's parents were the famous Queen Isabel of Castile and her king consort, Fernando of Aragon. I never knew that her father wasn't a king of the loosely united Spain, and that his hunger for power eventually led to him screwing his own daughter out of her rightfully earned crown. Juana married Philip of Flanders, son of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. At first, their marriage was full of love and passion but as her husband's ambition became more prevalent at the urging of his advisor, he started to become more greedy and their marriage went downhill. She had five children, one of which became Charles I of Spain/Charles V of Germany and another became the famous Philip II of Spain. 4 stars. 

Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran

I loved this book even more than I liked the author's book "Neferiti". This book was set in about 30 BC when Selene's father Marc Antony is defeated by Octavian (who later becomes Emperor Augustus) and kills himself, as does his wife Cleopatra. Selene and her her twin brother Alexander are brought as "guests" of Octavian and live in his sister Octavia's house in Rome with all of her children from previous marriages. It was very interesting to read this book about the early part of Augustus's reign, and to see major players such as Selene, Marcellus and Tiberius as teenagers. The author take liberties with inventing the character of the Red Eagle, who fights for slave's rights and tries to assasinate Octavian. I was happy to see, at the end of the book, that Selene did end up making a love match and was able in her own way to recreate Alexandria, though she was never allowed to go back to Egypt. 5 stars. 

Teen Read Week 2011

Oct 16-22 is Teen Read Week. As some of my favorite books are Young Adult and I rather prefer working with teens (especially boys), I think this week is really important. Teens are frequently marginalized by libraries who have little or no money for programs, those who think getting the younger children interested in reading is more important or those who don't want to deal with teenagers. If you are a librarian, YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) has some great resources for professional material that deal with teens. If you don't know where to start to look for teen books, try YALSA's book award winners and booklists, which can be found on this page. 

To celebrate Teen Read Week, I hope to be reading the new Laini Taylor book Daughter of Smoke & Bone. 

Wall Street Journal article on YA books

I know I have been neglecting the librarian/books part of this blog a bit lately, but honestly I haven't had much to add to it. I haven't been reading much lately, though I did just finish a great adult book and am planning to read more by the same author. Apparently I read one of my new favorite author's (Gail Carriger's) books awhile back but forgot to review it, so I'm checking it out from the library again and rereading that next. I am currently not working and most of my excitement lately is coming from my husband starting culinary school soon, everyday stuff, and getting ready for the baby.

Anyways, I found this article from a Facebook friend who shared the link and thought it was a well-done article. I'm sure there will be people who disagree with me, but I think Mr. Alexie brings up some very valid points in his article. I loved his book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian despite the difficult things that were in the novel. In the article, I especially liked when he said that most people who say that YA books are too violent etc are "are simply trying to protect their privileged notions of what literature is and should be. They are trying to protect privileged children. Or the seemingly privileged." I also liked when he explained why he writes the way he does: " I write to give them weapons–in the form of words and ideas-that will help them fight their monsters. I write in blood because I remember what it felt like to bleed." 

Philip Pullman defends public libraries

I found this article through one of the library groups I belong to on Facebook, which was the Guardian's attempt to praise and highlight Philip Pullman's speech done on Jan 20, 2011 about defending Oxfordshire libraries and how many people read it (around 20K in two days). While I thought it was a well-done article, I wanted to see the real speech as I had read in the Guardian article that it was stellar, plus I'm a huge Philip Pullman fan, especially of the His Dark Materials trilogy. Thankfully, they have posted it online here for all to view and I must say it is excellent. I particularly like the following points: 

• Where he points out that it is Mr. Keith Mitchell's job (as leader of the county council) to "protect the library services"
• "Nor do I think we should respond to the fatuous idea that libraries can stay open if they’re staffed by volunteers. What patronising nonsense. Does he think the job of a librarian is so simple, so empty of content, that anyone can step up and do it for a thank-you and a cup of tea? Does he think that all a librarian does is to tidy the shelves?" - amen, you need a Master's Degree to be a public librarian
• "What I personally hate about this bidding culture is that it sets one community, one group, one school, against another. If one wins, the other loses." - i.e. that all these community organizations have to bid on 600K pounds as that is all the county council is providing; and with 20 libraries set to close, they probably won't get more than 10K pounds as he points out earlier
• "The human joy and pleasure goes out of it; books are published not because they’re good books but because they’re just like the books that are in the bestseller lists now, because the only measure is profit." - Sad but true
• "Apparently Mr Mitchell thinks that we authors who defend libraries are only doing it because we have a vested interest – because we’re in it for the money...No, Mr Mitchell, it isn’t for the money. I’m doing it for love." - yay!
• "But what a gift to give a child, this chance to discover that you can love a book and the characters in it, you can become their friend and share their adventures in your own imagination." - what I'm hoping every librarian wishes for their patrons
• "I love it because its presence in a town or a city reminds us that there are things above profit, things that profit knows nothing about, things that have the power to baffle the greedy ghost of market fundamentalism, things that stand for civic decency and public respect for imagination and knowledge and the value of simple delight."
• "Leave the libraries alone. You don’t know the value of what you’re looking after. It is too precious to destroy." - This should go out to all city, county and state governments that even consider cutting library budgets!

C.S. Lewis and reminiscing with the 90's

So today has been rather random. I woke up at 7:15am and went back to sleep at 10 with my hubby. Then later that afternoon we went to Moes for what I thought of, at least, as some pretty awesome burritos. Afterwards, I had wandered onto Facebook again and found this cool Flash Mob Impromptu Opera performance that the Tel Aviv Opera company did in a Food Market, which led to Random Act of Culture performances with a violin quartet and two tango artists (which was pretty cool), which led to other Flash Mob videos. Eventually I found a couple of cool dad-daughter wedding videos, where they mixed sappy songs with 1990s Hip Hop, like MC Hammer's Can't Touch This or Boyz II Men's Motown Philly, the second of which is possibly my favorite song ever from middle school. Yes I know this totally dates me, but whatever. So I've been listening to groups from the 90s/2000, such as TLC's Red Light District, Zhane's Hey Mr. DJ and D'Angelo's How Does It Feel. D'Angelo was a good looking man in that video, very flirty, and was a shame that he got thrown in jail for doing something so stupid. But that sort of thing seems to happen all the time in the music world.

I started reading C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia series, as I have all 7 books in one volume. I am enjoying it so far. I've gotten through The Magician's Nephew and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, both of which I thought were excellent. I also read The Horse and His Boy, which wasn't very good. I am ready to start Prince Caspian and am hoping that it is better than the last one.

This past weekend

This past weekend nothing much happened, except for two things. One of our friends decided to move out to where we live so we'll actually get to see him more, always a plus. The other thing was that Liverpool won their second game in a row, even though it is only the 3rd win of the season and the first away game. But we're still hopeful, though I do wish Torres would get his act together. He's been out of it since end of last year, and has only scored 2 goals in 23 games this season. I've also now been waiting three weeks to hear back from the library folks in Arizona, so I don't know what to think about that, except feeling really frustrated. Anyways, on to quotes and website highlights. 


This week the quotes for the week will be from two of my favorite comics. The first will be from the extremely talented Alan Moore and his Absolute Watchmen, which includes all the cool behind the scenes and extra stuff from the comic book. The second comes from my newly discovered favorite comic, Rex Libris Volume 1: I, Librarian. For those who have not heard about it, it is about an awesome, witty and just plain hilarious comic strip about a 2000+ yr old librarian named Rex Libris whose job is to shush people and reclaim overdue library books from creatures all over the galaxy, with force if needed. 

• “Why do we argue? Life's so fragile, a successful virus clinging to a speck of mud, suspended in endless nothing.”--Alan Moore, end of Chapter 6, Absolute Watchmen 
  
  
• “That fiend knows my every weakness! Damn you Yeti! Why do you torment me so? These buttertarts brim with the very calories of evil! Inexorably drawing me in to a carbohydrate-fueled hell of high caloric sin!”—Rex Libris, Rex Libris: I, Librarian

The website of the week is Book Club Buddy, which I found a couple of weeks ago through the women's newspaper, Skirt. I've not been able to use it yet, but it seems like an awesome site! It's got Fiction, Nonfiction and Poetry books that you can check out to read, Author Interviews, Videos which include book trailers and author Q&A, and Reading Guides for Book Clubs. Also, if you are an author, you can promote your book and if you register for the site, you can win free books.

*Squeetus*

Today I've been catching up on my missed blog posts as I've been busy and haven't had to read in weeks. Culinary Concoctions by Peabody's posts were especially amusing, especially the Turtle Caramel Corn post from Oct. 6, where she making the dessert "to get revenge on her dentist". I'm also drooling over her evilly delicious-looking Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes. I also just found out that I have a job interview on Thursday, which I'm flying across the country to go to. So wish me luck!

But anyways, on to my website/blog of the week.This week it is YA author Shannon Hale's blog/website named Squeetus, because she recently gave birth to twin girls and posted the most adorable picture of them here. I loved her Forest Born series, as well as the graphic novels she did with her husband entitled Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack. I found the website when I was looking up more information about the author. I like that she is against vehemently against censorship of books, as exemplified by this post here, plus she makes funny posts about pregnancy and other random mostly YA book-related topics. Her website features not only all of her books written, but also, FAQ, events she will be attending, games and quizzes, a create-your-own-fantasy story, book recommendations, author biography and contact info, and ramblings on books and reading. Highly recommended!

*Poor Girl Eats Well*

Kimberly Morales is the creator of Poor Girl Eats Well, and it is her personal blog for food blogging and recipes. She specializes in creating delicious home-made nutritious meals for very low prices, as she herself is constantly doing temporary work, and has a very limited budget. She's even been on food stamps. Kimberly  is also up for the Project Food Blog award from the Foodbuzz website, where the winner can win $10,000 and a feature on Foodbuzz for a year. So I have been voting for her in the contest. She also had a cool feature on Anthony Bourdain (who I love watching and think he is great writer and TV presenter), who she got to see live at the Food Bloggers conference in August.

I have been following this blog for a couple of months and love it! As her recipes are all cheap and easy to prepare, I have been coming every day or every other day to see what brilliant new recipes she has posted. For example, recently she made Kiwi-Basil Granita and Bobotie for the Project Food Blog contest, but there is also Tropical Fruit Crepes with Zabaglione, Warm Breakfast Quinoa with Cinnamon and Apples, and the Spanglish sandwich. Plus there are many more on the website. Please go to her website and check it out!

J.R.R. Tolkein and the Lord of the Rings

Since my hubby and I have been playing LOTR online obsessively for the past week, we thought it would be appropriate to start re-watching the extended Trilogy on DVD. We finished The Fellowship of the Ring and it was funny because we kept comparing it to the game and wondering what levels the characters would be. I told my hubby he should read the trilogy because it was a great set of books, once you got past all the Gimli son of Gloin son blah parts. John said that was the reason he didn't think he could get through it. I told him all he needed to do was read The Laxdaela Saga, an Icelandic saga which was similar to Tolkien's Silmarillion and Lord of the Rings trilogy, and he could read it no problem. They are really good books, some of my favorite in fact. I read the trilogy in college, and yes it was around the time that the first movie came out, but all three right in a row because I got so pulled in to the storyline and Tolkein's world. I have tried twice to read (and once on audiobook) The Silmarillion but the book is just too dense. I've heard it's brilliant though once you get through the beginning parts. I would also love to read The Children of Hurin though I've heard it's not as good as his other works.

I was telling my husband that I would've loved to be at Oxford when he and C.S. Lewis were teaching there. They were friends, you know, and I bet their classes would've been fascinating (though I'm not sure how good I would've been at Anglo-Saxon). Re-watching the movies has made me think about The Hobbit, in both book and movie form. I was so excited to hear they were doing a movie version of it and that Peter Jackson would be involved, though not as director. I was especially excited to hear that Guillermo del Toro, director of the Hellboy movies would be directing it, but I am sad now that he has chosen to leave. I grew up watching the 70s cartoon version of The Hobbit, so I'm very curious to see what they do with two live action versions. It also makes me want to re-read the print version, so I'm borrowing the audiobook version once I finish my two current books.

Goodreads and Fab Frugal Food

I know it has been a couple of weeks since my last favorite blog of the week post but things have been super busy around here and I forgot. To make up for it, I will include two blogs/websites this week:

The first is Goodreads. I've been a member here Sept 2008 when I started graduate school, but I didn't become really active till the following spring when I started taking all my childrens and teen literature classes. I love it because it is a good way to keep track of all the books you've read, though it's not got all the books I've ever read (but I add them as I think of them). I usually had to read 50 books per class, and I have really bad short term memory, so this is excellent for keeping track of the books I've read and what I thought of them. You can write reviews or just give them stars (out of 5), as well as checking out reviews before you read a book, adding books to your reading list, and listing what books you are currently reading. You can also add your favorite writers, rank them in order of your favorite and follow their blogs if you want. Ooh and they do book giveaways every months, I've won a few free ones that way. They have a ridiculously long trivia game that you can play, there are book discussion groups you can join, and sometimes authors come on there and you can ask them questions. Oh and you can add friends. I've "met" a lot of interesting people that way, mostly librarians which I enjoy, but also writers and other people with interesting reads. Once a week you get a newsletter which tells you which books they want to read and you can add them too if you like. Goodreads also links through Facebook if you are interested in that.

A blog that I really enjoy and check regularly is Fab Frugal Food, which does "budget friendly recipes for foodies." I have very expensive taste on a very limited budget, so I can't always have the kind of food I want but rather what I can afford. This website is great for that, as is the one I will feature next week. I like FFF because they feature vegetarian, gluten-free or vegan recipes, which I like to throw into my diet now and again for variety. Plus they endorse Meatless Mondays, another great food blog. They feature yummy recipes such as Peaches and Cream Quesadillas, Summer Rolls, Granitas Five Ways, and Artisan Cheese Bread.

August 19: Book Reviews and Recommendations

This will probably be my last big group of book reviews for awhile as I've just started school again and have a ton of required reading to do. However, I have been enjoying my last few weeks of freedom and reading up a storm. Most of the books are YA, but there are a couple adult books thrown in for good measure. I can't wait to read Eric Shanower's graphic novel version of The Wizard of Oz and his own Oz books, and Yellow Tanabe's Kekkaishi Volume 10-20!

Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl #7: The Atlantis Complex (*Spoilers*) - I thought the 6th book was better.

Overall, I really liked this book, especially as I have waiting for a month for it to come out so I can continue the series. The only annoying this is now I have to wait forever for the next one to come out, just as the story was getting interesting. Basically, due to Artemis's scheming and evil planning suddenly turning into good intentions, he has developed what the fairies call "Atlantis Complex" which involves an obsession with numbers, paranoia and multiple personalities. I thought the multiple personalities bit a bit boring, though amusing that his alter-ego was love-struck knight in shining armor character and totally useless when it comes to strategy and planning. I loved the whole underwater exploring part of the book and yay for the giant squid! I thought the bad guy's plans where better than usual, aka mesmerizing a whole arena full of luchadore fans to kill Butler and Juliet and gel robots created by the LEP and sabotaged by the villain to do his bidding. The interspecies romance kind of killed the ending for me; I would've thought it would be more spectacular.

Derek Kirk Kim
Good as Lily:
I really enjoyed this short graphic novel from Derek Kirk Kim. I picked up this volume after reading his collaboration with another of my favorite graphic novel writers/illustrators, Gene Luen Yang. The whole idea of this comic is brilliant, and that goes the same for the artwork. Grace is a Korean girl who has just turned 18. After celebrating with her friends at a local park, she goes back home and then remembers she left one of the presents back at the park. While there, she runs into herself at age 6, 29 and 70. How did this happen and why are they all here at the same time? I like that the different ages were like different aspects of her personality and she discovers so much out about herself and how to change.

Yellow Tanabe
Kekkaishi Volume 1 (I have currently read through Volume 9; Below is the series premise)
Cute manga series about a young boy who is to be a great demon-fighter only he doesn't really want to be. He fights with his family's arch-rival, the beautiful Tokine who is a much better fighter than him and frequently kicks his butt. However, he's forever in love with her and fighting to protect her. Yoshimori's real passion is making cake sculptures and other sweets, which of course his grandfather and elder Kekkaishi abhors as it has nothing to do with fighting.

Eric Shanower
Adventures in Oz:
I am a huge Oz fan and always have been. I know Mr. Shanower's work from when he illustrated Edward Einhorn's Oz book Paradox in Oz and he had signed my book. So I was very excited to discover this graphic novel version of his Oz stories. I absolutely love the artwork! It's like all the Oz books I've ever read over the years come to life, like Tik Tok the mechanical man, Professor Wobblebug and the only soldier in Oz. That alone would give it five stars, however, the five stories inside the volume were not that good. What was up with the flying swordfish in the first story? Not to mention all the trolls, dragons and wood nymphs in the Forgotten Forest of Oz story. I did like the Ice King of Oz as that seemed like a true Ozian story. Therefore I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars.

Shannon Hale
Enna Burning:
This book started off so interesting, picking up where Goose Girl left off. Bayern is at war with the neighboring country Tira, and suddenly everything that Enna knows is changing. The boys she grew up with Razo, Finn and her brother Leifer, are all going off to fight with the army. She goes to help too, but goes with her friend the Princess Isi. Enna discovers how to produce fire and use it on things. Will she use it for good or for total destruction of herself and others around her?
I thought the book really dragged in the middle, especially after Enna was captured. So much so that I wasn't sure I wanted to continue it. Thankfully, after the war ended the story got much more intriguing and I was just hoping throughout the book that she would finally realize what a good guy she had in Finn.

River Secrets:
Like Enna Burning, the book was really slow in the middle, but really picked up in the end. I liked the ending, though I hoped she would've expanded on the romances a bit more. The story picks up where the last book left off, and Bayern and Tira have decided to trade ambassadors and their parties in an attempt at peace. Razo is picked to go with Talone, Enna, Finn and a group of soldiers from Bayern's Own, and nobody including him, knows why Talone has done this. When the first arrive there, there are tensions in the city because of the preceeding war and they are kept separate at the palace. Then the burned bodies begin showing up. Who is doing that to them and why? Could it be Enna, the mysterious Lady Dasha, Tomas the man who started a fight with Razo on the way to Ingraden (the Tiran capital), or someone else? It's up to Razo to find out.

Forest Born: (*Spoilers in second paragraph*)
Again, like the other books of the series this book dragged in the middle. However, it was an enjoyable book with several big plot twists that I was not expecting. Forest Born is the story of Rin, little sister of Razo who was the main character in the last book, River Secrets. She has tree-speaking and as she discovers as the book progresses, also has people speaking. A town in eastern Bayern is burned, the captain of the guards is killed and the king is injured. The queen, Isi, and her friends Enna and Dasha go to investigate and are joined by Rin who is watching the queen's son Tusken. Isi goes to investigate what is going on and infiltrates Kel, the neighboring country, taking "the fire sisters" and Rin with her. A group of fire-speakers are being led by the mysterious Queen of Kels, but who is she and what does she want with Isi and the other girls?

Ok I was genuinely horrified to see Selia come back into the storyline, as I thought she was dead after she named her own punishment in Goose Girl (the first Bayern book). And then when she was bluffing and said she had kidnapped Tusken and killed Razo, I was shocked again and sad because I had really grown to love Razo's character after the 2nd and 3rd books. I was as relieved as Isi when she found her son and Razo safe and sound. I thought it was interesting how Rin was so afraid of becoming evil like Selia due to her people speaking skills, even though they weren't as well-developed as Selia's. I did like how Rin used her abilities to make herself more calm through tree-speaking and then using people-speaking to give Isi the confidence she needed to defeat their enemies. I also found it most gratifying that she got to punch Selia in the face, as I myself wanted to do that while reading the book. I'm glad that Finn and Enna finally got married. I'm curious to see if the author extends the series further as I would like to see more adventures with the fire sisters, Rin, Razo and Finn.


John Pearson (Adult)
Edward the Rake: An Unwholesome Biography of Edward VII
I've been wanting to read this ever since I watched the BBC miniseries "The Duchess of Duke Street" about a famous female chef who was a mistress of Edward's and "Lillie" about Lillie Langtry, who was one of his most famous and longest-lasting mistresses. Because of these two series, I have been completely fascinated with the Edwardian period with its flamboyant lifestyle, sumptuously long 14+ course dinners and obsession with champagne, as well of the life of the monarch Edward VII. This book put into perspective his life and how he became the way he did. With the extremely strict moral upbringing pushed upon him by his mother Victoria and father Albert (who were apparently just reacting to the debauchery of their families), the way his mother never really allowed him any royal responsibilities because she didn't find him worthy (even though he was the heir to the throne),and the way he was never allowed friends, it is almost no wonder that he turned out like he did. It's only really impressive that his "rakishness" lasted over 40 years instead of losing interest in it after about 10 years or so. I would be curious to know if there was an actual number of women he seduced/slept with, which I think would be somewhere on par with the likes of Gene Simmons, of Kiss fame.

Jennifer Matesa (Adult)
Navel-Gazing: The Days and Nights of a Mother in the Making
A frank honest view of a woman's pregnancy and birth of her first child, as documented by the author's journaling and the pictures taken of her by the book's photographer through the stages of the author's pregnancy. I liked the author because I could relate, as she had an English husband and frequently had migraines. Plus she was smart and the book was easy to read and didn't glaze over the uncomfortable parts of pregnancy/childbirth that a lot of books leave out.

Shannon Hale, Jeanne Du Prau, Mary Hoffman, and Eoin Colfer

Recently I've managed to find a string of really well done children and teen books. I decided to go and get some books I've been meaning to read for awhile but haven't had the opportunity to read and ended up with these three authors. Hale, Hoffman, and Colfer: I'm in love with their writing, and Du Prau's first novel I liked, though the jury is still out on the second. So here's the list, along with some reviews from me and descriptions from the authors.

Shannon Hale
Rapunzel's Revenge
Calamity Jack
The Goose Girl:
I'm sure that I have at some point read the story of The Goose Girl, as I am a huge Grimm Brother's and fairy tale fan, but I didn't remember it. I had loved Shannon Hale's books "Rapunzel's Revenge" and "Calamity Jack," and so figured I should give this book a try. I absolutely loved it. The story kept me enthralled from beginning to end, though I think she dragged the storyline a bit in the middle with all the "hunting the princess in the castle" part. The story is about Ani, an unsure and not confident princess who is being forced into an arranged marriage with a far-away prince she's never met. On the way there, her lady in waiting Celia plots with a mercenary and some of the palace guards to take Ani's place and be the princess. Ani escapes their clutches and eventually ends up as the far-away king's goose girl, and spends the rest of the story trying to regain her title. I liked that she could speak with the birds and the wind. The whole dead horse head on the wall was kind of creepy, but I understand the significance. I also liked how she treated young awkward boys who can't express themselves properly like Finn and Garrick (I find it endearing). I must say that I really wanted Ani to succeed and become princess again, if only to get rid of Celia and Ungalad.

I liked The Goose Girl so much, that I am planning on reading the entire series of four books. The next book in the series is Enna Burning, featuring several of the characters from the first book, followed by River Secrets, and Forest Born.

Jeanne Du Prau
The City of Ember:

The premise of the book is very interesting, even to a friend of mine who doesn't read YA books. Basically the world is ending and so a group of people call the Builders create an underground city called Ember and equip it for about 200-220 yrs, after which time they have left instructions for how to leave the city and come back to the real world. Only the instructions get lost and it's now between 220-250 yrs later. A girl named Lina finds them and tries to decipher (because her little sister chewed most of it up) what they mean with the help of a boy named Doon. The story totally drew me into it from the beginning and kept me there until I finished the book a day later.

Mary Hoffman
Troubadour:
Another fantastic book from Mary Hoffman. I've been putting off reading this book for awhile, as I finished up Hoffman's Stravaganza series. I'm glad I finally did read it. It was a well-researched and well-done historical fiction set in 13th century southern France during the time of the Albigensian Crusade, or the Catholic Church's war against the Cathars, called the Believers in the book. They were seen as heretics by the church. The Pope authorized a crusade initially against the Cathars, but it later stretched into towns were in the way of what the Pope's army wanted, heretic or not. The heroine of the story is Elinor, a nobleman's daughter who runs away from her family, and becomes a joglar (male minstrel) after they try to force her into marrying a much older man. It is her struggling to survive around the war, and how she does this, that forms the basis of the story.


Eoin Colfer: His writing keeps getting better and better with every Artemis Fowl book I read, so I can't wait for #7!

Artemis Fowl #5: The Lost Colony

Artemis Fowl #6: The Time Paradox:

Will have to rate this one as my favorite so far, even though all the time jumping was a tad confusing. In this book, Artemis must go back in time and battle his 10 yr old self in order to cure his mother from a deadly disease. The ending did leave you hanging and I am very curious to see what happens in Colfer's 7th book "The Atlantis Complex".

2010 ALA Conference

I didn't make it to the ALA Conference in DC this year because I was unsure of my job situation and of money (which turned out to be correct as my job is ending in August). However, I did really want to go especially after I heard how much free books and swag you get, as well as the chance to meet so many awesome and famous children and young adult authors. I am especially sad that I missed the chance to meet John Green, one of my favorite writers. That being said, thank goodness for people like another of my favorite authors Mo Willems, who pens the wonderful easy reader series Elephant and Piggie, which I love. He always has interesting things on his blogs and he put the 2010 Library Cart Drill Team Championship top three finalists on it right here. Yes, this "sport" apparently does exist. I only found out about it last year, but it's been going on as of this year for 6 yrs. It's pure silliness but it's so funny, kind of like color guard meets marching band meets dance. And for a marching band geek like me, it's pure genius. I liked them all, but my favorite is definitely the 1st place team. At first I couldn't figure out what they were doing, but once they started dancing it dawned on me. They were doing the Danse Macabre (Dance of Death) from Neil Gaiman's 2009 Newberry award-winning novel The Graveyard Book. It was fantastic!