Peace is Joy at Rest

I'm reading Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son's First Son, by Anne Lamott, at the moment.

Hopefully I can get my thoughts together in a semblance of a review when I finish it - it's not my favorite book in the world, but it's good, and this quote has stuck with me since I read it. Page 212.

Embrace the Camera: July 7th, 2011

It's Embrace the Camera day! Rules & link up at the anderson crew blog.

My husband & I got haircuts over the weekend. Scotty's aunt is a hairdresser, so we always go to her. I was definitely ready for some shorter hair! I love it now.





I love going to the part of the city where Tia Tekay works. It's really dangerous though - it's so close to my favorite bookstore, Bookman's. I could spend all day there and all of my money, easily. It's a wonderful place.

Review: Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For some reason I am really feeling juvenile fiction this summer. Just something about kids' books and summer that makes me all nostalgic, even though most of the books I read as a kid during the summer were Goosebumps. I still remember trading them amongst kids at school like they were Pogs. Oh, man, Pogs...

Anyway, this book is a really perfect summer-in-middle-school book. It features a weird kid and his weird friend, but the great part is throughout the book you realize that everyone in this kid's neighborhood is as weird or even weirder than him. It is great. It is a book that makes grownups actual people. Each adult in this story has their own beliefs and their own outlook, which comes to light as the main character Jeremy Fink asks them about the meaning of life. From a famous scientist to a boardwalk preacher, they all answer differently, really demonstrating how everyone's opinion is different, and how everyone must reach their own truth.

The main driving force behind the story, which is a box Jeremy receives the summer he is due to turn 13, is a clever device but the ending makes it all a little bit contrived. It's a nice ending that wraps up a lot of questions, but it left me unsatisfied. However, I really enjoyed the journey to the end of this book. Yes, some of it comes off as the author trying to impart Big Life Lessons to the kids reading it, but that was not a problem for me because I liked the characters and the setting so much.

There are a lot of little details that go into making this book good (such as Jeremy and his friend's difficulty with public transportation, Jeremy's love of candy, and other small things). What a great summer read.

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Review: Across the Universe

Across the Universe by Beth Revis 

Across the Universe is a really cool, accessible scifi story combined with murder mystery. Just think about being trapped on a ship while someone is murdering people and you have no idea why and no one to turn to. History has been rewritten, there's a crazy man in charge, and the populace is made up of vacant, empty-minded workers. What can you do?

While I felt this book started out slowly, it drew me in, and by the end I was really fascinated with the twists and turns the story took. Some of it is pretty transparent and the male main character, Elder, could use a little bit more personality, but to me it was the claustrophobia of the ship combined with the psychological horror of being stuck onboard with hundreds of people slightly smarter than zombies and nothing to do about it that kept me enjoying it.

There is a lot of creepy stuff in this book that only increases in creepiness as you think about it. Even an explanation given of Lincoln's speech in this book has some ooginess to it. Man, I would not like to be stuck on this ship.

Unfortunately I was not a big fan of the ending. It just sort of... ended after some scenes that felt like they were supposed to be big and climactic, which mostly failed for me. Yes, it's a resolution, but it was unsatisfactory for me and I would have liked a little more focus on the big bad, their motivations, and the other characters' coming to terms with the ending they created. At the same time, though, it didn't feel overly set-up for a sequel, which was nice. There are certainly more stories that could be written about this ship, and seeing as how there's a #1 next to its title here on Goodreads there will be, but this book is nicely contained, a good story.

For some reason this story had a lot of parallels with the Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness, for me, at least. I didn't love it nearly as much as I did those books, but the idea of an inescapable life you are forced into sort of carried over, with the female character as an outsider, a creepy bad guy - it was definitely missing the frantic pace and bloodiness, though. If you like this book, though, definitely check out The Knife of Never Letting Go.

Yay for fun scifi! A good summer read, I think.

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Review: The Replacement

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Replacement is a story about changelings, the idea that sometimes fairy creatures steal away human children from their cribs and replace them with their own castoff children. This book updates the idea and brings it to the modern town of Gentry, where we follow a changeling, and the undoing of his world around him.

This young adult novel manages to include paranormal themes while also touching upon mature subjects and remaining true to the thought processes of teenagers. While I thought some characters were underdeveloped, the world of Gentry and its underworld were nicely fleshed-out, with an intriguing backstory. I enjoyed the way "old world" mythology became modern, although at times it felt the author was trying to be too cool and edgy, particularly in some scenes set at a club.

The mood of the story is really handled well. You can feel the funk/depression/fog the main character is in, and it suffuses the pages with its own kind of melancholy. Reading this really is like entering Mackie Doyle's brain, with its concerns about girls at school coexisting with worries about the dark fairy underground he finds himself flirting with. It's good stuff.

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10 Good Things on a Monday 5/23

My 10 favorite literary quotes. (As pulled from my Goodreads profile. And by literary, I mean about books or from books.)

1. Sometimes you wake up. Sometimes the fall kills you. And sometimes, when you fall, you fly. - Neil Gaiman

2. Hi Sandy, I won! - Ellen Raskin
This one is from the book The Westing Game. You have to read it to understand it. This is my favorite childhood book, and every time I read this quote, I smile.

3. Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them. - Lemony Snicket

4. All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king. - JRR Tolkien

5. I was brave and I wrote a book and that means I can do anything. - Mark Haddon

6. Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind. - Dr. Seuss

7. The true American patriot is by definition skeptical of the government. - Sarah Vowell

8. The world was hers for the reading. - Betty Smith

9. I don't get nearly enough credit in life for the things I manage not to say. - Meg Rosoff

10. The best way to get even with anyone is to put them in the rear view mirror on the way to something better. - Joe Hill

Review: Full Tilt

Full Tilt by Neal Shusterman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars 

Full Tilt is an interesting book. At first glance it looks like a typical Goosebumps-style young adult novel about teenagers being sucked into a paranormal amusement park. Fortunately (although that could be cool), this book goes beyond that to explore its characters, or at least its protagonist, in more depth.

Blake is a sort of bland, generic overachiever with some secrets in his past when the book opens. Using the plotline of an amusement park run by a mysterious, otherworldly figure, Shusterman follows Blake through growth and a new understanding of himself and his strange, not-quite-there brother.

I thought this book felt a bit flat, particularly compared to Shusterman's other works, but I did enjoy it. The character of Blake's brother, Quinn, especially rang true for me since I knew several teenage boys very similar to him. At times the action was either too toned down and rattled off too quickly or dense and difficult to follow, but the book read quickly and I enjoyed it.

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Review: Unwind

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is an intense look at some difficult subjects: abortion, government control, stem cell research, the rights of minors. You ask yourself, who owns a child's body?

In this world, the child is the last one who has any right over their body. If parents don't want to take care of a teenager, they can ship them off to be Unwound, their body parts spread out to those who need them - or just want new parts. If the children resist, they're prosecuted for stealing government property. Religions seize Unwinding as a way to fulfill their tithing obligations. Adults can have children forced on them at any time, but they have no real obligation to the children.

The story definitely has some holes. I found the premise, that both pro-life and pro-choice groups would find this acceptable, to be ridiculous. I also found it difficult to believe that some aspects of society (like schooling) would still be as common as they are today; why send a kid to school if you're going to Unwind them in a few years? But the way people justified Unwinding in the book seemed chillingly true to life. Just look at the way people have justified utter atrocities, with the barest of excuses, throughout human history.

This book contains one of the most chilling chapters I have ever read. Actually, strike that: without going into any gory detail, without presenting anything outright shocking, Neal Shusterman managed to write the creepiest thing I have ever read. That scene is still playing itself in my head, and I don't know if I'll ever get rid of it. Just the knowledge of everything that chapter implies about the book and the society as a whole is utterly chilling - and it all seems so real, as though it could happen tomorrow.

I don't think I will get this book out of my head anytime soon. Yes, it had its flaws, but it makes an impact.

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Something to cheer me up!

Yesterday was a long day. By the end of it I found myself wishing I had a little chameleon, like Pascal in Tangled, to do some butt-kicking for me.



Unfortunately, not only do I not have a chameleon, but they frown on butt-kicking at public libraries, even if you work there.

Luckily I found something else, by my front door, to take my mind off the long day! My prize from Aaron Zenz's Chuckling Ducklings giveaway had arrived!

The packaging was super cute with the duck quacking my address:




And here's my sketch:





Thank you, Aaron! Be sure to check out Aaron's blog Bookie Woogie for wonderful kid reviews of books!

Review: Something Missing

Something Missing by Matthew Dicks

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As I was reading this book, I kept thinking to myself: here is a book that is detailing everything this guy is doing, step by step, and his entire thought process throughout. It is a novel that takes a moment to explain exactly how supermarket loyalty cards work. How is this interesting? Why did I keep reading, and actually enjoy what I was reading?

I really did find it interesting. It was sort of like a much more detailed Dirty Jobs for me. By taking us through every step of the character's thought process, he became a much more sympathetic character. I actually really appreciated all of the little details.

There were a few strange moments in the book, bits and pieces I thought would be important again but never came up, but perhaps they just seemed more important because of the way the protagonist considers every possible action carefully before continuing. He pushes everything way up to highest importance, even the way he greets his waitress at the diner he goes to for breakfast, so everything seems more important than it is.

Now, where's Mike Rowe when you need him?

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Review: Flight, Volume 2

Flight, Volume 2 by Kazu Kibuishi

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am enjoying this series of anthologies, but there are too many beginnings here for me, and not enough complete short stories. I love the variety, though.

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10 Good Things on a Monday 2/28

It looks like our house closing has been delayed - hopefully only for a couple of days. Fingers crossed! I'm spending today digging up some paperwork that the credit union has requested and trying to relax about the whole thing.

10 Good Things on a Monday is a great way to relax!



The Last 10 Books I Added to my Goodreads "To Read" Shelf
(Mostly found at Barnes and Noble - I refrained from buying them since I'd just have to pack them, and besides, I can always get them for free at the library!)

1. Dark Delicacies: Original Tales of Terror and the Macabre, edited by Del Howison - I love short story anthologies and especially scary ones!

2. Edge by Thomas Blackthorne - The cover caught my eye and the plot sounds intriguing enough to give it a try.

3. You Killed Wesley Payne by Sean Beaudoin - A seventeen-year-old hard-boiled detective? Why not? It sounds interesting!

4.  The Ghost's Child by Sonya Hartnett - This seems like the kind of book I should read when I'm in just the right mood for it.

5. The Floating Islands by Rachel Neumeier - This looks like a unique kind of fantasy.

6. Snakes in Suits by Paul Babiak - To my knowledge I've never worked with a psychopath (I can't imagine what it would be like!), but the subject seems fascinating.

7. Without Conscience by Robert D. Hare - Another psychopath book. Does that make me weird? Probably!

8. Customer Service: New Rules for a Social Media World by Peter Shankman - I have been working on my library's social media presence and this book looks like it might contribute some useful tips.

9. Noah Barleywater Runs Away by John Boyne - I enjoyed this author's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and am looking forward to this new book.

10. Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok - The storyline is interesting and I'd like to read more about this subject, which I'm not very familiar with.

Review: Monsters of Men

Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After I read the first two books in the series, my reviews on Goodreads were pretty much one or two lines expressing my emotion with the book and my desire for the next one to appear on my desk immediately. I wanted to write more about this book, since I've finished the series, but it's so hard: all three of the books really play with your emotions, get you hyped up, keep you reading, and so to stop and try to put it all together objectively is really difficult.

The Chaos Walking series puts us down in one small place on one continent on one entirely alien planet. As the series continues, our perspective grows along with the protagonist's until we can understand the enormity of what surrounds us and what is still unknown. Two small and relatively unimportant leaders become the driving force towards what could be the extermination of the entire planet, or its salvation, and we see it all through the eyes of a teenage boy and a girl, a newcomer to the planet.

Along the way, the series explores what makes us human, what makes us part of our communities, gender conflict, and racial/species conflict. It does so in a very intense way. There is no shying away from violence and very little peacetalk. The native race of the planet is enslaved brutally and the women, due to the strange effect the planet has on men, end up being treated as second-class citizens almost everywhere. But none of it is heavy handed or moralizing. We experience the horror of it throughout the storyline as background mentions or as pivotal plot points, but it's never beat over the reader's head. There's a lot left unsaid and left to be inferred.

I have to say the battle scenes and violence are really intense. The writing style really flows and keeps the intensity up. It can be very draining to read, but it adds a lot to the series.

It's absolutely one of my favorite series I've read in a long time.

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Review: The Ask and the Answer

The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Can't say anything, just have to sit here impatiently waiting for the 3rd book to come in...

C'mon...

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Review: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I like the way this book approaches the fantastic and blends it easily into everyday reality. Each character deals with their particular challenges (special or not) in a clean, almost spare way. The book is absolutely disconcerting when you step away from it, but I enjoyed the way the author made everything sort of make sense within the narrative.

Although the story at first seems as though it will focus on Rose, as it continues it takes on other aspects of the family, sharpening their character lines and making them more real as Rose begins to understand them more fully. Of course mysteries still remain, as with any family... I don't think any child can grow up knowing every family secret or why every relative behaves the way they do.

I was disappointed in the ending, which seemed abrupt and sort of loose; I thought it could have easily continued for another chapter or so. I would have liked more attention paid to Joseph and his father, just a little bit more focus.

It definitely has a lot of potential, but I would have liked more.

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10 Good Things on a Monday 1/31

10 things that make me smile:

1. Thinking about decorating our new house.
2. Scotty's smile.
3. The way Loki runs around like crazy on the floor, licking everything and exploring.
4. The after-the-rain smell outside right now.
5. The three tiny little cow erasers on my desk.
6. Seeing a pile of courier books on my desk at work, ready to be read.
7. Angry Birds. (I just downloaded it yesterday. I don't know why I didn't try it sooner.)
8. Sleepy puppies, like my mom's boxer Ruger the other day - puppy yawns are so adorable.
9. Hugging my mom. She gives great hugs.
10. Looking through amazing photos on Flickr.

Review: The Knife of Never Letting Go

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I honestly have no idea what to say about this. Man. This book was intense. I loved it. I loved Todd, and Manchee, and Viola, and everybody else in the effing book except those I hated. Why hasn't the second book arrived on my desk yet? Dammit.

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Review: Moon Over Manifest

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

My rating: 4 of 5 stars 

Moon Over Manifest is a story I think I would have enjoyed more as a child; I could feel my younger self identifying with the tomboyish protagonist, the people of the town as they're described in the story, and the history, as it related to what I was learning in Social Studies. As an adult, I can see some weaknesses in the story, which when combined make it feel a bit contrived, but yes: me as a kid would have read the heck out of this.

The book cleverly combines 1936 Depression-era Kansas with flashbacks to 1918, introducing World War I (a topic I never learned much about in Social Studies, which usually ended with the Civil War and then the entire 20th century crammed into a week or so), and the influenza pandemic during that time period (also barely touched on in class). While some characters cross over, others don't, which adds a layer of mystery to the other puzzles in the book and packs a bit of a hard punch when you find out what happened.

It ends with a nice little chapter with some background information on the location and other aspects of the story, which I liked a lot. I was often intrigued by offhand remarks in stories as a kid, but rarely did any further research.

A few things felt strange; the central spy mystery of the novel wasn't really well-done and actually ended up being a little confusing in parts, the 1918 "ending" is very pat, and the connections between 1918 Manifest and 1936 Manifest are sometimes pretty frail. The book is a little laggy in the middle, and the "storytelling" aspect is pretty much lost, because the voice the stories are told in doesn't really carry through.

However, overall, I enjoyed this. It's certainly better than a dry Social Studies textbook.

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Review: Paper Towns

Paper Towns by John Green

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked this book, which was an endearing mix of sympathetic high school characters, a mystery, and themes of growing up and learning to recognize people for who they are. Although I have to say I found Margo more obnoxious than loveable, the voice of the protagonist and the well-plotted clues kept me reading.

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Review: Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook by Jason Bulmahn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm converting my current D&D game from 3.5 to Pathfinder, so I wanted to buy myself a copy of the rulebook rather than mooching off my friend's. Naturally, in the game store, I also had to buy the Bestiary and Bestiary 2. I forgot how expensive gaming books are when you buy them new and not at the used bookstore. Jeez.

I read through this book, skimming some parts I knew well, and reading others more closely. It's very well-written, more accessible, I think, than D&D is. Many of the rules are explained more fully and in a more comprehensible way. I also really like the art, and the emphasis on capable and experienced adventurers no matter their gender or age.

As long as I have some people who are really experts in my group, I will probably never need to read this cover-to-cover, and for that I'm grateful, because my head starts swimming after battle statistics after awhile. But it's definitely a well-done book and worthy of the adulation it gets in my group.

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