Wordless Wednesday (Sept. 30)

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A-Z Wednesday (H)

 

A-Z Wednesday is hosted by Vicky of Reading at the Beach

To join, here's all you have to do: Go to your stack of books and find one whose title starts with the letter of the week.
Post:
1~ a photo of the book
2~ title and synopsis
3~ link(amazon, barnes and noble etc.).
Be sure to visit other participants to see what book they have posted and leave them a comment. (We all love comments, don't we?) Who knows? You may find your next "favorite" book.

THIS WEEK'S LETTER IS: H
Here is my "H” Title:

How to Ditch Your Fairy – Justine Larbalestier
320 pages; published 2008

From School Library Journal
Grade 6–10—In New Avalon, most everyone has a personal fairy. Charlie, 14, has a parking fairy; if she is in a car, a perfect parking spot is found on the first try. But since Charlie doesn't drive and hates exhaust, she thinks she's been cursed. Her friend Rochelle has a clothes-shopping fairy that makes everything look perfect on her, and her sworn enemy, Fiorenze, has an every-boy-will-like-you fairy. Charlie's attempts to starve her fairy away by walking everywhere just collects her demerits for lateness at New Avalon Sports High, where it is all sports all the time. When the water polo star virtually kidnaps her in his car for his illegal purposes and the "pulchritudinous" new boy on whom she has a crush falls for Fiorenze, Charlie needs to get drastic. She and Fiorenze forge an alliance and hatch a plan to switch their fairies, and she learns to be careful about what she wishes for. With the every-boy-will-like-you fairy, girls turn on Charlie, and she wonders whether Steffi likes her or if he is just responding to her fairy. Charlie is totally likable, smart, and sarcastic, a perfectly self-involved, insecure teen. At its core, this is a typical coming-of-age story, but the addition of the fairies, the slightly alternative setting, and the made-up slang make it much more. This "doos" (brilliant) fantasy will not be ditched.

My review here

Teaser Tuesday (Sept 29)

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

 

 

Elizabeth Bennet’s wedding morning was one of soft mists and  mellow sunshine. She drew back her bedroom curtains to see the dreaming English landscape lying serene and beautiful beneath a soft, white quilt. (1)

Mr. Darcy, Vampure – Amanda Grange

 

 

 

 

Note 1: Not a terribly interesting teaser this week, sorry, but I’m only just about to start this book and didn’t want to spoil anything for myself!

Note 2: Wendy, I am sure you have a lovely rant ready to go for the title of this book. I will admit that I was excited to read it in part to hear your thoughts… so let’s have ’em :)

Musing Monday (Sept. 27)

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about your wishlist…


Do you keep a book wishlist, either on paper, Amazon/etc, or via a book database site (Shelfari, GoodReads, LibraryThing)? If yes, do you share this list with others (especially coming up to Christmas)?

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Musing Mondays post, or share your opinion in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks.

I keep a wishlist at both Shelfari and Fishpond.com but they’re not synced and only quasi-maintained.

My sister and I are planning to buy each other a book from our wishlists for Christmas this year and so some tidying seems to be in order. I’m curious to see if and how other people keep one.

A-Z Wednesday (G)

A-Z Wednesday is hosted by Vicky of Reading at the Beach

To join, here's all you have to do: Go to your stack of books and find one whose title starts with the letter of the week.
Post:
1~ a photo of the book
2~ title and synopsis
3~ link(amazon, barnes and noble etc.).
Be sure to visit other participants to see what book they have posted and leave them a comment. (We all love comments, don't we?) Who knows? You may find your next "favorite" book.

THIS WEEK'S LETTER IS: G
Here is my "G" Title:
 
Good Omens – Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
383 pages; published 1990

Pratchett (of Discworld fame) and Gaiman (of Sandman fame) may seem an unlikely combination, but the topic (Armageddon) of this fast-paced novel is old hat to both. Pratchett's wackiness collaborates with Gaiman's morbid humor; the result is a humanist delight to be savored and reread again and again. You see, there was a bit of a mixup when the Antichrist was born, due in part to the machinations of Crowley, who did not so much fall as saunter downwards, and in part to the mysterious ways as manifested in the form of a part-time rare book dealer, an angel named Aziraphale. Like top agents everywhere, they've long had more in common with each other than the sides they represent, or the conflict they are nominally engaged in. The only person who knows how it will all end is Agnes Nutter, a witch whose prophecies all come true, if one can only manage to decipher them. The minor characters along the way (Famine makes an appearance as diet crazes, no-calorie food and anorexia epidemics) are as much fun as the story as a whole, which adds up to one of those rare books which is enormous fun to read the first time, and the second time, and the third time... (Amazon)

My review here.

Wordless Wednesdays (Sept 23)

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Musing Mondays (Sept. 21)

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about reading music…


Do you listen to music while reading? Does this change if you’re reading in or out of your house? Do you have a preference of music for such occasions?

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Musing Mondays post, or share your opinion in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks.



I rarely listen to music if I’m reading at home – though our house usually always has some music playing somewhere, even if I’m not really listening to it.

Outside of the house however, I usually always listen to my ipod when sneaking five minutes of reading. I go to work an hour or so early so I can read and listen to music in my car; I slip my headphones into my library bag if I’m planning to be there awhile; and I used to love my reading/music time on the bus.

As for preference, I used to listen to instrumental music – classical, jazz, or movie scores, but I found that to be more distracting than anything with lyrics so I swapped back. I’m not usually terribly picky with what I listen to; I just like a little background noise.

I should not be allowed on YouTube

Thanks to @KinokuniyaAust for tweeting about this.

 

What I should have thought:

• Seriously, you spent hours doing this?
• Shouldn’t you guys be working?
• Who would do this?
• OMG! The books!

 

What I REALLY thought:

• These people are awesome
• I so want to do that
• I could totally make one bigger than that
• I wonder if I could con anyone into helping…?

Virtual Walking Tour: Kaye and Marg

 

Kaye from The Road Goes Ever Ever On
and
Marg from Reading Adventures

 

Kaye

How did you get into blogging? I think I’ll start with question #2.  I got into blogging because my sisters their kids and my kids were all blogging. My kids had to really beg me to try it but I finally caved and made my first blog entry a year ago on August 24th. My family blog is private, and last year when we began it was a family blog with 3 family members contributing. I am an avid reader and so I kept adding “book stuff” to my side bar. The kids complained that I had the longest sidebar ever! So after spending some time crawling through the blogosphere I decided to be brave and venture out on my own.

Explain the title of your blog: So I started my own public blog where I could post all the bookish stuff I wanted too and my side bar could be as long as I pleased. I actually ended up starting two public blogs. This blog, The Road Goes Ever Ever On is my main blog.  I chose the title because my favorite books are The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. When Bilbo starts out on his adventure he sings a walking song by the same title. I can’t remember the quote exactly, but he says something to the effect you have to be careful stepping out onto the road because you don’t know where it will take you. When I started blogging by myself I felt just like Bilbo, I was stepping out onto a new road and I had no idea where it would take me. My second blog, Kaye’s Book Review Page, is mainly a record keeping page and a place where my bookish friends can read my reviews if they want to. I also post for the reading challenges on this blog.

What do you like best about blogging? I like the people, I like trading comments and catching glimpses into their lives through their writing and through the pictures they take. I love playing the meme’s because of the interaction with so many people from all over the world.

What are the five books you would recommend to anyone?
That is the hardest question.  Over the last 45 years I’ve read so many good books of all genre that I can’t even remember all I’ve read.

Soooo… I’ll just recommend The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, and after that I’d just say read whatever tickles your fancy!

 

 

Marg

Explain the title of your blog: I think I was lucky when it came to naming my blog. Reading Adventures was one of the very early names I tried. I wanted something that indicated that it was mainly a book blog, and reflected the fact that I read different genres.

Part of my About Me blurb is "My adventures through time and place, all without leaving the comfort of home. Reading is what I do to relax and escape" and I think that the name Reading Adventures encapsulates that quite well.

How did you get into blogging? I started off on a couple of different forums where I was naturally attracted to groups that talk about different books. I can't remember exactly why I started reading blogs, but the first couple that I started reading regularly were Rosario's Reading Journal and Rambling's on Romance. What prompted me to start a blog was that I read a book that I just HAD to write something down about and I just HAD to talk about with someone, anyone. Now when I read that review, I totally cringe, but I leave it as it is because it shows where I have come from. That book was The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

What do you like best about blogging? I love that you can connect with people and it doesn't matter where I live or where they live! I now have people who I consider friends who live all over the world. No one in my family gets my love of reading and most certainly don't want to talk about the books that I read, so to find a whole community of like minded people is heaven sent!

What are the five books that you would recommend to anyone?
Tough question, but I will give it a shot!

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrow
• The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• The Arrival by Shaun Tan
• The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly

I am going to cheat and add one more, and that is Outlander (Cross Stitch) by Diana Gabaldon. I hadn't read any books for a number of years, and whilst it wasn't the first book I read when I started reading again, it was the first book that really reignited my love of reading, my love of historical fiction, and it is still one of the books that I recommend to other readers regularly.

 

 

Thanks, Kaye and Marg, for letting me visit with you!

Booky podcasts

A few weeks ago, the DVD machine in my craft room died once and for all. I cried and mourned its loss and then went searching for something else to listen to while sewing. I decided to give podcasts a try and, having picked out a couple sufficiently nerdy ones (yes, I’m currently living on a Stargate/Babylon 5 high) quickly became enamoured with the form.

So I was thinking, do you listen to podcasts? Any favourites? Got any booky ones to recommend?

Wordless Wednesday (Sept 16)

For more Wordless Wednesdays, click here

A-Z Wedneday (F)

 

A-Z Wednesday is hosted by Vicky of Reading at the Beach

To join, here's all you have to do: Go to your stack of books and find one whose title starts with the letter of the week.
Post:
1~ a photo of the book
2~ title and synopsis
3~ link(amazon, barnes and noble etc.).
Be sure to visit other participants to see what book they have posted and leave them a comment. (We all love comments, don't we?) Who knows? You may find your next "favorite" book.

THIS WEEK'S LETTER IS: F
Here is my "F" Title:


Finding Cassie Crazy – Jaclyn Moriarty
383 pages; published 2003

Cassie is in Year 10 at Ashbury High. Ashbury students claim that the kids at Brookfield High are drug-dealers and psychopaths. Their teacher starts a pen-pal project which leads to an escalation of the war between the two schools, to secret romance and to Cassie learning to face her fears. (Amazon)

My Review from August 2008
Dear Brooker Kid [...]

My name is Cassie.

[...] I'll tell you something else that I find funny and that is this: counselling. I went to see a counsellor with my mother last night. You might think that's kind of a private thing to reveal in a letter to someone like you, who I've never even met, but you must be forgetting what counselling it. It's where you TELL A STRANGER ALL ABOUT YOURSELF. So telling you that I've been to see a counsellor is nothing. You're not a stranger. You're a Brooker Kid. (p. 25-6)

--

Dear Cassie

Eat shit and die, private school slag.

Yours faithfully

Matthew Dunlop (p.32)

Emily, Lydia and Cassie are best friends and students at the prestigious private school, Ashbury High. When they learn that their English teacher, Mr. Botherit, is instituting a mandatory year 10 penpal program with the neighbouring school, Brookfield High (a school you "can't get in ... unless you have a criminal record", 17), they are less than pleased. They have more important things to worry about than writing to the criminal Brooker kids, things like skipping school to go to the movies, working on becoming a famous novelist and helping Cassie cope with her father's recent death.

Mandatory does, however, mean mandatory and the girls are issued their penpals: Charlie, Seb and Matthew. Despite initial first impressions (ranging from bemusement to downright loathing) the pairs manage to find something to talk about: Emily teaches Charlie how to date a girl (in order to steal away the beautiful Christina); Lydia and Seb engage in a a round of one-up-manship through their "secret assignments"; and Cassie and Matthew find someone with which to talk over their heartache.

The problem with letter writing, however, is that you can never be entirely too sure who it is you're talking to, and when the penpals decide to meet up, they are met with mixed results. The Matthew of her letters is not exactly the young man Cassie meets. In fact, there is no 'Matthew Dunlop' enrolled in Brookfield High at all. Who is he? And what does he want? Is the hatred between the two schools that hard to overcome, and will Cassie manage to hold herself together?

Told entirely through letters, emails, and announcements, Finding Cassie Crazy is a quick and engaging read. Each of the characters have a strong personality that comes through in their letters and I laughed and cried along with them. 4/5

Hand in hand, with fairy grace…

 

... will we sing, and bless this place.
- William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

 

Have you ever noticed that sometimes, once someone mentions something, it’s all you can think about? Ever since Elena pointed out my fairy-book-inclination this year, I’ve been thinking about them, bringing it up again in yesterday’s MM.

So, first of all, I’d like to thank Wendy for my blue fairy! I’m not about to go turning any puppets into real boys, but I’m sure we’ll go on some sort of adventure.

And secondly, I’d like to ask you guys to recommend your favourite fairy books – if I’m going to go on a spree, I might as well make sure I hit all the good ones, right? It’d be great if you could mention some for myself as well as some that might be good for a seven year old (Fairy Princess Hannah, as she goes by at the moment).

 

 

Faeries, come take me out of this dull world,
For I would ride with you upon the wind,
Run on the top of the dishevelled tide,
And dance upon the mountains like a flame.
    ~William Butler Yeats, "The Land of Heart's Desire," 1894

Teaser Tuesday (Sept 15)

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

 

 

Her brothers and sisters, stomachs full of the food Aurelia’s marriage had bought, made a circle around her and clutched at the hem of her dress as she twirled and pirouetted, and she smiled at them and cursed Willie Barnett for being who he was and acting as if he could buy the whole world. (22)

The Texicans – Nina Vida

A Plethora of New Books

I did a bit of library-spindle-shopping over the past few weeks and ended up with quite a nice pile to share…

 

 

 

 

• Complete Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde – Oscar Wilde
• Boy Meets Girl – Meg Cabot
• In True Blood – Truman Capote
• Dancing Shoes – Noel Streatfeild
• Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins*
• Inkspell – Cornelia Funke
• Pathways – Jeri Taylor
• Shakespeare’s Sonnets – William Shakespare
• Going Solo – Roald Dahl

 

*Yes, I know, I’m very slow jumping on the bandwagon

Musing Mondays (Sept 14)

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about reading trends…


Do you find yourself forming trends in your reading? Is this a conscious act, influenced by either your own interests or current publishing fads?

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Musing Mondays post, or share your opinion in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks.



I did a meme this week, and my answers prompted Elena to point out that I seemed to have a thing for fairies. And like I told her, yes, I do have a fondness for fairy stories, this having been given a huge boost by my seven-year-old cousin’s insistence on playing fairies – but I had not actually realised that this was the case.

So I suppose my answer is yes-no-yes.

Yes, I do form trends in my book choices. This year it is fairies:

• Rainbow Magic, Vol 1-7: The Rainbow Fairies
• How to Ditch Your Fairy
• Tithe
• Hannah the Happy Ever After Fairy
• Rainbow Magic, Vol. 8-14: The Weather Fairies
• Flitterwig

No, it is rarely a conscience act, I do tend to get sucked in by the fairy books (feel free to recommend some!) but I don’t usually seek them out.

And, yes, I am probably influenced by publishing trends, in as much as there is an abundance of fairyish stories lately, at least in childrens or YA fiction.

My Life in Books meme

I’ve seen this meme floating around here, there and everywhere lately, and I can’t resist a good meme like this!

 

Using only books you have read this year (2009), cleverly answer these questions. Try not to repeat a book title.

 

Describe Yourself: Flitterwig

How do you feel: Betrayed

Describe where you currently live: The City of Ember

If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Escape to New York

Your favorite form of transport: Blankets

Your best friend is: Hannah the Happy Ever After Fairy

What's the weather like: Earth Abides

Favourite time of day: Twilight

What is life to you: Best Intentions

Your fear: The Origin of Lament

What is the best advice you have to give: How to Ditch Your Fairy

Thought for the Day: The Truth About Forever

How I would like to die: The Good Die Young

My soul's present condition: Sucks to Be Me

A-Z Wednesday (E)

Turns out I don’t have many E books, so I went with a somewhat obvious choice.

A-Z Wednesday is hosted by Vicky of Reading at the Beach

To join, here's all you have to do: Go to your stack of books and find one whose title starts with the letter of the week.
Post:
1~ a photo of the book
2~ title and synopsis
3~ link(amazon, barnes and noble etc.).
Be sure to visit other participants to see what book they have posted and leave them a comment. (We all love comments, don't we?) Who knows? You may find your next "favorite" book.

THIS WEEK'S LETTER IS: E
Here is my "E" Title:

Emma – Jane Austen
358 pages; published 1815

Of all Jane Austen's heroines, Emma Woodhouse is the most flawed, the most infuriating, and, in the end, the most endearing. Pride and Prejudice's Lizzie Bennet has more wit and sparkle; Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey more imagination; and Sense and Sensibility's Elinor Dashwood certainly more sense--but Emma is lovable precisely because she is so imperfect. Austen only completed six novels in her lifetime, of which five feature young women whose chances for making a good marriage depend greatly on financial issues, and whose prospects if they fail are rather grim. Emma is the exception: "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her." One may be tempted to wonder what Austen could possibly find to say about so fortunate a character. The answer is, quite a lot.

For Emma, raised to think well of herself, has such a high opinion of her own worth that it blinds her to the opinions of others. The story revolves around a comedy of errors: Emma befriends Harriet Smith, a young woman of unknown parentage, and attempts to remake her in her own image. Ignoring the gaping difference in their respective fortunes and stations in life, Emma convinces herself and her friend that Harriet should look as high as Emma herself might for a husband--and she zeroes in on an ambitious vicar as the perfect match. At the same time, she reads too much into a flirtation with Frank Churchill, the newly arrived son of family friends, and thoughtlessly starts a rumor about poor but beautiful Jane Fairfax, the beloved niece of two genteelly impoverished elderly ladies in the village. As Emma's fantastically misguided schemes threaten to surge out of control, the voice of reason is provided by Mr. Knightly, the Woodhouse's longtime friend and neighbor. Though Austen herself described Emma as "a heroine whom no one but myself will much like," she endowed her creation with enough charm to see her through her most egregious behavior, and the saving grace of being able to learn from her mistakes. By the end of the novel Harriet, Frank, and Jane are all properly accounted for, Emma is wiser (though certainly not sadder), and the reader has had the satisfaction of enjoying Jane Austen at the height of her powers.

Purls, and Cables, and lace – oh my!

Knit Two Kate Jacobs
320 pages; published 2008

“…over the years the feeling had become more definite  that either Peri would keep things going at Walker and Daughter or it would be time to close up the doors to the yarn shop. The desire to keep everything just as it once had been—to freeze time—remained very strong among the group of friends... [s]temming from some natural fantasy they all shared but never discussed: that everything needed to be kept just so for Georgia. For what? To want to come back? To feel at home? Because making changes to Georgia’s store, without her presence or consultation, would mean things were really final. Wouldn’t it? That all the moments the members of the Friday Night Knitting Club and the family of Georgia Walker had experienced, the good and the bad, had truly happened.”

It has been five years since the events of The Friday Night Knitting Club, five years since Georgia’s death, but the members of the Walker and Daughter knitting club are still going strong. They may not meet every week, and they may not always knit, but they’re still there for each other to depend on, cry with and yell at.

But five years is a long time. Lucy’s hopes for single motherhood aren’t as shiny as they once were, KC is grudgingly spiralling into middle-age, Dawn’s long-sought for pregnancy isn’t as easy (or as supported) as she would have anticipated, Catherine and James are far from dealing with Georgia’s absence and Peri’s guardianship of the store isn’t as rewarding as her own business. And perhaps most jarring of all, Dakota is no longer the eleven year old “muffin girl” mascot of the group - she has her own plans for her future, ones that new father James doesn’t necessarily support, and may even - dare she say it - have nothing at all to do with the store.

I read The Friday Night Knitting Club earlier this year for book club; it was a nice light read that I enjoyed for it’s sense of family, and it’s incorporation of knitting not only as part of the plot, but the structure. I picked up this sequel expecting more of the same, and wasn’t disappointed in this regard. It was a nice continuation of the characters and storylines that had been established in the first novel. The progression and development of characters were as to be expected, but enjoyable (if a little sugary in places) all the same - with Dakota’s coming-of-age in light of her mother’s death being particularly well done, I thought.

Overall it was a ‘nice’ book - which may seem a little unenthusiastic, but it’s the truth all the same. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Did I recommend it to my cousin who had particularly enjoyed the first book? Of course. But would I heartily recommend it? Perhaps not. If you absolutely loved the first and would like to see what happens next, then by all means grab it, you won’t be disappointed. But if you were satisfied with the ending of the first, then perhaps skip over this one. 3/5

Musing Mondays (Sept 7)

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about audio books…


What is your preferred method of listening to audio books? Where and when do you listen to them?

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Musing Mondays post, or share your opinion in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks.



I’m not a huge audio-book listener, but having found (over the past few months) several podcasts that I enjoy listening to, and then Bryan’s recommendation of the Harry Potter audio books, I’ve been thinking of giving it a go. I guess I’m just doing a little research!

I sometimes listen to podcasts while I’m at work, if there aren’t many students in the library, but mostly listen to them in the car or while I’m in bed, so I anticipate audio books being listened to at the same time.

I’m looking forward to reading your answers.

Now just where did I leave that saw…?

I’m pretty easy going when it comes to bookmarking, what about you?

Do you use bought bookmarks? check.

Scrap paper? check.

Napkins? check.

Blade saws? ch-… what??

My cousin, Renae, sent me a link to Forbidden Bookmarks today, and I’d recommend you go check it out. Take a look at some of the weird things being used as bookmarks.

 

A-Z Wednesday (D)

A-Z Wednesday is hosted by Vicky of Reading at the Beach

To join, here's all you have to do: Go to your stack of books and find one whose title starts with the letter of the week.
Post:
1~ a photo of the book
2~ title and synopsis
3~ link(amazon, barnes and noble etc.).
Be sure to visit other participants to see what book they have posted and leave them a comment. (We all love comments, don't we?) Who knows? You may find your next "favorite" book.

THIS WEEK'S LETTER IS: D
Here is my "D" Title:
 
Dinotopia – James Gurney
168 pages; published 1998

Arthur Denison, a Victorian scientist, and his son Will are shipwrecked on an amazing island . Here, dinosaurs live in harmony with a colony of humans, made up of other marooned travelers and their descendants. Will and his father are fascinated by the technology of their new home. They visit a hatchery, a blacksmith in Volcaneum, and a city built on waterfalls. The boy is most impressed by the Skybax Riders, people who are trained to fly on winged reptiles. Deciding to join them, he goes through their rigorous training program. In the meantime, his father finds a route to the dinosaur underground, a mythic place referred to in old dinosaur tales. He returns to find his son has ``earned his wings,'' but his discoveries are saved for (one assumes) another book. This fairytale will capture the interests of older fantasy readers--those perhaps, who enjoy the ``Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (Houghton), or Lewis's ``Narnia'' series (Macmillan). Younger readers, too, will be enticed by the dramatic, full-color illustrations, which include both panoramic sweeps of the utopian cities and detailed sketches of Dinotopian contraptions. While the women are more active than their Victorian counterparts, the adventurers here are still Will and Dad. Also, the illustrations tend to portray nonwhite Dinotopians as exotics, a stereotype better left in the past. Overall, the success of this story depends upon readers' ability to accept these creatures as peaceful, intelligent herbivores. Advanced readers who find sharp-toothed carnivores more to their liking may prefer a visit to Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park (Knopf, 1990), for a not-so-tame tale also set on a dinosaur isle. -- Cathryn A. Camper, Minneapolis Public Library

My review here

New books!

One of the things I miss most about catching the bus everywhere is the time I’d spend at the bookstore in between my two buses. While I certainly don’t regret that it takes a fraction of the time to get around now, I do miss my browsing.

Lucky for me, though, my sister now catches the bus to and from tafe, and she often calls me to let me know of book sales or any other ‘hey guess what I just find’ news of note. Last night this call resulted in her coming home with goodies for me, two books that she knew were on my wishlist and she called to tell me about.

 

 

John Green’s Looking for Alaska, which I read and loved last year, and his latest book, Paper Towns, which I haven’t read yet, but am very much looking forward to. Very happy surprise!

 

Teaser Tuesday (Sept 1)

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

 

 

Harry shivered. He wasn’t sure he liked Mr. Ollivander too much. He paid seven gold galleons for his wand and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop. (65)

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – JK Rowling