Because You'll Never Meet Me - Leah Thomas (mini-review)

(mini-review x-post from Instagram)

Title: Because You'll Never Meet Me
Series: Because You'll Never Meet Me, Book 1
Author:  Leah Thomas

Published: 2015
Pages: 344

Please follow these instructions:

1. Stack the pages of this letter neatly.

2. Roll the pages up into a cylinder.

3. Smack yourself over the head with it.

4. Repeat. You complete ass.

Ollie and Moritz are best friends... despite the fact that they can never meet. Ollie is allergic to electricity, while Moritz’s life depends on his pacemaker. Meeting would kill one or both of them. Over a series of cross-Atlantic letters, Ollie and Moritz share their lives and discover more connections than they could have known. This was an intriguing read, even if the last few chapters really took a left turn. I’ll have to check out the sequel. 

Recommended Age Group: 13+

Content Warnings: 
- some violence
- human experimentation

Similar Reads:

Other Reviews Have you written a review for this book? I would love to include it, comment below and I'll add your link!

The BSC returns

The Babysitters Club Graphic Novels
Ann M. Martin and Raina Telgemeier

#1 Kristy’s Great Idea
#2 The Truth About Stacey
#3 Mary Anne saves the Day

 

How many of you read The Babysitters Club when you were younger? If you were anything like me, you had piles of them.

I can remember, all too clearly, my memories of the BSC. I remember sitting on my bed with a pile of them and spending all day reading. I remember having to run out to my mother at the beginning of chapters because I couldn’t read the handwriting (especially Mary Anne’s cursive). And I remember the day my cousin bequeathed her collection to me – it was a rather large collection and I felt I had been handed quite a treasure.

Well the Babysitters are back. And when I saw the first three graphic novels at my library I just had to grab them – despite my sister’s eye rolling. What can I say? she was never a BSC fan.

Raina Telgemeier’s treatment of the story is absolutely fantastic, completely true to Ann M. Martin’s original books. Her artwork, likewise, is superb: not only is it wonderful on an artistic level, it completely satisfied me on a fan basis.

If you were a fan of the series – or maybe you have a child you’d like to introduce it to – I’d recommend your seeking them out. Despite my having read them many times before, I thoroughly enjoyed reading these new graphic novels. I, however, take no responsibility for any ten-year-old tendencies that may resurface as a result of reading. 4/5

 

 

Challenges

• 100+ Reading Challenge

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8

[please be aware that this review will hold spoilers for the end of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series]

BVS, Season 8; Vol. 1: The Long Way Home
Joss Whedon and George Jeanty 136 pages; published 2007

BVS, Season 8; Vol. 2: No Future For You
Brian K. Vaughn, Joss Whedon and George Jeanty 120 pages; published 2008

I visited a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago and came home with a huge back of goodies to watch/read/enjoy. In amongst them all were the first two volumes of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight graphic novels.

This are a sure hit for any Buffy fan. Volume one picks up some months after the end of season seven of the television series: all potential slayers ARE slayers, and are living and training with Buffy in a part-mansion, part-dormitory, part-army/laboratory facility.

This is the same story, just in another medium; even moreso than most novelisations or series-related books, these graphic novels bridge the gap seamlessly. The characters are spot on, the humour perfect. Even in volume two, with Brian K. Vaughn writing, you can see Joss Whedon in every page.

The art work, likewise, is superb. The characters are stylised but recognisable and unique. The colouring finds a balance between the darker palette usually attributed to Buffy and being too dark for the page.

Definitely worth checking out. 4/5

When good intentions fail…

Best Intentions Emily Listfield 338 pages; published 2009

There was a time when we were happy, purely happy, there must have been.

The relief we had at finding each other, reclaiming each other again after that early separation, the night I told Sam I was pregnant with Claire, and two years later with Phoebe, those times of course. But it is the smaller, incremental moments that return to me, the instances when recognition and desire take you by surprise, the evening we made love on the kitchen floor after a dinner party if only to put off cleaning up, our first parent/teacher conference, when the nursery school director spent forty minutes deconstructing the way Claire held scissors and our suppressed laughter burst out in torrents on the street until tears were streaming down both of our faces. We were on the same side once, completely on the same side, I'm sure of it. (245)

I’m not a big reader of mysteries, who when Atria books asked if I would be interested in reviewing a copy of Emily Listfield’s new book, Best Intentions, I was a little unsure. I needn’t have worried, however, as it was nothing like I expected; a beautiful read that was over far too quick for my liking!

Lisa lives in the upper suburbs of Manhattan. She’s the Vice President of a small but well respected PR company, her husband is a well-known journalist, her daughter’s attend a very prestigious school and her long time best friend owns a chic up-and-coming boutique. She would seem to have it made.

But Lisa is never quite comfortable in this flashy world, she never feels like she truly fits. It’s not the life she imagined for herself when she, husband Sam, girlfriend Deirdre and friend Jack were in college. So when this world that she works so hard to stay afloat in starts to crumble around her, Lisa is left with nothing to cling to. Everything she holds to be true is fading away a little more each day. Her career, and worse, her marriage is in shambles, her best friend is dead and she has to face the very real possibility that someone she knows and loves may be responsible.

Emily Listfield’s murder mystery is not your typical whodunit (and nope, I was way off course with who I thought did it), and I loved it all the more because of this. More than anything is this was the story of Lisa, and her struggle to find some balance in her constantly shifting worlds of work, love, and life.

The true pleasures of the book surface in all the in-betweens, in all the tiny details of the minor passages. Listfield paints scenes of home life with a brush of true beauty. A father eating breakfast with his daughters, a child’s messy room, an awkward teenager’s interactions with her mother – both bitter rival and most trusted confidante at the same time – these were the moments that made the book truly memorable.

I would recommend this book wholeheartedly to anyone who enjoys character driven mysteries or family dramas. 4.5/5

A book for every mood…

Book Lust Nancy Pearl
287 pages; published 2003

Reading has always brought me pure joy. I read to encounter new worlds and new ways of looking at our own world. I read to enlarge my horizon, to gain wisdom, to experience beauty,  to understand myself better, and for the pure wonderment of it all. I read and marvel over how writers use language in ways I never thought of. I read for company, and for escape. Because I am incurably interested in the lives of other people, both friends and strangers, I red to meet myriad folks and enter their lives – for me, a way of vanquishing the “otherwise” we all experience. (ix)

Nancy Pearl, librarian, describes herself as being a “professional reader” for over thirty years, and taking one look at this book was enough to convince me of that.

Book Lust boasts ‘recommended reading for every mood, moment and reason’, with books gathered around both general and random topics such as

• Africa: Today and Tomorrow
• Armchair Travel
• Bicycling
• The Classical World
• Mothers and Daughters
• Three-Hanky Reads

For the most part it was a good read: it was well written and the books recommended were a pleasing mix of comforting regulars and never-before-seens. However, I found the format a little off-putting. The premise behind the book is, basically, a big list of books… but the format was not at all list-like, each topic being written up in prose. For some this may be a plus, for me I found that it caused me to skim a lot. 3.5/5

I want to live before I die...

Before I DieJenny Downham
326 pages; published 2007

A thought stabs up, growing from my toes and ripping through me, until it stifles everything else and becomes the only thing I’m thinking. It fills me up, like a silent scream, I’ve been ill for so long, puffed up and sick, with patchy skin, flaky fingernails, disappearing hair and a feeling of nausea that permeates to my bones. It’s not fair. I don’t want to die like this, not before I’ve been lived properly. It seems so clear to me. I feel almost hopeful, which is mad. I want to live before I die. It’s the only thing that makes sense. (54)

Tessa has cancer. That scary c-word that equals hospitals, unwanted sympathy and the fear of death. And that’s exactly what’s in store for Tessa.

But Tess is only sixteen, and there are certain things she wants to experience before she dies. A list of the top ten is formed: Sex. Drugs. Driving a Car. Fame… Love. With her father so determined to find a cure for his undeniably terminally ill daughter, he is not prepared to help her meet her dying list. Best friend and wild child Zoey stands up, however, perfectly suited to the task ahead.

Tessa has comes to terms with her fate, as much as possible, but what she doesn’t expect is that the things one wants most in the world can shift right before your eyes, and that even if you get them, it may not be what you thought.

I’ll admit that the first few chapters of this book made me cringe. A young girl is dying and the first two things she wants are sex and drugs. And then her best friend arranges one night stands with perfect strangers, one of which spends a fair amount of time being referred to as “The Stoner Boy”. I almost closed the book and picked out a new one.

However I’m very glad that I didn’t. What I originally thought of as shallow, somewhat clichéd writing morphed, chapter by chapter, into a cleverly shaped maturation of the main character.

There were many things about this book that I simply loved: the utterly real portrayal of a father desperate to save his daughter, and struggling to do it all alone; the honest fear and curiosity of Cal, her younger brother…

Downham’s writing just got more and more touching as the book progressed, to the point where I was literally in tears. A surprisingly beautiful book. 4/5

Other Reviews

• Becky's Book Reviews

Breaking Dawn

I haven't written a review for any of the Twilight books so far, for the simple reason that I have absolutely no idea what to write.

I could tell you what happens, but you either already know or don't want to.

I could tell you what I thought of the book/series, but it's pretty much the same as everyone else: I enjoyed the story; thought the writing was a bit so-so and predicable in places; loved some of the characters (Alice), wanted to hit others some of the time (Bella).

I could tell you what I thought of the movie: liked it, thought the book was better, drooled over Edward's piano (while my sister drooled over Edward).

I could even tell you about the reading experience: "where are you up to?" conversations with my sister, "will you just hurry up and read it!" arguments with friends.

But at the end of the day, I just can't bring myself to actually review it, so instead I leave you will a picture of the Bella doll I made my sister for Christmas (Edward and Jacob still to come).

(click for more images - be warned, I went a bit snap happy)

Button, button, who's got the button?

Coraline (Graphic Novel)
Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell
186 pgs; pub 2008


When Coraline and her family move into a new house, she is pretty much left to entertain herself while her workaholic parents are distracted by their own pursuits. Getting to know the neighbours only takes up so much time, and their apartment isn’t really that big. In fact, to Coraline the budding explorer, the most exciting thing about their new home is the door in the corner of their apartment that goes… nowhere at all.

Left alone, yet again, Coraline is drawn back to the door – only to find that, this time, it actually leads somewhere. Crossing the dark passageway through the door, Coraline finds herself entering her own apartment once more. Except, in this apartment, everything is slightly off. For one thing, her parents are exceptionally happy to see and spend time with her, and, for another, they have black buttons sewn on in place of their eyes.

Fearing for her safety, Coraline runs home, only to find that her parents – her real parents – are missing, being held hostage by her Other Mother in the apartment behind the door. Coraline is afraid of this woman with her black button eyes and long sharp fingernails, but she knows she must return to rescue her parents.

This was one of my Christmas books this year (yay!) and I was so happy to get it because not only is it written by one of my favourite authors, and it was a book I had wanted to read for awhile, but also because I had no idea that I was going to get it – always fun! So as you can imagine, I was very much looking forward to reading it, and I enjoyed it very much.

However, it scared the heck out of me!

I think that if I had been reading the prose version (which I’m still planning to read eventually) I wouldn’t have been as scared. The images of the Other Mother with her scary eyes and fingernails freaked me out a great deal – which, I imagine, was the plan.

Fright aside, I thought the book was a fascinating look at the dynamics of a family and the role of a single child of working parents. The emotions felt by the young Coraline – boredom, loneliness, curiosity, fear, relief – are all beautifully rendered in Russell’s drawings. I’ve not read a lot of graphic novels (something I’m trying to remedy this year), but I thought Coraline to be an intriguing one. 3.5/5

Other Reviews
Have you written a review for this book? I would love to include it, comment below and I'll add your link!

The Lady of Shalott

Song of the SparrowLisa Ann Sandell
394 pg; published 2007

What place does a woman
have here, in this
realm of men?
I wonder.
But I do have a place.
I belong here, with these men.
They are my family.
I mend their clothes,
I mend their bodies.
I grew up wild like a boy
here.
How could she possibly belong here,
to this camp?
Her clothes are far too
clean for these dusty soldiers,
dusty tents.
Yet, I always dreamed of a girl
coming to live here, of a girl
who would be my friend. (182-183)

Sixteen year old Elaine, with a temperament as fiery as her red hair, is the only female in a battle camp of over three hundred and fifty men. Growing up with this band of brothers and no mother to guide her in the ways of ladyship, Elaine has lived and grown as a boy, wild and free.

Now that she is older, however, things aren’t quite as they used to be… and she’s not even sure that she wants it to be. While her ‘brothers’ look to her for friendship, advice and, and always, the mending of their clothes, they leave her behind when they go off to war. She is quick, fast, and knows medicine – she could be of help to them, she’s no longer the little sister they coddled.

She does not want her friends to get hurt while she’s not there to help them, especially her best ‘playmate’, the brave and handsome Lancelot. She yearns to tell him how she fells, to have him tell her she’s beautiful and loved. Her plans for love are interrupted, however, when Lancelot returns to the camp with Arthur’s new bride: the beautiful Gwynivere, with whom he is already “enchanted”.

Elaine’s hopes for a new friend are crushed when Gwynivere’s haughty, almost cruel nature is made clear. And her presence does nothing to help her plans where the war, and her involvement, is concerned.

I’d admit it, I got sucked in entirely by the cover on this one – it was just too pretty to resist. As such, I was surprised to get it home and actually realise that it a verse novel; not what I had expected. I’ve read a few verse novel’s this year, but I’d have to say that this one is my favourite. Sandell’s verse swung between absolute straight forward practicalities and beautiful descriptions.

As a character somewhat overlooked in most tellings of Arthurian legend, I was looking forward to seeing Sandell’s treatment of Elaine. She was an honest and endearing character, and this came through quite strongly through her voice. Sandell took a few liberties with Tennyson’s poem, but it was done respectfully and, I feel, to great effect.

Overall, a lovely book that I’d recommend to any fan of Arthurian legend. 4.5/5

Other Reviews
Have you written a review for this book? I would love to include it, comment below and I'll add your link!

Lights... Camera.... Vampires!

Twilight: The Complete Illustrated Movie Companion
Mark Cotta Vaz
141 pages; published 2008

The mantra of the movie makers was to be faithful to the novel. Meyer, who approved the final screenplay … also saw the advantage of the old adage of a picture being worth a thousand words – long passages of text where Bella describes the beauty of Edward’s face could be summed up in a single shot, for example. “We just took the book into film language,” Hardwicke [the director], explained. “The novel had to go through the condensing machine for a movie; we had to boil it down to its essence…”

Having an obsessed 18 year old “Twilighter” in the house, this book has been sitting around for about a month now and, seeing how I went to see the movie last week, I was finally able to read it.

The book mostly covered the finding the various locations and the actual shooting of the film - though every once in a while an interesting piece of information (such as the mechanics of Edward dinting the truck) or the invention of a Cullen family crest, would find it’s way through.

Interviews with the director and producers were all smoothly integrated into the behind-the-scenes information. However, I would have liked to see more interviews with the cast and Stephenie Meyers if possible. Also, further information on the writer’s translation from the book to movie would have been good.

For the most part, I’d have to say that it’s aimed more at a fan of the movies than a fan of the books (it is, after all, a movie companion). And with it’s beautiful glossy photographs and clean easy layout it’s sure to be a top seller for Christmas. 3/5

Purchase Twilight: The Complete Illustrated Movie Companion here

Other Reviews
Have you written a review for this book? I would love to include it, comment below and I'll add your link!

Lock and Key
Sarah Dessen
422 pages; published 2008

“And finally,” Jamie said as he pushed the door open, “we come to the main event. Your room.”

I was braced for pink. Ruffles or quilting, or maybe even appliqué. Which was probably kind of unfair, but then again, I didn’t know my sister anymore, much less her decorating style. With total strangers, it had been my policy to expect the worst. Usually they – and those you know best, for that matter – did not disappoint. (1)

When Ruby’s mother disappears she doesn’t exactly panic. Her mother’s been gone before, and always returned sooner or later. Besides, she’s nearly eighteen, plenty old enough to look after herself, right?

Perhaps not.

Coming to the attention of social services, the courts place the seventeen year old Ruby under the care of her elder sister Cora and her husband Jamie. It has been ten long years since she has seen her sister, and the last thing Ruby wants is to be dependant on anyone, let alone the emotionally distant Cora (whom she still blames for abandoning her so long ago) and the super cheery, extra-enthusiastic Jamie. Their impressive house in an exclusive neighbourhood is a far cry from the lifestyle she is used too – and she doesn’t intend to stick around too long.

However, her plans for escape don’t go precisely to plan and, before she knows it, Ruby is entangled in this new life. So used to being alone, Ruby is now surrounded by people she not only comes to depend on, but who depend on her – Nate, her oh-so-perfect swimmer neighbour; Harriet, her control-freak boss; and Roscoe, a dog with a multitude of issues. And with her mother now missing from her life, the only remaining link to her former world is the cold key to her old house hanging around her neck.

But her new life and those who inhabit it aren’t all as shiny and perfect as they might seem. There are now people to disappoint, people to support, and even people to protect… and perhaps, a unlikely as it may seen, it is Ruby who holds the key to unlocking happiness in all their lives.

I’ve seen reviews for Sarah Dessen books pop up here and there and I got the impression that she was quite a popular YA author. Lock and Key is the first of her books that I’ve read but based on this book I’d have to say that that the reputation was probably deserved.

I liked Ruby as a main character – I felt that she had the perfect blend of almost-eighteen-arrogance and battered little girl fragility. Her interactions with those around her as she makes the change from isolation to being part of a family were genuine and moving – even humorous in parts. 4/5

Purchase Lock and Key here.

Other Reviews

• The Book Nut
• Trisha at Trisha's Book Blog

Books Read in 2009

I made it to the 100 mark for this challenge in 2008 (phew!) and enjoyed it so much that I've signed up for 2009 as well!

You can join anytime between now til 31st December 2009, so go to J. Kaye's blog and sign up if you want to play too!

Total: 85/100

Asher, Jay - Thirteen Reasons Why

Atwell, Richard and Florence - Mr. Popper's Penguins

Bassom, David - Anderson and Duchovny: An Extraordinary Story

Baum, L. Frank and Charles Santore - The Wizard of Oz

Black, Holly - Tithe

Black, Holly and Ted Naifeh - Good Neighbours, Book 1: The Kin

Brooks, Geraldine - March

Cast, P.C. and Kristen - Betrayed (House of Night, Book 2)

Collins, Suzanne - The Hunger Games

Cullen, Edrei - Flitterwig

David, Peter - A House of Cards (Star Trek: New Frontier, Book 1)

Dekker, Ted - The Circle Trilogy, Book 1: The Birth of Evil (Black)

Dekker, Ted - The Circle Trilogy, Book 2: The Heroic Rescue (Red)

Dekker, Ted - The Circle Trilogy, Book 3: The Great Persuit (White)

Dessen, Sarah - This Lullaby

Dessen, Sarah - The Truth About Forever

Downham, Jenny - Before I Die

DuPrau, Jeanne - The City of Ember

Eugenides, Jeffrey - Middlesex

Funke, Cornelia - Inkheart

Friedman, Michael Jan and Pablo Marcos - Star Trek: The Next Generation, Book 1: The Hero Factor

Gaiman, Neil - Angels and Visitations: A Miscellany

Gaiman, Neil - Coraline

Gaiman, Neil - The Graveyard Book

Gaiman, Neil - The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes

Gaita, Raimond - Romulus, My Father

Green, John - An Abundance of Katharines

Green, John - Looking for Alaska

Green, John - Paper Towns

Grogan, John - Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog

Hale, Shannon (et al) - Rapunzel's Revenge

Hagerty, Taylor - Miniature Scrapbooks: Small Treasures to Make in a Day

Hardwicke, Catherine - Twilight: Director's Notebook

Hill, Tim - Images of Movie Stars

Jacobs, Kate - The Friday Night Knitting Club

Jacobs, Kate - Knit Two

Janney, Diana - The Infinite Wisdom of Harriet Rose

Jinks, Catherine - The Reformed Vampire Support Group

Jones, Carrie - Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend

Kanamori, Miyako - Sock and Glove: Creating Charming Soft Friends from Cast-off Socks and Gloves

Lanagan, Margo - Red Spikes

Larbalestier, Justine - How to Ditch Your Fairy

Larbalestier, Justine - Liar

Lee, Harper -To Kill a Mockingbird

Lindgren, Astrid - Pippi Longstocking

Listfield, Emily - Best Intentions

Magenta, Emma - The Origin of Lament

Meadows, Daisy - Rainbow Magic, Book 1 - Ruby the Red Fairy

Meadows, Daisy - Rainbow Magic, Book 2 - Amber the Orange Fairy

Meadows, Daisy - Rainbow Magic, Book 3 - Saffron the Yellow Fairy

Meadows, Daisy - Rainbow Magic, Book 4 - Fern the Green Fairy

Meadows, Daisy - Rainbow Magic, Book 5 - Sky the Blue Fairy

Meadows, Daisy - Rainbow Magic, Book 6 - Izzy the Indigo Fairy

Meadows, Daisy - Rainbow Magic, Book 7 - Heather the Violet Fairy

Meadows, Daisy - Rainbow Magic, Book 8 - Crystal the Snow Fairy

Meadows, Daisy - Rainbow Magic, Book 9 - Abigail the Breeze Fairy

Meadows, Daisy - Rainbow Magic, Book 10 - Pearl the Cloud Fairy

Meadows, Daisy - Rainbow Magic, Book 11 - Goldie the Sunshine Fairy

Meadows, Daisy - Rainbow Magic, Book 12 - Evie the Mist Fairy

Meadows, Daisy - Rainbow Magic, Book 13 - Storm the Lightning Fairy

Meadows, Daisy - Rainbow Magic, Book 14 - Hayley the Rain Fairy

Meadows, Daisy - Rainbow Magic - Hannah the Happy Ever After Fairy

Meyer, Stephenie - Twilight

Meyer, Stephenie - Breaking Dawn

Pauley, Kimberly - Sucks to Be Me: The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire (Maybe)

Pearl, Nancy - Book Lust

Pfeffer, Susan Beth - The Dead and the Gone

Pfeifer, Will and David Lopez - Catwoman: It's Only a Movie

Picoult, Jodi - Change of Heart

Picoult, Jodi, Terry Dodson, Drew Johnson and Paco Diaz - Wonder Woman: Love and Murder

Pullman, Philip - His Dark Materials, Book 1: The Golden Compass

Resnick, Mike (ed.) - Nebula Awards Showcase 2007

Stewart, George R. - Earth Abides

Thompson, Craig - Blankets

Tsiolkas, Christos - The Slap

Vaughn, Brian K. and Adrian Alphono - Runaways, Vol. 1: Pride and Joy

Vaughn, Brian K. and Adrian Alphono - Runaways, Vol. 2: Teenage Wasteland

Vaughn, Brian K. and Adrian Alphono - Runaways, Vol. 3: The Good Die Young

Vaughn, Brian K. and Adrian Alphono - Runaways, Vol. 4: True Believers

Vaughn, Brian K. and Adrian Alphono - Runaways, Vol. 5: Escape to New York

Vaughn, Brian K., Joss Whedon and Georges Jeanty - Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8; Vol. 2: No Future For You

Vornholt, John - Capture the Flag (Starfleet Academy #4)

Waddell, Martin - Starry Night

Wax, Wendy - The Accidental Bestseller

Whedon, Joss and Georges Jeanty - Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8; Vol. 1: The Long Way Home

Whedon, Joss and Georges Jeanty - Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8; Vol 2: No Future For You

Wilcox, Rhonda V. and Tanya R. Cochran (ed.) - Investigating Firefly and Serenity: Science Fiction on the Frontier

House of Night

Marked (House of Night, Book 1)
P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast
306 pages; published 2007


So the good news is that I wouldn't have to take the geometry test tomorrow.

The bad news was that I'd have to move into the House of Night, a private boarding school in Tulsa's Midtown, known by all my friends as the Vampyre Finishing School, where I would spend the next four years going through bizarre and unnameable physical changes, as well as a total and permanent life shake-up. And that's only if the whole process didn't kill me. (6)


Zoey wants nothing more out of life than to feel like she really belongs… well, that and her vintage VW beetle. Ever since her mother married the People of the Faith Elder, John Heffer, Zoey’s life has been miserable. Her new step-father (the step-loser) is both clueless and controlling, and her mother is growing more distant every day. The routine dramas of school (the self-centred gossip of her best friend and drunken exploits of her almost-ex-boyfriend) have become her refuge in life, her only escape.

Until the day the very dead – sorry, ‘undead’ – man, a vampyre Tracker, turns up at her locker and flips her life upside down. She’s been ‘marked’. She’s now a ‘fledgling’ vampyre and, as such, has two choices: die, or move into the prestigious vampyre boarding school, House of Night, and possibly die anyways.

Informing her parents of her fate didn’t go so well and, feeling abandoned yet again, she heads to her Grandmother’s lavender farm for comfort. While there she falls and hits her head, during which she sees a vision of the goddess Nyx, beloved goddess of the vampyres. She tells Zoey that she has chosen her to be her eyes and ears in the new world she is about to enter.

Coming to, she finds herself at her new school, her new home. How well is she about to fit in a new school where she knows nothing about the students?


Do vampyres play chess? Were there vampyre dorks? How about Barbie-like vampyre cheerleaders? Did any vampyres play in the band? Were there vampyre Emos with their guy-wearing-girl’s-pants weirdness and those awful bangs that cover half their faces? Or were they all those freaky Goth kids who didn’t like to bathe much? Was I going to turn into a Goth kid? Or worse, an Emo? I didn’t particularly like wearing black, at least not exclusively, and I wasn’t feeling a sudden and unfortunate aversion to soap and water, nor did I have an obsessive desire to change my hairstyle and wear too much eyeliner. (3)


Things are made all the more difficult when Zoey realises that the mark indicating her new vampyre status indicates that of a fully-fledged vampyre, not of a fledging. She’s a freak amongst freaks.

Turns out that the House of Night isn’t all that unusual, however: dorms, cafeteria (oops, ‘dining hall’), weird teachers, dorks, cool kids… but if everything’s so ordinary, what is it that Zoey’s supposed to be keeping her eye on? and what is it that makes her so special?

I picked up P.C. and Kristen Cast’s Marked, the first in the House of Night series, as I was leaving the library last. They had a ‘If you like Twilight…’ display in the YA section and the cover looked interesting (tsk, tsk, cover picking). When I started reading it, the first couple pages repelled me instantly – it was full of teenage jargon, all gossipy friends and football boyfriends drinking on the back of a pick up truck. And then the vampire turned up, all imperial and old-world threatening in his speech and I started to gag. There was no way I was going to get through this book. Giving it the benefit of the doubt, however, I decided to keep going to the 50-page mark. Next time I looked up it was 3:30am and I was about 200 pages in. Wait? What just happened? Apparently I was hooked and I read it all in one sitting (well, lying, I was supposed to be asleep, after all).

Vampire books are all the rage at the moment, so when reading (yet another) one, I’m really on looking at three things: the writing, the characters, and something that makes it different.

Written by a mother/daughter team, the authors have created an attention-grabbing Twilight-meets-Harry Potter world. As the first book, Marked introduced an interesting – if somewhat clichéd – set of characters, and setting (the school) that should pave the way for the next few books. Their treatment of vampyres (spelling aside) had great potential – a genetic process bought on by the hormones found in a teen body, one that not everyone survives – but could have benefited from more than just a couple throwaway paragraphs. I hope they look into it further in the succeeding books.

All in all, Marked was a good FIRST book, it set up a lot for the series and left me wanting to read the next one. 3.5/5

Purchase Marked here.

Other Reviews
Have you written a review for this book? I would love to include it, comment below and I'll add your link!

Teen Reads

Right Book, Right Time: 500 Books for Teenagers

Agnes Nieuwenhuizen
353 pages; published 2007


Read! Read! Read! Read for pleasure, for thrills, for escape, for ideas. Read books that make you laugh and cry and wonder and think. Read for yourself and not for others. (viii)


Yes, that’s right, it’s another list book. I have a sickness. Therapy didn’t work, I’m looking into medication. This was an early Christmas present I bought for myself and my sister, who, as a new ‘reader’ likes recommendations for books. This book was a winner, if the little post-it note taggies popping out the top are any indication.

After having read a few of these books, I’ve decided to change how I review them, focusing on just a few central points, so I hope you’ll bear with me as I iron out the kinks.


THEME: Books for Teenagers.
The premise was a book for every occasion, mood, phase, experience. As the book is aimed at teachers/librarians as well as teenagers, I thought it was a particularly good idea. Teenager or not, you often have to be in the right place for the right book.


FORMAT:
The book is broken up into twelve chapters/sections:

• Action, adventure and crime
• Been and gone
• Extreme and edgy
• Fantastic worlds
• Life, love and loss
• My place in the world
• Not such ordinary lives
• Outside the square
• This sporting life
• War and conflicts
• What if…?
• When you want to laugh

These chapters are broken up by the occasional mini essay or editorial on a variety of topics from “pink books” to graphic novels.

Within chapters are, and this was the best part, full page reviews for each novel/series with the occasional author bio/review.

Each book was classified with its country of origin and reading age:

Y = Young Reader
YA = Young Adult
A = Adult

but then goes on to show the primary audience and the audience who may be interested. For example: a book marked YA/A indicates a YA novel that may be of interest to an adult reader.

In between these reviews were shorter topical lists (“grand love stories”, “extraordinary international lives”, “recent Australian YA books with Shakespearean connections”) with shorter paragraph reviews.

This format made this book not only extremely easy to read and navigate, but also quite pleasing to look at.


SELECTION OF BOOKS:
Here’s where the list book can potentially fall down. You don’t want a generic list of books which you’ve seen a hundred times, but at the same time, you don’t want a list so out there that it’s unrecognisable or unrelatable.

Right Book, Right Time: 500 Great Reads for Teenagers focuses mainly on recent YA novels which, considering the discerning teen audience, is probably a good idea. However, it still includes (in the topical lists mostly) more traditional or enduring teenage and children’s’ classics. The range of books was impressive and very well selected, catering for all tastes and interest. 5/5

Purchase Right Book, Right Time: 500 Great Reads for Teenagers here.

Other Reviews
Have you written a review for this book? I would love to include it, comment below and I'll add your link!

Battle of the Sexes!

Olympic Games
Leslie What
234 pages; published 2004

Hera could practically smell the seduction on his breath; the way Zeus offered her a goblet of sweetened wine, how he plumper her feather pillows and tenderly slid them beneath her back. He rubbed her feet with clove-scented oil, then performed her favourite little trick: lighting the clouds on fire to leave warm, moist trails of smoke. Delightful. Oh, her husband was an expert at seduction when he wanted to be.

There was only one problem and it was a big one.

Zeus was not seducing her. (12)


Since the beginning of time, Zeus and Hera have been King and Queen of the Gods: greatest of the Olympians and supreme overseers of mortal beings. This hasn’t changed, though the times certainly have. Thing is though, what is a god without anyone to worship them?

In the hustle and bustle of modern life, worship of the Greek Gods has all but disappeared, and many of the Olympians (all but Hera and Zeus, in fact) have elected to do just that themselves, simply fade out of existence rather than continue in an unworshipped state.

For Hera and Zeus, however, it’s life as usual: Zeus charms and philanders while Hera gripes and deals with the consequences of having such a husband. This is all well and good until, as prophesised by a street oracle, a flame from Zeus’ past comes back to wreak havoc on their newly re-established alliance.

Penelope was a water naiad Zeus seduced and trapped inside a tree back in the “old country.” When freed by a love starved hermit named Possum, her human presence alerts Zeus, whose interest is immediately reinflamed.

Meanwhile, Hera’s abandoned and genetically curious son, Igor, (half Greek God, half common bar beetle) mourns the absence of his ‘father’ in his life. Despite Hera’s, admittedly somewhat indifferent, wishes he sets out to seek Zeus out.

What will happen when all characters collide? Will Zeus accept his ‘son’ and, by extension, his long-suffering wife? Or will he go onto disrupt the happy life of Penelope and Possum, claiming what he thinks of as his own? And what of Hera? Will she learn to love her son as she should, or is everything simply lost in her unending task of reigning in Zeus?

Leslie What’s Olympic Games was an ‘almost’ book for me. By that I mean that the characters, story, writing, humour, everything, was ALMOST right. I enjoyed the book, but it left me with a feeling of falling short, as if it had potential that it didn’t quite meet.

Zeus was nothing more than a hedonistic womaniser and Hera a bitter, self-centred prima donna. While I accept that, as gods of a central idea of concept, these characters may become very focused, What’s interpretations were, in places, almost two dimensional. In all fairness, I am a long-time fan of shows such as Xena: the Warrior Princess and Hercules: the Legendary Journeys, whose visions of the gods are much more rounded; I already had high expectations.

Secondary characters (Possum, Igor) were a little more interesting, but it’s redeeming character was that of Eddie, the mentally retarded shop assistant, whose chapters were heart-wrenchingly honest. He made me laugh and he made me cry. For me, he saved the book.

I was interested to read that it was a short story that had been rewritten into a novel. That cleared up a lot for me. I think that, for me, it would have been more satisfying as a short story. 2.5/5

Purchase Olympic Games here.

Other Reviews
Have you written a review for this book? I would love to include it, comment below and I'll add your link!

Twilight Saga

I'm having a bit of a slow week, blogging wise; the reading's getting done, but I'm falling down on the reviewing side of things. The problem is that this week I read Stephenie Meyer's New Moon and Eclipse... how do I write a review for books that practically everybody in the entire world (or at least the reading/blogging world) has already read and reviewed themselves?

Well I've decided to simply not.*

I liked the books, and enjoyed New Moon best of the three (haven't read Breaking Dawn yet). By now you've probably already made up your mind as to whether or not you're going to read the Twilight saga, and don't really need me to sway you either way.

Happy reading!


*I feel like such a cheater.

Storm Front

Jim Butcher

341 pages; published 2000

My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Conjure by it at your own risk. I’m a wizard. I work out of an office in midtown Chicago. As far as I know, I’m the only openly practicing professional wizard in the country. You can find me in the yellow pages, under ‘Wizards.’ Believe it or not, I’m the only one there. My ad looks like this:

HARRY DRESDEN – WIZARD

Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations.

Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.

No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties, or Other

Entertainment.

You’d be surprised how many people call just to ask me if I’m serious. But then, if you’d seen the things I’d seen, if you knew half of what I knew, you’d wonder how anyone could not think I was serious. (2-3)

When I come across a review of a book I find interesting it goes on a list (one that gets a little on the long side from time to time) until I can it down. As such, a lot of the time I borrow a book from the library no longer remembering why it was I wanted to read it in the first place – Storm Front, the first book of Jim Butcher’s ‘Dresden Files’ series, was one such book.

As soon as I started reading however, it came swooping back.

Harry Dresden is a professional wizard, hiring himself out as a private detective and police consultant to pay his rent and make his way in life. At the start of the book, Harry is somewhat lacking on the monetary front and takes in two assignments – one tracking down a quiet wife’s missing husband, and another consulting on magical murder case with the Chicago P.D.

It is with the murder case that most of the book is concerned, especially when Dresden himself becomes a suspect.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish – attracting many a strange look for my outright laughter. Told entirely in the first person, Harry’s voice is frank, honest, and downright hilarious.

Paranoid? Probably. But just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that there isn’t an invisible demon about to eat your face. (9)

I did feel, in parts, that this book was trying to set up a lot for the future books, and as such didn’t guy into the depth I would have liked – but as there are several books to follow, this is natural and forgivable.

Purchase Storm Front (Dresden Case Files) here.

Other Reviews

• Lightheaded at Everyday Reads

The Last Lecture

Randy Pausch

206 pages; published 2008

I wasn’t in a suit. I wore no tie. I wasn’t going to get up there in some professorial tweed jacket with leather elbow patches. Instead, I had chosen to give my lecture wearing the most appropriate childhood-dream garb I could find in my closet.

Granted, at first glanced I looked like the guy who’d take your order at a fast-food drive through. But actually, the logo on my short-sleeved polo shirt was an emblem of honor because it’s the one worn by Walt Disney Imagineers – the artists, writers and engineers who create theme-park fantasies. In 1995, I spent a six-month sabbatical as an Imagineer. It was a highlight of my life, the fulfilment of a childhood dream. That’s why I was also wearing the oval “Randy” name badge given to me when I worked at Disney. I was paying tribute to that life experience, and to Walt Disney himself, who famously had said, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” (16)

Generally speaking, I’m not a big reader of non-fiction. In fact, with the exception of the occasional book of essays and a biography or two (usually only one or two a year), my reading is almost entirely fiction. Despite this, my cousin (who, admittedly, seems to read more non-fiction than I do) and I both suggested this book for our book club.

The books title, ‘The Last Lecture’ refers to a series of lectures given by respected professors in which they are asked to “consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them” (3). Randy Pausch was one such professor – a computer science professor a Carnegie Mellon University. What makes Randy’s lecture unique, however, is that it is truly to be his last lecture. Having been diagnosed with terminal cancer, Pausch’s took the opportunity presented through the tradition of the last lecture to impart some of his heart-felt wisdom and advice as well as, quite touchingly, preserve a part of himself for his wife and children.

Titling his lecture “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”, Pausch presents his lecture in a manner that is both honest and moving. Part autobiographical, part humour-filled wisdom, he delivers a wealth of common sense knowledge and life-experiences to his audience – yet so comfortably, so familiarly, that one can’t help but imagine the day his children are old enough to listen to his lecture, to pick up this book and read their father’s words.

While reading this book I laughed, and I cried – both in equal measure. Read the book for yourself. It is guaranteed to make you reconsider you smile, to make you think, to make you reconsider the time you have left. Randy Pausch thought he had all the time in the world. He didn’t. This is the legacy he leaves, in lieu of that time. 5/5

Purchase The Last Lecture here.

Other Reviews
Have you written a review for this book? I would love to include it, comment below and I'll add your link!

Lookie, another list book...

1000 Books to Change Your Life

Jonathan Derbyshire (ed.)

280 pages; published 2007

… there are lots of books around that suggest that […] tell you both how to read and what to read; books that prescribe a canon of great works and then tell you how to go about extracting the ore of significant meaning from them.

But we’ve no intention of being anywhere near so prescriptive. Not because we’re sceptical of the existence of literary value – we’re quite sure you can tell a good book from a bad one – but more because we’re unsure that most people’s reading habits are suited to the kind of strenuous mind-expansion programmes recommended by the latter-day zealots of what used to be called ‘improving’ literature.” (7)

Any regular readers of this blog, or anyone who knows me in the slightest, is aware of my list fixation – in fact, if you do, you probably take part of the gentle but constant teasing of the same. So when I saw this book, "Time Out" 1000 Books to Change Your Life, my fingers itched till it made its way to my shopping cart. It was not, however, what I had expected.

I expected something along the lines of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die – something that was, in essence, a list of 1000 books, perhaps with some contextual information and a bit of a blurb. I was pleasantly surprised with what I found.

1000 Books takes Shakespeare’s ‘Seven Ages of Man’ speech from As You Like It as it’s basic format, breaking the book up into seven main sections – birth, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, middle age, old age, and death. Within each of these sections are various essays, recommendations from known authors, and various suggestion lists based around a topic – ‘birth and motherhood’, ‘siblings’, ‘illicit liaisons’ and ‘mid-life crises’, just to name a few.

The book was an interestingly engaging read, suited to both a long perusal or picking it up for essay or two here or there. It was well written and the suggestions of books were fresh and wide-spread. A welcome contribution to any book collectors (or list collectors) shelf. 4/5

Purchase "Time Out" 1000 Books to Change Your Life here.

Other Reviews
Have you written a review for this book? I would love to include it, comment below and I'll add your link!

Ender's Game

Orson Scott Card

226 pages; published 1977

"I am your enemy, the first one you've ever had who was smarter than you. There is no teacher but the enemy. No one but the enemy will tell you what the enemy is going to do. No one but the enemy will ever teach you how to destroy and conquer. Only the enemy tells you where he is strong. And the rules of the game are what you can do to him and what you can stop him from doing to you. I am your enemy from now on. From now on I am your teacher."

After two invasion strikes from an insectoid alien race, the "Buggers", Earth's reluctantly allied nations and militaries are fearful of the next, and likely final, strike to come. Their best chance of success, they feel, is in the training of a whole generation of amazingly gifted children.

And so it is that, at the age of six, Andrew "Ender" Wiggins is removed from his home (his parents signing him over to the government) and taken to Earth's orbitting Battle School, never to step foot on Earth again until the age of sixteen. Unlike the rest of his extraordinarily peers, however, Ender has caught the eyes of those in charge. He's not just another would-be soldier; in Ender is the potential for so much more. The potential to plan, the potential to lead ... the potential to win.

Ender's days at the Battle School are filled with trial after trial, each worse than the one before as the ones in control hack away at his childhood, sculpting him into the war commander they need him to be. The war commander they need to save Earth. 4/5

Other Reviews
Have you written a review for this book? I would love to include it, comment below and I'll add your link!