Book Review Catch Up

Life... as it always seems to be, has been insane the last few weeks. We adopted a new cat (Luna, she's super cute) and had a death in the family (the hubs's grandfather), so it's felt a little crazier than usual. I'm WAY behind in my book reviewing, and even my super short reviews have been taking too long and not getting posted. So, I'm going to do one giant marathon post of the entire back log of books I've read, with what will hopefully be ridiculously short reviews. :) BTW- anything labeled Adult is merely market to that audience, not necessarily "adult" content. I think most of the books here would be great for teens as well; just as I think adults would enjoy a lot of the Young Adult books. :) Here we go!

Anthem- Ayn Rand    Fiction- Adult

 Summary- the classic novella about one man's struggle against an oppressive Utopian regime.

 Review- I thought it was decent. Nothing earth shattering for me, but a quick read.

The Glass Castle-Jeanette Walls      Memoir- Adult

Summary- One woman's memoir of a dysfunctional childhood and her crazy, yet loving parents.


Review- Loved it. Made me feel like my own family is normal. Beautiful writing and a very unique story.

Water for Elephants- Sara Gruen      Historical Fiction- Adult

Summary- Love story set in a circus during the Great Depression

Review- Loved it. I thought the writing was great, and loved the back and forth between present day and past. Seemed well researched and was all around great.

The Trophy Hunter- J.M. Zambrano      Suspense- Adult (actually adult)

Summary- Thriller about a lawyer who gets in way over her head with a case of missing women and children. The culprit is up to far more than she'd imagine.

Review- I'm not a huge fan of thrillers, but this book was written by a friend and I think it's pretty good. Definitely worth a read.

Illyria- Elizabeth Hand      Fiction- Young Adult (technically, reads older)

Summary- Two kissing (literally) cousins are the descendants of a famed actress. They create their own world for their talents and odd relationship.

Review- I have to admit, I'm not sure I 'got' this book. It was beautifully written, but there really wasn't much to the story, and I didn't feel like I understood the message. Meh.

Unwind- Neil Shusterman      Dystopian Fiction- Young Adult

Summary- In the near future, abortion is illegal, but parents are given the choice to have their children "unwound" at age 13. Three unwinds escape their immediate fate and go on the run.

Review- Awesome book. It's a really, really interesting take on abortion and the right to life. Well written and quickly paced. Great read!

The Trylle Trilogy: Switched, Torn & Ascend- Amanda Hocking      Paranormal Romance- YA

Summary- Girl finds out she was switched at birth and is a troll princess. She must learn the rules of her new society and help protect against a rival troll faction.

Review- Pretty good overall. Definitely well paced, the characters are interesting and I liked the love story as well. Good, easy reads.

Shiver- Maggie Stiefvater      Paranormal Fiction- Young Adult

Summary- Girl lives next to woods where there is a strange pack of wolves. When a student is believed killed by them, she tries to save the pack and finds out they aren't ordinary wolves.

Review: Good book. The story line is interesting as are the characters. I like the tension that was built and the initial romance.




Linger- Maggie Stiefvater      Paranormal Fiction- Young Adult

Summary- Follow up to Shiver. Follows Grace and Sam as they try to learn more about his condition and have a normal life.

Review- Again, good book. I liked that the love problem wasn't a love triangle like in every other teen book out there, but a fight against Sam's werewolf problem.

Illusions- Aprilynne Pike      Paranormal Fiction- Young Adult

Summary- The third book in this series. Laurel is still torn between Avalon and the real world. She and David are struggling, there's a weird new girl at school. Tamani's at school with her too, and of course, there are still trolls after her. 

Review- Decent book, though it felt a bit like Harry Potter 5, a placeholder that's setting up action for later, which was a bit of a bummer. I still think the series overall is good, but this one was kind of lame.

Paranormalcy- Kiersten White      Paranormal Fiction- Young Adult

Summary- Evie's always worked for an international organization dedicated to tagging and bagging paranormals to keep the general population safe. But, when a cute boy paranormal shows up at the compound, her world completely changes.

Review- I really liked this book. The voice was great. The concept was interesting. The characters were relate-able, and while there was a love interest, it wasn't the tried and true love triangle. A quick read that kept me guessing.

13 Little Blue Envelopes- Maureen Johnson      Fiction- Young Adult

Summary: After her crazy aunt dies, Ginny receives a package from her with 13 blue envelopes in them. These envelopes lead her on a wild adventure through Europe finding out about her aunt, and herself.

Review: I liked this book. I love the idea of some crazy unplanned adventure. Ginny was great, just the right amount of nervous and adventurous. Great read!

The Last Little Blue Envelope- Maureen Johnson   Fiction- Young Adult

Summary- Ginny finds out there is one last blue envelope, which directs her on an even stranger mission than before.


Review- I like this book as much, if not more than the first. I really loved the strained love triangle (quadrangle?) and the fun last mission. Great book!

Curly Girl: The Handbook- Lorraine Massey  Non Fiction- all ages

Summary- All about caring for and styling curly hair, with lots of interviews and personal anecdotes thrown in

Review- Well, I'm revealing my cards here a bit aren't I? I do have naturally curly hair, and for years denied that and straightened it daily. I'm finally ready to embrace my curly self, and this book has been a vital help in that quest. I only recently started their regime, so I can't tell you is it's 100% effective, but, thus far, I'm pleased with my results. I think it's a must read for anyone with curly hair.

On Writing- Stephen King     Non-fiction- Adult

Summary- A witty short autobiography and King's thoughts and advice for writers

Review- I loved this book. King's life story was interesting and humbling without being too full of itself. His writing advice was clear, to the point and very interesting. I felt like I was sitting at coffee with him throughout the book, just chatting with a friend. A must read for any aspiring writer, and an interesting read for everyone else.

Matched- Ally Condie

Matched by Ally Condie

Again, my librarian gave this book to me. She is normally a wonderful source for all things good and new in Young Adult fiction. She hadn't read this one, but it had been recommended by several students. Now, as those of you who are regular readers of this blog know (what like 5 of you? ;)), I read a lot of YA fiction. I try to keep on on new books so I always have something to recommend when my students whine at me that there's nothing good to read. That being said, I guess I can see why kids would like this book, but I really didn't feel it.

Cassia lives in a utopian world where the society is in charge of everything. You get specially prepackaged meals designed to maintain your ideal health and body weight. You only have two sets of clothes, very utilitarian, and at the age of 17 you are matched with your ideal mate in terms of genetics, personality, preferences, everything. After a few years of dating, you can chose to marry that person, or stay single for the rest of your life. The book opens with Cassia being matched with her best friend from childhood, Xander. Great right? She thinks so, until she goes to open Xander's info the next morning and sees a brief flash of another boy she knows, Ky. Now there are lots of questions and she's doesn't trust the answers she's being given.

Here's the rub. I get why teens would like this book. Kids of this age are always wanting to push against the status quo, test their limits and see where they can break or bend rules. So, of course they're going to feel for Cassia's plight against the oppressive regime. Me? I couldn't get into it. The world sounded sort of awesome. Prepackage meals specially designed for me? A job picked especially for my preferences and strengths? A mate who is perfect for me in every way? Sounds fine. Now, maybe I feel this way because I was reading this book at a particularly tumultuous time when everything around me was up in the air, but I just couldn't garner any sympathy for Cassia. She felt unnecessarily whiny and I just wasn't having it. Granted, we do start to see the dark side of all of this perfection, but I feel like it comes too late in the novel for me to care.

So, overall, I didn't like it. That bums me out because Condie used to be an high school English teacher and I felt like I should lend a fellow teacher some support, but I just didn't like it. Teenagers may well love it, especially the angst-y teens if your life, but I wouldn't recommend it for adults.

Shine, Coconut Moon- Neesha Meminger

Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger

This is another book that really deserves a longer review, but it's going to have be a super short one for now.

Sam has never known much about her heritage because her mom cut off all family ties. Shortly after 9/11, a man wearing a turban shows up at her doorstep and introduces himself as her uncle. He wanted to reconnect with family after the tragedy of 9/11 and rapidly introduces her to both her heritage and the sad intolerance of people.

Like Meminger's other novel, Jazz in Love, I really loved this book. She deftly captures both Sam's voice, and her struggle to find her place in the world. I think that any teenage could relate to Sam's struggles to accept her family and mesh her present with her past. It also dealt quite well with the racism that immediately followed 9/11. Meminger's plots and characters are engaging and believable. I can't wait for her next novel!

The Iron Fey- Julie Kagawa

The Iron Fey Trilogy (and a half) by Julie Kagawa

So, rather than attempt to review each of these books individually, I'm just going to give you my opinion of the whole series. Not that each of these books isn't worthy of it's own review, each is, I just know that if I try to make it harder for me to keep up this blog, it will never stay current. So, four books, one review.

Since I can't really tell you about the plots of all of the books without giving away spoilers for the earlier books, I'll just give an overall concept for the series. Megan Chase is half faery; her father is Oberon (yes, that Oberon) Summer King. Her little brother has been stolen and taken to faery, and Megan must go to save him. Meanwhile, the Iron Fey are taking over faery and slowly killing both Summer and Winter's lands.

I really liked this series. I loved the way that Kagawa wove known stories of faeries into this new tale. I loved all the Midsummer Night's Dream references, including Puck as Megan's best friend. (Probably because I love Midsummer Night's Dream so much) I thought the love triangle was believable, even though I was irritated that it was YET AGAIN a fantasy love triangle. I felt like Megan was an actor in her own story and definitely not passive. I also loved how Kagawa incorporated modern day into the world of faeries. It was an interesting take on a very old idea and I think it worked quite well.

These were definitely quick reads. I don't know that you would necessarily need to read Winter's Passage. It bridges the gap between the first and second book and follows Megan on a short journey. It was quite nice, and I liked the novella, but much of it was covered again at the beginning of the second book. If you like YA Fantasy or faeries at all, they are fun books to read!

Spells- Aprilynne Pike

Spells by Aprilynne Pike

Spells is the second book in Pike's trilogy. If you'd like to read my review of Wings, which is the first book, check it out HERE. If you haven't read Wings and aren't interested in spoilers, then stop here!Actual review is after the jump.

Wings- Aprilynne Pike

Wings by Aprilynne Pike

I've been on a major YA kick. Mostly YA Fantasy, since that's what I'm currently writing, but lots of YA in general. Anyway, I know that someone recommended this book to me, but now I don't remember who. Again...person who recommends good books, thanks. This was a great one.

Wings opens with Lauren navigating her first day of high school after being homeschooled for years. We immediately get the sense that something is a little off about her, but can't quite place it. When she later discovers a growing bump on her back, we quickly find out what exactly is strange about her. After finding out who she really is, Lauren is forced into a conflict of the ages, trolls vs faeries, and must fight to protect her loves, both new and old. Sorry, I know that's sort of a lame, short summary, but I really don't want to give too much away because really, you should just go read it. :)

Overall, I liked this book. That sounds maybe more hesitant that I actually am about the novel. It was good. Good enough that I immediately purchased and read the second book the trilogy, Spells (review to come) and pre-ordered the third book. I liked the love triangle, which all YA fiction seems to have these days. I liked that while Lauren clearly liked her boys, she has a spine and is her own actor in the novel. She isn't constantly being saved (cough, Bella, cough) and really takes charge in a lot of situations. Her relationships are pretty healthy too... no strange pedophilia or necrophilia or anything. I really liked Pike's updated take on faeries. I've never been a huge faery person myself, but this was a cool version of their lore. It was different, but still felt familiar, something that I strive toward in my own writing. The writing was crisp and the plot moved along pretty well. I have to admit, it was a touch slow at the beginning, but I'm also glad that the mystery wasn't revealed immediately. Good stakes, characters you care about and a beautiful world, all make for a compelling novel. I would venture to say that just about anyone who likes Fantasy or YA, or YA Fantasy, would like this novel. I think it would also be good for the younger, middle grade, set because it's pretty darn tame, and little girls always love faeries.

So, check it out... and check out the rest of my reviews here for more reading suggestions. I'll be back later in the week with some writing thoughts and my Spells review.