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Showing posts from January, 2015

Sniff Them Out

Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce is the second book in the Hunt Records.  This book finds Beka a proper Dog, although one that can't hold a partner. It's been five months since she became a Dog, and she's gone through three partners. She finds Achoo, a scent hound, being abused by her current handler and finds herself partnered with a scent hound and returned to her former trainers. But after Tunstall's legs are broken at a riot over the rising cost of bread and the presence of false coins in the market, Beka and Goodwin are sent to find the source of the false money. This book was just as exciting and intriguing as the first book. Beka grows as a character, but still retains the same personality. She has trained herself to speak up when necessary, but she's still the shy girl we met in the first book. There were a few things I really liked about this book. The first is that, even though I loved the characters from the first and want to hear more about

TBT: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Oh man, this throwback is probably to the 8th or 9th grade, and it was a book I was devoted to. I read The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants at exactly the right time in my life. I was young. I was totally boy crazy but also really loyal to my friends. I always wanted summers to be the exciting sort-of parallel worlds that they're represented as in movies and books, and this was just another book that proved to me I was totally missing out somehow.  This book made me want to go thrift shopping to find a magical pair of jeans that would fit me and all my best friends (and at this point in my life, I definitely had at least two groups of best friends who did not interact with each other unless it was at like my birthday party). It made me want to be brave and bold and actually like talk to boys I found cute. It made me want to take up sports and movie making and fashion. I wanted to be all four of these girls. This is the perfect book to satisfy adventure cravings

WCW: Jandy Nelson

Hello Lovelies! This week is the author who really made me want to start this feature in the first place. Jandy Nelson is the author of two young adult books as well as being a literary agent herself.  I'll Give You the Sun was one of my favorite books of 2014 (and probably my life, like seriously it's amazing). I wanted to know more about Nelson, but there's not really a lot out there. She has a BA and two MFAs (one for poetry, one for Children and young adult writing). She has some published poetry in poetry journals (American Letters, Commentary, Five Fingers Review to name a few).  She considers herself to be very superstitious (which I see comes out in her novels in very good and relateable ways). She's been involved in numerous panels and is fantastic about supporting her fellow authors.  I cannot wait for her next novel (which she calls The Fall Boys and Dizzy in Paradise on her Gallery page ). Her books are amazing, and if you haven&

Possible Book Club Picks

Hello lovelies! This week's top ten Tuesday is the Top Ten Books I'd Want My Book Club to Read. I actually started my own book club a couple years ago, but it sort of dissolved, and then I moved. So now the only book club I'm in is the Forever Young Adult book club which I adore. The nationwide group means that the books for the book club are chosen out of any of our control. However, there are a few books which I think would make good choices (mostly because I want to read them, hahaha). Station Eleven : I've heard such good things about this book! It's an adult book, so it'd definitely never be picked for the Forever Young Adult book club, but from what I've heard it sounds like an excellent book for a book club. Let's Get Lost : I've heard mixed reviews of this one, which I think makes it good for a book club discussion.  A Little Something Different : I've heard mixed reviews about this one, but two of my fr

Track 'em Down

Terrier by Tamora Pierce is a fantastic mystery-based fantasy novel. Or fantasy-based mystery novel? Who knows. Basically it's just really good. I first read Terrier around the time it came out in 2006, I think. The second book hadn't been released, I thought it was a stand-alone, and I was psyched to have a new Tamora Pierce book to read. However, it'd been a long time since I'd read the first book, so while I vaguely remembered the characters and plot line, I couldn't exactly remember what had happened. Beka Cooper is a Puppy (the training stage of becoming a Dog aka the law enforcement of Tortall). She works in the lowest areas of the city (aptly named The Lower City). Since Beka was born there and lived there for most of her childhood, she has a certain level of respect for the place. She's paired with two of the most revered Dogs, Tunstall and Goodwin. Between the three of them, they'll need to find the source of a new and semi-illegal gem

TBT: 13 Little Blue Envelopes

Hello Lovelies! To match up with last week's WCW on Maureen Johnson, my TBT is 13 Little Blue Envelopes! I just realized that photo is of the cover for the audio, but I read the book. It's the best picture of the cover I could find so I'm going to keep it.  13 Little Blue Envelopes  follows Ginny on a European adventure. After Ginny's Aunt Peg dies, she leaves behind a treasure hunt (of sorts) for Ginny: 13 little blue envelopes with instructions inside. Thus begins her adventure. I honestly need to reread this book. I think I first read it Freshman year of high school (yikes that's 10 years ago!!! Eeeech!!). I loved it. It was a fun and heart-warming story. I mean, I obviously knew it was unrealistic. My parents let me go to France with a summer group and still had issues letting me leave, but I didn't care. The great thing about books is that they'll let you believe the impossible. And who hasn't wanted to drop everything in li

WCW: Anne Bishop

Hello Lovelies! Let me be honest, I don't read a lot of adult books. There are two things that can pull me into the land of marriages, children, divorces, and cheaters: I've either heard really good things about the books (and that usually means that the four things I mentioned aren't present) or I know and love the author (I did go through a phase in high school where I primarily read books published for adults). This week I'm going to focus on one of the few authors whose works I will automatically read even though they're published for adults. Anne Bishop is an amazing author of adult fantasy novels. She is primarily known for her Black Jewels trilogy ( Daughter of the Blood is the first in the series). She has four series and numerous short stories available. I'm currently anxiously awaiting the third book in the Others series, which will be finally available on March 3, 2015.  Bishop focused on short story writing before Daughter of th

Teach Me Something New

For this week's Top Ten Tuesday, I decided to look at books which I would want to put in my curriculum if I end up teaching high school English (it's what my original degree is in after all). Sometimes I'm reading a book, and I'm like this book makes me wish I was a teacher again. And this week's TTT is going to feature ten of those. The Port Chicago 50 : Apparently I only gave this book four stars? WHAT WAS I THINKING, PAST-ME?? This book is incredible. It may also have some flaws, but the great thing about teaching is you get to point out both good and bad parts. The Book Thief : I know that The Diary of Anne Frank is typically taught as the "WWII" book, but my question is why can't we have more than one? I mean, I did get a little burned out on WWII when I was in school because I felt that it was the only war we learned about. Obviously it was atrocious, and we do need to learn about to see what can happen when we don't question th

Flappers and Fantasy and Serial Murders

The Diviners by Libba Bray is a fun historic fantasy.  I've loved Bray's writing since I read the first Gemma Doyle book in 8 th grade. The Diviners was no exception. In fact, it's pretty high up there on my favorites. Evie is a 17 year old flapper from Ohio who, after a disasterous party where she humilated a rich boy, is sent to Manhattan to live with her uncle and his assistant, Jericho. Memphis is a numbers-runner for one of the biggest speak-easy owners in Harlem. Theta is a showgirl for Ziegfield, one of the most prominent stage shows in New York City. Sam is a pickpocket trying to make some money on the street. Each of them have a secret. With a mass murderer on the loose in NYC, Evie's uncle, Will has been asked to consult for the NYPD. It might be the roarin' 20s but there's more happening in the world than prohibition and rebelling young people. While I was constantly questioning Evie's choices, I did really appreciate all of