SomeReads

I got Black Ships in the mail today, which is going to take the place of Good Omens for a little while. I had just barely started Good Omens, so I’m not going to have a problem setting it aside. Black Ships is a really nice ARC – very nice binding. I’m really looking forward to starting it!

When I was deciding which book on the Name that Book list to listen to next a while back, I was reluctant to listen to Life As We Knew It. This book is the diary of Miranda, which she writes leading up to and in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

Everyone is very excited to watch an asteroid hit the moon, sort of like people getting excited about watching Halley’s comet. But the night of the event, it is obvious that something has not gone as expected when the moon suddenly appears much closer than before. The asteroid was much bigger than originally thought, and it has knocked the moon out of orbit. This has a massive effect on the gravitational pull on the earth, causing tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquakes worldwide.

This is a book about family and survival. Miranda is a typical 16-year-old with 16-year-old concerns, such as the crush she has on a local ice skating star. As is the case with all teenage girls, she has good days and bad, and the diary reflects these ups and downs.

This was overall a good listening experience. The narrator’s voice wasn’t annoying, and it kept my attention. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes apocalyptic stories or movies, and who isn’t annoyed by journal-type books.

I was so pleased when I was chosen to receive one of the LibraryThing Early Review copies of Dreamers of the Day. I haven’t read any of Mary Doria Russell’s other books, but I have friends who have raved over them. I wasn’t disappointed!

The book is set right after World War I has ended. Agnes Shanklin is the only survivor in her family of the 1918 flu, and has thus inherited quite a bit of money. She uses a portion of this money to travel to Egypt (and Palestine), a trip she has always longed to take, especially after her sister lived in the Holy Land as a missionary’s wife. Right at the beginning of her visit, she happens to meet T.E. Lawrence (aka Lawrence of Arabia), who had been friends with her sister before he became so well-known. Through Lawrence, Agnes rubs elbows with the likes of Winston Churchill, among others.

I learned a lot about the politics of the time while reading this book, and I would like to read more. Russell mentions several books in her Acknowledgments that she used while writing the book, and some of these sound like they would be very interesting reads.

The book will be released on March 11, and I would definitely recommend it.

I’m so jazzed! I’m getting one of the LibraryThing bonus batch of Early Reviewers, too! I’m getting The Translator: A Tribesman’s Memoir of Darfur, which looks fascinating.

Yay! I’m getting another Early Review book from LibraryThing! I’m getting Black Ships by Jo Graham.

Here’s the Amazon description:

“”Haunting and bittersweet, lush and vivid, this extraordinary story has lived with me since I first read it.” –Naomi Novik, author of His Majesty’s Dragon. The world is ending. One by one the mighty cities are falling, to earthquakes, to flood, to raiders on both land and sea. In a time of war and doubt, Gull is an oracle. Daughter of a slave taken from fallen Troy, chosen at the age of seven to be the voice of the Lady of the Dead, it is her destiny to counsel kings. When nine black ships appear, captained by an exiled Trojan prince, Gull must decide between the life she has been destined for and the most perilous adventure — to join the remnant of her mother’s people in their desperate flight. From the doomed bastions of the City of Pirates to the temples of Byblos, from the intrigues of the Egyptian court to the haunted caves beneath Mount Vesuvius, only Gull can guide Prince Aeneas on his quest, and only she can dare the gates of the Underworld itself to lead him to his destiny. In the last shadowed days of the Age of Bronze, one woman dreams of the world beginning anew. This is her story.”

Doesn’t that sound great?

I honestly don’t know what to make of this book.

Tom is at the absolute bottom of the social ladder at his high school, which is full of vapid bullies who torture him relentlessly. A near second is his fellow wanna-be band member, Sam Hellerman.

Throw in lots of make believe bands, The Catcher in the Rye, the mystery of Tom’s father’s death, a make-out session at a party and the subsequent obsession with mysterious Fiona, and an unpleasant associate principal, and you’ve got yourself one interesting novel.

I had a hard time getting into this book, but at the same time I really wanted to know what was going to happen, so I plugged on, and I am glad I finished it. I think the audience that would enjoy this book the most is nerdy, loner teenage boys, but anyone who has experienced a treacherous high school life will sympathize with Tom.

I first started this book before Christmas, but I couldn’t get into it. I returned it to the library when one of my holds came in. It was the only Bluebonnet nominee on the shelf that I hadn’t read this week, though, so I picked it up again. I read the entire (well, remaining) book yesterday.

Tobin doesn’t start the 7th grade on a good note – his grandmother is arrested for wreckless driving when she drops him off at school. This is par for the course for Tobin, the youngest in a set of siblings known throughout the school system for their disorderly behavior. But Tobin is different, if a bit rough around the edges.

Tobin unexpectedly makes friends with Henry, when Henry comes to his rescue during a fight, and is suddenly knee deep in chickens. This a story of family and friends and trying to please everyone and hurt no one, and you will find yourself really rooting for Tobin and his dysfunctional family.

Thanks to the A-Z Challenge, I think I can participate in the Chunkster Challenge, hosted by Dana at So Many Books, So Little Time.

Here’s my list:

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
Texas by James Michener
The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George

Joy over at Thoughts of Joy is hosting the A-Z Challenge. I’ve been tempted by this one for a few weeks but thought I would be crazy to join. Well, I’m giving in to temptation. The one caveat is that as many as possible of the books have to come from my TBR mountain or be ones I already planned to read. (That’s pretty much my tactic for all challenges.) Anything else, when possible, came from my Amazon wishlist. So, here’s my list of what I plan to read, subject to change, of course.
* means this an exception to my rule

Title:

A: American Gods by Neil Gaiman (completed 5/19/08)
B: Black Ships by Jo Graham (completed 2/29/08)
C: Chicken Boy by Frances O’Roark Dowell (completed 1/19/08)
D: Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell (completed 1/24/08)
E: Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin*
F: Firegirl by Tony Abbott (completed 1/16/08)
G: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (completed 10/08)
H: Hubert Invents the Wheel by Claire Montgomery, Monte Montgomery, and Jeff Shelly (completed 3/17/08)
I: The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi (completed 7/11/08)
J: Julie & Julia by Julie Powell (completed in 7/08)
K: King Dork by Frank Portman (completed 1/20/08)
L: Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by Obert Skye (completed 2/6/08)
M: Masterpiece by Elise Broach (completed 6/16/08)
N: New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
O: One Good Punch by Rich Wallace (completed 6/9/08)
P: Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (completed 5/2/08)
Q: Queen of Dreams by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
R: The Road by Cormac McCarthy (completed 6/7/08)
S: Stardust by Neil Gaiman (completed 4/26/08)
T: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (completed 8/23/08)
U: Ursula, Under by Ingrid Hill*
V: The Virgin’s Lover by Philippa Gregory*
W: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (completed 3/27/08)
X: Xenocide by Orson Scott Card
Y: The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon
Z: Zeke and Ned by Larry McMurtry*

Authors:

A: Alexie, Sherman – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (completed 6/8/08)
B: Bray, Libba -The Sweet Far Thing (completed 4/13/08)
C: Connolly, John – The Book of Lost Things (completed 6/1/08)
D: Domingue, Ronlyn – The Mercy of Thin Air
E: Erian, Alicia – Towelhead
F: Frost, Helen – The Braid (completed 7/5/08)
G: Ganeshananthan, V.V. – Love Marriage (completed 5/24/08)
H: Halpern, Jake – Fame Junkies: The Hidden Truths Behind America’s Favorite Addiction (completed 2/3/08)
I: Irving, John – A Prayer for Owen Meaney*
J: Jenkins, Emily – Toys Go Out: Being the Adventures of a Knowledgeable Stingray, a Toughy Little Buffalo, and Someone Called Plastic
K: Klasky, Mindy – Girl’s Guide to Witchcraft
L: Leavitt, Martine – Keturah and Lord Death
M: McDaniel, Lurlene – Prey (completed 6/7/08)
N: Na, An – Wait for Me (completed in 7/08)
O: Osborne, Mary Pope – Pompeii: Lost and Found (completed 2/10/08)
P: Pratchett, Terry – Truckers (completed 11/1/08)
Q: Quindlen, Anna – Blessings*
R: Roach, Mary – Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
S: Satrapi, Marjane – Persepolis
T: Tingle, Tim – Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship and Freedom
U: Unsworth, Barry – Pascali’s Island*
V: Valdes-Rodriguez, Alisa – Haters
W: Wizner, Jake - Spanking Shakespeare
X: Xinran – Sky Burial
Y: Yep, Lawrence – The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906
Z: Zusak, Markus – I Am the Messenger*

Bobbie Dazzler by Margaret Wild and Janine Dawson is a fun little book about what you can accomplish if you just practice, practice, practice. Bobbie is a red-necked wallaby who can do lots of things, like jump, bounce, and skip. But what Bobbie really wants to be able to do is the splits. Her friends reassure her that it’s ok that she can’t do the splits, but that isn’t enough for Bobbie. Finally, with lots of practice, Bobbie teaches herself to do the splits and then all her friends, too. The illustrations in this book are simple pen and ink drawings with watercolor and are just as cute as the story.

Punk Farm on Tour by Jarrett J Krosoczka would be a great storytime book! While Farmer Joe is away at the National Tractor Society Conference, the barnyard animals form a band and go on tour. Cow, Sheep, Pig, Goat, and Hen perform a rousing version of “The Wheels on the Bus” (in this case, the wheels on the tour van), each verse reflecting the most recent mishap along the way. My favorite character, by far, is Goat with his “Chill, homie” type commentary. Pig is a runner up with his groupies. Terribly cute!

Previously by Allan Ahlberg takes us backward through several classic tales, such as Jack & the Beanstalk, Cinderella, and The Gingerbread Boy. Each tale is connected to the following by some common thread; for example, did you realize Jack from the beanstalk story is the same Jack that falls down the hill, thanks to his annoying sister Jill? Bright illustrations are a perfect complement to this fun book.

M 11-year-old daughter requested I read this to her for bedtime last night, and she thought it was terribly cute! It was neat to see that she still appreciates a good picture book!