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I’m feeling all discombobulated today, and I blame it all on this dream I had last night. I was my age, late thirties, but I was marrying someone from my high school. In the dream, a friend of mine had recently backed out of the wedding, so I apparently decided that I would marry the guy instead. He and I seemed to be okay with the fact that we weren’t in love, or even that close, but we were

The MotherReader move was not the announcement I had planned to make. That’s all Bill.

There is a fantastic opportunity to find free books (some), collect swag (tons), and meet people (librarians). The American Library Association Annual Conference is coming to Washington, DC, on the weekend of June 22nd and I’m going to be there. In fact, I’m going to Mitali Perkins’s book launch party from 3:30–5:00 on Saturday, June 23rd, at the DC Public Library. I can invite friends, and I invite you and you and you. (Though you should go here and let Mitali know you’re coming). Liz from A Chair, A Fireplace, and A Tea Cozy will be there. And maybe, just maybe, if we can pry her away from all those publishers greedy for her time, Betsy from Fuse#8 (now at School Library Journal) will come.

After the book launch, we will head to a now-undisclosed location — undisclosed because we don’t know it yet — for munchies and drinks. Meaning...

it’s a Kidlit Drink Night in DC!

I’ve got my people working on possible locations, and I’m sure we’ll know soon. But in the meantime, feel free to mark your calendars, arrange for bus fare, call your cousin in Silver Spring for a visit, and print your business cards. If you aren’t into the whole conference thing... well, neither am I. You’ll see me with the exhibits-only pass, trying to chat up any random authors I find — and recognize. Hope to see some of you folks there.

And now it’s time to give props to the many authors and bloggers who donated prizes to the grand prize packages. TadMack and ZG may want to look away, unless they’re the kind that sneak peeks at their Christmas presents. Thanks go to:

• Threadless, who donated the Haiku T-shirt and the Shakespeare hoodie to the contest.


• Tonya Lee Stone, for A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl.


• Celise Downs, for Dance Jam Productions and Secrets and Kisses and cool key clips.


• Sara Lewis Holmes, for Letters from Rapunzel.


• Bonny Becker, for Holbrook: A Lizard’s Tale.


• Jennifer Holm, for Babymouse and Matt Holm, for the original Babymouse sketch.


• Mo Willems, for Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay up Late and winner’s letter.


• Tricia, for the Tibetan prayer flag.


• Beth, for the handmade journal.


• Other Beth, for the handmade jewelry.


• A Wrung Sponge, for original photos and sayings.


• Nancy, for a Starbucks Gift Card.


• And me, for assorted items to balance things out for the two winners.

The official winners of the 48 Hour Book Challenge have been announced here — um, obviously — and to make it super-duper official, at Read Roger. Apparently one School Library Journal blogger wrote about it, and I suspect our own Fuse#8 may have a thing to say about it herself. You know she moved, right? She’s all comfy-like in her new digs at the School Library Journal site and getting paid to blog. Wow, does that phrase have a nice ring to it.

But back to business. While I am assembling the prize packages for our contest winners, I did want to send out a few prizes to random participants just for playing. I used the highly touted “have a kid pick random numbers and find those on the official list” method. Then I went to the selected blogs and did a little digging around to (hopefully) best match the prize choices with the blogger. So here we go.

Chapter Eighteen wins a personalized signed copy of Rickshaw Girl from Mitali Perkins.

Miss Rumphius Effect wins a personalized signed copy of A Girl, A Boy, and a Monster Cat (available June 21st!) from Gail Gauthier.

Lessons from the Tortoise wins a personalized signed copy of The Dark Dreamweaver — with T-shirt — from Nick Ruth.

The Hidden Side of a Leaf wins Robin Brande’s something-that’s-not-chocolate give-away since I saw the photo of her TBR pile, and it seems as if no more books are needed at this juncture.

Saints and Spinners wins a personalized signed copy of Lissy’s Friends — with Lissy doll — from Grace Lin, by request of contest winner TadMack, and agreement by me, for Alkelda’s rough start in the contest and subsequently funny post.

Prize winners, please send me an email and let me know where we can send your prizes and how you want the dedication written.

Authors, thank you so very much for your contributions to the 48 HBC.

Tomorrow will be for giving props for the donations to the winners prize packages. I’ll also make a special announcement about how you can meet at least three kidlit bloggers and at least one cool author before the end of June. Intrigued? I’ll open with the information tomorrow.

The official winners of the 48 Hour Book Challenge have been announced here — um, obviously — and to make it super-duper official, at Read Roger. Apparently one School Library Journal blogger wrote about it, and I suspect our own Fuse#8 may have a thing to say about it herself. You know she moved, right? She’s all comfy-like in her new digs at the School Library Journal site and getting paid to blog. Wow, does that phrase have a nice ring to it.

But back to business. While I am assembling the prize packages for our contest winners, I did want to send out a few prizes to random participants just for playing. I used the highly touted “have a kid pick random numbers and find those on the official list” method. Then I went to the selected blogs and did a little digging around to (hopefully) best match the prize choices with the blogger. So here we go.

Chapter Eighteen wins a personalized signed copy of Rickshaw Girl from Mitali Perkins.

Miss Rumphius Effect wins a personalized signed copy of A Girl, A Boy, and a Monster Cat (available June 21st!) from Gail Gauthier.

Lessons from the Tortoise wins a personalized signed copy of The Dark Dreamweaver — with T-shirt — from Nick Ruth.

The Hidden Side of a Leaf wins Robin Brande’s something-that’s-not-chocolate give-away since I saw the photo of her TBR pile, and it seems as if no more books are needed at this juncture.

Saints and Spinners wins a personalized signed copy of Lissy’s Friends — with Lissy doll — from Grace Lin, by request of contest winner TadMack, and agreement by me, for Alkelda’s rough start in the contest and subsequently funny post.

Prize winners, please send me an email and let me know where we can send your prizes and how you want the dedication written.

Authors, thank you so very much for your contributions to the 48 HBC.

Tomorrow will be for giving props for the donations to the winners prize packages. I’ll also make a special announcement about how you can meet at least three kidlit bloggers and at least one cool author before the end of June. Intrigued? I’ll open with the information tomorrow.

I’ve allowed as much time as possible for the final statistics to be posted (while I booktalked to eighth graders from 7:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and then went immediately to a Girl Scout final party from 2:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.). Here are the results.

Fifty people completed the 48 Hour Book Challenge. That is freakin’ amazing.

Almost half of the contestants put in 20 hours or more into the challenge. Wow. Let me point out the 20+ hours club members:

• Adventures of a Librarian
• AmoxCalli
• Becky’s Book Reviews
• Biblio File
• Bildungsroman
• Bookshelves of Doom
• Chapter Eighteen
• Charlotte’s Library
• Finding Wonderland/Readers’ Rants
• Green Means Go!
• The Hidden Side of a Leaf
• A Hundred Visions and Revisions
• Interactivereader
• Justbooks
• Knit Happened
• Libr*fiti
• Midwestern Lodestar
• The Miss Rumphius Effect
• MotherReader
• Original Content
• A Pirate’s Mutterings
• So Many Books...

Starting a book challenge while packing to leave Washington DC, checking carry-on bags for fluids and gels (forgot to notice the sunscreen) and death marching to the National Gallery while threading our way through 200,000 Girls Scouts enroute to a sing along - "Still Singing after all these Years!" - on the National Mall is dicey at best.

Fun to know Mother Reader herself was somewhere in the vicinity. I wonder if I was packed in next to her in the Smithsonian Metro station? We emerged from our train along with thousands and thousands of Girl Scouts in bright t-shirts. Shouts of "Buddy up, girls!" swelled from the throats of dozens and dozens of leaders and grown-ups trying to count heads and turn their troops in the right direction.

If I was a claustrophobic person, I would have seriously freaked out at the humanity-per-square-inch in that confined space. My main worry was being inadvertently pushed off the edge but we shuffled away from the drop and toward the escalators and slowly ascended towards the surface.

Total number of books read for the challenge: TWO
Total number of pages read for the challenge: 664 pages
Total altitude while reading: 36,000 feet
Number of sore limbs from 6 days of extensive sight-seeing while reading: 4
Number of heavy eyelids from 6 days of extensive sight-seeing while reading: 2
Amount of fun had from 6 days of extensive sight seeing and joy of reading two perfectly wonderful books: Too much to count!


My reading time did not commence until we arrived at Reagan Airport for the flight home.
My first book was the outstanding Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy, 392 pages. I had not finished when the plane landed 2 hours and 40 minutes later but maybe I was the only participant reading at 36,000 feet??

Since it was so late when we got home, I did not finish until the next day. My reaction to this book is to exhort you to run, skip, hop, hasten, or zoom to your nearest book provider and grab it.

Skulduggery Pleasant is part Dashiell Hammett with a stir of Raymond Chandler and shaken well with magic and fantasy. Storyteller Landy has laced the mix with humor and action. This is one of my favorite books this year!

I can hardly wait to read more. I hope Derek Landy is writing away. I love Irish storytellers.


Book 2 on my reading list was Robin Brande's Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature, 272 pages.

In this family we know we have a great book in hand when one of us stops reading and says to everyone present, "Listen to this!" I did that so many times last night, I might as well have read the whole book aloud.

Mena's first day of high school is turning out to be a nightmare. She is shunned by all her former "friends" for something we do not find out about until later in the story. She is enduing verbal and physical assaults and thinks she has lost her parents' love. The chance pairing (or did God have a hand in it?) with her science lab partner, Casey Conner, science genius, is about to change her life though.

Casey is funny and smart and determined to help Mena succeed. I loved his character whole heartedly from the moment he realizes Mena has never read Lord of the Rings.

"So you've read it?"

"Um, no."

"But you have seen the movies."

I sort of winced and shook my head. I need to learn to lie.

Casey closed his eyes and pinched his fingers against them like he had a terrible migraine. "Okay, you realize I'm going to have to do an intervention."

My totals:

Books read: 5
Books reviewed: 5
pages read: 1781

Hours read: somewhere around 20 - was interspered with grandkid watching, unpacking BEA boxes and sleeping off the NY trip oh yeah and the wine tasting at The Colorado Wine Company.

This was great fun and I only wish I had had the whole weekend to read instead of it being so jam packed with stuff. It was my first weekend back from New York and I spent most of it sorting books, baby sitting my two grandkids who missed me last weekend, doing laundry, working and spending time with friends. Still, I got some much needed reading and reviewing done. This was a good nudge to get it done! Thank you Mother Reader and everyone who participated. Great fun!

Books Read: 5

Pages Read: 1959

Hours Read: 18

The Angel of Death by Alane Ferguson

260 Pages

Two hours

Mystery

Total number of books completed: 4
Total number of pages read: 1,430
Number of books given up on after starting: 3
Number of hours reading: Say, 30 over a 48-hour period, with breaks for writing two blog posts, taking two showers, making a trip to the Chinese restaurant to pick up takeout--the usual.

My family is quite humiliated for me because I read only 4 books this year over a 30 hour period while last year I read 7 over a 23 hour period. However, I actually read more pages this year--1,430 vs. 1,312. And that's not counting the 60+ pages I read on 3 books I didn't like.

On the surface, last year's Challenge seems more successful for me because I liked all the books I read and felt I was getting the hang of magical realism, since I read only those types of books. However, I definitely got something from this weekend's experience, too. Like many serious readers, I've always had a need to finish reading every book I start. Over the last few years, I've been able to begin to get over that compulsion by skimming books I'm not enjoying. I've only recently started giving up altogether. Giving up on 3 books in 24 hours as I did this weekend was a liberating experience.

The number of books published goes up and up and up, but for some reason or another the number of hours in the day remains constant. How much of my life do I want to sacrifice reading stuff I don't like? Not much, it seems.

The Problem Child by Michael Buckley begins awkwardly and barely ends at all because it's the third book in The Sisters Grimm series, which, if this book is any indication, is much more of a serial.

But as serials go, this one isn't too bad. And I say that in spite of the fact that the whole twist on fairy tale thing, which appears to be a fantasy sub-genre, is not a favorite for me.

Buckley's big strength appears to be his witty way with twisting fairy tale characters. Two of the Three Little Pigs have formed a construction company and argue over the benefits of using brick vs straw as construction material. The Little Mermaid used food to deal with rejection by her human love and now has a substantial weight problem. A witch (who I should probably recognize from some fairy tale tradition but don't) is seriously into Days of Our Lives.

And like many fantasy books for young readers, this one involves characters who learn that they aren't who they think they are. After their parents disappear, The Grimm Sisters learn they are descendants of the Brothers Grimm, and their function in life is to serve as fairy tale detectives in a Hudson Valley town where fairy tale characters are forced to live. Just as young women are attracted to Georgette Heyer romances because seemingly powerless female characters win the romantic heroes, young people are probably attracted to books like The Grimm Sisters because powerless child characters find that, really, they are exciting people, perhaps even powerful ones.

Not too powerful, though. That's the message of this book. I'm reading along, seeing how things are going to go, and I'm thinking, No! No! Power is good! Gimme some power!

Clearly, there would be no hope for me in The Grimm Sisters' world.

By the way, The Grimm Sisters books include a marvelous, Peter Pan-type character named Puck, a Trickster King who wants to be a bad boy but who keeps showing up to pull the Grimm's fat out of the fire.

48 Hour Book Challenge:

Charlie Bone and the Hidden King, 441 pages
Sylvester or The Wicked Uncle, 410 pages
London Calling, 289 pages
The Problem Child, 292 pages

Last night I started one of those flip-between-different-world books, read about sixty pages, and gave up. I picked up London Calling by Edward Bloor. I've had London Calling for more than six months but have put off reading it because I disliked Bloor's last book, Story Time so much. So very, very much. It's an anti-standardized testing rant with cardboard characters doing ridiculous things in the name of satire.

It's hard to believe London Calling was written by the same person.

London Calling is a time travel story about a seventh-grade boy with a troubled life in the twenty-first century who is "called" to London in 1940 to assist a young boy living through the Blitz. Why would he be called back there? Both boys listen to the same radio, a radio that belonged to the main character, Martin's, grandfather who worked at the U.S. embassy in London along with a war hero connected with Martin's school. It's not coincidence--it's what links young Martin to the older period.

A lot of what I liked about this book is what it had to say about history, period, not just the period addressed in the story. History is not just the story of great men in London Calling. The place of the poor and powerless in human events is a big issue here. In addition, the whole question of who gets to decide what is history is brought up.

As it turns out, those are both aspects of the study of history that interest me.

There are portions of the story that seem a little too instructive. When Martin is in the past, I did feel that we were getting a bit of a history lesson in the manner of The 1940s House. And the working class characters who voice their frustration with what is going on around them aren't too subtly handled. The Sacrifice of Isaac story that keeps recurring isn't terribly subtle, either, and in the end I don't think it particularly works. Again, as it turns out, this is a story that interests me because it is so incredibly awful and unexplainable, so I didn't mind it.

The connection between depression and alcoholism and the genetic factor involved in both was handled in a more subtle manner. Personally, I thought the religious aspects of the book weren't overdone, either.

There's a lot going on in this book--history as a field of study, a couple of mysteries, a contemporary school problem, family dynamics, alcoholism, and personal spirituality. I think some readers are going to find that some aspects are drawn together better than others. On the other hand, with so much there a lot of readers should find something to interest them.

48 Hour Book Challenge:

Charlie Bone and the Hidden King, 441 pages
Sylvester or The Wicked Uncle, 410 pages
London Calling, 289 pages

The Hounds of the Morrigan by Pat O'Shea

469 pages

Three & a half hours

Fantasy based on Irish mythology.

The King of Attolia
Author: Megan Whalen Turner
Publisher: Greenwillow
ISBN-10: 006083577X
ISBN-13: 978-0060835774


The King of Attolia is the third in the series of books about Eugenides, the Thief of Eddis and long-awaited sequel to The Queen of Attolia. Eugenides or Gen, now the King of Attolia after literally stealing away Queen Irene and marrying her, is now dealing with her court and with being a king. The court thinks he’s an idiot and a pawn of the Queen. She can’t possibly love this guy! I mean after all, she did order his hand to be cut off in a previous book.

The attendants and guards mock him and play tricks on him. Think high school and a medieval "Kick Me" sign stuck on the poor guy’s back. They think he’s a wimp and can’t do anything about it. They think that Queen Irene is all for it because she does nothing. Fact is, she has to let him make his own way, find a way to rein these guys in on his own. There’s even a running palace joke that the Queen and King don’t sleep together. Eugenides is less than a man and certainly not a king to them.

Then one day Costis, a guard in the palace punches Gen right in the face. Beheading is the usual penalty for punching your king’s lights out, but Eugenides devises a better punishment. It is through Costis’ eyes that readers see how he and the court consistently underestimate the clever and calculating mastermind that is the King of Attolia.

There is subterfuge everywhere, plots abound, assassination attempts are prolific and though they litter the story, the real story and focus here is the complicated romance between two people in love who are dealing with the realities of marriage and monarchy.

Whalen’s skilled third person prose is tantalizing, secretive and wonderful. She keeps you guessing, wondering what Eugenides is up to, and dying for the conclusion. Her portrayal of a court full of intrigue and Machiavellian plots is just amazing.

Costis’ gradual grudging respect for Gen really gives readers insight into both Gen and Costis as well as of the seemingly frosty Irene.

The King of Attolia is a worthy addition to the sequel and I feel, the best of the three.

So Far From the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins

183 pages

Two hours

Historical fiction/memoir; Japanese refugees, end of World War II. Reminds me of The Silver Sword. Will blog more about it eventually!

On to another book.... Read the rest of this post

I read for about twenty-six hours, with numerous breaks and interruptions. I finished eight books — four YA, three middle-grade, and one adult book. I read a total of 2120 pages.

I enjoyed the experience, but wish that life’s events hadn’t made it so complicated and hadn’t made my reading and writing so choppy. Due to the logistics of the days, I had to read a couple of books and wait to work on their reviews — which was kind of hard. I also would have preferred to have started on the morning of a full day of reading, but circumstances made that impossible. I met my basic goals for books and hours, and I found at least two, maybe three that I can use in my booktalks tomorrow.

I’ll add that my husband has been a complete dream, monitoring the contest and updating the site. I’m thinking that he’s a keeper.

Enjoy the rest of your reading, and I’ll be back Monday evening with the winners.

(I told you I’d be back with the first book I read, but I wanted to do something different. Since my husband read it before me, and the topic is one of his particular pets, he had written a review for the blog that I’m going to share. He has really done an amazing and thorough review of the book, and I’d rather let him tell it for both of us this time. Especially as I am at the very last minutes of my 48 hours and need to get to my niece’s birthday party. Here’s Bill’s review.)

Before we get started, let me make with the disclaimers: I may not be the most objective one in the room to offer up an opinion on Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature. First of all, author Robin Brande did just script my latest directorial effort. And second, as a longtime science nut, the ostensible subject of the novel is a bit of a hot topic of mine; I was sold on at least reading the book as soon as I heard about it. So take what you will from this commentary, but in any case, I hope my bias isn’t too distracting.

The first day of high school can be traumatic enough, but for Mena, it’s worse than she could have imagined. Not only does she have to deal with the same trials that all her classmates must endure, but she must do so in the wake of losing all her friends and being ostracized by everyone she has known and loved for years. Her old friends shun (or actively bully) her. Her church — the very institution in which she has sought comfort all her life — has effectively expelled her. And her parents, faced with losing their business, are barely speaking to her. All because she did what she thought (and frankly still thinks) was the right thing. Mena’s one hope is that she can just slide through until everything passes; she even manages to explore the beginnings of friendship with Casey, her brilliant lab partner. But when Ms. Shepherd, their quirky science teacher, starts off the school year with a unit on evolution, she realizes that it’s all just beginning.

On its surface, the novel is the story of a conflict between a teacher determined to teach science and a fundamentalist church with a creationist agenda. And in that regard, it certainly doesn’t disappoint, though — thankfully — it never devolves into a diatribe, nor does it denigrate religion. Quite the contrary: The substance of the so-called “debate” itself is barely touched upon, and spiritual belief is a central theme of the story (not to mention a driving characteristic of the protagonist).

But to dismiss it as just being about that conflict would be to gravely misinterpret it: At its core, the novel is about a teenager learning to deal with the strange new world that opens up to her once she exits the safe confines of her earlier life. The evolution/creationism debate is simply the framework; the true story is in the universally identifiable conflict within Mena herself.

Not that the story bogs itself down with self-reflective ruminations on internal development (had it done so, I would have been the first to put it down). Brande does a masterful job of ensuring that Mena’s path is reflected in action, so that the events around her provide the mechanism by which she undergoes her growth into a young adult. Mena’s transformation occurs in an environment with clear extremes of conflict, but her challenges therefore become more extreme reflections of the same transformation that all teens must undergo. (And frankly, it’s that intensity that makes for an interesting story in the first place.)

The preacher who pursues his agenda out of an outsized sense of personal vanity, or the (former) friends who glory in their maliciousness, are easy to hold up as antagonists (and I’ll confess that at times, I found it hard to separate from my adult sensibilities and remember the helplessness of being a teenager). And it’s easy to identify with Ms. Shepherd, who, far from being intimidated by the manufactured conflict, is both prepared and determined to remain unbowed in her desire to speak the truth against irrationality. But more interesting are the subtler characters, on both sides of the aisle: The church girl whose actions, however misguided, were truly motivated by a desire to be helpful. Or Casey’s sister, Kayla, who — even as she helps Mena out of her shell — has an unmistakable agenda of her own. It’s in those gray areas where the novel really makes its mark — this isn’t a story about heroes and villains, but about the rest of us, and about how we deal with conflict (real or manufactured).

No, scratch that — this is a story about how an individual deals with growing up, with finding first love, with becoming aware of just how big the world is once she steps outside childhood’s protective boundaries. An individual through whom we can all remember our own such development (or, for younger readers, see it reflected in the present). And that’s what makes this book worth reading.

Back to The Bermudez Triangle, one of my first books read in this nutty bout of reading. I’ve been intrigued by Maureen Johnson since hearing about her books from other bloggers, but to be honest her connection with John Green brought her to the front of my mind. My thinking being pretty close to the original idea of Friendster. If I like John Green’s books — which I do — and he’s friends with Maureen Johnson — which he is — than I will like her books. Which as it turns out, I do. At least this one, so far. But I’m moving her others to top of my lists.

I wanted to read The Bermudez Triangle after the whole book-banning issue. I didn’t feel like it was something I could weigh in on without having read the book. Because, in a way, isn’t that what the objection was about it the first place? The book was removed based on one parent’s opinion, but without a thorough reading. So now I’ve read it, and I can see how some parents would have issues with the book, because it’s not about one kiss but the development of a lesbian relationship.

Understand, that I think the book addresses the topic in a mild, pretty unobjectionable way. It’s a very realistic story of how a blooming relationship between two members of a trio of girlfriends can shake everything to the core. The parallel story of the left-out friend and her long-distance boyfriend is also interesting, especially as it echoes that relationships — all relationships — are difficult, messy, emotional things.

Along with being a accurate picture of sexual identity crises and personal connection conflicts, The Bermudez Triangle is well-written and very funny. If I’d been on my game, I’d have been marking passages left and right while I read. Very witty lines, especially from the character Parker, who makes friends with Nina and has/had a crush on Mel. In fact, I reserve the right to come back later and just list funny bits from the book.

What I would say about the Bartlesville book removal is that I don’t condone it. I think books that talk about things teenagers may be experiencing are important for teenagers to be able to read. That said, at least I know that the issue in question isn’t a single instance of a gay character, but is the theme of the book. Today, I guess, no matter how innocent the description, a book about coming to terms with one’s sexual identity is going to draw fire.

I’m very glad I read the book. I liked it very much. And I can’t wait to read more by Maureen Johnson, uncaped crusader for truth, justice, and witty banter.

I heard of Cecil Castellucci. I liked Boy Proof, though I never got around to writing about it. But it’s Beige that puts me in the Cult of Castellucci, as named at Bookshelves of Doom.

Beige grabbed me right from the beginning and didn’t let go. The booktalk introduction came to me immediately as I read it: “Do your parents ever embarrass you?” Think about putting that line out there in a room full of summer-ready eighth graders. Oh, this is going to be easy.

Katy, or Beige as she becomes known, has to stay with her former punk-rocker father while her mother is on a expedition in Peru. Staying with her father, The Rat, is not Katy’s idea of a good time. She hates his cluttered, dirty apartment. She doesn’t like his music. And she’s had almost nothing to do with him since she was seven. It doesn’t help matters that he is spending his energy getting the old band back together and ready to make it big, which puts Katy on the sidelines with teens she’d rather not meet.

She finds an odd friendship — of a sort — with the daughter of the other band member, Sam Suck. A Suck teen fan also makes his way into Katy’s life with his complete openness and friendliness. It may even be possible that Katy isn’t as beige a girl as she thought she was.

Great characters and great writing make this a fantastic read. I wish I had marked passages as I went, but this particular line made me smile:

I guess I stole Leo’s shirt. It’s cool. It’s from Threadless.

Gilda Joyce: The Ladies of the Lake by Jennifer Allison

Pages: 339

Time: About three and a half hours

Loved it! Cannot wait to blog more about the dramatic and confident Gilda Joyce and her wonderful investigative powers; and the mystery plot with a touch of possible ghost.

Also, liked that while GJ is part of a "series" each so far works as a standalone.

Somehow I skipped putting this post up about my Saturday reading.

I'm not sure where I originally heard about this book, though I suspect it was People magazine. (Hey, a girl's got to have a little light reading sometimes.) I had put it on hold and it came in right before the contest.

The full title will explain everything. It's Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autisic Savant. The book was extremely interesting, and I enjoyed reading it. Okay, review done.

How can I leave you like this? Because coincidently Wendy from Blog from the Windowsill was reading the same book at about the same time and I'm going to direct you to her post.

Cop-out?

Well, yeah. But I don't have much longer in this contest, and I've got to start cutting corners.