All hail the cooperative! I know I'm always on my soapbox for the Little Guy, but seriously, many readers never see books that aren't put out by the Big Five publishing houses (it used to be Big Six, before the Random Penguin House thing). Curiosity... Read the rest of this post
ALL RIGHT. I know I say this every time, but I ♥ Tu Books. It's just the kind of publishing company so many people were waiting for - because where else can you tell your crazy YA tales of monsters, the Malleus Maleficarum - the Spanish... Read the rest of this post
Okay, so, here's the thing.This isn't the sort of book that you can review. You can only... respond. Reader Gut Reaction: First of all, if this is your first Jaclyn Moriarty book, I might suggest you start with a different one. NOT because there's... Read the rest of this post
I've been seeing Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl mentioned frequently recently. I kept thinking, I know that name...Patrice Kindl. Sure enough, she is the author of Owl in Love, a book I read back in 2006 as part of a magical realism weekend read I did for the first 48 Hour Book Challenge. This puts Keeping the Castle on my radar.
Reader Gut Reaction: Laini Taylor always creates such unique and fully realized worlds that manage to contain both darkness and whimsy in equal measure, and Daughter of Smoke and Bone does not disappoint in that regard. The story begins in... Read the rest of this post
We've talked about role-playing games, or RPG and now we've segued into chatting about a gamer book by Ned Vizzini. This is a review repost in honor of Mr. Vizzini's blog tour, so enjoy again! And if you're here reading for the first time,... Read the rest of this post
When I studied the work of Gabriel Garcia Marquez in grad school, I heard the word "magical realism" overwhelmingly. We talked a lot about the concept as defined by his work, and by the work of Latin American writers. We also talked about how... Read the rest of this post
Reader Gut Reaction: This one is subtitled "The Mermaid in the Hudson," and so if you gravitate towards stories about local legends and rarely-glimpsed semi-mythical creatures, then you'll enjoy the premise: the time is the late 1800s, and a... Read the rest of this post
"Haven't you ever had anything you loved doing, Mom?...Something that was worth getting in real big trouble for?" ( Will Asher - arc p. 200)
This is a world where people either have a Talent or are simply Fair. Talents can range from the ability to knit anything at a quick pace (Mrs. Asher) to the ability to spit with choreographic grace and accuracy (Zane).
Cady lives in an orphanage in Poughkeepsie New York with Miss Mallory. Each of them has a talent that drives their lives. Cady has a talent for baking. She can size up a person and know exactly what kind of cake to bake that will bring them the most possible happiness. Miss Mallory has a talent for making matches, which has led to her matching countless parentless children with the right families. Even though Miss Mallory has attempted to match Cady in the past, it has never been the perfect match. The tug in her chest hasn't been enough to place Cady with the right family.
Meanwhile, in town, the Owner of the Lost Luggage Emporium has been on a lifelong quest. He believes that a piece of lost luggage holds the secret to his success. He has been trying to track down the powder blue St. Anthony suitcase that he lost 53 years prior. The loss has turned him bitter, and Toby who works with the Owner, is subject to his random temper and tirades.
Also in town are the Asher family. The aforementioned Zane hasn't always yielded his talent for good, and the words of his school Principal haunt him, as his misguided attempts to help his family bring him nothing but trouble. Zane's sister Marigold is desperately searching for her own talent, as she tries to keep not only Zane, but little brother Will (who has a talent for disappearing) out of trouble.
Add a bake-off, recipes, attempted adoption, archeological crime, a mysterious wordless stranger, a wayward ferrt and an in-and-out narrator dressed in a gray suit, and you have
A Tangle of Knots. I know I haven't done the best with plot summary, but that is because Graff's story defies description. Story-lines dance and weave, short chapters keep the forward motion, and the reader finds him/herself trying to predict what will come next. That said, I can't help but throw in the idea of the mash-up/remix with titles like
Savvy,
The Westing Game and
Pie coming to mind. Not bad company to be in. While A Tangle of Knots most definitely pays homage, I do think Graff has made this all her own. The moment I finished reading, I wanted to go back and re-read to fit the pieces together.
Really, the main thing to remember is: Peeps are to PLAY WITH. Not to eat.
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I received a review copy of this book from the publisher, First Second.Here at FW, we've been a fan of Gene Yang for a long time, and we've loved reading his graphic novels, both the ones produced solely by him as well as the ones in which he... Read the rest of this post
The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen:
It’s the dubious distinction of thirty-year-old Willa Jackson to hail from a fine old Southern family of means that met with financial ruin generations ago. The Blue Ridge Madam—built by Willa’s great-great-grandfather during Walls of Water’s heyday, and once the town’s grandest home—has stood for years as a lonely monument to misfortune and scandal. And Willa herself has long strived to build a life beyond the brooding
Jackson family shadow. No easy task in a town shaped by years of tradition and the well-marked boundaries of the haves and have-nots.
But Willa has lately learned that an old classmate—socialite do-gooder Paxton Osgood—of the very prominent Osgood family, has restored the Blue Ridge Madam to her former glory, with plans to open a top-flight inn. Maybe, at last, the troubled past can be laid to rest while something new and wonderful rises from its ashes. But what rises instead is a skeleton, found buried beneath the property’s lone peach tree, and certain to drag up dire consequences along with it.
For the bones—those of charismatic traveling salesman Tucker Devlin, who worked his dark charms on Walls of Water seventy-five years ago—are not all that lay hidden out of sight and mind. Long-kept secrets surrounding the troubling remains have also come to light, seemingly heralded by a spate of sudden strange occurrences throughout the town.
Now, thrust together in an unlikely friendship, united by a full-blooded mystery, Willa and Paxton must confront the dangerous passions and tragic betrayals that once bound their families—and uncover truths of the long-dead that have transcended time and defied the grave to touch the hearts and souls of the living.
In Walls of Water, North Carolina, the Blue Ridge Madam was just one more decrepit Southern mansion before Paxton Osgood’s family and the Women’s Society Club decided to resurrect it to its former glory. Despite being a descendent of the former owners, Willa Jackson isn’t too thrilled by the Osgoods or any of the Walls of Water society mavens, but she is happy the Madam is getting her due.
"Whenever I would get too nosy as a child, my grandmother would say, "When you learn someone else's secret, your own secrets aren't safe. Dig up one, release them all." – The Peach Keeper
The Madam’s restoration takes a dark turn, however, when the body of Tucker Devlin is uncovered. A door-to-door salesman and con artist, Devlin blew into town in the 30s
by Meg Wolitzer
Dutton 2011
Three kids at a Scrabble tournament realize there are more important things in life than winning. Wait. One of these kids has a superpower?
Life's been tough for Duncan and his mom who have moved back to mom's childhood home in Pennsylvania to regroup at Duncan's Aunt Djuna's house. New kid at school, fish out of water, mom working for a thrift store owned
We really enjoyed Ashley Hope Pérez's debut novel What Can't Wait (reviewed here), so we're proud and excited to be a part of the blog tour for her latest novel, The Knife and the Butterfly. Tune in this Friday, February 17th, for Ashley's guest... Read the rest of this post
It's not often that I have a chance to review books which are truly multicultural, but this book is one. It's a quiet gem of stories interlinked by the common theme of freedom. Freedom is truly the subject at hand, as all proceeds from the novel are... Read the rest of this post
Wonderstruck, the second novel by the author of the incredible Invention of Hugo Cabret, was a finalist in this year's Cybils Awards for Elementary/Middle Grade Graphic Novels. As with Hugo, I had mixed feelings about whether this one belongs in... Read the rest of this post
When I first reviewed a Marriott book in 2009, I found a satisfying, well-paced adventure with a warrior-woman protagonist in DAUGHTER OF FLAMES. Fast forward years later, and seeing Zoë Marriott's name with a whisper of familiarity, and I delved... Read the rest of this post
There's a smell, when old books have congregated in a room for a long while - the dust of the ages, scented with bits of memory - perfumes, soaps, perspiration, exhalation from the reader. The homey smells of glue and fabric stretched over heavy... Read the rest of this post
In the fall, I helped celebrate the release of Laurel Snyder's Bigger Than a Bread Box by posting a story about my own parents' divorce and participating in a rather serious blog tour. And, I confess I read the book a couple of months ago, but I... Read the rest of this post
By:
Stacy Whitman,
on 5/23/2012
Blog:
Stacy Whitman's Grimoire
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Short of my time with Grapes of Wrath in high school, and Karen Hesse's Out of the Dust, I have to admit that my grasp of Dust Bowl literature is not all that firm. I read way too much into it, and find myself wheezing and coughing at the idea of... Read the rest of this post
That cwazy wabbit...Xin Nian Kuai Le!Gung Hay Fat Choi, bunny people. Peace and serenity and joy to you, this year of the Rabbit. Gong Xi Fa Cai - may prosperity be with you as well.(And thus we have reached the end of my Asian language knowledge,... Read the rest of this post
I picked up an advance review copy of this book at ALA Midwinter. Mad Love is now available in hardcover.Reader Gut Reaction: I have to admit—I wasn't entirely sure I'd like a retelling of the story of Cupid and Psyche. Fortunately, this wasn't a... Read the rest of this post
I checked out a copy of this book from the library.Reader Gut Reaction: Gripping, nonstop suspense and action—that would be my initial characterization of the book. At the same time, it's about what happens inside one's mind as well as out "in the... Read the rest of this post
Ninth Ward Jewell Parker Rhodes
Lanesha can see spirits. Living with Mama YaYa, who reads signs and sees things, she's teased at school for her witchy ways. But Lanesha sees things-- not just the dead, but other people who try to be invisible.
But something's coming and Mama YaYa can't read the signs-- they keep telling her different things. A storm's coming. Katrina.
Just as Lanesha meets a new teacher who inspires her to build bridges. Just as a popular girl doesn't mind that Lanesha's a little weird and befriends her. Just as... the neighborhood boards up and clears out. Lanesha does what she can to prepare, but as adult readers know, it's not the storm itself that causes the most destruction and the worst is something that she couldn't prepare for.
I have one major complaint about this book. In the book, the Katrina hits on Sunday night. Lanesha and Mama YaYa spend a tense night in the dark listening to the wind and the storm. Lanesha wakes up on Monday morning to a new day and cleans up a bit and then the water starts rising. It's really well done and very dramatic, but... Katrina made landfall at 6am on Monday morning and by 9am the flood waters were already 6-8 feet in the Ninth Ward.* It draws out the drama to mess with the timeline but surely it could have been done without that?
Especially because I loved this book. I loved Lanesha and the people in her neighborhood. I loved how she dealt with the bullies and the ghosts. I loved her strength in the storm and the aftermath. I loved her resourcefulness and power. I loved the touch of magical realism. I loved the terror and tension of the storm and flood.
It's beautiful and I'm glad it won the Coretta Scott King honor award. It deserves recognition.
But... the timeline nags at me. I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere else. Am I totally offbase on this?
*I'm getting my timeline facts from this pdf timeline put out by Brookings. I looked it up because I remember that the hurricane hit on Monday morning but wanted to double check.
Book Provided by... my local library
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I am glad I can keep looking forward to this wholeheartedly!
I'm definitely looking forward to reading it. Perhaps while I'm on vacation this next week...