It's my (Alethea's) turn to give some great gift suggestions for booklovers.
Must-have books published this year:
Top of my list was
Shadow & Bone by
Leigh Bardugo, which Thuy already picked yesterday, haha! So I had to come up with more choices.
This was a really hard choice--there were so many great picture books this year! This and Penguin & Pinecone are great choices especially if you want to let someone know that you think of them as your friend for always :)
Get the
audiobook if you can! It's SO good. I didn't expect there to be an actual murder in this middle grade mystery novel, but there is. It's equal parts funny and sad, and thoroughly entertaining.
I love, love, love
Jane Eyre, but a lot of the adaptation/spinoff novels are hokey.
The Dark Unwinding gives Charlotte Brontë's masterpiece a respectful nod while still remaining original and enthralling on its own. Give this to someone who loves gothic romance, steampunk, and swooning.
Must-have Classic:
Signature Shakespeare
The Signature Shakespeare series, illustrated with intricate papercuts by Kevin Stanton, debuts this year with four volumes including
Hamlet,
Macbeth, and
Romeo & Juliet. I love
Much Ado About Nothing's gorgeous, bright colors! (You can find
more photos at Elsa Mora's papercutting blog) For fans of art and theatre, this is a double-duty gift.
Bookish Things:
"booklover" on Etsy
I like
Etsy's search function a lot. You can find handmade things for people who love not just books, but specific books, too! One of my favorite searches is "
booklover", which also turns up my book buttons :) but I love it because I can find cool, unique items like the elastic bookmark above. I've bought everything from Kindle covers to Love your Librarian t-shirts for my bookish friends from Etsy sellers. Just be mindful that shipping takes time, so order early especially if it's shipping overseas.
Book-related jewelry
I don't wear jewelry, but if I did, I would love to get one of these awesome pieces! Viviane at
HebelDesign creates pieces inspired by fantastic YA novels, like Morozova's Collar inspired by
Shadow & Bone. One thing though--she can't guarantee holiday shipping, so order soon and be prepared to give your gift recipient an IOU in case it doesn't arrive in time.
There are also designs available for
Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke & Bone novels, and through January 31, 2013, she will be giving all of her proceeds to the Red Cross for Hurricane Sandy relief.
For the picture book lover, there's
Oliver Jeffers's line from
Digby & Iona, just be prepared to dig deep into your wallet. They are pricey!
Food... for your Belly, not your Mind!
Cookie Butter - If you didn't already know about this product, you are going to want to kill me in a minute. You can find this as
Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter or
Biscoff Spread (in creamy and crunchy--I have it on good authority that crunchy is better), and since it's basically crushed cookies with the consistency of peanut butter, you can bake with it or just spread it on whatever happens to be around. I usually just grab a spoon and tamp down my self-loathing. Luckily, this is easier to do when your mouth is full of cookie butter. Also, easy to eat while holding a book.
Seriously, just wrap it up and hand it over. I've mailed it to a friend without even a note of explanation. It's gift-giving gold.
Bakerella has a recipe for
Cookie Butter Fudge, if you really have to get fancy with your gift-giving.
I have to thank my husband for finding this one.
Adagio makes fandom blends of tea. Whatwhat?!? *mind blown*
Come back on Friday for more great gifts for booklovers!
So are
our lists good for figuring out what to give other people, or are they better for figuring out what you want to get for yourself? Answer in the comments on any of the three posts and you might win a set of Alethea's
book geek buttons!
Read by Rachel Botchan
ISBN 10/13: 1596436093 | 9781596436091
Keywords: World War II, Girl detective, friendship, mystery
Category: Young Adult Historical
Format: Audiobook, Hardcover, Paperback, eBook
It's the Fall of 1942 and Iris's world is rapidly changing. Her Pop is back from the war with a missing leg, limiting his ability to do the physically grueling part of his detective work. Iris is dying to help, especially when she discovers that one of Pop's cases involves a boy at her school. Now, instead of sitting at home watching Deanna Durbin movies, Iris is sneaking out of the house, double crossing her friends, and dancing at the Savoy till all hours of the night. There's certainly never a dull moment in the private eye business.
Alethea's review:
I'm not a Veronica Mars fan (as the marketing taglines for this series insist on singling out that demographic), but there's something about the spunky girl-detective novel that never fails to please me. I'll confess that I have fond memories of a hundred Nancy Drew novels, and am currently obsessed with vintage fashion, which might explain part of why I liked this book. Some of the credit definitely goes to the reader, Rachel Botchan. She really nails not just the New York accents but also the inflections from--has it really been that long?--seventy years ago. I think I would have enjoyed this less had I tried to read it myself.
I'm actually surprised this novel kept my interest, as the beginning of the novel felt really slow. Iris is coping with many changes--not just the typical girl-becoming-woman challenges we expect of a coming-of-age novel. She's transplanted from the posh part of town to the Lower East Side, hears whispers of disapproval and malicious gossip regarding her mother's suicide the year before, and is trying to form some sort of connection with her estranged and now disabled father. It's heavy stuff, lending gravity to the story, and I can't decide whether or not it saves the rest of the book from just being a plot-driven mess.
The main mystery involves the disappearance of a boy from Iris's new school. I really enjoyed the author's skill at portraying the secondary characters: Suze, queen bee of the charmingly named "Rainbow Gang", the high school's resident hooligans, and Pearl, the plump, quiet, and defensive schoolmate Iris struggles to befriend. There's no team of good girls versus the bad girls here: everyone seems to have some bad with the good, even Iris, who makes some really terrible decisions for occasionally noble reasons. Despite all the mistakes they make, I found the characters well-rounded and likable.
The solution of the mystery did leave something to be desired. I wouldn't call this a traditional whodunit--you're better off
reading the original (or even
playing the games--they're really good!) if a murder is what you're after. You'll enjoy this more if you like reading about relationships, teen problems and comparing those of today to those of yesteryear, or World War II nostalgia.
You can find the author online at
www.kathrynmillerhaines.com and on Twitter @
KathrynMHaines.
FTC disclosure: Only the Bookdepository.com link may generate revenue for this blog if you make a purchase by clicking the link. The other links in this post are not formatted with my affiliate IDs.
ISBN 10/13: 1442423730 | 9781442423732
Category: Young Adult Fiction
Keywords: Young adult, fantasy, horror, family, friendship, vampires, unicorns
Format: Hardcover, eBook
Source: Purchased
Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire... fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil... until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops.
Her family thinks she was attacked by a vampire hunter (because, obviously, unicorns don't exist), and they're shocked she survived. They're even more shocked when Pearl discovers she can now withstand the sun. But they quickly find a way to make use of her new talent. The Vampire King of New England has chosen Pearl's family to host his feast. If Pearl enrolls in high school, she can make lots of human friends and lure them to the King's feast -- as the entrees.
The only problem? Pearl's starting to feel the twi
In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by
The Story Siren and inspired by
Pop Culture Junkie.
This week we got some great books from
Lee and Low &
Albert Whitman.
First up is
Vodnik by
Bryan Moore. This is an intriguing paranormal set in present-day Slovakia. Thanks to Lee and Low for this advance reader copy.
From
Goodreads:
When Tomas was six, someone — something — tried to drown him. And burn him to a crisp. Tomas survived, but whatever was trying to kill him freaked out his parents enough to convince them to move from Slovakia to the United States.
Now sixteen-year-old Tomas and his family are back in Slovakia, and that something still lurks somewhere. Nearby. It wants to drown him again and put his soul in a teacup. And that’s not all. There’s also the fire víla, the water ghost, pitchfork-happy city folk, and Death herself who are after him.
If Tomas wants to survive, he'll have to embrace the meaning behind the Slovak proverb, So smrťou ešte nik zmluvu neurobil. With Death, nobody makes a pact.
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By: alethea aka frootjoos,
on 2/7/2012
Blog:
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Laddertop (Laddertop, #1) by Orson Scott Card,
Emily Janice Card / Illustrated by Honoel A. Ibardolaza
Publication date: 27 September 2011 by
Tor/Forge
ISBN 10/13: 0765324601 | 9780765324603
Category: Middle Grade Science Fiction Manga
Keywords: Science fiction, space, aliens, middle grade, friendship
Format: Paperback, audiobook (ARC received from Tor/Forge)
Alethea's synopsis:
Based on Orson Scott Card's
Ender's Game series, this first volume follows Robbi and her rambunctious friend, Azure, when they are recruited to Laddertop--one of four space towers suspended 36,000 miles over the earth by a benevolent alien race called The Givers. Fierce competition tests the relationships between friends and enemies both. As Robbi contemplates what she is doing at the Academy, she begins to ponder the question too few people seem to be asking: are The Givers truly friends of Earth?
Alethea's Review:
I really loved
Ender's Game and so was excited to find out that a related manga was in the works. I found
Laddertop entertaining, but a bit of a let-down. It's certainly not as deep or emotionally abrasive as the original story. This is understandable not because Azure and Robbi are eleven (Ender is younger still when he enters Battle School) but because of the format and audience chosen, but still, it's generally disappointing.
The story starts at a fair pace then comes to a quick halt--this is meant to be a series after all, and it wouldn't do to give it all away at once. But this first volume gives hardly any data to process--only query after unanswered query. Who are the Givers? What is the Scan? Why can only children work in the tubes--yes, we know the
Another crazy week in books!
Here's what I got:
ARCs for review:
Loss by Jackie Morse Kessler
Winter Wishlist - Week 1
Books and Bookish Things I'd Love to Get
I'm not saying you need to get me these things--I just want to give you an idea of what your book-loving, novel-reading, fiction-addicted geek friends *might* want to get for the holidays, or just any old day.
Let's start with Bookish Things!
First of all, since I never go anywhere without a book, I'd totally love one of these
Nerdy Book Club totes:
Inevitably I go out with one book (and maybe my Kindle) and come back with another half-dozen or so books. I just can't help myself. Hence the need for a roomy and lightweight, machine-washable tote.
 |
| Bookmark pads by KnockKnock |
Also, because I've somehow become extremely disorganized and forgetful in my not-so-old-age, these
Bookmark Pads (which come in 4 styles and in pads of 25 bookmarks) would be great for books I plan on discussing with others, as opposed to just myself... hrm, maybe it'd help me get a lot more reviews up if I remembered to take notes while I was reading. *writes a note about it on the back of some j
| 
omg i love speculoos. laura's husband brought some back from spain a couple of years ago and we all got addicted to it. reminds me that i need to buy some more. awesome list. i love that shadow and bone necklace, too!
And you friend is very grateful for the cookie butter. She's currently concocting recipes in her head.
There is a Speculoos cookbook that has recipes for all kinds of stuff including how to make the cookies and cookie butter. I bought one for a gift but now I am in trouble and totally need to buy myself one :D