Another Project

As you may have noticed this blog has fallen into disrepair.  This isn't because I don't love it, but because I have no time for reading.  I'm always blaming my school and work for this, but I also have other personal projects that cut in on my reading time (I like to keep busy!).  Today, if you'll indulge me, I want to tell you about one of my other projects.

As you may have noticed I enjoy drawing.  I've posted a few doodles here when I've had nothing to write about.  I've also been posting doodles in other places more doodle oriented.

One of my favorite places to hang out with art related ambitions is Threadless.  Threadless is a t-shirt (primarily) website where artists can post t-shirt designs.  The Threadless community then spends a week voting for the designs they think are the best t shirt material.  I've submitted designs, but they've always been denied at the submission process, but today I had my first small success!  One of my designs was accepted for voting!  It's small because I'm not even guaranteed votes and don't expect to make it to the printing stage, but I'm very excited!  The design is above and if you want to help me out I would love votes here.

Thanks and I promise to read something soon (well next I'll probably talk about Nanowrimo, but I'm trying!).

Book 11: W.A.R.P. The Reluctant Assassin

W.A.R.P.

The Reluctant Assassin (book 1)

By: Eoin Colfer

I just glanced back through my blog.  I haven't written anything since March 26.  Oops!  If it makes a difference I have been incredibly busy with work and school.  However, now that I only have work to worry about for a few months I should be able to read much more and maybe even share some pictures.  I actually got this book in the middle of finals week, things did not go well.

Review:

I have to start by saying I am a HUGE Artemis Fowl fan.  Artemis was my absolute favorite book as a child and even now I can't organize my bookshelf without reading a few chapters from Arctic Incident.  That being said W.A.R.P. did not live up to my ridiculously high expectations (I must emphasize that my expectations were not reasonable so this is not the biggest surprise in the world).  The story felt half baked and poorly edited.  I wasn't entirely sure what the characters' goals were until halfway through and they would often repeat or out right contradict themselves in the middle of a conversation.  This book was published less than a year after Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian, and it reads as though it was written in that amount of time as well.

My biggest disappointment with this books is the lack of clever plot twists and witty banter that I have come to expect from Eoin Colfer.  The characters seem stiff and, in the case of Chevie Savano, stereo typical.  I know Eoin Colfer can write time travel extremely well, but for some reason in this book all the twists were incredible predictable and dull.

Recommendation:
I didn't like the book, but sadly I am no longer the target audience.  This book would be perfect for a young reader (ages 12 to 14).  I would recommend this for readers of Artemis Fowl, Avi fans, and Levine fans (I may be aging myself with my young reader selection).

Stars:
6 out of 10

Book Ten: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

by Mark Haddon

I gave up on Sylvia Plath.  It was a very difficult read and I can't be spending all my time on one book if I'm going to finish fifty books in a year!  Paul bought me this book the other day and it was excellent. 

Review: 

The writing style of this book is interesting.  It's written from the perspective of fifteen year old boy with autism named Christopher Boone.  The perspective is fascinating on it's own but the intricate plot of the story is enthralling.  Mark Haddon does an amazing job of drawing all the seemingly unrelated threads together while allowing the reader to see the world through Christopher's eyes.  Reading how Christopher pieces together the mysteries that present themselves in his life and understands the people around him is enlightening.  The book is worded in such away that it is perfect for small breaks.  The simple language makes it easy to pick up where you left off and be immediately reimmersed in the story.

Recommendations:

I am not sure if this book is classified as young adult or adult fiction, but I would classify it as mature young adult.  The writing is easy to read, however the content could be difficult to comprehend.  

Stars:

9 out of 10

Schedules are Difficult

So I'm on spring break.  You'd think that means I have all the time in the world to do nothing but read and write.  I can officially put all the annoying school work on hold.  I don't even have any homework due until Friday after break.  It is during this week of nothing to do that I completely space on my Tuesday update!  I only made one successful Tuesday since making that announcement.  I haven't finished reading a book either (Silvia Plath's a tougher read than I expected).  It turns out even a week off is a busy week for me.  Anyway here's a consolation doodle I made while taking a break from one of my other projects.

Book Nine: The Boy in the Suit Case

The Boy in the Suit Case

by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis

I didn't actually have time to read, buuut I did anyway.  I decided to read something different since I've been reading a lot of YA and this was very different.  According to the front cover this genre is Nordic crime fiction, a genre I have never heard of but I'm suddenly a fan.  Now that I've completely fallen behind on my midterm studying I'm still happy I picked this book up.

I loved everything about The Boy in the Suit Case.  It is well written, the plot is amazing and suspenseful, and the characters all all unique and relatable.  I was surprised by the quality of the writing.  I'm not sure if this is a translation or originally written in English.  If this is a translation it is amazing, it reads as though it's original language is English, complete with beautiful descriptions and word play.  I have never been to Denmark or Lithuania, but I could see the setting as clearly as if the authors had shown me a photograph.  The only hic up is that temperatures are poorly translated into Fahrenheit, but this flaw is minor and easily over looked.  The plot had me on the edge of my seat.  I found my self shouting out loud at Nina for her idiocy from time to time and cheering for Sigita.  Each of the characters has their own unique set of strengths and flaws that left me feeling like I'd met each of them in real life and they are all now my personal friends.  In short this book transported me to the criminal circles of Denmark and Eastern Europe from the comfortable safety of my own couch!

Recommendation: 

I would recommend this book to any adult reader!  I must include the warning though that this book does contain quite a bit of violence and implied sexual abuse so I'd give it a strong PG 13 probably R rating.  The book is suspenseful and had my attention until the very last page.  Definitely pick this up if your looking for break from the everyday.  

Stars:

11 out of 10

Book Eight: Insurgent

Insurgent

By: Veronica Roth

I finally got my hands on a copy of Insurgent and time to read it!  This weekend was a wonderful combination of no homework and no grading.  I loved Divergent and was looking forward to this book and it did not disappoint!  

The characters in this series are well written and unique.  I found each of them relational in their own way.  Beatrice's internal struggle is engrossing.  The reader is pulling for her to overcome her trauma induced failings, while at the same time relived that the trauma was enough to induce such a phobia.  There are massive amounts of character growth in both Tris and Four, but I found the development in both Christina and Peter most interesting.  There is nothing better than a series where even the secondary and minor characters grow.

Recommendations:
Like Divergent I recommend this book to any young adult readers who enjoy sci fi.  The writing is smooth and easy to read.  I would expect readers of all ability within the genre to enjoy with novel.  This book is similar to Hunger games with teens fighting for what the believe in crossed with Uglies sterile world set in black and white.

Stars:
9 out of 10

Maintenance: An Update Schedule

Just a Maintenance Note

As my reading time is severely cut back by school and other projects I find myself worrying about maintaining this blog.  I originally intended to post a blog every time I finished a book.  With a relatively short amount of time and quite a few books to read I assumed I would be finishing books fairly regularly.  Unfortunately I seem to be indulging binge reading.

I have decided to update my bog every Tuesday and sometimes Thursday whether or not I have a new book finished.  If I finish more than two books in a week I'll post more than two blogs, but I will always post at least one blog every week.  Hopefully this will get me reading more regularly so that I have something to post about, but it will definitely keep me active online.

Here's hoping you're finding more time to read than I am!

Book Seven

Reached

By Ally Condie

I finally got my hands on a copy of Reached.  With the semester taking off in earnest I've been struggling to find time for reading, but when this book came in at the library I found time for it.

Reached was the perfect ending for this series.  The story is amazing and the twist that provides the main plot thread for this last book was clever.  I found myself wishing for more when I finished reading.  There are many unexplored aspects of this universe that I would have liked to learn more about.  The surrounding enemy and mysterious Otherlands left me imagining the setting to be North Korean despite name like Cassie.  

I do have my complaints out about this book and the series in general.  I loved the story.  It was unique and interesting, but the books themselves are wordier than necessary.  The writing is circular and dull in places.  As a reader I recognized the poetic wordiness is meant to mirror the poetic nature of Cassie, the first person narrator, but it makes the book more difficult to read, not a good feature for a young adult novel.  Each of the books requires trimming.  If they were half their size they would be much better.

Recommendations:

At the end of the day I did enjoy this book and series so I definitely would recommend this book to YA readers.  I would describe this series as a cross between Hunger Games and Twilight set in the Ugly's universe.  Fans of those series will love this one.  I would not recommend this for low readers.  The wordiness makes the book difficult to read despite the good story and would be frustrating for low readers.

Stars:

7 out of 10

Break Time

My semester has taken off and my reading time has gone down to nothing.  Between grading papers, teaching, and keeping up on the classes I'm taking I've had little time for reading (the life of a grad student is difficult).  I happened to find a few minutes for myself today and thought I'd recommend the best book I've read so far this year and the book I've already read and suggest for other's reading list this year.

Best book this year:

Divergent by Veronica Roth

I cannot wait for Insurgent, I had to order it since none of my local bookstores had it in stock.

Similar books:

Hunger Games, Uglies, Leviathan, and Host

Book I've already read but recommend:

The Host by Stephanie Meyers

With the movie coming out there is precious little time to read this book before the internet is full of spoilers.  I know the Twilight series have a bad reputation, but Host is a different book and I enjoyed it.

Book Six

Crossed

by Ally Condie

An excellent sequel to matched!  I enjoyed matched and the world Ally Condie created for the story, and Crossed take reader to a completely new place in her universe.  I was so transported to the carving that I was disoriented after closing the book.  I looked around expecting to see a canyon and was confused when all I saw was my room.  That being said the book was a little bit slow.  Too much time is taken inside Cassia and Ky's heads and with all the thinking the action stalls in places.  I was a big fan of some of the romantic twists and Ky's character growth is wonderful, although too symbol heavy for me.

Recommendations:

Obviously this book is absolutely required for anyone who read Matched, a reader who hasn't read Matched must read that book first.  The series is definitely sequential.  After reading this book I would still recommend fans of Hunger Games and Uglies read the series, but also Host fans would like this book especially and should read the entire series.  Once again the slow parts are difficult to read through so I would recommend strong Young Adult readers only, not for low readers.

Stars:

7 out of 10

Book Five

Matched by Ally Condie

I have two local bookstores.  Neither of them had Insurgent in stock.  I was told the local library has three copies but all are checked out.  While I wait for Insurgent I picked up Matched instead, which turned out to be an excellent choice.  

Matched didn't quite live up to my expectations which were, admittedly, through the roof.  It was still an extremely good book.  My two main complaints were that the plot seems over done (this is usually a sign that I should change up what I'm reading), and that the voice of Cassia, the main character and narrator, is overly melodramatic.  The writing is wordy, but after reading a few chapters the reader gets used to Ally Condie's voice.  I loved how well the diverse cast of characters were developed, which I find is rare with fist persons books that are limited by how the main character sees people.  I also enjoyed the world Condie built.  The Society, a place where everyone is bred to be the same, is an excellent stage to explore struggling with conformity.

Recommendations:
This is not for a low reader.  A strong reader is required to power through the first few chapters and get used to the writing style.  I recommend this for anyone who enjoys a dystopian novel where the characters are struggling to break free of their over powering governments.  This is similar to Hunger Games or Uglies.

Stars:
8 out of 10

Book Four

Divergent by Veronica Roth

I absolutely loved this book!  I've been looking forward to this one since I took on the 50 book challenge and I was not disappointed.  I'm a huge fan of the more subtle sci fi novels and this book fits that description perfectly.  Veronica Roth portrays a creative futuristic society without slamming the fact that the setting is futuristic in the readers face every page.  The author explained that the technology is different without forcing the reader to endure pages and pages of technical description.  

The strong focus on characters and Beatrice's struggle to find where she belongs in a strongly delineated world makes the book extremely relatable especially to teens who often live in a confusing world delineated by cliques and schools that want them to choose a course of study that will dictate their foreseeable future.  Roth captures the struggle with belonging when everyone else seems to fit in without any trouble at all perfectly through Beatrice's eyes.  

Recommendations: 

I strongly recommend this book to anyone!  Especially anyone who enjoys YA sci fi.  This well written and perfectly paced book keeps the reader engaged every second until the reader is surprised to find they've read the entire book in one day.  The fast pace and easy to understand characters lead me to recommend the book to even week young adult readers.

Readers who enjoyed Hunger Games and/or Harry Potter will love this book.

Stars: 

11 out of 10!!

Book Three

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer:

I'd been meaning to read this book for a while and never got around to it.  When I saw it cheap in a used bookstore I had to get it.  Unfortunately I'm in the process of moving from Texas to Kansas so I haven't had a lot of time for reading, none the less I found myself up at all hours reading this in every spare second I could find.
This young adult sci fi novel comes with plenty of awards that had my expectations high.  I was surprised when the novel fell slightly short of my expectations.  It was still an excellent read, but it did have it's slow places and a scattered plot that left me wondering what the point of the story was in places.  The character more than made up for any plot flaws.  Each major character was unique and realistic.
When it comes to characters I like my heroes with some flaws and my villains with their good qualities.  Nancy Farmer does an excellent job balancing her characters so that the reader is hoping the good guys will succeed, but the reader also understands why the villains do the things they do.  When it comes to a book I find a well balanced cast of characters is the most important thing to me.

Recommendation:
I recommend this to a strong young adult sci fi reader.  The slow parts require a reader who is willing to plow through the dull drums.  Readers who enjoyed Hunger Games or The Giver will also enjoy this novel.

Stars:
8 out of 10

Book Two

Mad Madame Lalaurie by Victoria Cosner Love and Lorelei Shannon:
This is a nonfiction book about Delphine Lalaurie, the creole belle and murderess responsible for tormenting the souls that linger in the Lalaurie mansion (a notorious haunted house in the New Orleans French Quarter) to this day!  I chose to read this book because I was on vacation in New Orleans and wanted to read something local.  The book told the ghost story, but it's focus was a historical debunking of the myths, telling the true story of the Lalaurie family and what actually happened in the mansion.

As a firm skeptic of all things paranormal I enjoyed this book and enjoyed it's search for historical accuracy.  It captured my imagination and inspired the above illustration of Madame Lalaurie's ghost.  The book is written more like a textbook than a novel, but a good textbook, with credible references.  I particularly enjoyed the occasional aside where the author addresses the reader directly.  I found this added personality to a book that was in danger of being too stiff.  The attention to not only Delphine, but the family around her gave a well rounded portrayal of the woman and allowed the reader to draw his or her own conclusions about her guilt in the tragedies that took places at 1140 Rue d'Royal, New Orleans LA.  

Recommendations:

I would recommend this book for anyone who wants a short interesting read about a small corner of American history.  Anyone who's interested in the historic facts behind paranormal myths will enjoy this book.  This book is not for the paranormal fanatic.  The authors go to great lengths to provide the facts that debunk many of the myths and legends surrounding the Lalaurie mansion spending little time on the modern ghost stories that have spun out of history.

Stars:

6 out of 7

Book One

City of Thieves by David Benioff:

  This is outside the genre I usually read, an interesting way to kick start my fifty book challenge.  I enjoyed the book, although it should have come with a heavier than it appears warning. 

Characters:

City of Thieves lacks in plot, but makes up for these short comings with two beautifully well written characters, Lev and Kolya.

Lev Beniov:  

The insecure son of a poet Lev is cautious, cynical, and a survivor.  Throughout the novel he is searching for himself among the destruction of his homeland.

Kolya:

The outwardly confident, but secretly insecure soldier who helps guide Lev towards maturity.  He appears perfect in the beginning, the ideal of what Lev wants to be, but as Lev matures he sees Koyla for what he is under his confident facade.

Recommendation:

I had my complaints about the novel, but overall it was a good read.  This book's target audience is boys age 17 to 30 and would be an excellent read for that demographic.  I would not recommend for anyone under the age of 14 due to explicit content.  Anyone interested in a coming of age story or the dramas that surround world war II outside of the Holocaust will enjoy this book.

Stars:

7 out of 10

Plot:

The plot is simple yet boarders on unbelievable.  The two main characters, Kolya and Lev Beniov are arrested early in the novel for looting and army desertion, crimes that carry a death sentence.  Rather than being shot for their petty crimes the pair are introduced to an NKVD general who demands they find a dozen eggs for his daughters wedding cake within the week in exchange for their lives.  What follows is a dramatic quest for eggs across the war torn USSR.

[spoilers begin]

As the unlikely pair searches through the war ravaged Leningrad for the eggs it soon becomes apparent to the characters that there are no eggs to be found in the city and the next best course of action is to continue their search beyond the enemy German lines.  This seems an unnecessary and extremely risky next move to a the reader, especially after the author admits farmers are able to enter the city and sell their wares at a local black market.

A reader who overlooks this unbelievable opener will be further disillusioned when the to protagonists get hopelessly lost and discover a convenient cabin in the woods, filled with scantly clad women.  The heroes soon learn they have discovered an away from home harem used by local German officers.  This convenient shelter comes complete with food and more information than the protagonists can use.  Once Lev and Kolya are adequately fed and rested the Germans make an appearance, only to be killed by the partisans who happen to chose the night Lev and Kolya are in greatest danger to launch an attack that they had been organizing for months.  After Kolya shots a few insults in Russian these severely guarded saboteurs accept the pair as genuine Russians and include them in their plans to assassinate a high ranking German.

Once the group stumbles upon the particular German the saboteurs have been hunting for months Lev manages to deliver the fatal blow and save the lives of Kolya and the female partisan/love interest, Vika, obtaining the dozen eggs in the process.  The three manage to escape and Vika disappears into the night.

Lev and Kolya return home, miraculously within the week, eggs in hand, only for Kolya to be shot and die in a stiff and unemotional scene.  

[spoilers end]

The Beginning

Welcome to my New Year's resolutions, 50 books in a year!  I stumbled upon this challenge the same way I discover most things, the internet.  I was watching one of my favorite vloggers on youtube when he mentioned that the end of the year was drawing close and he hadn't quite finished his 50 book challenge, vowing to read away the last few days of December in a last ditch effort to reach his goal.  Listening to his tails of literary conquest I began to count the books I'd read that year.  The small number surprised me, I used to read non stop.  Where had all the books gone?  School took up a great deal of time, but did I spend those evening hours curled up with a good book as I used to?  No.  Recently those hours have been spent in front of a computer.  I decided to take the challenge.
I think I'm prepared.  I have a suitcase full of unread books ready for the trip to my new home later this month, and lists of books to be bought and shipped to the same address as the year progresses and I begin to earn my keep.  Now I have the last piece, something to keep me motivated, this blog.  In July, when the year's half over and I'm not half done, I won't be able to shrug and give up, meekly shrinking away from the challenge, nothing won nothing lost.  I have said it out loud to the big wide internet.  Someone will have heard me and, in my mind at least, will be there to shake their head in shame if I give up.  So I won't!
For the coming year I plan to post reviews of every book I read, starting with my first book City of Thieves by David Benioff.
I prefer the young adult genre somewhere in the world of sci fi/fantasy/adventure, although I do stray from my home genre from time to time (City of Thieves is an adult novel about Leningrad during world war II, a bit outside of my comfort zone). My favorite author at the moment is Scott Westerfeld (who unfortunately won't be publishing anything this year), although I love Sir Conan Doyle and Eoin Colfer as well (I believe Artemis Fowl, books 1 and 2, will always be my favorite books).
Stay tuned, enjoy and read along!