Susan

Susan rated a book 4 of 5 stars

The Time Fetch
by Amy Herrick

read in June, 2013

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Have you ever felt like a day got away from you, or some habitual part of your daily routine has become so routine that you realize you've done it without thinking about it--without even having a memory of it? Little snippets of time like that, momen...more Have you ever felt like a day got away from you, or some habitual part of your daily routine has become so routine that you realize you've done it without thinking about it--without even having a memory of it? Little snippets of time like that, moments that are forgettable, trivial, are ripe for the plucking by the Old Folk who serve as the Keepers of Time. The secret of how these odds and ends of time get collected is contained within a seemingly inconspicuous object called a Fetch. Normally this business is taken care of well outside the register of normal human awareness, until one day a Fetch gets picked up by an eighth grade boy and everything starts to go terribly awry--including Time itself.

Edward, the main character, is a boy in perpetual self-imposed hibernation; he shuffles through life trying to get through it with as little effort and notice as possible, though he rarely gets his wish. His parents are dead, he lives with his unconventional aunt who is a constant embarrassment to him, and he is regularly bullied by a neighbor girl who goes to his school. With his personal life in such disarray as all that, Edward obsesses over science to make sense of the world around him and also to give him an excuse to not allow himself to get emotionally invested in anything. As is often the case in these kind of fantastical adventures, his teammates on this adventure aren't friends so much as fellow outcasts (even the supposedly "popular" girl is really a lone wolf at heart) who happen to get entangled into the mess Edward finds himself in. The mention of this "uneasy alliance" as it's referred to on the back cover, was enough to make me wary. The nice guy a really excellent job in fleshing out her characters fo r thejock? The obnoxious know-it-all girl, the weird shy kid...isn't this kind of the same group of kids we always see in these stories? But Herrick does most part (with the possible exception of Danton, likeable as he is) and making them feel like a little more than just the usual two dimensional props, and even the secondary characters are shown some nice attention. Edwards's Aunt Kit and Mr. Ross the science teacher are standouts, in particular.

This is a story you can easily lose yourself in, with nice atmosphere, good dialogue between the characters, and a little mythology with a celtic twist. If the actual logistics of the time snatching/foragers/Unraveler, etc. are a little complicated, there's more than enough good in here to excuse it. This would probably be enjoyed by fans of Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series or 13 Treasures.(less)

Susan rated a book 3 of 5 stars

Emma Emmets, Playground Matchmaker
by Julia DeVillers (Goodreads Author)

read in June, 2013

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Emma wants to make a flashy debut when she starts fourth grade by reinventing herself. When a friend credits Emma for introducing her to her new boyfriend, Emma has a brainstorm: why couldn't she make a name for herself as a matchmaker? Once you get...more

Susan rated a book 2 of 5 stars

The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner, #2)
by James Dashner (Goodreads Author)

read in May, 2013

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Dashner attempts to up the ante with the sequel to The Maze Runner by throwing zombies in with the plot twists and conspiracies--or at least the zombie-esque victims of The Flare. Thomas and company receive the rude awakening that their supposed savi...more

Susan rated a book 3 of 5 stars

The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1)
by James Dashner (Goodreads Author)

read in May, 2013

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An elevator deposits a teenager in the heart of a walled compound. The only thing he remembers is his name, and barely that. Who sent him there, and where did he come from? That's how the survival story/dystopian adventure The Maze Runner begins, and...more

Susan rated a book 3 of 5 stars

Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1)
by Jim Butcher (Goodreads Author)

read in May, 2013

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Three plus. Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, Wizard for hire, might be a man of our times, but The Dresden Files is full of nods to the pulp fiction detective stories that are my guilty pleasure.
As the only "out" and publicly-practicing professi...more

Susan rated a book 3 of 5 stars

The Tin Woodman of Oz
by L. Frank Baum

read in April, 2013

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So, if you've seen my other Oz series reviews you already know that I don't mince words, and this review won't be any different. This installment in the Oz series picks up a pretty significant dropped thread from earlier in the saga: Nick Chopper, a....more So, if you've seen my other Oz series reviews you already know that I don't mince words, and this review won't be any different. This installment in the Oz series picks up a pretty significant dropped thread from earlier in the saga: Nick Chopper, a.k.a. the Tin Woodsman, jilted a Munchkin girl. Yes, it's true. Allegedly he jilted her because of his enchantment-induced heartlessness. The trouble with this is that as readers, we're all entirely aware of the little bit of dramatic irony that the big three (Nick Chopper, Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion) always had everything they thought they were seeking. So really, the best excuse you could give for him is that he left her because he was self-deluded. And sadly, even if you brush that aside, that still doesn't change the fact that after he was "cured" and believed himself to be cured, he didn't bother to attempt to reconnect. Not even because he assumed she had to have moved on by now, or didn't know if she was still around, which might be sort of understandable. Because it *never occurred* to him to even think about her. It's a weird little branch of backstory--and (I assume) this loose end clearly nagged at some fans enough to inquire about it, so this book is Baum addressing it by sending the Tin Woodsman off to track down his old sweetheart and make amends by carrying through on his original plan to marry her.

The Tin Woodsman is mostly a very lovable character, so I want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but this book opens in such a way that it does no favors to his rep. For one, he basically gets shamed into the journey to begin with. Also, he makes it brutally, brutally clear at many junctures that the mission is purely out of duty and not motivated by romance or (oddly for him) emotion. Apparently his wizard-brand heart is made for like and not for love, or some little loophole of an explanation that doesn't feel very satisfying. Nick's compassion is referenced on many occasions, yet he really doesn't seem to show very much at all for his old sweetheart and is primarily motivated by his intention to keep his word. It's an oddly cold (though I suppose belatedly honorable) way for him to act and so the book feels pretty consistently out of step somehow. And this is all before the unsettling bit of doppelganger theater that takes place later in the book.

As Oz quests go, it's pretty weak. Nick Chopper himself seems reluctant about pretty much from the beginning, and the characters don't really stick with you too much. Altogether pretty middle-of-the-road.(less)

Susan rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Ozma of Oz
by L. Frank Baum

read in March, 2013

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Strangely enough, I think this is one of my favorite books in the series. It starts off with another Act of God/weather phenomenon. Dorothy is traveling with her Uncle Henry by boat and gets swept overboard during a storm. Her good fortune does not d...more

Susan rated a book 3 of 5 stars

Little Wizard Stories of Oz
by L Frank Baum

read in March, 2013

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Technically maybe a three plus. This was a quick read with just a handful of stories featuring favorite characters: Scarecrow, Nick Chopper, Tik Tok, etc. Some are a little stronger than others, but though the shorter format seems to bring out more o...more

Susan rated a book 4 of 5 stars

The Magic of Oz
by L. Frank Baum

read in April, 2013

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Sure, this comes with disclaimers. It might only barely be a four. It was kind of all over the place. Even so. I really kind of liked this one. I tend to like the Oz books where I feel like I can kind of make out the underpinnings of fairy tale conve...more

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Susan rated a book 4 of 5 stars The Time Fetch by Amy Herrick read in June, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Have you ever felt like a day got away from you, or some habitual part of your daily routine has become so routine that you realize you've done it without thinking about it--without even having a memory of it? Little snippets of time like that, momen...more
5 hours, 31 min ago · see review
Susan rated a book 3 of 5 stars Emma Emmets, Playground Matchmaker by Julia DeVillers (Goodreads Author) read in June, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Emma wants to make a flashy debut when she starts fourth grade by reinventing herself. When a friend credits Emma for introducing her to her new boyfriend, Emma has a brainstorm: why couldn't she make a name for herself as a matchmaker? Once you get...more
Jun 17, 2013 04:06pm · see review
Susan rated a book 2 of 5 stars The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner, #2) by James Dashner (Goodreads Author) read in May, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dashner attempts to up the ante with the sequel to The Maze Runner by throwing zombies in with the plot twists and conspiracies--or at least the zombie-esque victims of The Flare. Thomas and company receive the rude awakening that their supposed savi...more
May 26, 2013 07:57pm · see review
Susan rated a book 3 of 5 stars The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1) by James Dashner (Goodreads Author) read in May, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
An elevator deposits a teenager in the heart of a walled compound. The only thing he remembers is his name, and barely that. Who sent him there, and where did he come from? That's how the survival story/dystopian adventure The Maze Runner begins, and...more
May 26, 2013 07:05pm · see review
Susan rated a book 3 of 5 stars Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1) by Jim Butcher (Goodreads Author) read in May, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Three plus. Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, Wizard for hire, might be a man of our times, but The Dresden Files is full of nods to the pulp fiction detective stories that are my guilty pleasure. As the only "out" and publicly-practicing professi...more
May 17, 2013 03:33pm · see review
Susan rated a book 3 of 5 stars The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum read in April, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
So, if you've seen my other Oz series reviews you already know that I don't mince words, and this review won't be any different. This installment in the Oz series picks up a pretty significant dropped thread from earlier in the saga: Nick Chopper, a....more
May 13, 2013 06:52am · see review
Susan rated a book 4 of 5 stars Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum read in March, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Strangely enough, I think this is one of my favorite books in the series. It starts off with another Act of God/weather phenomenon. Dorothy is traveling with her Uncle Henry by boat and gets swept overboard during a storm. Her good fortune does not d...more
May 11, 2013 09:08am · see review
Susan rated a book 3 of 5 stars Little Wizard Stories of Oz by L Frank Baum read in March, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Technically maybe a three plus. This was a quick read with just a handful of stories featuring favorite characters: Scarecrow, Nick Chopper, Tik Tok, etc. Some are a little stronger than others, but though the shorter format seems to bring out more o...more
May 11, 2013 07:41am · see review
Susan rated a book 4 of 5 stars The Magic of Oz by L. Frank Baum read in April, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sure, this comes with disclaimers. It might only barely be a four. It was kind of all over the place. Even so. I really kind of liked this one. I tend to like the Oz books where I feel like I can kind of make out the underpinnings of fairy tale conve...more
May 11, 2013 07:26am · see review

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