Gretchen C. Hohmeyer's Blog, page 50
September 5, 2015
Bibliomancy for Beginners Nostalgia Junkie: “Pilgrims of Rayne” by DJ MacHale
Welcome back all to this special Bibliomancy for Beginners series, Nostalgia Junkie! This ten part special goes book by book through one the favorite childhood series of Head Bibliomancer Michaela from The Pied Piper Calls. Us, with special guest Casey from The Drunk Librarian, will be going week by week through all ten books.
This week we’re talking about the eighth book, Pilgrims of Rayne. In all honesty, Michaela and I couldn’t remember this one from our childhood so this one is going to be a wild ride. Will we remember what happens? Will Casey even enjoy it? FIND OUT NOW!
Previous Episodes:
September 2, 2015
Update: What in the World is Going On Here?
I know, I know, it’s the second Wednesday in a row without a Worth It Wednesdays post. I haven’t run out of worthwhile reads.
Though I’ve been doing my best to keep up with Nostalgia Junkie, the return to school has basically wiped out everything else. For now, anyways.
I’m about to start up a couple of projects very near and dear to my heart, and hopefully you guys will be able to follow them here. One is my thesis. The reading list for this has a list on my Goodreads, and I’m really excited about it. If I get my stuff together, hopefully I’ll find a fun way to incorporate all the books I’m reading for that into this blog.
The second is my senior project for my Creative Writing major. This is my first novel attempt in years–damn you, college!–and it promises to be a wild ride. Again, if I can find a witty way to incorporate that here, I plan to.
Last but CERTAINLY NOT LEAST is a project hopefully coming to you soon from me and
my Bibliomancer gang. It has several facets. One is that me and Michaela from The Pied Piper Calls want to start doing some shorter videos to entertain y’all. Second is that me, Michaela, Taylor and maybe even Casey from The Drunk Librarian are thinking of doing one book a month while school is in session. Except sitting around the SAME TABLE and imbibing alcohol. Because we’re 21 and we can do that now.
All this amounts to some more blogging that will hopefully be going on! I know, I’ve promised that before. But this time I’ve got teachers and friends all looking at me to git’r’done so maybe–just maybe–I’ll actually do it. Fingers crossed!
August 28, 2015
Bibliomancy for Beginners Nostalgia Junkie: “The Quillian Games” by DJ MacHale
Welcome back all to this special Bibliomancy for Beginners series, Nostalgia Junkie! This ten part special goes book by book through one the favorite childhood series of Head Bibliomancer Michaela from The Pied Piper Calls. Us, with special guest Casey from The Drunk Librarian, will be going week by week through all ten books.
This week we’re talking about the seventh book, The Quillian Games. Will this one annoy the shit out of me like it used to? Will Casey even like it? Will Michaela’s “it gets better” mantra ever come to fruition? FIND OUT NOW!
Previous Episodes:
August 20, 2015
Bibliomancy for Beginners Season 3: “Skin Trade” by Anita Blake
Here it is, guys. The final episode of the regular season of Bibliomancy for Beginners.
I’m crying for two reasons. One, this is the FINAL EPISODE. Two, I’M NOT IN THIS EPISODE. I couldn’t make it because I’ve been in job training for all the time ever and couldn’t even make it to the meeting, let alone read the book. However, for once in their lives, Michaela and Taylor aren’t on the same page with their reactions to the book and that makes this VERY entertaining.
Just a quick note before you watch: Miss my face? Miss Michaela’s? Catch up on our special ten part Nostalgia Junkie series, which is STILL GOING. I just posted the sixth installment yesterday. CHECK IT OUT.
Anyways. Here we go!
August 19, 2015
Bibliomancy for Beginners Nostalgia Junkie: “Rivers of Zadaa” by DJ MacHale
Welcome back all to this special Bibliomancy for Beginners series, Nostalgia Junkie! This ten part special goes book by book through one the favorite childhood series of Head Bibliomancer Michaela from The Pied Piper Calls. Us, with special guest Casey from The Drunk Librarian, will be going week by week through all ten books.
This week we’re talking about the sixth book, Rivers of Zadaa. Will Michaela fight Casey and I to the death over our opinions? Will I like this one as much as I did as a kid? Will Casey even like it at all? FIND OUT NOW!
Previous Episodes:
August 18, 2015
Worth It Wednesdays: “Hex Hall” by Rachel Hawkins
Worth It Wednesdays is a weekly post where I feature my favorite YA titles. Find out more about it here!
Title: Hex Hall
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Goodreads Description: Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It’s gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie’s estranged father—an elusive European warlock—only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it’s her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.
By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tag-along ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire student on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.
As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.
Why it’s worth it: I know, it sounds kind of like Harry Potter, right? That’s what I thought. And, you know, that’s kind of correct. I honestly almost didn’t pick up this series because I thought, “Yikes, this sounds like something I’ve read before.” But you know what?
THIS SERIES IS SO MUCH FUN.
I often call this series “mind candy,” because that’s how I think about it. The plot isn’t overly complicated and the characters aren’t necessarily deeply nuanced, but I love it all the same. The dialogue is spot on, the action is packed and you can read through them like butter. Every time I re-read one of these books, I laugh out loud–and I don’t do that often!
I was so enthralled by Sophie and her narration that I almost couldn’t bring myself to read Hawkins’ next series, Rebel Belle. But, it turns out, this is just how she writes. I’ve been won over by her sense of humor and fast paced, easy reading–and I think you will too!
Read it if you’re looking for: Strong female friendships, swoon-worthy romance, fast paced action, books like Harry Potter, sassy main characters, magic, fantasy, witches, demons, humor and feel good moments
August 13, 2015
Worth It Wednesdays: “Anna and the French Kiss” by Stephanie Perkins
Worth It Wednesdays is a weekly post where I feature my favorite YA titles. Find out more about it here!
Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Goodreads Description: Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris–until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all…including a serious girlfriend.
But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?
Why it’s worth it: When the blogosphere first blew up with this book, I shied away automatically. I tend to dislike YA contemporary romance, and this just sounded … trite. Like I’d read it a million times before. But more and more of my bloggy friends and people I liked around the internet kept saying I THOUGHT THAT BUT IT’S GOOD and I went … alright?
TURNS OUT THAT THEY WERE ALL CORRECT.
Anna is the kind of book that stays with you long after the pages have shut. It’s the kind of book that I re-read when I’m feeling the worst in my life. Does the description make it sound like dozens of other things? Yes. Is the plot similar in that way? Yes.
The thing about it, though, is the way that Perkins writes. There is no doubt in my mind about the reality of this story. The characters are REAL. Their issues are REAL. And there is none of this “main character perfection” or “love interest perfection” thing that happens sometimes in similar novels. Anna and St. Clair are messed up. They mess up over the course of the book. They fall apart and them come back together, TOGETHER.
Also, Perkins doesn’t let the book just be about the romance. There is a lot of real back and forth about friendships, and how crushes within friend groups can lead to grief and heartache. Yet, again, the friendships fall apart and come back together with a reality that is staggering. There isn’t a single character–within the main romance or not–that doesn’t steal your heart.
Maybe I’m biased. Anna did get me through one of the toughest periods of my life. But I thoroughly believe that a lot of it is also due to the fact that Perkins is just a damn good author. There are two companion books to Anna, and both are really good as well. Okay, I was only okay with Lola and The Boy Next Door but Isla and The Happily Ever After came back and stole my heart all over again. So yeah. Just read them.
Read it if you’re looking for: YA contemporary romance that won’t make you want to vomit, lack of a real love triangle, books about friendship, books about Paris, books about family, swoon worthy romance, books that will stay with you.
August 10, 2015
Top Ten Authors I’ve Read The Most Books From
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish!
So I haven’t done one of these in a LONG time, but since the theme worked so well into the direction I’m turning the blog in (i.e., promoting what I love, leaving the critical reviewing behind), I just had to do it. So, here we go (in no particular order)!
Tamora PierceThis woman was the hero of my childhood. She was the hero of my tweens. She is the hero of my twenties. I got to learn from her for two summers in a row in high school–and THEN she came to my college freshman year–and the starry eyed wonder of her has never left me. Not to mention the fact that she has written more books than I actually know how to count and I have read them ALL.
2. Clive Cussler
There are about 20+ books in his Dirk Pitt series, PLUS however many are in the Kurt Austin adventures. He’s got a few other series now, but I’m a traditionalist and I’ve only ever read through these two favorites of mine.
3. 
Meg Cabot
Didn’t every girl go through this phase? I’m not just talking Princess Diaries here, either. I read her stand-alones, her All-American Girl series … everything. If Meg Cabot write it, I had to have it.
4. Philippa Gregory
I will forever be cranky about the historical leaps that she took in The Other Boleyn Girl especially, but that doesn’t stop me from lapping up every single book she writes on Tudor England. I think the only books by her that I haven’t read was that one non-Royal series she did and–strangely–her YA series. The first book of which I have lying around here … somewhere.
5. Richelle Mead
Richelle is another one of those authors that has written more books than I know how to count, but I haven’t actually read them ALL. I’m deeply obsessed with her 12 Vampire Academy and Bloodlines books but I have also read part of her Gameboard of the Gods series. I don’t know what I’ll do without more VA goodness, but she’s got me hooked enough on her to keep going with whatever she writes.
Did you guys miss the time that I drove 5 hours one way mostly to see Cassie? Because I did that. I have not only read everything she’s ever written, but also own it. (Except for that middle grade series she’s doing. I’m scared of middle grade.) She’s one of my favorite authors of all time right now, and I don’t see that changing in the foreseeable future.
7. Eva Ibbotson
Did anyone else read these books as a kid? I couldn’t stop. Sometime during my childhood, the publisher did a re-release of a bunch of her stuff and I bought all of it. It’s just so much … fun. Romantic, magical fun.
8. Simone Elkeles
I read Perfect Chemistry by Simone and I was just hooked. I went back and read all the stuff I’d missed beforehand, and then the two books that followed Perfect Chemistry. I even started her new series before my love of contemporary YA romance phased out. I still love these books to death, though.
9. Rachel Hawkins
Hex Hall was absolute perfection. When her Rebel Belle series started, I wasn’t so sure I could do it. But no. I’m in love with Rachel forever and always.
10. Kiersten White
Sometimes I forget just how MUCH STUFF Kiersten has done. Her Paranormalcy series was beautiful, of course, but then there was her Egyptian God based book Chaos of Stars–which I just reread–and her Mind Games series. All of which I own, of course!
Bibliomancy for Beginners Nostalgia Junkie: “Black Water” by DJ MacHale
Welcome back all to this special Bibliomancy for Beginners series, Nostalgia Junkie! This ten part special goes book by book through one the favorite childhood series of Head Bibliomancer Michaela from The Pied Piper Calls. Us, with special guest Casey from The Drunk Librarian, will be going week by week through all ten books.
This week we’re talking about the fifth book: Black Water. Will Michaela and I still hate this one as much as we did when we were kids? Will the cats win over Casey or will she join us in our hate? JOIN US AND FIND OUT!
Previous Episodes:
August 4, 2015
Worth It Wednesdays: “Throne of Glass” by Sarah J. Maas
Worth It Wednesdays is a weekly post where I feature my favorite YA titles. Find out more about it here!
Title: Throne of Glass
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publication Date: August 7th, 2012
Goodreads Description: After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.
Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king’s council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she’s bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her… but it’s the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.
Then one of the other contestants turns up dead… quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.
Why it’s worth it: LISTEN PEOPLE. I WORSHIP ON THE GROUND SARAH J. MAAS WALKS ON. I tend to have a thing against high fantasy novels for being too detailed, but sometimes YA fantasy teeters too far the other way. The Throne of Glass series is absolute perfection.
Okay, I’ll be honest, the first book in the series wasn’t the strongest, writing wise, but it was SO GOOD that I even managed to win over my book club. The books have gotten even better since then, with the writing and the story constantly improving. The plot is a non-stop action fest, the characters are all well rounded and the magic system and the world building are expertly done. Romance wise, this book sets up a love triangle that I–wait for it–ACTUALLY LIKE because Sarah does such a good job with the relationships between Celaena and her two beaus that it feels real and right.
When I wrote my review of my ARC of the first book, I said, “There are few beautiful things in this world. This is one of them.” I have never meant anything more in my life. The 2nd book only got better, and the 3rd book is the one that I have reread the most. The 4th book comes out in September and I am in physical pain because I don’t have it. I even presented at an academic conference last year–among full professors and grad students much wiser than my undergrad self–with a presentation titled: #Now Trending: How Throne of Glass Proves Bad YA Trends Can Make Good Literature.
This series may actually be my favorite thing of all time right now.
Read it if you’re looking for: Strong fantasy with excellent world building, a kick ass female character, strong female friendships, a love triangle you won’t hate, action and adventure
