Alyssa Goodnight's Blog, page 3

A Little Kitchen Witchery

I have a book coming out next week!  Seriously, it’s been a whirlwind year with this book.  I signed my contract with Entangled Publishing in February, and then for the next three months, there was hardcore editing, with me whipping things into shape on a serious time crush.  The first couple months of summer were relaxing (whew!), and then came August: twenty-five little days left to hype, promote, blog, and everything else in preparation for an August 25th release.

I had that under control, and then the release date got moved up one day to August 24th.  No biggie, right.  I guess, except August 24th is also the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.  So, it’s been a little crazy.  But I’m excited!  Contract to publication in six months?  I’ll take it!  And Entangled has been so great to work with–these people have IDEAS!!

Anyway, back to the book.  It’s called JUST SAY YES, and it’s a romance (of course!) with a magical twist.  Unlike the sort of magic in AUSTENTATIOUS and AUSTENSIBLY ORDINARY, the magic in his book is dependent on the reader’s interpretation of things.  It’s not hit-you-over-the-head paranormal magic but more is-it-or-isn’t it sort of magic.  One of the characters is a kitchen witch with a new line of small-batch products (see below) and a self-professed match-maker.  She launches a supper club with the explicit intention of pairing people up with the help of food magic.  Beyond that, the heroine, Jade, needs to renovate her 70s kitchen, and the hero, Max, is a contractor.  Convenient, huh?  Classic romance stuff.

Here are the opening lines (just to give you the gist…)  If you want to read a longer excerpt (and have access to all the buy links!), here’s the book page on the Entangled website.

 

Chapter One

Some days, romance needs a little push, a little vote of confidence. For those days, there is chocolate-cherry-blueberry bark. The blueberries will calm your nerves, the cherries will amp up your seductive wiles, and the chocolate means you’ve scored 

already.

—Witch in the Kitchen, Bark Is Better with Bite

To celebrate my summer release, I’m sharing the recipe for Witch in the Kitchen Chocolate-Cherry-Blueberry Bark.  (It’s super easy, and based heavily on this recipe.)

 

Witch in the Kitchen’s Bark is Better with Bite

(Chocolate-Cherry-Blueberry Bark)

Ingredients:

8 oz. dark chocolate (Or, however much you want.  I used a three-bar package of Trader Joe’s 72% cacao dark chocolate bars and it made ten 1 1/2″ rounds

dried wild blueberries (I used about 1/8 c.)

dried tart cherries, chopped (I used about 1/8 c.)

Steps:

Roughly chop the chocolate and scrape into a microwave safe dish.  Microwave on high for 30 sec.; remove and stir.  If chocolate is not melted, heat for another 30 sec. and stir.  Press the back of the spoon into any remaining lumps and stir until smooth.  (Microwave for a few additional seconds if needed.)

Spread a sheet of parchment on a tray and scoop the chocolate by tablespoonfuls onto the parchment, swirling each slightly to create uniform shapes. Gently press the dried fruits into the melted chocolate.*

Let set at room temperature or put the tray in the refrigerator to speed up the process.  Then enjoy!

*Alternately, pour the chocolate out over the parchment and sprinkle with cherries and blueberries.  When set, break into manageable pieces.

There’s a Goodreads giveaway for a print copy of JUST SAY YES going on right now, and it ends August 21st, so get on that!

And here’s a fun character interview thing I did with Misty Braden from The Book Rat.

New Book! JUST SAY YES

So, if you read my last post, you’ll know that I have a book coming out this summer–August 25th to be exact!  Entangled Publishing will be releasing my contemporary romance JUST SAY YES in both ebook and paperback.  It’s up on Goodreads if you want to add it to your TBR, and it’s available for pre-order in all sorts of places.

And it’s blurbed by the fabulous Marilyn Brant!!  Here’s what she had to say, (in case you can’t read it on the book cover)…

“A humorous, warmhearted, and magical romance!  Prepare to be charmed.”

 — New York Times bestselling author, Marilyn Brant

Click here to view the embedded video.

Single mom Jade Moran isn’t ready for any big changes in either her horrible ’70s kitchen or her romantic life. Her ex did a number on her, and she isn’t interested in getting hurt again. But when she meets a super-hot contractor, she wonders if avocado appliances are on the way out and romance is on the way in.

Max Gianopoulis doesn’t have a clue why he’s so enchanted by Jade. She’s almost as big a mess as her kitchen, and he’s a guy who likes to keep things simple. He let himself get involved with a previous client, and he’s not interested in repeating the experience. But Jade has turned up the flirty heat—and he can’t keep his hands off her.

With everything moving too fast and coming too easy, Jade’s insecurities kick into high gear. She’s not sure she can trust another man again—and she definitely doesn’t believe in magic.

It’s not mentioned in the blurb, but there is a supper club and a kitchen witch, and sprinkling of magic in this book.  I hope you’re intrigued!

There’s an upcoming blog tour, and I’ll be posting more details on that soon!  So check back!

 

Artifact ~ BRC

I almost didn’t review this month–I’ve had a few re-reads and read a few books that didn’t inspire me to review, but then I downloaded Artifact by Gigi Pandian just before I went on vacation (for $2.99 on ebook!), and there were so many things I liked about it that I decided I needed to post a review.  (Look at me, reviewing an adult book!)

From Amazon:

When historian Jaya Jones receives a mysterious package containing a jewel-encrusted artifact, she discovers the secrets of a lost Indian treasure may be hidden in a Scottish legend. But she’s not the only one on the trail. From San Francisco to the Highlands of Scotland, Jaya must evade a shadowy stalker as she follows hints from the hastily scrawled note to a remote archaeological dig. Helping her decipher the cryptic clues are her magician best friend, a devastatingly handsome art historian with something to hide, and a charming archaeologist running for his life. When a member of the dig’s crew is murdered, Jaya must figure out which of the scholars vying for her affections might be the love of her life—and which one is a killer.

You may think this summary implies the book has a heavy romance bent–it doesn’t.  The romance is mostly covered by a few scattered words like, “intense” and “passionate.”  But it definitely adds a bit of tension and suspense all its own.

By now I assume you’re on the edge of your seat wondering what I liked about this book.  Read on as I tell all…

1.  Jaya Jones.  Seriously, that is a great name for an adventure heroine, and she doesn’t disappoint.  She’s a tiny (under 5′), 30ish South Indian history professor in San Francisco, and she plays the tabla (drums) at an Indian restaurant.  She’s smart and feisty, she eats like she means it, and she’s thoroughly unsentimental.  Basically, she’s a chick who gets things done.

2.  Supporting characters!  From the Russian landlady (Nadia) to the North Indian sitar player/magician/best friend (Sanjay), to the mysteriously attractive graduate student (Lane) who teams up with Jaya to get busy on this mystery, not to mention a slew of minor characters.  They were all pretty fascinating.

3.  The mystery of Lane was *quite* satisfying.  I won’t say any more–no spoilers.

4.  An anything goes mentality: A ruby bracelet falls into her hands -> she teams up with Lane and sets off for the British Museum (where she has connections because of her graduate work).  They stumble over a clue -> they set off for an archaeological dig in the Scottish Highlands.  They’re bouncing around at the drop of a hat, and as a hardcore planner, I enjoyed the freedom.

5.  The historical element.  The author wove in a lot of historical detail quite legitimately, given Jaya’s academic background, and it was pretty much all relevant to her solving the mystery.  Very interesting.

I’m back from vacation and have bought the second book in the series (also for $2.99), and I’m already enjoying the new historical direction.  If I buy the third, I’m going to have to cough up a whopping $4.99, but I think it’ll be worth it.

So.  If you like historical mysteries, unique, spunky heroines, and a dash of romance, I recommend you give the Treasure Hunt Mystery series a try!  For more reviews, click through on the typewriter.  And have a great summer–we’re back in September!

* In other news…the cover for my August 2015 release was revealed today!  Two months to go!!  *

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@Barrie Summy

If You Find This ~ BRC

Here we are again! For this month’s Book Review Club, I have another middle grade novel to recommend, which is kind of weird. I hardly read any middle grade or YA, but lately that’s all I’ve been reviewing. What can I say?  I’ve discovered some good stuff!

May I present (um, review)… If You Find This by Matthew Baker!

If you, like me, are a fan of the 80’s classic The Goonies, then that just adds another layer of awesome to this book, because it is seriously The Goonies of this middle grade generation. I would LOVE to see this book get made into a movie. So. Much. Goodness.

 

You know I like to start with the covers, and this one has a lot going on. I deliberately attached a HUGE image so you could get the full effect. I love all the details: the house on the hill, the three boys, the background sketching (done by the author), the beam of the flashlight, the silhouettes of houses, and the man standing at the bottom…It all factors into the story!!

Okay, moving on.  From Amazon:

Mixing mystery and adventure in the tradition of Louis Sachar, Avi, and E.L. Konigsburg, If You Find This is the story of unlikely friendships, unexpected bravery and eleven-year-old Nicholas Funes’s quest to prove his grandfather’s treasure is real.

Nicholas is a math and music genius with no friends and a huge problem: His father has lost his job, and they’ll have to sell their house, which holds the only memory Nicholas has of his younger brother. Just in time, Nicholas’s senile grandfather arrives, filled with tales of priceless treasure he has hidden somewhere in town–but where?

With the help of misfit classmates, two grandfathers, a ghosthouse, hidden messages, séances, and an uncanny mind for numbers, Nicholas stages a nursing home breakout, tangles with high schoolers in smugglers’ tunnels, and gets swept up in a duel with the biggest bullies in the neighborhood. Will it be enough to find the treasure and save his house?

Sounds pretty awesome, doesn’t it? Well, that doesn’t even do it justice. Here’s a sample page that gives you an idea of how the author has incorporated Nicolas’s musical and mathematical mind.

Happy to the power of jamboree!! Best. Kiss. Ever!

Like The Goonies, this story is about a family poised to lose their house and a treasure hunt that will hopefully help them keep it.  But Nicolas has a bigger reason to want to keep his house than the kids in the movie.  When his baby brother died, they planted a tree in the backyard in remembrance, and that tree has become his brother in his mind.  He “talks” to his brother with his violin, and his brother talks back with the breeze.  If he leaves this house, he’s leaving his brother behind.

There’s kidnapping, secret caves, a decades-old shady past, and plenty of mystery and adventure, but there are also bigger themes: old age and death, bullying, loneliness, acceptance.  This book has a TON going on, but really and truly, it’s about loyalty, friendship, and the courage to do the right thing.  I loved it and cannot recommend it highly enough.  I can’t wait for more books by Matthew Baker.

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The Falconer ~ BRC

Happy Spring! In Texas we’ve already had 80 degree weather–strawberry picking weather.  And I’ve already gone strawberry picking.  In fact, it’s probably around time for me to go again…  But I digress.  Let’s get to it.  On Tuesday there was a tweet in my feed about THE FALCONER by Elizabeth May being on sale for $1.99 (ebook).  I loved the cover and was intrigued by the storyline, so I bought it.  No regrets.  Well, maybe one little one.  But I’ll get to that.  As of the writing of this review, it is still on sale, so go grab it up!  Read on, and I’ll tell you why you should.

From Amazon:

Edinburgh, 1844. Beautiful Aileana Kameron only looks the part of an aristocratic young lady. In fact, she’s spent the year since her mother died developing her ability to sense the presence of Sithichean, a faery race bent on slaughtering humans. She has a secret mission: to destroy the faery who murdered her mother. But when she learns she’s a Falconer, the last in a line of female warriors and the sole hope of preventing a powerful faery population from massacring all of humanity, her quest for revenge gets a whole lot more complicated. The first volume of a trilogy from an exciting new voice in young adult fantasy, this electrifying thriller blends romance and action with steampunk technology and Scottish lore in a deliciously addictive read.

One year ago, Aileana was dreaming about balls, and dresses, and the man she might marry.  Then she saw her mother murdered by a faery.  Since then, she’s been training to fight and kill faeries who willfully murder every night in Edinburgh–training with a faery who has vowed never again to kill humans.  In her spare time, she invents new weapons to arm herself in the fight.  They incorporate arrows, fire, explosives…whatever it takes, and the inventions are seriously half the fun of this book.  Aileana is a fascinating character: driven, broken, self-possessed, cunning, guilt-ridden…and when we meet her, she’s already thoroughly entrenched in this unbelievable life.  There’s also a charming, funny little pixie living in her dressing room.

After all this is established, and it’s clear she’s settled into her crazy life, the hits start coming and don’t let up.  She discovers she’s a Falconer–the last of her kind–ideally suited to fight against the faeries and surprise! that the seal that has locked the faery population beneath Edinburgh is about to break and she’s the only one who can fix it.  Then there’s the pesky little problem of her father requiring her to marry.  And the fact that she’s falling in love with the faery who’s trained her…  Not to mention a whole bunch of other things that I won’t mention here, because they’re kind of spoilery.  Believe me, it’s intense.

I loved Aileana, but there were times I thought her language didn’t totally gel with my expectations for a young lady living in 1844 Edinburgh.  Still, that was a minor flaw.  The book did require a little suspension of belief–it read like an action/adventure movie might play out–but honestly, I didn’t care.  And then there was that ending.  Let’s just say that it was good, but it wasn’t nearly enough.  It’s a serious cliffhanger, and I don’t even know when the next book is coming out!!

So.  While I recommend this book–highly–I’d maybe suggest waiting to read it until number 2 is visible on the horizon.  I think it might be available in the UK, but I’m not sure when the US release date might be.  I’ll definitely be waiting.

Now click through on the typewriter for more reviews!

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Vango ~ BRC

I came across this month’s Book Review Club pick while working in the library at younger son’s junior high. I don’t let myself linger too long reading the blurbs or staring at the covers of the books I’m processing, but this one caught my eye. It’s Vango by Timothee de Fombelle.  I’m also adding a mini review of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo, which at the time I wrote this review, was the number one selling book on Amazon.com!

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First Vango…

From Amazon:

A breathless adventure from international award winner Timothée de Fombelle charts a desperate search for identity across the vast expanses of Europe.

In a world between wars, a young man on the cusp of taking priestly vows is suddenly made a fugitive. Fleeing the accusations of police who blame him for a murder, as well as more sinister forces with darker intentions, Vango attempts to trace the secrets of his shrouded past and prove his innocence before all is lost. As he crisscrosses the continent via train, boat, and even the Graf Zeppelin airship, his adventures take him from Parisian rooftops to Mediterranean islands to Scottish forests. A mysterious, unforgettable, and romantic protagonist, Vango tells a thrilling story sure to captivate lovers of daring escapades and subversive heroes.

So, what was it about this book that prompted me to go looking for it at my local library?  The color-blocked cover. The time period. The setting. And the mystery.

None of it disappointed.

There is always an urgency running through the stories set in Europe in the years between WWI and WWII, and this one was no exception.  But Vango’s mysterious life added a whole other layer.  The reader has no idea who he is or who’s chasing him, and the scary part is, Vango doesn’t know any more than we do.  He knows his name: Vango Romano, and he knows that he and a woman going only by ‘Mademoiselle,’ showed up on an island in the Mediterranean Sea when he was a little boy.  The rest of his past is a mystery that Mademoiselle refuses to speak of.

But he’s a climber and an adventurer.  He communes with birds, takes risks, makes friends easily, and charms everyone he meets.  But no one knows anything about him.  Which makes him slippery and elusive.  No one can even imagine the cagey cleverness of this boy of fifteen.

But as Vango criss-crosses Europe to elude capture by the police, we gradually begin to get a better picture of his past.  But not a clear one by any means.  I finished the book, but I still feel as if I’m almost completely in the dark.  I know the main characters, but I also don’t.  And very little was resolved in the end–in fact, I’m not sure whether a single storyline thread was completely tied up.  But naturally this has me avidly curious about the next book in the series, Vango: A Prince Without a Kingdom.  Luckily, it comes out this week.

I would recommend this book for readers curious about the looming threat of Hitler in 1930’s Europe, for those loving a rip-roaring adventure, or an epic saga.  Or anyone who likes their heroes wrapped in a little mystery.  But they’ll need patience, and lots of it.

 

Having recently come to the conclusion that I need to declutter my house and my life, I picked up Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up:  The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.  I was hoping for a miracle, and judging by the number of copies of this book being sold, I’m not the only one.

From Amazon:

This #1 New York Times best-selling guide to decluttering your home from Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes readers step-by-step through her revolutionary KonMari Method for simplifying, organizing, and storing.

Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?

Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo’s clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list). 

With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house “spark joy” (and which don’t), this international bestseller featuring Tokyo’s newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home—and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.

Okay, so I’m about halfway through this book, and I feel like it could have been written as a pamphlet.  The author has made several good points that I will definitely be taking into consideration when I begin my decluttering, but much of this tiny book is anecdotes from her childhood or past clients.  And much of it doesn’t really mesh with my personal way of thinking.  For example, several pages are devoted to explaining how wrong it is to store socks paired up with their tops folded over.  I’ve been using this very method–with no issues–since I was a kid.  The author suggests that this method doesn’t allow the socks to rest and instead, they should be treated with more care and consideration after the hard work they’ve undergone between your foot and shoe. Ahem.

She is the only author I’ve seen who thanks her house and personal possessions on the acknowledgement page of her book.

That said, she also recommends pulling out your belongings by category (clothes, books, mementoes, etc.) to sort through them.  She insists that each item be held individually so that you can make an assessment as to whether or not it sparks joy and is something you should keep.  I can see how this sort of emotional involvement could be a particularly effective way to settle on the items to keep and the items to give away.  On the other hand…. Books, she says, “are essentially paper–sheets of paper printed with letters and bound together.”  She does not advocate keeping many books–she likes to keep her collection of books to about thirty. (!!)  We clearly do not see eye to eye.

So while I will read to the end and hope to snag a few more pearls of de-cluttering wisdom, I don’t think this book will make a magical difference for me.  And the way things are going, I’d guess that had I purchased a copy rather than finding it in my local library, I would have been disappointed in the investment.  Particularly as her guidelines suggest that I would subsequently “discard” it.

 

 

 

Daughter of Smoke and Bone ~ BRC

February has completely snuck up on me, and I’m getting this review in right before the deadline for Barrie Summy’s first-Wednesday-of-the-month Book Review Club.  So it’ll be quick and dirty and straight to the point.

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This month’s review is for DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE by Laini Taylor.  I know, I know, I’m sort of late to the game on this one–it was kind of a sensation back in 2011…

YALSA Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults
A New York Times Notable Children’s Book of the Year
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild Selection of the Year

But, I don’t read fantasy, the Harry Potter books being a notable exception.

It was actually this passage, from a post on a different book, by fellow BRC reviewer Sarah Laurence that encouraged me to give Ms. Taylor a try.

“The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer” is a gorgeous, lyrical fairy tale. I loved the original voice, the lush imagery and the feminist message. Now I understand why everyone is talking about Laini Taylor. I don’t usually read fantasy, but I might make an exception for her.” “

I decided to make an exception myself.  I downloaded the sample of DSB to my Kindle and was immediately drawn in–entranced even–by Ms. Taylor’s writing.

From Amazon:

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”; she speaks many languages–not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When one of the strangers–beautiful, haunted Akiva–fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

I loved the colorful (um, maybe ‘slightly scandalous’ is a better description) Czech beginning, the carefully woven mysteries involving Karou’s background and ability, the fascinating, imaginative storyline, and the underlying urgency that coursed through the book.  And all of those things would be PLENTY to have me loving it.  But more than that, it was the words, the phrasing, the imagery–it was beautiful!  I was simultaneously wowed by the story and amazed by the writing.  I find myself wanting to get my hands on everything Ms. Taylor as written, and I have no doubt I will be eagerly awaiting whatever she might have in store next.

This book was epic in every possible way.

(So thanks, Sarah!)

Book News!!

I have some exciting news!!  Well, I’m excited.  I hope you’re excited.  Tell me you’re excited even if you’re not excited!

Entangled’s Select Contemporary imprint will be publishing my next book!!  It’s an Austin, TX-set romance with a little twist of magic, current working title: JUST SAY YES.  Here’s the blurb from Publishers’ Marketplace:

​Alyssa Goodnight’s JUST SAY YES, the story of a kitchen witch who cooks up romance in a matchmaking and magical supper club, to Candace Havens at Entangled Select, by Rebecca Strauss at DeFiore and Company Literary Management.

I have no release date yet (although I’m hearing summer…), no cover, and I’m not even sure what the final title will be.  In fact, all I have right now is an Entangled author page without a picture or a banner.  BUT RIGHT NOW, IT’S ENOUGH!

Click here to view the embedded video.

 

I’M GONNA MAKE A BIG DEAL OUT OF THIS!! So if I could get a little Slow Motion Celebration from you, wherever you are, that’d be great!  It’d be awesome!  And if you have a Katy Perry connection and you think she might want to make a big deal of this with me, feel free to share!

So.  Until I have more info, you can keep checking back here, or follow me on Amazon (just click that yellow button) to get updates on upcoming books.  Or Facebook….Twitter…or wherever.  Believe me, I will let you know!  Count on it!

 

The Glass Sentence ~ BRC

Well, Christmas and New Year’s have come and gone, almost in a blur, and it’s time again for another get-together of Barrie Summy’s Book Review Club. I haven’t read much over the past month, and the books I have read have been either ones I don’t care to review or books that follow in a series I’ve reviewed for BRC in the past. So…my 12YO son has agreed to write a brief review for me on a book he just finished and termed, “awesome.” It is The Glass Sentence by S.E. Grove. I might, in fact, have been reviewing this book myself if he hadn’t stolen it from me forty pages in, with the justification that he reads faster. So basically, he brought this task on himself.

But, in an effort to make it a little easier for him (he has, after all, gone back to school), I’m pulling the summary from Amazon so he just has to craft his opinions into a few pithy paragraphs:

A New York Times Best Seller

An Indiebound Best Seller

A Kids’ Next Top Ten Book

A Summer/Fall 2014 Indies Introduce New Voices Selection 

A Junior Library Guild Selection

One of Publishers Weekly’s Best Summer Reads

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She has only seen the world through maps. She had no idea they were so dangerous.

Boston, 1891. Sophia Tims comes from a family of explorers and cartologers who, for generations, have been traveling and mapping the New World—a world changed by the Great Disruption of 1799, when all the continents were flung into different time periods. Eight years ago, her parents left her with her uncle Shadrack, the foremost cartologer in Boston, and went on an urgent mission. They never returned. Life with her brilliant, absent-minded, adored uncle has taught Sophia to take care of herself.

Then Shadrack is kidnapped. And Sophia, who has rarely been outside of Boston, is the only one who can search for him. Together with Theo, a refugee from the West, she travels over rough terrain and uncharted ocean, encounters pirates and traders, and relies on a combination of Shadrack’s maps, common sense, and her own slantwise powers of observation. But even as Sophia and Theo try to save Shadrack’s life, they are in danger of losing their own.

The Glass Sentence plunges readers into a time and place they will not want to leave, and introduces them to a heroine and hero they will take to their hearts. It is a remarkable debut.

Sounds fascinating, doesn’t it??

12YO’s (somewhat quirky) Review:

Greetings from Antarctica!

Here is the report:

The Glass Sentence is a wonderful book you can read throughout the ages! (Good pun, if you ask me, but you’ll have to read the book to understand!) It is about a girl, whose parents go exploring and never return. She goes to live with her uncle, who is mysteriously kidnapped. She and a friend try to track his captors. What happens next? Well, you’ll have to read to find out!

Come visit soon!​

I liked the book, because of the characters, and the theme of the book. Cartography is amazing, and I loved the maps and explanations of the maps. Overall great book.

Also, The characters were delightful because of their character. The right balance of unsettlement and pleasure really made the characters. The theme was great because of the “we have to save the world” classic, and a twist of why.

Me again with a side note: The image on the left shows the parchment-like cover overlay shielding the actual cover (on right) from view.  Very threatening and mysterious, isn’t it?  I love it!  I also admit to poring over the New World maps printed on the beginning pages of the book.  Actually, now that the 12YO has finished, I can’t wait to get back to this book!

Click the typewriter for more reviews, and I hope to get back to reviewing myself next month!

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A Little Something Different ~ BRC

It’s December and the last Book Review Club of the year, so pay attention! You could score some great gift ideas if you click through the typewriter link. Now, on to the review of A Little Something Differentby Sandy Hall…

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A Little Something Different
by Sandy Hall

 

I say this a lot, but this was not a normal read for me–really.  The cover intrigued me, particularly the part about fourteen different viewpoints. So I read the blurb and was even more intrigued. So I bought it. Even though it’s a YA, and I rarely read YA. I read it over a girls’ weekend, and I have to admit, it was perfect for that.  Although…it was occasionally difficult to keep track of who was who.  But I blame myself (and my surroundings).

From Amazon:  An irresistibly sweet romance between two college students told from 14 different viewpoints.

The creative writing teacher, the delivery guy, the local Starbucks baristas, his best friend, her roommate, and the squirrel in the park all have one thing in common—they believe that Gabe and Lea should get together.

Lea and Gabe are in the same creative writing class. They get the same pop culture references, order the same Chinese food, and hang out in the same places. Unfortunately, Lea is reserved, Gabe has issues, and despite their initial mutual crush, it looks like they are never going to work things out.

But somehow even when nothing is going on, something is happening between them, and everyone can see it.

As expected, this book was really cute and really sweet.  Basically it’s about the two shyest, most self-conscious, most uncertain people EVER, and how everyone else witnessing their little non-courtship feels about them getting together.  Fourteen is a lot of perspectives on the same two people–these people, animal and inanimate object were obsessed with Lea and Gabe!  While the park bench perspective wasn’t my favorite, I admit to looking forward to those squirrel encounters.

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