Denise’s Comments (group member since Jan 23, 2009)

Denise’s comments from the The Reading Rainbow Coalition group.

So I blazed through this book and I'm done. I wrote a review on it but it might be a little spoiler-y so don't go reading it on my Goodreads page if you're not done with the book yet. I'll give it another week or so before I post up my entire review here in the forum but the short of it is that I could *not* put this sucker (pun totally intended) down. This book to me was like if Blade 2 and World War Z had a baby.

Anyone else reading this? Please tell me yes so I can geek out some more.

Here's an interview with Del Toro about The Strain (not very spoilerish, I think).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-jVSG...

Although Let the Right One In did not make it this month, I'd like to see it back up on the poll next month, or maybe just go ahead and assign it as November's book. I don't want to delegate it to Extra Credit just yet...

Seems appropriate for Halloween! :)

The Strain
They have always been here. Vampires. In secret and in darkness. Waiting. Now their time has come. In one week, Manhattan will be gone. In one month, the country. In two months—the world.

A Boeing 777 arrives at JFK and is on its way across the tarmac, when it suddenly stops dead. All window shades are pulled down. All lights are out. All communication channels have gone quiet. Crews on the ground are lost for answers, but an alert goes out to the CDC. Dr. Eph Goodweather, head of their Canary project, a rapid-response team that investigates biological threats, gets the call and boards the plane. What he finds makes his blood run cold.

In a pawnshop in Spanish Harlem, a former professor and survivor of the Holocaust named Abraham Setrakian knows something is happening. And he knows the time has come, that a war is brewing . . .

So begins a battle of mammoth proportions as the vampiric virus that has infected New York begins to spill out into the streets. Eph, who is joined by Setrakian and a motley crew of fighters, must now find a way to stop the contagion and save his city—a city that includes his wife and son—before it is too late.

Interview questions have been sent! I'll create a super-special post once she answers. :)

Oooh, I'd love to read that. Did you see the movie?

I usually try not to "influence" our book picks but since the pickings are slim, here's what I'm going to start reading soon: The Strain

If these are the only two suggestions then we'll go with Let the Right One In.

Since we are all nuts about unicorns on this thread, thought this might be interesting...

http://www.prometheantheatre.org/inde...

Promethean Theater Ensemble in Chicago (whyyyy don't I live there??) is putting on a stage adaptation of Peter S. Beagle's "The Last Unicorn." The show will run from Oct 16 (next week, people!) till Nov 14. For all the Chicago FBs, please check it out, it looks pretty fantastic!

To support the show, you can even "Adopt a Unicorn!" :) http://www.prometheantheatre.org/adop...

PS: I LOVELOVELOVED this movie as a child, and the book is just as magical.

Hey boys and girls! Kerry Rogers, the author of The Occuscript, has invited us to take a gander at her work, available in its entirety online!

Take a looksee here...

The Occuscript

Enjoy!

Book suggestions plskthnx!

Hey guys, I want to send some questions to Diana Peterfruend, the author, as she is gracious enough to talk to us. :) I have few kicking around but please post some up here so that I can get a list going.

So I started the book this morning... and finished it today. Eep. I was going to get some laundry done, do a few spreadsheets for work, and maybe bake some cookies... but I guess those can wait. :) Priorities, guys!

I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Marketing this book as YA belies the fact that this book handles some serious thematic elements that I honestly did not expect it to touch on. Burgeoning sexualities, a dense and convincing mythology, violent battles, dealing with not-so-black-and-white ethics... If it had been a longer, even more involved book, this could have easily made its ranks amongst other established adult fantasy literature. It actually reminded me of the later Harry Potter books insofar as the complexity of plot and the unflinching violence inflicted on these young warriors.

I found Astrid as a heroine convincing and well-developed. We see her grow and really live up to her destiny. She starts of as kind of a smart-ass and I was afraid I was not going to like her but by the end I was pretty attached to her. The other hunters were equally compelling and one of my few complaints is that I actually wanted to see more of them too (besides Phil and Cory, who were both really well-developed as well).

I was really drawn in by the mythology that Peterfreund weaves around unicorns. I had a hard time imagining at first how someone could possibly describe unicorns as violent man-eating beasts... and yet that's exactly what the author does. I am also a visual person and really wanted some more descriptions, and maybe even a few illustrations of the unicorns. In the end I just thought of the karaddan as a giant ox, the kirin as regular horses, and the little pet they had (I forget what its type is called... zhin?) as little goats.

I wasn't convinced at first that a story about rampant, bloodthirsty unicorns would work very well but I was happily proven wrong. I really enjoyed this book.

Any other feedback? I'd love to hear your take on this! I'm drafting up some interview questions I'd like to shoot to the author as well. Can you guys help me think up a few?

hmm, lots of crickets in here...

I haven't had a chance to start the book yet (worst book club leader ever!) but since it's YA it should be an easy read and i'm hoping to get it done by this weekend.

anyone else reading this? i'd really love some discussion on this as the lovely Christine and I are plotting to have a nice chat with the author herself!

Henry the Unicorn is excited about this book. I don't think he has realized that it slanders his good name.

Congrats Nikki! PM me your address, I'll send you the book next week.

... is Rogue Dragon!



First to comment wins it! GO GO GO!

Rampant

Violent unicorns.

Need I say more, really??

From Goodreads:
Astrid Llewelyn has always scoffed at her eccentric mother's stories about killer unicorns. But when one of the monsters attacks her boyfriend in the woods — thereby ruining any chance of him taking her to prom — Astrid learns that unicorns are real and dangerous, and she has a family legacy to uphold. Her mother packs her off to Rome to train as a unicorn hunter at the ancient cloisters the hunters have used for centuries.

So I have collected an assortment of odd books from my trips to comic cons, anime cons, and various other geek cons that I regularly attend. I haven't had much chance to read them but thought it would be a waste for all of them to sit collecting dust. They are typically of the geek persuasion... robots, dragons, aliens, and everything in between.

I don't know about being able to do this every month but I'll try to do it as much as possible. If you want a chance at winning, here are the details:

1. The winner must take a picture of themselves holding up the book.
2. After reading the book, you must write up a summary and review of the book here in this forum.
3. To be fair, you can't win twice in a row.

That's it! I'll post a new topic up for every book and the first commenter wins it!

Any more suggestions? I'll put up the poll tonight if not.

@Edwin - go ahead and recommend one and I'll add it to the poll.

@Christine - violent unicorns?!? nice!

I love going to used bookstores and seeing those Golden Books!