Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog

Review: The Anybodies by N.E. Bode (2004)

July 18, 2009 · 1 Comment

AnybodiesThe Anybodies by N.E. Bode
Publication: HarperCollins (May 25, 2004), Hardcover, 288 pages / ISBN 0060557354
Genre: Paranormal, Children’s/YA
Rating:
Find @ Amazon
Challenges: Support Your Local Library Challenge (#16)
First sentence: Fern Drudger knew that her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Drudger, were dull.

In one sentence: Super-sweet book with lovable characters and a quirky plot.

There’s quite a few books out there written by authors with clever pseudonyms, and most of them live up to the quirkiness of those names. The Anybodies is one of those books, and even better than its quirkiness is its sweetness, its big-hearted story, and its lovable characters.

Summary from Amazon:

What if I were to TELL you that this is an all-true story, every word?

You see, once there was a VERY REAL girl named Fern who found out that she’d been swapped at birth. This might disturb some people, but it made Fern happy because she’d never felt at home with her tragically dull parents, the Drudgers. Fern finds out about the mix-up when the Bone (er, her father) and his “son,” Howard, show up at Fern’s front door. Now both families decide to UNSWAP the kids for the summer, and Fern heads off with the Bone on a wild adventure into a world inhabited by the Miser, a sinister fellow; and the Great Realdo, a true hero, to name just two.

This book promises suspense! Intrigue! Mystery! Fairies fall out of books! Birds turn into dogs! Nuns turn into lampposts! So I have no idea why you’re still lingering here. . . . Start reading!

Fern is so adorkable. She’s weird and quirky and not entirely sure what that means for her as a person, but she’s totally willing to embrace her quirkiness and the quirkiness of other. It kind of reminds me of Alice when she runs into, like, every character in Wonderland ever and just takes it in stride.

Fern’s actual father isn’t, er, the best sort of father, but he tries (eventually), but Fern’s grandmother, who Fern and her father try to con (it’s not as despicable as it sounds), completely makes up for that in the best sort of way. She’s a book fiend! She quizzes Fern on different books and, I admit it, I had a little thrill go through me when I recognized all the references but one.

The Anybodies does tend to toe the line between sweet and overly sappy, and sometimes when the author broke the fourth wall (ala Lemony Snicket) it was weird and slightly awkward instead of funny, and maybe some plot points don’t come together as cleanly as they could (I’m thinking mainly the whole thing with the Anybodies and what they actually do), but I don’t care (mostly). It’s SO. CUTE. I ended up getting a copy to keep, too!

If you like sweet stories with quirky characters and a happy ending, try out The Anybodies. And, lucky me, there’s two sequels. Yay!

Oh, and be sure to check out the author’s website, too. Lots of funny videos for fans of her books and for use in the classroom, if you want.

Other reviews: A Fort Made of Books

Bookmark and Share

→ 1 CommentCategories: 4.5/5 · Children's/YA · Fantasy · Fiction · Paranormal · Psychic Abilities · Reviews
Tagged: , , , , ,

Thursday Tea: July 16

July 16, 2009 · 3 Comments

Thursday Tea Thursday Tea is a weekly meme hosted by yours truly. To play along, all you need is some tea, a book, and the will to answer some very simple questions: what tea are you drinking (and do you like it)? What book are you reading (and do you like it)? Tell us a little about your tea and your book, and whether or not the two go together.

Guh, this post is being posted later than I originally planned, but in my defense I’ve been very busy BS-ing an essay for my summer class and didn’t really finish it until this morning. But now I’m home free! And I can write reviews and meme posts and things again! Huzzah!

Anyway.

The tea: Still blazing through this Chai White tea. I think the more I’m drinking it, the more I’m liking it!

Also, last night I was so tired I accidentally put in flavored coffee creamer in my tea instead of milk. Er. (I made a new cup.)

The book: I’ve since finished it (actually, I finished it before I finished my cup of tea), but I was reading East Coast Rising volume one. It’s published by TokyoPop, which you’ll probably know for their Japanese/Korean(/Chinese?) manga/manhwa(/manhua), but actually East Coast Rising is written by an American and done in a Westernized manga kind of style. It’s quite good– the people look like people and everything! It’s probably a little unbalanced, maybe 90% action and 10% plot, but heck, it’s future pirates who roam the seas of NEW JERSEY. Can you say “awesome”? Anyway, I’ve got some other stuff to say but I’ll save it for my review.

Okay, summary:

When his ship is attacked by pirates, Archer is left floating adrift in a violent sea. But the young urchin is nothing if not resilient. He soon finds himself sailing with the infamous Cannonball Joe aboard La Revancha, the fastest ship on the East Coast, in search of a legendary hidden treasure. Their East Coast Rising v 1dangerous quest will lead directly to a showdown with the Hoboken, one of the most feared pirate vessels ever to sail the Jersey shores, and its reckless captain, Lee. But there are far worse things than pirates that call these waters home…From Eisner Award-nominated artist Becky Cloonan comes a rousing nautical adventure unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before!

Do they go together? Uh. Maybe? (Did pirates drink tea? Do people in New Jersey drink tea? Kidding.)

What are you drinking/reading this Thursday?

→ 3 CommentsCategories: Memes · Thursday Tea
Tagged: ,

TSS: July 12

July 12, 2009 · 3 Comments

The Sunday Salon.com Holy CRAP it’s the 12th already. Are you sure? It seems to me that July has gone by very quickly for a month with 31 days.

I’m trying to write an essay that’s due on Tuesday and I only have about half a page (out of at least 8) and so this’ll have to be quick and minus a lot of links that’d normally be in here.

I recently read the first three books of the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters, and I think I’m in love. The first book is quite good, the second book not so much, but the THIRD! It was wonderful. I’ve got teh forth book checked out from the library already but I’m not entirely sure if we have the fifth and so I may have to go through interlibrary loans or something.

I’m also about a third into the third Detective Inspector Chen book by Liz Williams, and it’s wonderful, too. Also I have to read about three library books because they’re due this week (on Wednesday) but I honestly don’t think I’ll have time.

Also I got a netbook! I’m quick excited, although it’s weird to switch from Mac OSX (my laptop) to Windows (the netbook). I’ve got everything synced up pretty well, however, so I’m very excited for the fall semester to start (though I don’t want the summer to end) so I can carry my netbook around instead of my monstrous laptop again. Huzzah!

Books read this week:
141: Nevermore (Supernatural #1) – Keith R.A. DeCandido [rating: 3.5/5]
142. 9Tail Fox – Jon Courtenay Grimwood [rating: 3/5]
143. Crocodile on the Sandbank (Amelia Peabody #1) – Elizabeth Peters [rating: 4.5/5]
144. Curse of the Pharaohs (Amelia Peabody #2) – Elizabeth Peters [rating: 4/5]
145. The Mummy Case – (Amelia Peabody #3) – Elizabeth Peters [rating: 4.5/5]

Books reviewed this week:
The Buried Pyramid – Jane Lindskold [rating: 4/5]
There Will Be Dragons – John Ringo [rating: 4/5]

→ 3 CommentsCategories: Memes · The Sunday Salon

Review: There Will Be Dragons by John Ringo (2003)

July 9, 2009 · 3 Comments

There Will Be DragonsThere Will Be Dragons by John Ringo
Publication: Baen (November 1, 2003), ebook
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Adventure, Action
Rating:
Find for free @ Webscriptions.net
First sentence: In the forest, a sparrow died.

In one sentence: Fantastic futuristic sci-fi/fantasy that has some wonderful ideas and some pretty good characters.

This is one of those instances where a cover does not reflect what’s going on inside the actual book. Going by this horrible thing, you’d think There Will Be Dragons is a high fantasy swords-and-sorcers affair with some scantily clad women traipsing throughout. But you’d be wrong. Yes, there are swords. And yes, there is some “fantasy” elements involved, except they’re not really fantasy and more super-technological science-y…things. And there’s really only one scantily clad woman running around (and she’s the lady on the cover, actually). And there are elements of high fantasy stuff in it, yeah. But mostly, There Will Be Dragons is a futuristic sci-fi novel with military leanings, and it’s really good!

Summary from Amazon:

A utopian future world in which there is no disease, poverty, war, or ill-timed death is turned upside down when the council that controls the Net quarrels and goes to war, leaving desperate survivors battling across an apocalyptic landscape to seek refuge in such places as Raven’s Mill.

Don’t get turned off by the size of There Will Be Dragons (700+ pages in paperback); there’s some good stuff in here. For instance, there’s characters with some depth, exciting battle scenes, and interesting futuristic world, AI computers, people that turn themselves into dragons and unicorns and a collection of nanites, teleportation, lion-sized housecats, mad scientists, and a utopia-turned-dystopia. Who doesn’t love those things?

There Will Be Dragons is pretty obviously a set-up for a series, but it doesn’t leave the reader hanging at the end. Not everything is answered, of course, but at the same time we’re not really left with a cliff hanger. I quite liked the plot itself– I like dystopias in general, and a utopia getting sucked back into a more dystopic setting is fantastic in itself. This utopia happens to get sucked back into a pre-industrial state. So, no phones, no teleporting, no changing into unicorns. Only a few people know how to actually survive in a world without world-wide trading systems, and those people are the people who frequent Renaissance faires. It’s quite fun and interesting, really.

There’s some pretty horrible stuff in the story, of course. Rape, violence (gore-y violence), concubines, and slavery are all in there, but I think it’s handled tastefully and sensitively (that maybe isn’t done in some of his other books, according to some reviews of his other books). Well, maybe not the violence– that tends to be rather typical fantasy-ish fight scenes and such, though with an emphasis on military precision rather than run amok, er, things. If that makes sense?

Also I couldn’t help but notice a few things that didn’t seem to be fully thought out as maybe they could have been. In the future, human life expectancy is about 500 years, though some people of course live longer. But still the age for legality purposes is 18, which just seems weird. Wouldn’t it be more like…somewhere around 110? (I did some math.) There’s some other little things like that that made me go “huh?” a bit, but didn’t really interrupt the flow of the story.

Wait, I’m wrong– it did throw me for a loop when the women started getting their periods and didn’t even know what it was or how to deal with it (they had apparently turned them off before?). Only the (female) doctor knew, and even then she was seriously weird about it (kept lamenting about TEH FEMALE CURSE OMG; it was quite annoying). It doesn’t even make sense for them to still have their periods, since all the babies born were being grown in test tube things anyway. It’s a few thousand years in the future; what about artificial eggs (and sperm, for that matter), or even cloning? None of that was addressed in the book, which was strange.

Also I have no idea why it’s called “There Will Be Dragons” when there aren’t any actual dragons in it. I think there’s maybe one and it only does a fly-by. Anyone know?

But anyway, I really enjoyed reading There Will Be Dragons, and I look forward to reading the next book (although I’m slightly worried). If you like utopias (or dystopias), history, military fiction, sci-fi/fantasy with lots of description à la Tolkien, and books where blokes have swords (and a few women do, too), then you’ll probably like There Will Be Dragons as well.

You can read the first few chapters here, by the way.

Other reviews: Geoff’s Blog | Dreyksune (with some spoilers for the rest of the series)

Bookmark and Share

→ 3 CommentsCategories: 4/5 · Action · Adventure · Alternative History/Earth · Dystopia · Fantasy · Fiction · Reviews · Sci-Fi
Tagged: , , , ,

Thursday Tea: July 9

July 9, 2009 · 4 Comments

Thursday Tea Thursday Tea is a weekly meme hosted by yours truly. To play along, all you need is some tea, a book, and the will to answer some very simple questions: what tea are you drinking (and do you like it)? What book are you reading (and do you like it)? Tell us a little about your tea and your book, and whether or not the two go together.

Chai White TeaThe tea: I decided to try that Chai White tea tea I wrote about before. When I first tried it I didn’t particularly like it, but this second time around I let it steep longer (about a minute and a half longer, in fact), and it was much better. It’s very light and actually a pretty good choice for when the weather is hot– it doesn’t bog you down with flavor, etc.

Amelia Peabody #2The book: I’m nearly finished with the second Amelia Peabody book. I think I first learned of the series through Beth Fish Reads, and after reading The Buried Pyramid I wanted to read something else set in Egypt. It just so happens that Victorian/early 20th century archaeology is a favorite subject of mine (as is ancient Egypt and strong-minded Victorian women who aren’t cooks or parlor maids). As such, I’m really enjoying the series so far, and I expect to blow through what books we have available in the libraries here within the month.

Here’s a summary of the first book, Crocodile on the Sandbank, for those who haven’t heard of the series before (I think a summary of the second book would spoil):

Amelia Peabody #1 (really)

Thirty-one-year-old Victorian gentlewoman Amelia Peabody has not only inherited her father’s fortune, but she is also blessed with his strong will as well. Now she’s headed for Cairo, accompanied by a girl with a tarnished past, to indulge her passion for Egyptology. Little did she know that murder and a homicidal mummy lay in wait for her.

It’s all very funny and adventurous and mysterious and quite good.

Do they go together? Surprisingly, they do! The lightness of the Chai White tea reminds me of the light sand of the Egyptian dunes (not that I’ve ever seen them in person. I’m speaking from various movie experiences. Ahem).

What are you drinking/reading this Thursday?

→ 4 CommentsCategories: Memes · Thursday Tea
Tagged: , ,

Review: The Buried Pyramid by Jane Lindskold (2004)

July 6, 2009 · 7 Comments

Buried PyramidThe Buried Pyramid by Jane Lindskold
Publication: Tor Books (May 1, 2004), ebook
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
Rating:
Find @ Amazon or the Sony Store
First sentence: IT COULDN’T have happened at a worse time, but Neville Hawthorne knew he had no one but himself to blame.

In one sentence: Starts off rotten, but turns sweet and savory soon enough.

Note: There’s some (very slight) spoilers in here, and I’ve tried to mark them when necessary. If you haven’t read the book it might make you ready for some events in the plot, but I don’t think they’d ruin the book for you (hopefully).

I tried reading this earlier in the year, but I never made it past the suspiciously boring prologue. I tried it again in June, for lack of anything else to read, and this time I managed to get past the prologue and through to the really good bits, full of adventure and intrigue and a fantastically strong female lead. Plus, Egypt in late 1800s/early 1900s! (I was never quite sure what year it was.) I’m glad I persevered past the first 10 or so pages, as The Buried Pyramid is a rather wonderful book.

Summary from Amazon:

Lucky young Jenny Benet, a recently orphaned American girl who was raised on the Wild West frontier and educated at a Boston finishing school, has come to Egypt in company with her uncle Neville Hawthorne, a prominent British archaeologist. They’re part of a team investigating the legendary Buried Pyramid, the tomb of the pharaoh Neferankhotep-who may also have been Moses the Lawgiver. But they’re not the only ones interested in the site. Another party, led by the opulent and treacherous Lady Audrey Cheshire, is shadowing theirs. Someone who signs himself ‘The Sphinx’ has been sending threatening letters-written entirely in hieroglyphics. In Egypt, an ancient and shadowy organization seems determined to keep the tomb from being discovered. And mortals may not be all that stand in their way.

My favorite bits of the book were:
a) Jenny, the kick-butt female protagonist who doesn’t take crap from anyone yet still manages to be somewhat historically possible. She was raised in the Wild West, knows how to use a gun, likes wearing trousers and going on adventures, and she wants to be a doctor. I loved her! She was really refreshing, especially since the male characters tended to be dunderheads in regards to certain things dealing with pretty women and treasure. Jenny’s a modern woman in the guise of a Victorian lady, and without her I’m not sure I would have liked The Buried Pyramid quite as much.

b) Stephen, the eccentric Egyptologist who wears out-of-fashioned clothing and tends to ramble. (He reminds me of Daniel from Stargate, ha.) He and Jenny were a really fun set, and– SLIGHT SPOILER here– I thought they would have made a good couple, too.

Really, I only had two problem with The Buried Pyramid: the horrible opening sequence, and the sudden transition from historical adventure novel to WTF IS GOING ON fantasy novel. It comes near the end of the book, and though it’s an interesting idea and was kind of cool, there were no solid paranormal things present in the rest of the book to back up this completely fantastical part. Honestly, it would have been better cut that part out and replace it with something else non-fantasy just so the book a) flows better and b) doesn’t seem like it’s two books stuck together. The ending as a whole is rather abrupt, and was a disappointment after having the rest of the book be so enjoyable.

I hope that makes sense. It might not if you haven’t read the book already. Anyway, if you like adventure novels (or novels set in Egypt), and you don’t mind a few bumps, you might want to try out The Buried Pyramid.

Other reviews: Counting My Blessings | Ordinary Day (does a better job than I do at talking about what’s wrong with The Buried Pyramid) | Tor.com (kinda)

Bookmark and Share

→ 7 CommentsCategories: 4/5 · Adventure · Fantasy · Fiction · Historical Fiction · Paranormal · Reviews · Speculative Fiction
Tagged: , , , , ,