2009 September » Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog

APFOL: Sept 13-19

Posted by Anastasia on September 21, 2009 No Responses »

Sep 212009

Interesting posts and other things that have caught my eye this week. It isn’t actually everything, since I didn’t want to kill myself copy-pasting, so for the entire link collection check out my Delicious page.

And now, I present to you, my readers: Awesome Post Full of Links #3: September 13-19!

Edit: Just noticed this thing said it missed its schedule! WTF, WordPress! BOO. Hopefully this’ll go through this time!

Books in General

Amazon Forces Changes at LibraryThing – mediabistro.com: GalleyCat
“According to the post, Amazon now requires affiliates to “remove links to other booksellers on work pages,” or risk losing access to the valuable book data that the massive online bookseller provides to LibraryThing. To cope, LibraryThing is building a new set of “secondary pages” that link to other booksellers.”
Google Bringing Rare Books to Paperback – PC World
“On Demand’s deal with Google puts approximately two million public domain books from Google’s digitized book collection–Google Books–into Espresso Book Machines, which you could then print off at your local library, bookstore, or coffee shop.” Potentially incredibly awesome? Oh yeah. Let’s hope nothing gets fucked up because I’d LOVE my own paper copy of an Isabella L. Bird book!
theclockworkcentury.com » Blog Archive » Steampunk FAQ
By awesome author Cherie Priest! An intro to steampunk, for those of you who still aren’t sure what it is or why it rocks.

(Book) Blogging

Blogger Pet Peeves | The Story Siren
It’s fun to bitch sometimes. Have fun, but don’t take it personally.
“Mommy Blogger” Heather Armstrong Monetizes The Hate – Jezebel
“Monetizing the Hate is not just a clever way to neutralize the intended effects of hate mail, but an excellent case study in anti-lady-blogger vitriol. Whatever the details of these missives, the aggregate makes it clear that the real problem is not that Heather Armstrong is a bad mommy, a careless dog owner, an arrogant bitch, a bad writer, or a bully — it’s that she’s a woman with an audience. A woman with influence.”
100 Best Blogs for Book Reviews | Online College Tips – Online Colleges
A list of blogs, of course, that include a ton of great bloggers and a ton more I’ve never heard of but am adding to my feedreader NOW.
Sunday Salon: Age Appropriate? « Fyrefly’s Book Blog
I’ve noticed in my own reviews that I’ll sometimes mention that a book has some things in it that might not be appropriate for such-and-such age, but because I actually find that a ridiculous notion– me, telling other people what books should be read or not based on their age?– I’ve been trying not to do it anymore. Nicki wonders about reviewers doing it and whether or not it’s necessary, and she asks some really good questions like “why am I becoming more conservative about “what’s okay for kids” as I grow up?”

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Review: Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan

Posted by Anastasia on September 21, 2009 No Responses »

Sep 212009

Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan
Publication: Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books (April 2, 2003), Hardcover, 370 pages / ISBN 1582348103
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Rating:
Find @ Amazon or IndieBound
Challenges: Countdown 2010 (2003 #1)
Read: September 2009
First sentence: Henry got up early on the day that changed his life.

In one sentence: As realistic a story with faeries and demons and magic can be while still be kid-friendly and yet also exciting.

I’m pretty wary of stories with faeries in them, since they can go in either two directions: really good or really, really bad. Really cheesy (and/or so dark and violent they border on vampires) or fantastically magical, and of course I prefer my faeries magical but realistic with a hint of danger about them. Like Artemis Fowl, or…Doc Sidhe, maybe! And thankfully Faeries Wars is on the really good side of things– not cheesy at all (but it is quite gore-y).

Summary from Amazon:

When Henry Atherton helps Mr. Fogarty clean up around his house, he expects to find a mess and a cranky old man; what he doesn’t expect to find is Pyrgus Malvae, crown prince of the Faerie realm, who has escaped the treacherous Faeries of the Night by traveling to the human world through a portal powered by trapped lightning. An egomaniacal demon prince, greedy glue factory owners Brimstone and Chalkhill, and the nefarious Lord Hairstreak, leader of the Faeries of the Night, all dream of ruling the Faerie realm and are out to kill Pyrgus. Enlisting the help of his sister, Holly Blue, and his new friend, Henry, Pyrgus must get back to the Faerie world alive before one of his many enemies gets to him instead. But how many portals are open, and can Pyrgus find the right one before it falls into the wrong hands? Conjuring scenes filled with vivid color, unforgettable detail, and fearless characters, author Herbie Brennan brings readers to the Faerie world, where nothing is ever what it seems and no one can be trusted.

Probably the best thing about Faerie Wars is how it deals with the faerie myth and changes it around. Faeries, in this book, aren’t tiny things with wings granting wishes and/or tricking people out of their money. Instead, they pretty much look just like humans and live in a pretty much human-like world– with a few little differences. Like, oh, magic. And demons. And less technology. It’s a pretty interesting switch, and one that I appreciated.

There’s something almost raw about Faerie Wars, something that made me ache uncomfortably when I was reading it. I think it must be the mix of real-world with fantasy-world: even when fantastic things are happening in the faerie world, Henry still has to deal with his parents’ divorce and his sister’s spitefulness, and it makes everything seem on edge even when nothing’s really happening.

The characters seem like real children trying to be adults (although Pyrgus pulls it off better than the others), and the story is exciting and magical while still being surprisingly realistic. The writing doesn’t seem like much, but I think it’s actually sneakily fabulous. Overall, it’s a very good start to a series and I can’t wait to continue onwards.

Get your own copy from Amazon or your favorite indie bookstore!

Other reviews: Have you reviewed this book? Let me know and I’ll post the link here!

Review: So Below: Key to the City by Matt Whyman

Posted by Anastasia on September 20, 2009 No Responses »

Sep 202009

So Below: Key to the City (aka Street Runners, I think?) by Matt Whyman
Publication: Simon & Schuster Children’s (September 5, 2005), Paperback, 144 pages / ISBN 068987264X
Genre: Paranormal/Sci-Fi, YA
Rating:
Find @ Amazon or IndieBound
Read: September 2009
First sentence: Let’s drop through winter clouds one night in the Year of the Snake, until London takes shape on the ground.

In one sentence: Good story, unfortunately let down by the writing.

Found this discounted somewhere a few months ago, and the summary sufficiently lured me in enough to read it. I didn’t hate it, but I wasn’t left completely satisfied, either.

Summary from Amazon:

In a bid to escape from a mysterious pursuer, Yoshi takes refuge below the streets of London – and finds a world away from our own. Here, in this sprawling, multi-layered network of tunnels, panic rooms, vaults, catacombs and lost waterways, he discovers his own vital part in a mission to tap into ancient forces underpinning the capital.

I liked the story, mostly. Underground cities are always interesting to me, and there were some really exciting bits near the end that made the beginning bearable. But I had a lot of trouble connecting with any of the characters, I think because there wasn’t a whole lot of time spent on character development in this book. It’s the first of a series, however, so I’m assuming that things will become more detailed as the overarching plot progresses. But it doesn’t make for a fantastic first book.

So Below: Key to the City written in present tense, which makes everything seem really immediate and fast-paced– after getting used to it. Unfortunately I think it made the writing come off a little awkward as well, and things like dialogue and descriptions of emotions tended to sound fake or forced. The writing also sometimes got into ridiculous near-purple prose territory. Annoying! It was kind of like watching an amateur gymnast on a balance beam: the writing fell off more than it stayed on, but it tried its best.

What I liked best, and why I kept reading, was how the narrative went above the streets instead of sticking below it. Yoshi is a parkour artist, and I haven’t read a book with one of those, like, ever. It was a special little something that sparked my interest, and as much as I love books with secret underground cities, I think I love books with parkour in them even more.

I’m not entirely sure I’m going to read any of the other books. The writing is just not something that I’m into, and even though the story is interesting I don’t care enough about any of the characters to want to know what happens to them. I think I’d only read the next book to see if Yoshi does anymore parkour, but that’s not enough of a reason for me.

I know I’ve probably made it sound really bad, but it’s honestly not horrible. It just has a few problems, and if you can ignore or get over those problems there’s a truly interesting plot at the core.

Find out for yourself! Get your own copy from Amazon or your favorite indie bookstore.

Other reviews: Have you written a review for this? Let me know and I’ll link to it in this post!

Review: The Ghost Writer by John Harwood

Posted by Anastasia on September 19, 2009 No Responses »

Sep 192009

The Ghost Writer by John Harwood
Publication: Mariner Books (June 1, 2005), Paperback, 384 pages / ISBN 0156032325
Genre: Horror
Rating:
Find @ Amazon or IndieBound
Challenges: R.I.P. IV (#1)
Read: September 2009
First sentence: I first saw the photograph on a hot January afternoon in my mother’s bedroom.

In one sentence: If you scare easily, better read this in the daytime.

I said to Kat Meyer on Twitter that The Ghost Writer was like a New England gothic/ghost story set in Australia/England, and I still think that’s true. I happen to adore New England gothic/ghost stories, so this book was a good fit for me right at the start. I don’t think I was expecting to be so scared when I read it, however.

Summary from Amazon:

Growing up in a small Australian town, Gerard Freeman loves to hear his mother talk about her idyllic childhood in an English country manor. But she swears that she will never return to England, and refuses to tell him what happened to her family, though she is clearly terrified of some invisible yet ever-present threat. One hot afternoon, he waits until she is napping, then creeps into her bedroom to break open the drawer that’s always locked, the one that he hopes holds all her secrets. . . .

Twenty years later, Gerard has not left home – he works as a librarian – but he lives for just two things: his English penfriend Alice, for whom he yearns with all his heart, and the ghost story he found in his mother’s drawer all those years ago. Written by his great-grandmother Viola, it hints at the terrible crime that haunted his mother, and, finally, destroyed her. And as Viola’s chilling tales lead him to London, Gerard realizes that the stories might hold the key to finding Alice as well as unveiling his family’s mystery – or are they leading him directly to the untimely death they seem to foretell?

I’m not really scared of things like zombie or demons, but ghosts scare the crap out of me. Doesn’t matter if it’s books, movies, or just someone telling me a scary story like Bloody Mary: if I get ghosts into my head I get freaked out big time. Head under the covers freaked out. Stay away from mirrors and creaky floors freaked out. So, I’m not sure if this book is actually as scary as I thought it was, but I do know I had to take a break for a few days and read another book before I could continue this one!

I really loved the writing in The Ghost Writer. Even when nothing was really happening, like in the beginning when Gerard talks about his mother and his home, a feeling of something-isn’t-right kept coming up on me through the writing. It’s the same kind of feeling I get from Poe’s stories, or from a Lovecraft story. Very creepy, and very effective.

The book is divided up into two parts: the main narrative, with Gerard and his story, and the short stories written by his grandmother that are sprinkled throughout Gerard’s narrative. Gerard’s narrative is very well written and it’s what got me hooked into the book in the first place, but it’s his grandmother’s stories that scared me the most and I think sometimes they’re even more interesting than Gerard’s story is.

The ending, however, is purely Gerard’s narrative, and it’s even freakier and scarier than the rest of the book was. It’s a great ending, although maybe a little abrupt (kinda like when a villain spews out his master plan to the good guy so the story will wrap up neatly and quickly), and I won’t say anything more about it lest I ruin it for you. Just know this: if you have trouble making it through the book because of one reason or another, the ending is entirely worth getting to. BIG, big twist. And SO awesome.

If you need a good book to scare you this Halloween, I don’t think you can do better than The Ghost Writer. I suppose it might help if you’re a big scaredy-cat like I am, but I think everyone can be spooked by something in this book. It’s that good, and it’s that creepy!

What book has scared you lately?

Get your own copy from Amazon or your favorite indie bookstore.

Other reviews: Musings of a Bookish Kitty | S. Krishna’s Books | Melody’s Reading Corner | So Many Books | A Striped Armchair

Library Loot (#2)

Posted by Anastasia on September 18, 2009 No Responses »

Sep 182009

Library Loot meme Library Loot is a weekly meme hosted by Eva and Marg that encourage bloggers to talk about what books they’ve gotten from their library during the week. Anyone can participate any time during the week, so feel free to write up your own post and link it using Eva’s (or Marg’s) Mr Linky!

This has been a particularly boring week, the most boring week I’ve had since the previous semester, and as a bonus I’ve got three tests next week. So I’m feeling lousy and anxious by turns, and I’m distracting myself with lovely, lovely library books.

I’ve been seeing Tunnels on bookstore shelves for a while but wasn’t sure if I wanted to buy it– thank goodness for libraries. Savvy has been reviewed on a few blogs this year and it looks really good; Hunger has returned from whoever checked it out before I could get to it, and it’s even bigger than Gone is; the rest I found lurking on the shelves and they look good, too. (Horns & Wrinkles has lovely illustrations, as well!)

Click on a cover to find out more about that book.

Hunger by Michael Grant (sequel to Gone), Tunnels by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, Savvy by Ingrid Law.

The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff, The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff, Horns & Wrinkles by Joseph Helgerson.

I’ve started reading The Eagle of the Ninth, and it’s pretty typical 1950′s historical YA fiction. Good, but a bit bland compared to more modern historical YA fiction. I’m hoping it’ll get better soon. Update: It did indeed get better! Much, much better, yay!

Con Report: Bubonicon 41

Posted by Anastasia on September 18, 2009 No Responses »

Sep 182009

Bubonicon 41
I went to Bubonicon ~~last weekend~~ a few weeks ago (lol laziness!), and I had a blast! It was actually my very first con, and I think it was a good choice. Big, but not so big I’d be overwhelmed.

I mostly went for the panels and the author signing– actually, I only went for one day (instead of all three days), but Saturday was the best day so I didn’t mind terribly. I actually spent most of my time going up to the second floor and leeching food out of the con suite (complimentary foods!), then going back down to the first floor to take pictures of cosplayers, trying to find my friend and/or coworkers, and wandering around the dealers room trying to find Doctor Who stuff (and good books).

Thursday Tea: September 17 (Freedom & Necessity)

Posted by Anastasia on September 17, 2009 No Responses »

Sep 172009

Thursday Tea is a weekly meme hosted by yours truly. To play along, all you need is some tea, a book, and the answers to these 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.

The tea: I keep forgetting to bring other sorts of teas with me to work, so it’s Super Irish Breakfast for the fifth day in a row. Still delicious, but I do wish for another flavor sometimes.

Freedom & N (small) The book: At the moment I’m reading Freedom & Necessity by Steven Brust and Emma Bull. The cover and the title are possibly the more boring combination I’ve ever seen for a book, but it’s actually a really very good story! It’s got intrigue, communists, humor, conspiracies, women dressing as men, Friedrich Engels, lots of fight scenes, absolutely wonderful characters, and even a bit of magic. It moves along really quickly, too, even though it’s presented in letters and journal entries (and some new articles and telegrams) and even though the book is strangely tall (over 9″ tall!), making each page seem like it takes an hour to finish. I know you probably don’t believe me, but it’s a really great book and you shouldn’t let the cover and title trick you into thinking it’s dull.