4.5/5 » Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog

REVIEW: A Drowned Maiden’s Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz

Posted by Anastasia on February 15, 2012 4 Responses »

Feb 152012

029. A Drowned Maiden’s Hair: A Melodrama by Laura Amy Schlitz
Publication: Candlewick (March 2, 2010), originally published 2006, ebook, 389pp / ISBN 0763629308
Genre: MG Historical Fiction

Read: February 8-10, 2011
Source: Bought (Amazon)

Summary from Amazon:

Maud Flynn is known at the orphanage for her impertinence. So when the charming Miss Hyacinth chooses her to take home, the girl is pleased but baffled, until she learns of her new role: helping to stage elaborate séances for bereaved patrons. As Maud is drawn deeper into the deception, playing the “secret child,” she is torn between her need to please and her growing conscience. It takes a shocking betrayal to make clear just how heartless her so-called guardians are. Filled with fascinating details of turn-of-the-century spiritualism and page-turning suspense, this novel from Newbery Medalist Laura Amy Schlitz features a feisty heroine whom readers will not soon forget.

Review

Things I thought this book was about: ghosts, death, people drowning in some sort of romanticized/gothic romance sort of way, angst and sadness and other things I’m scared of.

Things this book is actually about: ghosts and death and little kids drowning, Spiritualism, con artists, family and love and adorable snarky orphan girls kicking butt! Continue reading »

REVIEW NOTES: Those Who Hunt the Night, Anna and the French Kiss, Making a Living Without a Job

Posted by Anastasia on January 4, 2012 3 Responses »

Jan 042012

I want to finish up on 2011′s reviews so I can start 2012! So, very quickly: review notes of three books!

167. Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly
Publication: Open Road (March 29, 2011), ebook, 350pp / ISBN 0345361326
Genre: Historical Fantasy/Paranormal, Mystery

Read: December 11-17, 2011
Source: eBookFling borrow

Review Notes

- Vampires! Yay. I’ve actually started to like vampires again…sort of.
- Vampires who do vampire-y things like eat people and be inhuman and stuff! Double yay.
- Interesting detective character– one of those amateur detectives who get in over their head, but not in a cozy mystery sort of way. I like his wife, too, who’s one of those modern-ish women in a historical fiction sort of people. But in a non-annoying way.
- It did feel a bit like “let me describe this fantasy world to you so you know how interesting/different it is compared to your world” whenever the vampires said something.
- Didn’t expect the solution! That’s good, right? I think it is.

Rating

Overall, I LOVED this book. The mystery was good, the characters were interesting, and although I didn’t like how much explaining re:vampires and their awesome vampire world was in there I still liked the writing.

Buy

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168. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Publication: Speak (August 4, 2011), ebook, 386pp / ISBN 0142419400
Genre: YA Romance

Read: December 21-23, 2011
Source: Freebie

Review Notes

- So cute!
- THIS BOOK CUTE BEYOND BELIEF
- Tell Your Girlfriend is totally the theme song.
- Maybe too much emphasis on how hot St. Clair is compared to everything else about him, but the romance builds in a way that I love. Plus St. Clair/Anna DO like more about each other than just how hot the other person is.
- Plus yay changing each other for the better!

Rating

ALL THE POSITIVE HYPE WAS TRUE.

Buy

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169. Making a Living Without a Job by Barbara J. Winter
Publication: Bantam (July 1, 1993), Paperback, 272pp / ISBN 0553371657
Genre: Non-fiction, Self-help

Read: December 24-31, 2011
Source: Gift

Review Notes

- Outdated a bit, but still v. good. Talks about mailing lists and using computers to do finances or something– recommends finding books via an offline searching service! There IS a newer version out now, though, which is good.
- Inspiring! And it helped me figure out what sort of things I’m good at already, things that I could apply towards making money (either in a “real” business or otherwise).
- Could maybe use a section on how to actually create business beyond having an idea. Doesn’t talk about anything re:how to find that info, either.

Rating

Should have read the updated version, but I still liked it. Best part was the bit that tells you how to increase your self-confidence. I needed that!

Buy

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REVIEW: Agatha Christie: An Autobiography by Agatha Christie

Posted by Anastasia on November 15, 2011 3 Responses »

Nov 152011

131. Agatha Christie: An Autobiography by Agatha Christie
Publication: Dodd Mead; First Edition edition (November 1977), Hardcover, 529pp / ISBN 0396075169
Genre: Memoir

Read: ?-October 24, 2011
Source: Library Book Sale

Summary from Amazon:

Agatha Christie died on 12 January 1976, having become the best-selling novelist in history. Her autobiography, published in 1977 a year after her death, tells of her fascinating private life, from early childhood through two marriages and two World Wars, and her experiences both as a writer and on archaeological expeditions with her second husband, Max Mallowan. Not only does the book reveal the true genius of her legendary success, but the story is vividly told and as captivating as one of her novels.

Review

My favorite part about memoirs is learning about both the person writing the memoir and about the years they spent living the stuff they’re writing about. For instance, Agatha Christie’s autobiography covers about sixty years, from when she was born in the late Victorian period to somewhere in the 1960s. That’s a huge range of time, with tons of interesting things going on– not least her writing her books that I so enjoy today. Continue reading »

REVIEW: Fiction Ruined My Family by Jeanne Darst

Posted by Anastasia on November 9, 2011 11 Responses »

Nov 092011

133. Fiction Ruined My Family by Jeanne Darst
Publication: Riverhead Hardcover (September 29, 2011), ARC paperback, 305pp / ISBN 1594488142
Genre: Non-fiction, Memoir

Read: October 26, 2011
Source: Publisher (thank you!)

Summary from Amazon:

The youngest of four daughters in an old, celebrated St. Louis family of prominent journalists and politicians on one side, debutante balls and equestrian trophies on the other, Jeanne Darst grew up hearing stories of past grandeur. And as a young girl, the message she internalized was clear: while things might be a bit tight for us right now, it’s only temporary. Soon her father would sell the Great American Novel and reclaim the family’s former glory.

The family uproots and moves from St. Louis to New York. Jeanne’s father writes one novel, and then another, which don’t find publishers. This, combined with her mother’s burgeoning alcoholism — nightly booze- fueled weepathons reminiscing about her fancy childhood — lead to financial disaster and divorce. And as Jeanne becomes an adult, she is horrified to discover that she is not only a drinker like her mother, but a writer like her father. [snipped for length. Seriously, this summary is LONG.]

Review

I feel like I’ve read a lot of books this year about weird (or abusive) families and the offspring who writes about them, and while I think I’ve enjoyed all those books they also make me really sad at the end. I don’t LIKE it when families are abusive, or weird in ways that seriously mess up their offspring, and so normally I end each weird family book thinking I’ll never read another one ever again so THERE.

But then a new weird family books shows up at my doorstep and I think that maybe this weird family book will be the book that won’t break my heart. Shouldn’t I give it a chance? Just to see. And so I do, and I did, with Fiction Ruined My Family. And huzzah! It didn’t break my little reader heart. I actually was happy at the end of it. Surprise! Continue reading »

MINI-REVIEWS: The Boneshaker, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, Murder at the Vicarage

Posted by Anastasia on November 4, 2011 8 Responses »

Nov 042011

Trying to play catch-up with my October reads! I hope I can do it. Otherwise I think I may get really, really behind with November, and then I’m not sure what I’ll do. Basically I think y’all should expect lots of mini-reviews this month, which I hope is okay.

Click on a book’s cover to go to its Amazon page.

127. The Boneshaker by Kate Milford
Publication: Sandpiper; Reprint edition (May 23, 2011), Paperback, 384pp / ISBN 0547550049
Genre: MG Fantasy (could feasibly be YA)

Read: October 22, 2011
Source: Contest

Mini-Review

Eek, this was so much scarier than I thought it’d be! I can’t actually remember what I thought The Boneshaker would be about, but based on the cover I think I was thinking it’d be a light-hearted sci-fi/fantasy sort of thing, with wacky characters and lots of derring-do. Instead, it’s a Southern gothic horror story with the Devil, some demons, and some very not-nice people. There’s derring-do, but it’s sure isn’t light-hearted.

One of my favorite things about The Boneshaker is how one of the secondary characters, presented at first as a prissy, unfriendly know-it-all actually helps the protagonist in ways that don’t have anything to do with pluck and have more to do with courage and friendship. Even prisses can be decent friends, don’tcha know!

Rating

Seriously recommended, even if you don’t particularly like horror.

128. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
Publication: Feiwel & Friends (May 10, 2011), Hardcover, 256pp / ISBN 0312649614
Genre: MG fantasy

Read: October 22, 2011
Source: Contest

Mini-Review

This reminds me of a Neil Gaiman book (with elements of a Lemony Snicket story), only without the sort of problems that usually crop up in his books (especially re:characters). It’s got that same sort of whimsical, nearly-terrifying quality to it, and the writing is plush and flowing and so on. I did find the beginning a bit tough, but as I got into the rhythm of the book I started to enjoy is more and more. By the end I was in love!

I do wish the secondary characters had been a bit more fleshed out than they were, but overall I think it’s a fantastic book and one of the best ones I’ve read this year.

Rating

The title is impossible, but the story is absolutely devine!

130. Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
Publication: HarperCollins e-books; Masterpiece ed edition (March 17, 2009), ebook, 380pp / ISBN 0062073605
Genre: Mystery

Read: October 22- , 2011
Source: Freebie

Mini-Review

I haven’t read many Miss Marple books, mainly because the ones I HAVE read have been annoying (and not only because nosy old ladies terrify me). I spent a lot of the time reading this one hoping that AC wouldn’t do something that’d ruin the whole story, and…yay! She didn’t do it. In fact, Murder at the Vicarage turned out to be a really good mystery. Miss Marple is there and she does butt into things a lot, and the way she comes up with the solution is almost deus ex machina, but luckily the narrator is the vicar and he’s not nearly as annoying as Miss Marple it.

One of my favorite things about Agatha Christie is her female characters. They’re almost always interesting, and though they do tend to be stereotypes I find them really enjoyable. This book’s got a lot of great female characters, even leaving out Miss Marple herself, and even the tertiary ones have more depth to them than some male protagonists have in other Golden Age mysteries. Yay Agatha Christie!

Rating

I think it’s actually one of my favorite AC books, now.

REVIEW: The Darkest Powers series by Kelley Armstrong

Posted by Anastasia on September 16, 2011 5 Responses »

Sep 162011

Book cover: The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

Book cover: The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

Book cover: The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong

93-95. Darkest Powers #1-3 by Kelley Armstrong
Publication:
Book 1: HarperCollins; Reprint edition (March 31, 2009), Paperback, 416pp / ISBN 0061450545
Book 2: HarperCollins (April 28, 2009), ebook, 384pp / ISBN 0061450553
Book 3: HarperCollins (April 6, 2010), ebook, 416pp / ISBN 0061662836
Genre: YA Paranormal

Read: August 5-9, 2011 (entire series)
Source: Sandy for the first book (thanks so much!), and I bought the next two books

Summary of The Summoning from Amazon:

My name is Chloe Saunders and my life will never be the same again.

All I wanted was to make friends, meet boys, and keep on being ordinary. I don’t even know what that means anymore. It all started on the day that I saw my first ghost—and the ghost saw me.

Now there are ghosts everywhere and they won’t leave me alone. To top it all off, I somehow got myself locked up in Lyle House, a “special home” for troubled teens. Yet the home isn’t what it seems. Don’t tell anyone, but I think there might be more to my housemates than meets the eye. The question is, whose side are they on? It’s up to me to figure out the dangerous secrets behind Lyle House . . . before its skeletons come back to haunt me.

Review

Sandy and I were talking during the blogger reception thing at BEA this year about paranormal YA books and how a lot of them are basically copies of one another. Also, that some things (okay, a lot of things) about paranormal books annoy me. If you’ve been my blog for a while you’ve no doubt that noticed that I tend to get really annoyed about such things as “love” at first sight, everyone being soulmates, romantic gestures that are actually really stalkerish, and how everyone always thinks they’re going to be together forever (and then they are). Cynical? Maybe. I’d just like a little variety, you know? It’s not the end of the world if your vampire boyfriend breaks up with you, and that hot guy in gym class that you saw that one time is not your soulmate. Just. C’mon.

ANYWAY, Sandy told me about the Darkest Powers series, and about how it was different and good and then she offered to send me the first book so I could read it for myself and OH MY GOD SANDY you were so right. This series? To use the vernacular of paranormal romances: it’s like this series and I were meant to be. Continue reading »

MINI-REVIEWS: Bliss, Feed, Storm Glass

Posted by Anastasia on September 14, 2011 18 Responses »

Sep 142011

Click on a book’s cover to go to its Amazon page!

101. Bliss by Lauren Myracle
Publication: Amulet Books; Reprint edition (January 1, 2011), originally published 2008, Paperback, 480pp / ISBN 0810940728
Genre: YA Horror/Paranormal

Read: August 22-23, 2011
Source: Bought

Review

I grabbed this book from a Borders in California because a) I was desperate for a paper book for some reason and b) it looked potentially entertaining. It is, in fact, a really good book.

Basically, Bliss is a bit like The Craft but set in the late 1960s and with ghosts and blood magic instead of something vaguely Wicca-ish. It’s scary, it’s dark, and it’s SO FRICKIN’ AWESOME. I just. I really love this book, y’all. It’s creepy and spooky and really tense in that someone-may-die sort of way, and the writing is just so good– and if you need a book for RIP VI or if you just want a scary-awesome YA book for some reason, definitely get this book. DEFINITELY GET IT. I’ll stop yelling in capslock if you promise to read it!

I know the cover makes it look like it’s more Carrie than Craft, but listen to me and all will be well.

Rating

There’s also a red herring that you don’t really figure out until nearer to the end!

102. Feed by Mira Grant
Publication: Orbit; Original edition (May 1, 2010), ebook, 608pp / ISBN 0316081051
Genre: Sci-fi/Horror

Read: August 24-25, 2011
Source: Bought

Review

This is another book that makes me want to capslock with how AMAZING it is, although it’s not YA and it’s got zombies instead of ghosts and it’s more about the freedom of the press and the importance of blogs/family/friendship than it is about anything else. Also, it’s set in the future. It’s got action and drama and a conspiracy, and there’s fantastic characters, and even if there’s a little too much infodumping at times I still think the writing is really great.

If you’re a blogger who likes sci-fi and post-apocalyptic things and zombies and books about blogging, you’d like this book. If you like character-driven stories where people actually love each other and aren’t perfect and yet are still very likable, you’d like this book. I think even if you’re more of a political thriller sort of person, you might like this book! It’s just. so. good.

Rating

The ending was so sad, but I got through it okay.

103. Storm Glass by Maria V. Snyder
Publication: Mira; Original edition (May 1, 2009), ebook, 448pp / ISBN 0778325644
Genre: YA Fantasy

Read: August 25-26, 2011
Source: Bought

Review

So when I bought this I didn’t realize it was a sequel series to another trilogy. So that’s kind of a bummer. On the other hand, even though I felt like I’d missed a huge chunk of the backstory, it talks about what happened in the other books enough that I felt like I mostly understood what was going on re:the past, and the rest of it is set so much in the present anyway that it turned out not to be that big of a deal that I’d missed the first trilogy.

Got that? Good.

I really love this book. I know this post is full of LOVE and AWESOME and AMAZING already but just bear with me because this book is all those things and more. You like strong female characters that nevertheless make mistakes? This book’s got that! You like a bit of romance in your fantasy, but nothing too overwhelming? This book’s got that! You like adventure and action and yet, at the same time, character development? This book’s got that!

I read this in the car on the way back from California and I basically completely missed the middle bit of Arizona because I was so into it. ♥