Friday, February 26, 2010

OK, I’m loving the killer Unicorns. I’m about halfway through this book (Rampant), and I’m already hoping for a sequel. I’m just so impressed that this author has taken such an original idea and created a whole world around it. And, it’s always nice to read a book that has such strong female characters. I’m hoping to finish it this weekend. 
Big excitement, I also got my first comment! Here we go…

“I liked the book Evernight by Claudia Gray, but I hated the sequel, Stargazer.” - Rambunctious Turtle

Well, Rambunctious Turtle, I half-agree with you. I also liked the book Evernight, and it actually managed to surprise me with some of its twists and turns. Yes, it’s another Vampire book, but I don’t care, I stand by it. But, unlike you, I enjoyed the sequel. I especially liked the cliffhanger ending, and I’m waiting anxiously for Hourglass, the third book in the series, which is due to be published March 9, 2010. (Wait! That’s like days away…so exciting!). Any other Evernight readers out there who would like to comment? E-mail me, and I’ll be glad to post your comments and opinions.

February 22, 2010

Finished Kristin Chenoweth’s biography, A Little Bit Wicked. It was really fun, and so refreshing to read a celebrity biography that was mostly positive and upbeat. I didn’t know a lot about Kristen, and then this fall, I saw her on Glee, and when she guest-starred on American Idol, I wanted to know more about her and her career. Then, I came across her biography-perfect! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in a career in music and theater.

I didn’t get to the movies to see The Lightning Thief, but as soon as I do, I will post my thoughts. I am supposed to go and see Shutter Island tonight. I read the book awhile ago, and I loved it, so I can’t wait to see how the movie compares. It was one of those books, that as soon as I finished, the end made me want to go back and read the whole book all over again.

I did start a new book called Rampant by Diana Peterfreund. The summary intrigued me, as well as the cover, so I thought I’d give it a shot. Here’s the summary, “After sixteen-year-old Astrid Llewelyn survives a vicious unicorn attack, she learns that she is a descendant of the most famous unicorn hunter of all time and she must travel to Rome, Italy, to train in the ancient arts in order to carry on her family legacy and save the world from the threat posed by the reemergence of lethal unicorns.” I know, right? Lethal, vicious unicorns? You know that I had to read this book! I’ll post a review as soon as I finish.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Finished The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordian last night. The Lightning Thief is the first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, and as several of you know, the movie was just released February 12th. I have not had a chance to see it yet, but now, especially after reading the book, I can’t wait to see how it came out. I will try to see the movie this weekend, and I will comment more on the movie vs. the book next week. If anyone has seen the movie, let me know what you think!

Getting back to the book…I really liked it. Once I started, I didn’t want to put it down, it was hard to not just rush through and see what was going to happen. I mean, I was pretty sure that Percy was going to make it through, seeing as how this was the first book in a series, but nevertheless, it had me on the edge of my seat. I think Rick Riordian created some amazing characters, and did such a good job describing the gods, demigods, and monsters. I thought he did an especially amazing job describing Hades, and I can’t wait to see how it is portrayed in the movie. It seemed the author also spent a great deal of time researching the subject of mythology. There’s so much mythology, but it’s presented in such a great way, not dry and boring at all. I did a little research myself, and it didn’t surprise me that Rick Riordian used to be a classroom teacher. So, I can easily give this book two thumbs up, and I look forward to reading the rest of the series. 

In a shift away from fiction, fantasy and romance, I started the biography of Kristen Chenoweth, A Little Bit Wicked: life, love, and faith in stages. You might know her from her role as Glinda on the Broadway hit-show Wicked, the series Pushing Daisies, or her guest-starring role on Glee, as April Rhodes. So far, so good, as always, I’ll keep you posted! 

February 13, 2010

Happy almost Valentine’s Day! Whether you love or hate this Holiday, guaranteed there’s a book out there to match your mood. In keeping with the themes of Valentine’s Day, we’ve put up a display of books all about love and romance. So, if you’re not sick of it all, come and check it out! There are books about first love, unrequited love, supernatural love and more! Do you have a favorite love story? Some of my all-time favorite romances are The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks, The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen and Honey, Baby, Sweetheart by Deb Caletti.

And speaking of romance, love and boys, I just read Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler. This was Sarah Ockler’s first novel, and it was really well done. I know, it’s still winter, but I am rebelling, and this book was all about the summer. It wasn’t just a light, fluffy beach read though. There was sadness, heartache, and just the right amount of friendship and teen drama to keep you reading. Love isn’t always pretty and neat, it can be ragged, messy and break your heart, but it’s almost always worth it, and that’s what Sarah Ockler reminds us of in this book.

And, last but not least, breaking away from romance, my goal is to start the first Percy Jackson book this weekend. I’ll keep you posted on my progress!    

February 9, 2010

Okay. Well, literary-wise, last week was a pretty dark week. I finished the Adult novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson and the Young Adult novel Venomous by Christopher Krovatin. They were both good and highly readable, but they had very dark threads and content. Venomous focused more on the darkness of an individual, Locke, and his struggle to deal with the blackness and rage he feels inside of him, that he has nicknamed “Venom.” Locke is a mostly normal good guy, who loves his mom and little brother, when the venom does not have control of him. Once he gets upset, angry and frustrated, the Venom takes over and makes him act incredibly violent and destructive. He finally meets someone he loves, a girl named Renee, who has her own issues, but seems to calm his Venom. Will he be able to gain control over his Venom and lead a normal life? You have to read the book to find out. There is a comic book/graphic novel that runs throughout the book, a page or two after almost every chapter, which represents Locke’s struggle in both picture and written form. This book does contain very strong language, some drug use and sexual content.

This past weekend, I also read the book Push by Sapphire. It’s the book that the movie Precious was based on. It was a very moving, disturbing read. The level of abuse that Precious faced was unbelievable, yet she persevered and made something of herself. This book is set in the 80’s (published in the 90's), but it doesn’t seem too dated or irrelevant. I feel that the issues raised in this novel transcend time. I will put a caution in here, that this book is not an easy read, and not appropriate for younger readers. There are graphic depictions of abuse, the descriptions and language are strong, and the content is adult. The book is told from the point of view of Precious Jones, so at times, the language and spelling can be hard to interpret. I have not seen the movie yet, so I cannot compare the two, but if anyone has read the book and watched the movie, let me know what you think. 

February 8, 2010

Update! The Literature Club is once again reinventing itself. There seemed to be some confusion about “The Literature Club.” Many people thought that it was a writing group, but “The Literature Club” was actually a book group. Sometimes members may want to write, or share something they have written. Rather than discourage that, we want everyone to feel free to share their work, so we thought calling the gathering a “Book Club” or “Book Group” might be too limiting. But that didn’t work; it just created a lot of confusion. So now we’ll just call our monthly meeting, “The Young Adult Book Discussion Group.” Meeting dates and times will be posted on the Events Calendar, as well as the title of the book that we’ll discuss that month. Each meeting will be scheduled for an hour, and the chances of us talking about that one book the whole time are pretty slim. So, if you love reading and books, but haven’t read our selection of the month, you’re still invited to come and discuss books, authors, and more with us! 

The YA Book Discussion Group will next meet on Saturday, March 6th at 3:30pm in the YA Room to discuss The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordian. See you there!