Summer, Swimming, Sickness and Other News

Tada. Behold. I have created a post for y'all.

Oh, LO freakin' L

Those of you hanging on the fringe and seeing this post pop up, I appreciate your loyalty. I have been buried in the silence for six months. Yep. Six months, people. I looked at my last post, idly curious as to the amount of time I'd let pass since my last post, and had a little sad all to myself.

Six months is a long time to quit the cybersphere. Sorries all 'round.

Anyhoozle, I've done many, many reviews at Compass Book Ratings since last I posted. Check it out:

             

 

I don't know why blogger can't freakin' format, but it apparently cannot, which is why all the books are wonky up there. But look at all the books I've reviewed! (Actually, I did review a fifteenth book, but since I threw up my hands about three chapters in, thinking, "Watch, I bet you anything the next character introduced is ALSO going to be exploring gender identity," I'm not posting that review here. I wouldn't recommend it anyway. To paraphrase Buzz Lightyear: "Gays. Gays everywhere.")

But see. I have been busy, contrary to what my visible life on this blog might say.

In other news, HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SUMMER!

I love Google's doodles. They're always so adorable. Did y'all see the one where you could play cricket? That was fun! I really like the interactive ones. I literally waste so much time.

Fun news: I got pink eye over the last week. That crap sucks, man! It started developing Friday evening, and it wasn't toooo too bad until later that evening, when my eyes got pretty weepy and freakin' itched and burned.

I went to the doctor promptly the next morning, because it hurt, and am now on medication and doing much better, thanks for asking. I had originally thought it was just allergies, because our pollen is coming down with vengeance (thank you, pine trees), and my throat has been a little sore anyway, and I've been congested and watery-eyed. But when the itch turned into horrific burning and go-away-give-me-a-cold-towel-take-away-the-lights, I figured it was no longer allergies.

We had breakthrough hot weather end of May/beginning of June, which degenerated into really foul weather over the weekend that my sister (whom I haven't seen for...hmmm... four years?) came up for a visit. Once she and her family left, the weather popped back up into the upper 70s/low 80s, with a bold foray into the 90s. So, it is about swimming weather, which we will likely attempt tonight. I will swim, but I may not dunk. Protecting my precious eyes, see?

A few of us are going to a civil war reenactment this weekend. I'm not 100% sure where it is, but I do know the weather is going to be very HOT, and we are camping near a beach. So you can be sure I'm packing my swimsuit. But the reenactment itself should be fun. I'm looking forward to it.

I have been reading bucketloads of manga. Bucket. Loads. Manga is actually rather lovely. I mean, yeah, you get the shapeless wonders once in awhile, but can you imagine drawing an entire story in pictures? That's crazy talented.

 

 

I currently own all of Fullmental Alchemist, all that is available of D.Gray-Man, and I have about half of Pandora Hearts. The wrong kind of half, though. Like, Barnes and Nobles has a bad habit of chronically having the first seven books in that series, and the last five, but totally ignoring books 8-19. Apparently, those twelve are only purchasable online and never in-store. Lame-oh. (Also, I would like to point out that there is a serious lack of Xerxes Break collectibles. What's up with that, manga world? I bet you can't take a walk in freakin' Japan without stumbling over some action figure or another!) I did get my sticky mitts on some pretty cool Fullmetal Alchemist figures, which are proudly on display with my manga collection. I have also come to the conclusion that I think I like the Noragami manga slightly better than the anime. So I can see myself eventually collecting the manga of that. Perhaps not the anime, but the manga has beautiful art and a great main character.

But that is currently all for now. So, without further eloquence...

God bless!

Cat

Cute Li'l Life Update

HELLOOOOOOOO!!! *Epic drum roll*

 I haven't done a book review in ages, but hollah! Now I'm doing book reviews over at Compass Book Ratings! (Go on, click the link. You know you want to.)

It's pretty cool, sort of an IMDB for books. So, IBDB, I guess. I'm one of the new young adult fantasy reviewers, with a possible and occasional science fiction novel thrown in. These books are rated for readability, age recommendations, and scored on violence, sex, and language. I've never seen a website like this before, so I'm pretty stoked to have joined them. Not only do you get more of a literary review on the book, but you can also see at a glance the sort of "violence" or "sex" that it might contain, which is pretty handy if you really don't feel like reading something chalkful of blood and gore. Right? Riiiiight?

Pretty cool, doncha think? So I'll be posting updates whenever I do a new review and it's up at Compass Books Ratings.

I currently have three new reviews up, that you can check out if you want. (Go on, click the links. You KNOW you want to!)
The Winner's Curse
Dragonsong
Enchanted Glass

That's all for now. I hope you all have a wonderful evening!

God bless!

Cat

The Scorpio Races - Book Review

Barnes and Noble

"It is the first day of November and so, today, someone will die."

THE SCORPIO RACES is a novel based on Celtic water horses.  Every November on the island of Thisby, the fierce and feral capaill uisce are born from the black ocean water to race along the hard sand of the beach. And every November, the men of Thisby capture these horses to ride them in a deadly race.

“Tell me what it's like. The race."

"What it's like is a battle. A mess of horses and men and blood. The fastest and strongest of what is left from two weeks of preparation on the sand. It's the surf in your face, the deadly magic of November on your skin, the Scorpio drums in the place of your heartbeat. It's speed, if you're lucky. It's life and it's death or it's both, and there's nothing like it.”

The capaill uisce are not your normal horse. Larger, wilder than their terrestrial cousins, predatory and mercurial, the water horses are dangerous beasts at any time of the year, but especially dangerous in November, when the ocean sings in their blood. Hard to tame and unpredictable as the weather, the Scorpio Races are a mixture of celebration and deadly spectacle.

"These are not ordinary horses. Drape them with charms, hide them from the sea, but today, on the beach: Do not turn your back."

Nineteen-year-old Sean Kendrick is a four-time champion of the Scorpio Races. Year after year he has brought home the purse to his employer, Benjamin Malvern, the man who owns a stable of sport horses he exports to the mainland. This year, however, Sean has more than just his love of the capaill uisce driving him to race. This year, he races for the freedom to leave Malvern Yard, and for the joy of finally owning Corr, the red capall uisce he rides in every race.

Source

“I've grown up alongside Corr. My father rode him and my father lost him, and then I found him again. He's the only family I have.”

Katherine "Puck" Connolly never meant to ride in the races. Since both her parents died in a capall uisce attack, she has had no desire to join that reckless, deathly sport. Her brothers Gabe and Finn, her pony Dove, and their house in Thisby is all she needs. But now there is a real danger that the three Connollys are going to lose their home. In order to save her home, Puck joins the Scorpio Races, pitting her little land pony against the wild tempers of the water horses in a gamble to take home the purse.

"There is nothing special about the mare, nothing at all. A fine enough head, good enough bone. As a pony, she is a beauty. As a capall uisce, she is nothing. The girl too, is nothing special - slight, with a ginger ponytail. She looks less afraid than her mare, but she's in more danger.”

There is initial friction - Puck is the first girl to ride in the races, and she expects to race docile little Dove against the fearsome, meat-loving capaill uisce. Sean, understanding the moods of the water horses, knowing how the salt water makes them as intemperate as the ocean itself, at first resents Puck's intrusion into the races. He knows her danger, knows the probability of her failure and the possible outcome of her death. But Puck is indomitable.

“My mother always said that I was born out of a bottle of vinegar instead of born from a womb and that she and my father bathed me in sugar for three days to wash it off. I try to behave, but I always go back to the vinegar.” 

The two eventually form an alliance. Sean understands the water horses. He especially understands the mood and heart of his own fierce Corr, and in knowing such things has the ability to train Puck and Dove in learning what it takes to beat the capaill uisce.

"This time of year, I live and breath the beach. My cheeks feel raw with the wind throwing sand against them. My thighs sting from the friction of the saddle. My arms ache from holding up two thousand pounds of horse.

I am so, so alive."

The stakes are high for the two of them.If Sean wins, he will have the money to buy Corr and start his own Yard. If Puck wins, she can save her home.

But it is a race, and only one can win.

“I say, 'I will not be your weakness, Sean Kendrick.'
Now he looks at me. He says, very softly, 'It's late for that, Puck.'

*****

Surprisingly, I really enjoyed this book.  The water horses are fierce and terrifying creatures, meat-eaters from the sea. They will kill you as soon as look at you. But there is something gorgeous and free in their ocean souls. When I read about them, I understood Sean's love and distrust of them. They are magical and dangerous and wonderful at the same time.  There is a little bit of island magic in the handling of the water horses, and Sean is a really well-written, quiet, vulnerably invincible kind of character. I really liked him.

Puck is a pretty good female character too. She is spunky enough to be brave, and humble enough not to be annoying. For the most part I really enjoyed the way she played off Sean, even though he was my favourite.

The writing is quite lyrical. You can feel the pulse of the ocean in your blood, smell the ocean air mixing with the saltier stench of the water horses. You can feel the rush of wind and the sense of uncertainty in each line. It's really quite good.

There are some brief suggestive sentences, never anything over the top, but the occasional line that makes you know exactly what the speaker is getting at.  There is some language, but for the most part I never found it totally offensive.

If you're looking for a book about races, high stakes, and very subtle, almost-not-there romance, then this is the book for you.

“He is slow, and the sea sings to us both, but he returns to me.” 

I Shall Wear Midnight - Book Review

Fyrefly's Book Blog

There is an outcrop of land called the Chalk. This land, and all the villages along it, are called a steading. This steading belongs to Tiffany Aching.

And Tiffany is a witch.

...as steadings went, this one was pretty good. Not many witches got a whole geological outcrop to themselves, even if this one was mostly covered in grass, and the grass was mostly covered in sheep.

Tiffany has spent years studying her craft under senior witches such as Granny Weatherwax, Annagramma, and Nanny Ogg, and now has charge of the Chalk. As witch of the Chalk, Tiffany performs all sorts of odd jobs; assisting at births, attending weddings, tending to the needy, mixing healthful potions. All of it very needful and quite unglamourous.

"I’m a witch. It’s what we do. When it’s nobody else’s business, it’s my business."

But there is something evil afoot in the world. Tiffany begins to notice an increasing distrust among the people of the Chalk, a distrust aimed against her and all witches in general. When the old ailing Baron of the Chalklands, (a kindly man who Tiffany has been tending, easing the pain of his last days,) dies, Tiffany is accused of murder. Tiffany refutes this charge impatiently, but it is a sign of the rapidly growing distrust that few of the folk believe her.

"Poison goes where poison's welcome."

In order to discover the source of this mistrust, Tiffany must set off on a quest, armed only with her courage, her broom, and her friends from an earlier book, THE WEE FREE MEN... little blue men with Scottish brogues and a penchant for brawling, drinking, and stealing.

The Nac Mac Feegle (Wee Free Men) could be pretty worrying to those who did not know them very well, although now she thought about it, they could be pretty worrying however long you had known them.

Source

On her way to the city of Ankh-Morpork, where she is going to inform the Baron's son Roland (introduced previously in THE WEE FREE MEN, and one of Tiffany's truest friends) about his father's death, Tiffany is accosted by a frightening, ghost-like figure with an evil aura and holes in his face where his eyes should be.

A man with no eyes. No eyes at all. Two tunnels in his head...

Tiffany escapes the nightmarish figure, and in Ankh-Morpork (where she meets fellow witch Mrs. Proust, has an unexpected altercation with Roland and his fiancee Letitia Keepsake, is arrested after the Nac Mac Feegle destroy a pub, and escapes next day with the Nac Mac Feegle's help), she learns about the eyeless man from a legendary witch named Eskarina Smith.

[Eskarina] had learned secrets that made the mightiest of magics look like nothing more than conjuring tricks.

This ghostly figure haunting Tiffany is something called the Cunning Man. Long ago, he fell in love with a witch who had been condemned to death. However, she, knowing the evil in his heart, contrived to trap the Cunning Man in the same fires that devoured her, killing him as well.

She remembered the screaming figure on the road, shadowless in full sunlight, delivering abuse as if it was vomit and leaving her with a sick feeling that she would never be able to get clean again.

But not entirely. The Cunning Man returned as a demonic spirit of hatred. His very presence brings out the darkest emotions in a person's heart, and since his hatred is directed against witches this explains the hostility Tiffany has notices in the Chalk, and indeed in the world beyond the Chalk. He returns every couple hundred years, seeking a young witch whom he can successfully possess. For, if he were able to do such a thing, he would be able to destroy all the witches.

And he has chosen Tiffany for his next victim.

“One day all of us will die but - and this is the important thing - we are not dead yet.”

Tiffany has to find a way to confront - and defeat - the Cunning Man. If she doesn't - if she fails - then all of Chalk will fall with her.

“It is important that we know where we come from, because if you do not know where you come from, then you don't know where you are, and if you don't know where you are, then you don't know where you're going. And if you don't know where you're going, you're probably going wrong.”

Source

____________________

I have been a bit hesitant about reading Terry Pratchett. I'm not sure why. Probably because I'm never sure if there's going to be "junk" in his books or not.

This book - I think #38 in the Discworld series, and the final book in the Tiffany Aching quartet - did contain a few moments of adult-ish content, and some almost-but-not-quite descriptive moments regarding inappropriate matter, but it was all handled in a way that was nearly discreet and not in-your-face blatant, which I appreciated. I didn't care for some of the religious sarcasm, but that's just me. I tend to get uppity when people treat religion like a joke. There was also some language, but since the author is British I tended to overlook many, if not all, the bad words. (Shame on me! :)

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That being said, this book was well-written, was humourous, and I didn't feel lost at all, despite the fact it was the FINAL book about Tiffany Aching, and a good ways into the actual Discworld saga. I liked Terry Pratchett's descriptions, his word usage, and the liberal amounts of humour sprinkled throughout the entire story. I even liked the dark element of the Cunning Man, who was sufficiently eerie enough to make me shudder, even though I read this book during the day.

I SHALL WEAR MIDNIGHT was a fun read, an enjoyable book, and a great relief to find, after spending an entire week of opening new library books, reading the first couple pages, and tossing the book aside in disgust. I recommend it for anyone who's in the mood for a light fantasy and isn't expecting something incredibly epic. Tiffany Aching is a great character, the side characters provide lots of laughs, and the Nac Mac Feegle are well worth the time.

I give this book four and a half stars.

CRIVENS!

UNICORN KEEP - Book Review and Giveaway

Title: UNICORN KEEP

Author: Angelia Almos

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Enchanted Book Tours Review:

Jiline of Ainsley is dismayed when her best friend is selected by the mages to become a unicorn keeper at the Keep, an isolated mountain fortress. Especially since Madelen is in love and engaged to the richest boy in the village. Jiline on the other hand has no prospects of marriage or a trade in their small village. So, she comes up with a plan to take Madelen’s place at the Keep and hopefully flunk out of unicorn keeper training before the mages can discover the deception. Unfortunately, the unicorns have their own plans for her.

Mage Herrick, son of the Keep Mage, returns home to the Keep as the trainee keepers arrive. A chance encounter with Jiline, who he believes is Madelen, on the trail sparks a magical connection between the two. Knowing he can’t feel a magical draw to someone who has no magic, he tries to prove Madelen (Jiline) has magic within her. His attention brings unforeseen complications for both of them.

My Review:


UNICORN KEEP by Angelia Almos is a lovely, lovely story. Written simply, with enough prose and description to keep my imagination working, it features unicorns, unicorn lore, and unique characters I could sympathize with.

We are introduced to the main character, Jiline, and her best friend Madelen, as they’re waiting for the mages to "test" them for their worthiness as possible unicorn keepers. For those who are pure enough to be chosen, they must travel to Unicorn Keep, where they will take care of the magical creatures.

Madelen is chosen to be a unicorn keeper, and Jiline is not. For Madelen, who is in love with the mayor’s son, Wilm, the last thing she wants to do is leave the village. For Jiline, who has no prospects for marriage, the role as a unicorn keeper could have been a blessing.

Jiline formulates a quick plan. She and Madelen (who look so much alike they are often mistaken for sisters) will trade places.

Madelen and Wilm will travel to the city and start a new life together.

Jiline will go to the Unicorn Keep.

Expecting her lack of purity to be discovered, Jiline is surprised as the days pass and the mages don't seem to suspect anything. When the time comes for the trainees at the keep to be judged and chosen by the unicorns themselves, she prepares herself for the lie to be exposed at last.

Then the unexpected happens. The unicorns choose her as a keeper, because there is magic within her.

However, Jiline have to keep her friendship to the unicorns a secret, for they reveal secrets to her that puts her in danger. For one thing, the unicorns tell her that the keep is not a haven. It is their prison. And there is a lie about the crystal the mages use to choose new keepers. Does it really work the way they say it does?

Jiline is the girl chosen to save the unicorn from their imprisoned existence in the Keep. She just has to stay alive.

This book was a quick read, simple yet elegant in its simplicity. The unicorn element was delightful, and for unicorn fans, this is a must-read. I give it four stars.

*****

To celebrate UNICORN KEEP, I am excited to host a giveaway for another book written byAngelia Almos. To enter this international contest for a chance to win HORSE CHARMER, fill in the Rafflecopter widget below. Come by tomorrow, because I'll be a posting an interview with Jiline, the heroine of UNICORN KEEP.

Good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Aunt Maria: by Diana Wynne Jones

The whole ordeal with Aunt Maria probably would never have happened if Dad hadn't driven off the road on his way to visit Aunt her in the village of Cranbury-on-Sea. But he did, and that's how Aunt Maria entered into the lives of Christian and Naomi Laker.

Before they have a chance to catch their breath, Chris and Naomi (more familiarly referred to as "Mig") find themselves bundled in the car with their suitcases and speeding off with Mum to Cranbury-on-Sea to tend to poor old Aunt Maria.

At first, Aunt Maria seems to be a demure old woman, cuddly as a teddy bear and oozing forbearance and patience. But there is a hard, iron side to Aunt Maria that can hardly be believed at first because it is cushioned so sneakily between layers of fluff and sweetness. But gradually the Lakers realise that they are expected to keep house, look after Aunt Maria, and provide the cakes (home-made, not store-bought, mind!) for the tea parties that Aunt Maria has every day with other women from the village.

This is bad enough, but gradually Chris and Mig discover that not only is Aunt Maria not what she seems, but the whole village is amiss. Men wander around like grey-suited zombies. The children are locked away in an institution-like orphanage and chaperoned by some of the ladies that attend Aunt Maria's tea parties. There is a ghost that keeps appearing to Chris at night, and the cat that stalks around outside Aunt Maria's house looks suspiciously like the servant that had been in Aunt Maria's employ before the Lakers arrived.

Aunt Maria's quavering gentleness is offset by Chris's incredibly rude attitude toward her, which becomes refreshing as the book goes on because Aunt Maria just gets more and more sweetly horrendous and you can't wait for Chris to speak his mind. You know there's going to be a point where something happens, for Aunt Maria has to be more than just an eccentric old woman with a whole village wrapped around her finger. Could she be a witch?

Once she turns Chris into a wolf, it seems pretty likely. But how will Mig be able to break the spell on Chris, release the ghost, and save the whole village of Cranbury-on-Sea from Aunt Maria's clutches by herself?

Diana Wynne Jones has written another zinger of a story. Aunt Maria is this perfect villain, devious and horrendous while at the same being so perfectly cozy, and Mig is portrayed as the perfect shy foil to Aunt Maria's prodigious slyness. Before the end of the book you are heartily hating Aunt Maria and just waiting for the climax when you know she will be taken down.

This book can be found on Amazon under the titles of AUNT MARIA and BLACK MARIA.

My rating: *****

Passage: Connie Willis

Joanna Lander is a doctor working at Mercy General Hospital. She specializes in NDE - Near Death Experiences - and her goal in life is to discover what really is on the Other Side of death. She interviews people in the hospital who have undergone NDE, but it's very hard for her to glean fact from fiction because of Maurice Mandrake, a pseudo-psychologist and famous author, who is only concerned with convincing people that warmth, happiness, and light await them on the Other Side so that he can sell a new bestseller.

Then Dr. Richard Wright arrives. He is a brilliant young neurologist also on the quest of discovering what NDE really is, and has even been able to manufacture NDE's with the aid of psychoactive drugs. Joanna and he team up to see if they can interview objective subjects as to what they see and feel during an NDE.

The scientific research and results are frustrating, and as time goes on the people that have volunteered for the experiment start drifting away until there is only one thing left to do. Joanna herself goes under the drug, and experiences an NDE firsthand.

The experience is both what she expected and not what she expected. The place she finds herself in is haunting and somehow familiar. It makes her want to go under again. But each time she goes under, she starts to feel a sense of dread growing within her, as though she knows why the place is familiar and why she should be afraid.

In an effort to try and understand why the NDE is so familiar, Joanna catapults on a "quest" to figure out what her brain is telling her as she is "dying." The results and discovery are unexpected to say the least, and the climax is a stunner, for sure!

PASSAGE is gorgeously written. Connie Willis lets you see, feel, and hear the heartbeat of Mercy General Hospital, and makes you aware of the undercurrent of tension that most likely pulses in the veins of every hospital. There is a lot of drama and build-up in the first part of the book, and though not a lot happens you can't stop reading, because there's just something gripping about people running frantically through corridors in an effort to discover what NDE is all about. PASSAGE is chock-full of memorable characters -- the incorrigible WWII veteran with his ever-changing stories, the Mandrake-influenced NDE patient with her newly-discovered facts about the Other Side, the critically ill child with a penchant for disaster stories -- and you'll laugh, cry, and bite your nails through every page of this incredibly haunting novel.

My Rating: *****


PASSAGE Book Description:

A tunnel, a light, a door. And beyond it ... the unimaginable.


Dr. Joanna Lander is a psychologist specializing in near-death experiences. She is about to get help from a new doctor with the power to give her the chance to get as close to death as anyone can.


A brilliant young neurologist, Dr. Richard Wright has come up with a way to manufacture the near-death experience using a psychoactive drug. Joanna’s first NDE is as fascinating as she imagined — so astounding that she knows she must go back, if only to find out why that place is so hauntingly familiar.


But each time Joanna goes under, her sense of dread begins to grow, because part of her already knows why the experience is so familiar, and why she has every reason to be afraid.


Yet just when Joanna thinks she understands, she’s in for the biggest surprise of all — a shattering scenario that will keep you feverishly reading until the final climactic page.

PASSAGE Amazon.com Review

Most of us would rather not spend a lot of time contemplating death, but the characters in Connie Willis's novel Passage make a living at it. Joanna Lander is a medical researcher specializing in Near Death Experiences (NDEs) and how the brain constructs them. Her partner in this endeavor is Richard Wright, a single-minded scientist who induces NDEs in healthy people by injecting a compound that tricks the brain into thinking it's dying. Joanna and Richard team up and try to find test subjects whose ability to report their experiences objectively hasn't been wrecked by reading the books of pop-psychologist and hospital gadabout Maurice Mandrake. Mandrake has gained fame and fortune by convincing people that they can expect light, warmth, and welcoming loved ones once they die. Joanna and Richard try to quantify NDEs in more scientific terms, a frustrating exercise to say the least.


The brain cells started to die within moments of death. By the end of four to six minutes the damage was irreversible, and people brought back from death after that didn't talk about tunnels and life reviews. They didn't talk at all.... But if the dying were facing annihilation, why didn't they say, "It's over!" or, "I'm shutting down"?... Why did they say, "It's beautiful over there," and, "I'm coming, Mother!"


When Joanna decides to become a test subject and see an NDE firsthand, she discovers that death is both more and less than she expected. Telling anything at all about her experience would be spoiling the book's suspenseful buildup, but readers are in for some shocks as Willis reveals the secrets and mysteries of the afterlife. Unfortunately, several running gags--the maze-like complexity of the hospital, Mandrake's oily sales pitch, and a tiresomely talkative World War II veteran--go on a little too long and threaten the pace of the story near the middle. But don't stop reading! We expect a lot from Connie Willis because she's so good, and Passage's payoff is incredible--the ending will leave you breathless, and more than a little haunted. Passage masterfully blends tragedy, humor, and fear in an unforgettable meditation on humanity and death. --Therese Littleton

The Penderwicks at Point Mouette: by Jeanne Birdsall

They were adorable in The Penderwicks.

They were just as good in The Penderwicks on Gardam Street.

And now, we get even more of them in The Penderwicks at Point Mouette, the long-awaited sequel that the School Library Journal says "takes readers slightly out of their comfort range but not so far that they feel adrift."

The very first line pulls you in. "The Penderwick family was being torn apart." Oh my goodness! you think, and squirm a little deeper into the couch and pull the book a little closer to your face as though to telepathically discover, before reading any farther, what tragedy could possibly pull Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty apart.

Then you learn it's not a tragedy. Just separate vacations.

It's summer time. Mr. Penderwick and his new wife Iantha (and Iantha's son, baby Ben) are off to England for "scientific conferences and a bit of honeymoon." Oldest sister Rosalind is off to New Jersey on a vacation with her best friend Anna.

The rest of the Penderwick girls - Skye, Jane, and Batty - are off to Maine to spend two weeks with Aunt Claire at Point Mouette. This makes Skye, in Rosalind's absence, Oldest Available Penderwick (OAP for short), a duty that Skye is grimly determined to fulfill as best she can.

The Maine beach is a lovely mixture of rocky shores and sand, and the cottage where they're staying with Aunt Claire is just right, not too big and not too small. As they settle in Skye thinks that maybe, just maybe, she can get through her OAP duties unscathed.

Then she accidentally destroys the list she created that gave her the much-needed guidelines for taking care of Batty.

Then Jane gets Writer's Block.

Then Jeffrey, their friend from book one who was supposed to go on vacation with them in the first place before his nasty mother changed her mind at the last minute and forbade him to go, is suddenly allowed to spend the two weeks with the three Penderwick girls at Point Mouette.

Then Jane falls in love, and later takes a bad fall onto some rocks, frightening Skye half to death.

Then Batty reveals she has a gift for music.

Then Jeffrey discovers someone who may, or may not, be important to him in a very special way.

Then there's a bonfire.

Then there's a concert.

And at the end the whole Penderwick family is reunited in their little house on Gardam Street.

Jeanne Birdsall somehow manages to capture the essential whimsical delight of a close-knit family without coming off as fake, forced, or foolish. Each character has a definite three-dimensional aspect that makes them like real people, people you'd want to know, to hang out with, maybe play a rough game of soccer with. Even  with four different sisters, Jeanne Birdsall manages to make them at once unique and believable, from the responsible Rosalind, to the scientific Skye, from the writerly Jane to the adorable multi-faceted Batty.

The Penderwicks at Point Mouette is a classic destined, along with its two predecessors, to have a long, long life in every book-lover's library.

My rating: *****

Please do take a moment to visit Jeanne at her website, and enjoy the utterly adorable author interview (in two parts) included here for your enjoyment.

Tough Guide to Fantasyland: by Diana Wynne Jones

Diana Wynne Jones' book, The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, is a must for the Fantasy writer working on avoiding cliche stories and creating whole new worlds that don't rely on standard formulae.

Unlike many "how-to" books, the TOUGH GUIDE is more of a handbook for the hardcore Tourist making his/her way through Fantasyland. It's set up to give you definitions of certain elements of Fantasyland while providing you with insight in how not to make your story same-old, same-old.

You open to the first official page, and you are greeted by a map. This is Fantasyland. It's a completely useless map but you are advised to keep it and peruse it at intervals, for it is the only map you'll get. Next comes a couple pages of Rules provided by the MANAGEMENT, after which you come across a page of identification elements. These are simply sign-post drawings that inform you whether or not the definition given pertains to something MAGICAL, PERSON, ANIMAL, BATTLE and/or FIGHTING. Of course, there are more categories than that, but these are some of the more important few.

Next, you can turn to the section labeled Toughpick, and here, arranged alphabetically and tidily from A to Z, you can peruse the main elements of Fantasy writing. Here you'll discover fascinating tidbits. For example, for some inexplicable reason, the further North and snowy you go, the scantier people dress, wearing only loincloths and armbands. Vice versa, the further South and sunny you travel, you meet the DESERT NOMADS wrapped to the eyeballs in robes and veils. Also you discover that, despite the shocking lack of sheep, everyone seems to wear clothing made of wool, and though no cow ever graces the pages of Fantasyland folk somehow manage to find leather boots.

In addition you'll learn about:

• Apostrophes (their cunning placement and use of in Fantasyland)
• Capital Letters (and their liberal use amongst the folk of Fantasyland)
• Colour Coding (and how to pay attention to people's eyes, hair, and clothing in order to discern if they are good or evil)
• Ecology (or lack thereof)
• Hares (and how often they are mistaken for Rabbit)
• Horses (and their amazing abilities unique to Fantasyland)
• Management (and how they assist you through your Tour)
• Official Management Terms (and how they help you understand your Tough Guide better)
• Reek of Wrongness (provided to never, ever, ever let you confuse your bad guys with your good guys)
• Swords (magical, non-magical, and the use of such a weapon)
• Stew (the only Food you'll get in Fantasyland, aside from Bread)
• Water (and how untainted it is throughout Fantasyland)
• and Zombies.

Throughout the book certain words will be italicized with the official OMT trademark beside it, to show this is an Official Management Term and not a mere phrase only.

Also for your enjoyment, at the top of each alphabetical index is a Gnomic Utterance for you to read and absorb. Have a nice Tour through Fantasyland!

Starcrossed

The first chapter of STARCROSSED starts off with a chase. A nighttime chase. A very intense paragraph of chase that introduces us to Digger, the heroine of Elizabeth C. Bunce's beautiful fantasy set in the world of Llyvaraneth.

After a job-gone-wrong, accomplished thief and liar Digger is forced to flee the perilous city of Gerse. Sheer luck leads her into the hands of four young "nobs," or nobles, out for a cruise on their river boat. They offer her passage out of the city. Digger, under the pseudonym of Celyn Contrare, accepts the offer. On the boat, she notices that one of the nobles, a girl named Merista Nemair, seems to have a propensity to magic, a dangerous thing in Gerse where magic is forbidden. She does not mention this, though, for to mention it would reveal that she, too, has an affinity to magic.

Digger is taken to the home of the Nemairs, the parents of Merista Nemair. There, she is offered the position as Merista's lady's maid, a position she accepts. Later, this position obliges her to travel with the family to their keep called Bryn Shaer, where they will celebrate Merista's coming-of-age birthday. At first, all seems well and good. But then comes Lord Remy Daul, a supposed friend of Merista's father, with a bitter secret and vengeful heart bent on destroying the Nemair fanily. With his arrival, Digger's world is turned upside down, and when Daul discovers her true nature, he blackmails her into assisting him with the search that will, he hope, lead to the Nemair's downfall.

Full of unexpected twists and surprising characters, STARCROSSED is an engaging, fascinating read.


I really enjoyed this story. The first chapter was a race to read, moved along very quickly, and kept my interest completely captivated. The next few chapters, when Digger is escaping Gerse and meeting the young nobles, is a bit on the slow side, but I understand the reason of this because the author is introducing us to the complex world of Llyvaraneth, with all its politics, classes of people, and beliefs. Once I reached Bryn Shaer, though, I didn't want to put the book down until I'd completely finished.

There are "religions" in this story, as well as reference to gods and goddesses, and though I don't approve of gods and goddesses in my fantasies, the author handled it with grace and skill. She did not shove it down your throat. It was simply presented as a way of life.

Digger was an empathetic character. She was believable, captivating, and spunky without being a brat. She had a sense of honour about her, and unexpected determination to do what she felt was right.

Perhaps one of the things that I didn't like, and "censored" as I read, were the subtle innuendos and slightly offish descriptions that very, very lightly peppered this book.

I would probably have given this book at least four-and-a-half stars, were it not for the offish bits. However, because of that, I offer her four stars.

My rating:
****

If you desire, you can read the Goodreads review of this story, and the Amazon review as well.

The Ring of Solomon

Bartimaeus is back... and he's just as funny as ever!

Jonathan Stroud has written a masterpiece of wit set in the time of King Solomon.

King Solomon is an evil king, intent on ruling the world under the iron fist of fear. He commands a Ring of great power, a Ring that, with one twist, allows him to command all the spirits that reside in the Other Place. With the might of that Ring, all the world cowers in obedience before his omnipotence.

The djinni Bartimaeus has been summoned and bound to a magician in punishment for having escaped and slain his previous master. Forced to work for Solomon's henchman, Khaba, Bartimaeus and six other disgraced djinn are hard at work on his Solomon's new temple, with strict instructions to use no magic in the temple's making. When these orders are disregarded, Bartimaeus and his six companions are sent to hunt out other creatures who are disrupting trade routes. 

Elsewhere, the Queen of Sheba has received multiple marriage proposals from Solomon, which she has refused. Now Solomon threatens to destroy her country's frankincense trade. To keep her country's peace intact, the Queen sends Asmira, a guard in her regime, to kill Solomon and steal the Ring. Fiercely loyal and obedient even to death, Asmira sets off to Jerusalem.

On his hunt, Bartimaeus meets Asmira as she is traveling to Jerusalem under an assumed identity. After many episodes, during which Bartimaeus is beaten by a very powerful marid and imprisoned in a bottle, Asmira summons Bartimaeus and makes him her slave, with orders for him to assist her in killing Solomon and stealing the Ring. Despite the seeming impossibility of the task, Bartimaeus shines his way through with his customary wit, sarcasm, and ingenuity. During their escapades, Asmira and Bartimaeus form an uneasy respect for each other. As the climax reaches it's conclusion, surprising facets of Solomon's true character begin to emerge.

This book is a must-have companion to the previous books in Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus trilogy. (1. The Amulet of Samarkand; 2. The Golem's Eye; 3. Ptolemy's Gate.) The Ring of Solomon will fast become another favourite to diehard Bartimaeus fans. I give this book a five star rating, but I happen to love sarcastic djinnis with a penchant for eating weaker spirits.

My Rating:

*****

Leviathan: Scott Westerfield

Prince Aleksander, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne in the year 1914, is woken up in the middle of the night by his tutor and his fencing master. At first, he thinks they're taking him out on another one of those midnight drills that he is expected to do whenever it is deemed necessary. However, this time it is not a drill. It is an escape. Alek's parents have been killed, poisoned by German sympathizers, and the prince is next on their hit list.

   Alek's escape coincides with the escapades of Deryn Sharp, a young girl who has joined the British Air Service disguised as a boy. Deryn, a midshipman aboard the Darwinian airship Leviathan, is a brilliant airman. Her love of flying makes the danger of her deception a worthwhile venture. During an intense air battle, theLeviathan is heavily wounded and forced to crash land in the freezing Swiss terrain, coincidentally near a secret castle where Prince Alek and his men have taken refuge.

   This story ends on an unexpected cliffhanger, leaving you open and ready for the second book in the trilogy, Behemoth.

   This story, set in a steampunk World War I, grabs hold of the reader from the first paragraph. Scott Westerfield writes an imaginative alternate world about how history could have been. Peopled by Clankers -- men who put their faith in machines of metal -- and Darwinists -- men who command genetically engineered vehicles such as the Leviathan. an enormous whale-like air ship with it's own ecosystem --Leviathan is a must-read for the avid steampunk reader.

   This book was a masterpiece of storytelling. Perhaps my only complaint about it was the Darwin element. I am NOT a fan of Darwin, nor do I believe any of the theories he came up with. However, Scott Westerfield manages to take the theory of Darwinism just far enough to explain his biological air ships. Aside from that one element, this was a fantastic story.

My Rating:

*****

Under the Green Hill: Laura L. Sullivan

Perhaps the Morgan children would never have met Phyllida and Lysander Asher, their distant English relatives, were it not for the epidemic that threatened America. Afraid for their children, college professors Tom and Glynis Morgan ship their children off to England.

For Rowan, Meg, Priscilla, and James Morgan, life with the Asher's seems like it could be ideal.  The house, officially named "The Rookery", is enormous, with lots of places to explore, and a fabulous garden just outside the house. The only downside to their stay may be the last-minute additions of two boys, both of them sons of other college professors: Finn Fachan, an annoying boy that the four Morgans despise equally, and Dickie Rhys, a bookish boy that the Morgans mostly ignore.

The Ashers are pleasant old people. However, they have some very strange rules. The children wonder, why is the forest forbidden? Why can't they give their names to strangers? And why mustn't they accept food from anyone?

Very soon, the Morgans discover the reason. They have arrived in England on May Day, and when they ignore the Ashers' warnings and venture beyond the grounds on the first night of their stay, they come upon the Green Hill, threshold of the Seelie Fairy queen's domain. There, Rowan is chosen to be the Queen's champion in the Midsummer War, a battle fought between the two opposing fairy courts, Seelie and Host. Rowan is their human champion. He must fight the Host's human champion, and either he or his opponent must die.

Determined to save her brother, Meg vows to do all she can to prevent Rowan from fighting in the battle. When she discovers that, without the spilling of the blood of mortal man the land will die, Meg is in a quandary. Can she justify preventing the War to save her brother if it means destroying England?

This was a very gripping story. Laura L. Sullivan draws heavily on Celtic and Arthurian legends to create a story that is as real and believable as the sun outside.

My Rating:

*****

The Magic Thief: Sarah Phineas

What do a thief and a wizard have in common?

They are both trying to discover why the magic in their city of Wellmet is disappearing.

When Connwaer, a young thief, picks the pocket of the wizard Nevery and steals the wizards locus magicalicus (a stone that helps a wizard focus his magic), the wizard can only wonder that the locus didn't kill the boy.

Nevery takes the boy home, curious about his affinity to magic. Conn will be Nevery's apprentice, on the condition that he find a locus magicalicus of his own. Conn has only a month to do this, and it becomes a near impossible task as he also spends his time trying to discover who... or what... is stealing Wellmet's magic.

This is a romping good story, the first in a trilogy. Conn was a good character, personable, likable, with a distinctive voice.

My Rating:

*****

The Name of This Book Is Secret: Pseudonymous Bosch

"Cassandra" is your normal, average, eleven-year-old school-girl...except she has pointy ears. She carries a backpack all the time, because her motto is "be prepared".

Also, Cassandra isn't her real name.

Cassandra and her colloborator Max-Ernest (a small, hyper, non-stop-talking boy whose name really isn't Max-Ernest) are thrown into a dangerous predicament when a real-estate agent drops off the box called "Symphony of Smells" to Cassandra's surrogate uncles. Cassandra is curious about the death of the magician, to whom the Symphony belonged, and when she and Max-Ernest go to investigate the house they come face-to-face with the eerie Ms. Mauvais and strange Dr. L, who are after a certain journal that contains a dark...Secret.

Cassandra and Max-Ernest manage to keep the journal away from Ms. Mauvais and Dr. L long enough to discover the message hidden "underneath" the journal's pages. They are clever and plucky enough to rescue a classmate, Benjamin Blake, a unique boy with "synethesia" (the gift to see things as a mixture of colours, smells, and sounds), from a dismal fate.

This book started out very, very deliciously, with an intriguing twist of writing-style and a delightfully confusing plot. I felt that the end kind of got a little too weird, but I want to read the second book in the series, to see if I really do like the books.

I recommend this book at least for a one-time read. It's got a good pace and intriguing style. It wasn't until the very end that I felt a little disappointed.

 My Rating:

* * * * *