Awkward Librarian

It's been over 2 years since my last post.

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 17:44:00 +0000

I think it's time to declare the death of this blog. Thanks for reading.

Wither-very quick review

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 17:51:00 +0000

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rhine is trying to make extra money for herself and her twin Rowan by answering an ad to sell her marrow. The ad is a trap and she's captured by gatherers with a group of other girls. Out of the group 3 are chosen, including Rhine. The others are shot. This is a near future dystopia. Genetics created one perfect generation, but that generations children die young. Women at 20 and men at 25. Rhine and the other two girls are married off to the sheltered son of a wealthy doctor. Her husband is ridiculously unaware of reality. His father's mansion is designed to keep the outside world out, and those inside the walls are kept in as well. Rhine's conflicting emotions about her situation are believable. Sometimes she gets sucked into believing the lies and caring for her captors. The real conflict of the book seems to lie more in whether or not she follow through on her plans of escape or if she will give in to luxury and comfort. This book could have used a lot more tension and uncertainty, but the language and imagery moves the book along.

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More thoughts on Jane

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:04:00 +0000

In the original Jane Eyre, Jane leaves Rochester because he is married and it goes against her moral fiber to be with a man who is married. When she runs, she does not want him to find her (at least, IMHO.)

When Jane Moore runs it seems to be more because she thinks Nico Rathburn is still in love with his mentally ill wife. It does not seem to be a moral stand about anything, at least, not a strong moral stand. Later, she admits that with all she did to make herself disappear (mails her cell phone to San Fransisco, changes her name) she was still hoping he would find her and convince her to come back. So basically it was just a test of his love for her and in this case, he kinda fails. But HEAs for everyone because this is based off the slightly more optimistic sister's book.

This completely alters the message of the original book for me. Though, for once, Jane has one damn flaw.

Oh, and I meant to tell you that I don't hate all updated versions of classics. I liked "10 things I hate about you." And, well, I'm sure there are others too, some that I probably didn't even realize were updates of something else.

"Jane" is no "Jane Eyre"

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 16:15:00 +0000

I know that Jane Eyre is a problematic novel. Jane is basically one of the first Mary Sues, and by being virtuous and some kind of female paragon she gets her rich, but roguishly flawed, husband. Still, it is a problematic novel representative of its time. Women had no agency, no recourse, but Jane finds a situation unsuitable and leaves it despite what it costs her. As a teen I loved her for her strength to leave Rochester. She's unusual in that time for her decision to refuse two marriage opportunities, when through marriage was the only chance a woman had to exert power over her own life. I did not begrudge her for going back to the man her heart truly desired when he was (conveniently) freed from his burdens (though he paid for that freedom, because the novel has to be redemptive, somehow.) Anyway, I unabashedly love this novel with its problems and issues, and even though I think it paved the way for Twilight. So I wasn't sure how I'd feel about a YA novel update with a rockstar Mr. Rochester and a modern setting and characters.

Updated classics are often even more problematic than their originals. What makes originals more bearable is that we can look at them in context and say, "This was remarkably X for time Y, even though it is also Zist." That being said, I read through "Jane" in the span of three hours last night, when I really needed to be trying to sleep. I even cried at it a little. But really, I don't think I was crying for the book I was reading, but in memory of my most beloved Jane Eyre. Jane Moore (I'm not sure what the name changes were about, I'd figure this book is out of copyright and any naming issues would be moot, but I'm unsure of the legalities) is at a desperate point. Her parents have died leaving her nothing, she can't afford to go back to Sarah Lawrence in the Fall and the Spring semester is ending with her being essentially homeless. So she goes to a nanny placement agency and because of her anachronistic ways gets sent to nanny Maddy, daughter of rock star Nico Rathburn.

Aside from more edgy language (Mr. Rathburn likes the F word) and sexytimes (ugh, that just turned my stomach actually) the plotting and characters are virtually the same, just more modern versions with details twisted to fit into plausibility. The most interesting aspect of this was that the author tried to fit more obvious motivations into the novel than are found in Jane Erye. I think more modern literature spends a lot of time being introspective and this novel is no exception. Jane Eyre soldiered on despite all that happened to her. Jane Moore spends a bunch of time analyzing and explaining herself (and tries harder to figure out Rathburn than Eyre ever did to figure out Rochester.) The time-period related problematicness of Jane Eyre don't get resolved in this book. Bibi, the Bertha Mason character, is still very much othered. She's Brazilian instead of Creole, but the implication about foreign women of color is still there. And our understanding of mental illness seems to be stuck in the Brontes time, because Rathburn keeps her locked away and keeps her secret and acts like he doesn't know where she is. He acts like her condition, which he blames himself for exacerbating (and I'm with him on this one), is still so shameful and secret the only way to deal with it is to lock her on the third floor with no one but an alcoholic for company/healthcare. Awesome work, Nico Rathburn. At least, unlike Mr. Rochester, he doesn't act like her whole family deceived him by not telling him of a hereditary history of mental illness. Cause that made me hate Rochester in the original Jane Eyre, so much. "You douche!" My teenaged brain cried on first reading, "Don't blame her for things that are Not Her Fault, and don't act like it would have stopped you from marrying her in the first place." And if you haven't read Wide Sargasso Sea, which is Jane Eyre from Bertha Mason's p.o.v, I suggest you do that to understand what I'm getting at here.

The thing I do like Mr. Rochester for more in Jane Eyre than Nico Rathburn in Jane is that Mr. Rochester takes in Adele even though he doesn't believe she is his, and treats her as well as he knows how. But, Nico Rathburn had to have a paternity test to prove Maddy was his and all that tired bullshit. Family is more than DNA, jerkface.

I didn't particularly enjoy modern Jane more than Original Jane. O.J. was really going against the grain of her station and time. M.J. was really mostly doing what was expected, to fall in love with a rockstar, and just by being an unflawed Mary Sue, she got her man. I really did not like the author for mentioning a couple of times that Jane Moore "ate whatever she wanted without getting fat." I don't really remember Jane and food in the original novel, but if it was in there at all it was probably there because of the Bronte siblings effed relationship with food. (Evidently in their horrible lives food and eating was the one thing they could control, and so they controlled it by not eating. There is speculation that the ones that supposedly died from consumption either worsened their conditions by their eating disorders or never had consumption at all. I learned this in my Romance novel genre study and no longer have any citations, sorry.) Anyway, given historical context and modern day food issues and fat acceptance issues, bad form there April Lindner. Oh, and bad form with the body image stuff on Brenda (Grace Poole) too. Bringing up that she was mannish as a negative image? And why didn't you twist up the whole novel a little more? Why are there no noticeable people of color as main (and non-servant) characters? Why is not one person any kind of (gender or sexuality) queer? Why is this book just the original with different wording?

I don't know. Even with a lot of awkwardness in passages (there was a lot of wording and backstory that took me out of the flow of the main story) and all the aforementioned stuff, the book still compelled me. I think mostly because I wanted to see what would change. In the light of day, I'd rather have spent that time re-reading the classic.

Harvey

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 00:58:00 +0000

In a year I'll forget I ever read this book. But I'll be drifting off to sleep and will have a quick flash of rememberance of the architectural drawing of the detailed floorplan of the house, with the mother lying in the fetal position on her bed and the two boys looking for their father in the other rooms. Then my mind will drift to the pattern on the wall of the living room on the cover, and then I will remember how Harvey turns invisible, and I will want to read it again.

Harvey by Hervé Bouchard

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A heart attack kills the father of two young boys, leaving their mother to raise them alone. One of the boys, Harvey, is obsessed with an old movie that no one else cares about.

Reading this book is like finding a moleskine someone left at a table in an independent coffee shop. You could pick it up, flip through, digest quickly and forget everything as soon as you close the last page. The book would seem confusing and pretensious and the character drawings juvenile. Or you could savor, take your time, and still feel the book resonate in your head long after you close it.

The art, while the characters are stripped down and simplistic, the textures and colors and backgrounds are so beautiful and detailed. Patterns drift off clothing onto the page and reform to mean something else.I want to take the wallpapers and fabric patterns off the pages and dress my house and myself in them. I want to live in this book, until it gets too sad.

The story of grief is so simple seeming, while at the same time, asks big questions. In addtion to grief the book touches on questions of existance. How often do you ponder that everyone knows a slightly different version of someone then everyone else knows. The father I know is not the exact same father my sister knows, while at the same time, he is father to us both, and it is the same for Harvey and his brother Canton and their father. The pages without text sometimes speak as loudly as those with a paragraph.

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Hold Me Closer, Necromancer

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 22:53:00 +0000

I love a good pun, so of course I had to pick up this book as soon as I heard the title. Usually this pun-based readers advisory system fails, but this time I was not at all disappointed.

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Samhain LaCroix is just existing post-high school. He has a crappy fast food job, but good friends and a supportive mom and sister. One otherwise normal day an encounter with a bad customer changes Sam's life forever. The customer, Douglas, is a local necromancer and one of the most powerful paranormal people in Seattle. No one dares cross him. He recognizes that Sam has a small necromancy power and from that point on makes Sam's life hell. When threats don't work Douglas actually kidnaps Sam.

While in captivity Sam meets Brid, a female were-fae hybrid roughly his age. Despite the awful circumstances--sparks fly between them and being held together helps make the situation more bearable for both, especially since Sam is being "taught" necromancy by Douglas. Unfortunately (but unsurprisingly) for Sam, Douglas's idea of teaching more closely resembles torture.

The hijinks are wacky but the non-stop wisecracking is broken by moments scary, sad, and touching. The characters, especially Sam and co. (especially his best friend, Ramon), are quickly but expertly developed. Actual character motivations drive actions, which is refreshing in the paranormal YA genre (which is often plagued by characters only reacting in ways to drive the plot, no matter how against character the reactions seem.) Characters are added in through-out the story, including a sassy 10 year old ghost and Brid's protective family, setting up for future sequels while helping to wrap this adventure up nicely.

This book was just the right mix of slacker redemption story and paranormal romance. The humor didn't overwhelm the serious bits or vice versa. As an added bonus, each chapter heading is a song reference, and while some might be a little old...I doubt many people will have trouble getting the joke(s). The paranormal genre is oversaturated, especially in the YA market, but this fresh book is well worth checking out whether you are a long-time genre fan or just want to dip a toe in to see what all the fuss is about.

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Tyger Tyger (not Tiger Tiger)

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 04:11:00 +0000

I really enjoyed this story. Every time I had to put it down I couldn't wait to get back to it. But, I don't think that the Chicago of this book is representative of the city I live in. The story is good though and I don't want this one to get lost in a sea of Irish-flavored urban fantasy. So if you like Marr, Black, or Clare don't forget to try Hamilton.

Tyger Tyger by Kersten Hamilton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Teagan Wylltson leads a busy life. She has an exciting job at a primate house, a supportive best friend, and a fantastic and supportive family. One day she comes home from work to find a cousin she didn't know existed would be moving in with them. But Finn brings more with him than just a troubled foster family history, he unintentionally brings an entire fantasy world and attendant monstrous creatures.

Hamilton has based her elaborate mythology on Irish faery lore, and she does a great job with integrating the mythology into the story. The sidhe that terrorize Teagan's family and wreak havoc on her life are terrifying and the tension doesn't let up often in this tale. When their father is kidnapped by the faeries, Teagan and her little brother Aidan must go with Finn into the evil faeries lair to save him. In the midst of turmoil we see a budding relationship between Teagan and Finn (who are not actually related) and a rekindled relationship with Finn's biological (and their mother's adoptive) grandmother Mamieo. This book has a little bit of everything, and while it doesn't focus as much on the romance as Wicked Lovely, is a great read-alike for people who like that brand of urban fantasy. The characters seem very much like real people, people you've met. They just happen to have very unreal problems.

The book suffers from a few lapses in timing/pacing and locale. People who don't live in the Chicagoland area would probably never notice how strange the covering of ground by this family seems. Chicago is a place of many diverse and distinct neighborhoods, and this book doesn't acknowledge that at all. The pacing also seemed off, this story takes place over the course of months maybe? But it feels like a day with disproportionate amounts of time spent on Teagan's time in the ape house. It was a great way to get to know Teagan and be introduced the the story, but then important parts of the actual story felt rushed and told more than shown. All in all this book is a promising beginning to another urban fantasy YA series. It's set apart by being lighter on the romance and heavier on the lore than many of the other series that seem to focus too much on eternal love and finding The One in a post-Twilight world.

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Adorable Chipmunk in Slow Motion

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 14:07:00 +0000

I got you this to ease the pang of loneliness while I'm gone.

House Hunters

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 13:41:00 +0000

Short blog hiatus as we begin the process of finding and buying a mortgage, I mean, a house.

Trend Watch: So Tiring For Librarians

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 03:16:00 +0000

Vampires, Werewolves, Fairies, Angels, Zombies, Dragons and now dystopian and/or post-apocalyptic futures are all the rage. And as each new trend is noticed and trumpeted by the press at large I roll my eyes. Oh really, New York Times? Dystopian lit is what all the kids these days are into? They've given up the sparkly vampires are going full force into a bleak future? They love the trend so much that get behind James Frey's "sweatshop" model and read shoddy second rate books* with vim and vigor?

I'm too tired to point out exactly what it is about the linked piece that bothers me so much, but it really does. Maybe it is the meandering tone and the implication that young adult authors don't know their audiences and conversely the about face the article does and implies that teens aren't smart enough to see through the crap some YA authors try to pull.

Blogging while tired (tired in general, and tired of big "watch out for this new YA trend" articles.)
*I haven't read I Am Number Four so anything I say about it here is Not My Opinion.

Caturday: primed and ready.

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 03:20:00 +0000

Because I just couldn't think of anything else to do for this Caturday how about a picture of Tux with Lasers primed.

The Sweetness of Salt

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:03:00 +0000

Sometimes I think agree with the idea that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I know a little about the craft of writing. I tend to analyze books with what little I know about writing fiction in the foreground and it makes me a little hypercritical about things like character's following through on their motivations, and when I can actually see the editing process in the finished product ("You should add more about how she loved to bake as a teen right here," the editor says pointing to a innocuous chapter that previously had nothing to do with baking.) So I was probably a little harsher on this book than needed.

The Sweetness of Salt by Cecilia Galante

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Julia has never really understood her moody (and much older) sister Sophie. She dreads Sophie's return for her high school graduation, and the experience lives up to her fears. Julia is underachiever Sophie's opposite in every way and has her whole life mapped out in front of her. Before Sophie leaves in as much of a whirlwind as she came in she gives Julia two gifts: a car and a place to drive the car. Sophie wants Julia to come up to visit her in the house she's renovating in Vermont (which will also be a bakery.) Julia refuses, of course, until she finds out her parents and sister had been keeping a secret from her for her entire life.

The rest of the story is about Julia's time in Vermont with Sophie helping her fix up the old house/bakery and her burgeoning but different relationships with two guys. Revelations and drastic personality/life shifts become almost common place in the last 1/4th of the book.

The writing is heavy handed. (Way way way too many metaphors serving as plot points and pretending to be character development. Please, you don't need to hit me over the head with your literary devices.) To be fair, the author knew what she wanted to do with the metaphors she chooses. The main problem is that very early on, I did too.

At the same time, it was an engrossing read. I wanted to know more about this family secret and more about the thinly developed romance between Julia and the boy across the street. Many times I found Julia to be an obnoxious and bratty narrator, but the methodically paced out revelations saved her from being unbearable. Julia is not the only one with character development problems. The parents in this book do some really loathsome and detrimental things to both daughters, especially Sophie. All of which is glossed over and given a shine during the unnecessary epilogue.

Who should read this book?

Realistic fiction readers who like some drama and a hint of romance will enjoy this book. Despite my criticisms this book would be popular with anyone who has a difficult sibling relationship to work through. What sibling relationship isn’t at least a little difficult at times? It also really was a very well paced and plotted novel with some lovely descriptions.

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Metaphors are kind of awesome, right? They are a way for us relate anything back our own experiences or at least experiences we can image having. Unfortunately Galante just got a little heavy handed with her metaphor shaker, and much like salt, too much metaphor is bad for your heart.

Another blog post about posting blog posts.

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 04:12:00 +0000

So I've been trying to come up with a schedule for this blog and of course I want to have fun names for everything, like my lovely friend Caitlin over at Out of the Loop who has "Mentionable Mondays."
I was thinking about "News on Tues" but I can't tell if the cheese factor is too overwhelming. Then I decided to just go for it anyway.

The plan is to post three times a week.

1x News on Tues
- will consist of me either reviewing an ARC (so new it hasn't even been released!) or something that just came out in the past month. Sometimes it might be news about the blog (like today!) or some noteworthy Library World thing that just happened.

2x Teen Services Thursdays
-mostly ruminations and reflections related to working with that tricky 13-19 demographic. There might be some reviews crammed in here too. Well, yeah, that's really likely actually. Put those reviews where ever you can fit em I always say.

3x Caturday!*
-by which I mean anything goes on Saturdays (including but not limited to pictures of cats!)

So since me talking about this is going to count as News for this Tues please be prepared for some aspect of Teen Services this Thursday.

*please note that Caturday may switch on occasion to Funday depending on how busy I am that weekend.

Smile

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 04:33:00 +0000

I, like many people, suffered through two of the worst years of my life with painful orthodontia. In addition to the usual braces I had a device attached to my top teeth that fitted over the entire roof of my mouth and made speaking clearly nearly impossible. The device was a palate widener. Once a day a member of my family would crank it twice and work towards breaking my upper palate so my overlapping front teeth would not overlap anymore. Luckily I only had that particular torture for a few months of the whole ordeal.

If you think my experience was bad (and it was, oh yes, it was) it was NOTHING compared to what dental hell Raina Telgemeier shows us in her awesome memoir "Smile."

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Raina had just gotten braces on her teeth when a far more serious dental tragedy struck. After a Girl Scout meeting she tripped and fell. One of her front teeth was knocked out completely, the other one was knocked far into her gums. The rest of the memoir reflects on Raina's experiences with corrective orthodontia (and other specializations that will give the average reader dental nightmares) as well as chronicling her puberty and growing up processes. Raina isn't always brave about what is happening to her mouth, but she's always relatable. In fact, the art, the story, the characters are all so relatable (to someone with a middle class background and decent health and dental insurance, anyway.) Though dental drama and orthodontia seem mundane, what they really are are the things that those of us who've experienced them don't just forget, but actively push to the corners of our memories. Bravo to Raina Telgemeier for being able to pull the experience out and use it to flesh out her coming of age story into something recognizable to every kid who ever had headgear or remembers what it felt like to have a guy reach into your mouth, tighten a wire, and make eating painful to impossible for the next several days.

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Side Notes:
One thing I don't mention in the review is just exactly how hyper-aware I was in the reading of this memoir that as painful and awkward as the experience with orthodontia was as a child, it was a privilege to be able to experience it. Not a privilege in the "oh it has been an honor to share these years with these braces" but more of a "I was a privileged person whose parents had the resources to provide me with a lovely smile."

As a side note, I met Raina Telgemeier last year at C2E2. She was in the artists alley with her husband and I recognized the book she had piles of on her table as "Smile." I told her how popular the novel was in our Library and how nice it was to meet her. I noticed then, and you can see in her author photo, that her smile is really quite beautiful.

90 Second Newberys

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 19:38:00 +0000

(This post is cross-posted to the Young Adult Services Forum's "So like YA know" blog.)
Let's face it, when it comes to encouraging literacy and promoting libraries through viral video the results are....mixed. But if we give patrons the chance to create videos out of their favorite stories I think the results have the potential to be amazing.
James Kennedy is the author of The Order of Odd Fish and from what I can tell an all-around stand up guy. We've been email introduced by a mutual awesome acquantaince and James will be coming to my Library for a presentation this summer. I also did a program proposal for ILA this year for a Tween/Teen Local Author Panel and James jumped right on board with that idea. Though we've only corresponded via email I think it is fair assessment that he is all about using his talents to encourage literacy for all.

And in that spirit he recently announced a contest on his blog!

Big news! I am pleased to announce, with the New York Public Library, the 90-Second Newbery Video Contest! Thanks to Betsy Bird at Fuse #8 for her help in getting this off the ground.

I think this is a brilliant idea and I want to see some stellar videos as a result (some already exist and you can see them on James' website or on the link to Betsy Bird above!)

Okay, so here are the rules

1. Your video should be 90 seconds or less. (Okay, okay: if it’s three minutes long but absolute genius, we’ll bend the rules for you. But let’s try to keep them short.)

2. Your video has to be about a Newbery award-winning (or Newbery honor-winning) book. Here’s a list of all the winners.

3. Your video must condense the plot of the book in 90 seconds or less. Again, exceptions will be made for something really ingeniously bonkers, but it has to be related to a Newbery winning book.

4. Upload your videos to YouTube or Vimeo or whatever and send me the link at kennedyjames [at] gmail [dot] com. Make the subject line be “90 SECOND NEWBERY” and please tell me your name, age, where you’re from, and whatever other comments you’d like to include, including whether you’d like me to link to your personal site. You can give an alias if you want; I understand privacy concerns.

5. Sending the link to me grants me (James Kennedy) the right to post it on my blog and to other websites where I sometimes post content (like Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and to share at public readings, school visits—and hopefully the 90-Second Film Festival at the New York Public Library in the Fall of 2011.

6. Deadline is September 15, 2011.

This sounds so awesome. I'm going to be encouraging every eligible person to create and submit an entry and I think you should too!

A hiatus I forgot to tell you about...

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 05:31:00 +0000

So 2 weddings (one of them my own) and a whole lot of blogennui while pursing interests outside of the Library World* has resulted in a lack of updates. But, the work/life balance is starting to head towards middle ground again and I'm going to get back to reviewing here soon. I've been reading lots of stuff and some of it I even liked. And a hiatus (even an unplanned one) is good because it means I've been doing a lot of thinking about my reviewing process and writing this blog and how I want to improve on it.

*Knitting is just one of the newish hobbies I'm pursuing! Yeah, just one of them!

The Broken Teaglass

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 04:10:00 +0000

I wasn't an English major, but most of my friends were. I did take linguistic anthropology as well as Greek and Latin medical terminology. I love to look up words and find out etymologies. At one point I read Merriam-Webster's website updates religiously, and actually I don't know why I ever stopped. Also, I LOVE A GOOD MYSTERY.

The Broken Teaglass feels like a book that was tailor made for my friends, my Mom, and my co-workers to all read and discuss in some giant cross country book group.
The Broken Teaglass: A Novel by Emily Arsenault

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Billy Webb has just taken a position at the largest dictionary company in the US. Unfortunately the company is in the armpit of Massachusetts, but Billy is gung-ho about his first job out of college. The job is about as exciting as one might expect. His first day of training consists of reading all of the "front matter" of the dictionary. His coworkers field phone calls about Scrabble fights, and none of them talks to any other lexicographer much, until Mona talks to him. Mona is about Billy's age and has been working at the dictionary company for about a year when Billy starts. Together they find a couple of fishy "cits" or "citations"--examples of words in actual use-- in the dictionary's files. The fishy citations alert Billy and Mona to something that must have happened at the dictionary company in the past, something that might have involved an actual corpse. They dig deeper and look for more of the citations...and it doesn't take long before they find them.

This book is fabulous.The plot is fabulous, the characters are fabulous, the setting is somehow both boring and fabulous. The plot has a few twists and turns and surprises, but it's also so easy to just enjoy the simple straightforward path to solving the mystery. And, Billy was a high school football player who majored in philosophy. Mona has her own conflict of identity. At times she seemed on the verge of being Billy's manic pixie dream girl, but it blessedly never happens. Even the side and peripheral characters have interesting and complex lives that the reader at least gets to sample. The Broken Teaglass is a book you want to pull quotes from for Twitter, or your Gmail or Skype or Facebook status updates.

This book seems handcrafted for all the wordsmiths, writers, cross-word lovers, Scrabble-players, English majors, etymologists, etc. But, even if you aren't all those things the mystery may well suck you in anyway. And Mom, this is a book I think you need to read.

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A thing I tried. Awkward Video Review.

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 23:11:00 +0000

Chasing Smoke by Bill Cameron

The Witness-a quick disparaging cry.

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Sat, 29 May 2010 20:23:00 +0000

The Witness by Sandra Brown

My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Skimming was the only way I could get through this book. The characters were flat and more like caricatures and none of them likeable. The "mystery" of the author not revealing any of what was really going on went on for FAR, FAR, FAR too long. And amnesia, despite being an awful plot device, also needed to be researched a whole lot more before Sandra Brown decided to use it in ways that make no sense. I could not suspend my disbelief for even the events of the first page, and it all got harder and harder to swallow as the book went on.

Ugh.

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Heist Society

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Sun, 09 May 2010 02:50:00 +0000

I feel like I come down harder on this book than I really meant to do. But, I think that's because I was so excited about it and it didn't meet my expectations.

Heist Society by Ally Carter

Katarina Bishop is kicked out of the Colgan academy, framed for a crime (that this one time) she actually didn't commit. Before she's even off school grounds the real reason she's been kicked out becomes apparent (in the form of billionaire heartthrob and burgeoning teen thief W.W. Hale the somethingth.) Hale is the bearer of bad news. Her dad is in trouble and he's refusing to try believe that situation is as bad as it is.

It is up to Hale and Katarina and their junior thief friends to work one of the most difficult heists in the world to keep her dad safe. Katarina has been gone from "the world" and "the family" for three months, and her confidence is shot. Add to the mix a new boy who is...interesting and who Hale is jealous of and doesn't trust and you have what could be an explosive time. I was underwhelmed by this book after really enjoying the Gallagher Girls books. Katarina didn't engage me very well and I liked every other character much more than her. I think that's because--despite the specific description and background-- Ally Carter was trying for that "everygirl" sort of character that we can all identify with and it didn't work for me. I found the inevitable love triangle a little predictable.

I wasn't a huge fan of the audiobook reader either. She wasn't bad, but I wasn't drawn into the story through her voice. That has a big impact on how I like the book. At no point did I feel the tension that should have been inherent in the scenes where Katarina and her loved ones are being threatened or in the scenes where they are pulling off a huge and impossible con job.

But! In concept and secondary characters this book shines. It was one of those escapes where, even though hackneyed a bit, I did feel like I was a part of a criminal underworld I would never even glimpse in real life. I don't want to be an art thief, but it was kind of fun to think "what if." Could be a younger read-a-like to some of Jennifer Cruisie's books, like "Bet Me.'

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Vintage Veronica

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Mon, 03 May 2010 19:07:00 +0000

Quick confessions before I get into this book review. In a total first for YA fiction, this book harkened me back to my high school days to the point where I actually looked at my graduating classes' facebook group. (Ugh, btw.) I love vintage and vintage style clothes. I wore a 1960s dress to the biggest social event of my high school career (which, I might add, was NOT prom, but the Thespian Club dinner/awards.) My wonderful grandmother is using a vintage pattern to create my wedding dress. Though I have never been obsessed with vintage funky clothes to the point that Veronica is in the book, I can still relate to using clothes/style as a barrier and shield as well as a sense of identity. I loved this book and can't wait to see more from Erica S. Perl. I actually hope to see more of Veronica, because she's one of those characters that doesn't have just one story to tell.

On a slightly unrelated note this book cover/design is one of my favorites I've seen, especially in YA lit. WELL DONE.

The Review.

Vintage Veronica by Erica S. Perl

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Veronica has a dream job for someone who wears funky and vintage clothes like a shield. She works by herself (dream come true!) in the consignment corner of the largest vintage clothing stored in the Northeast (home of the famous Dollar-A-Pound.) She is the deciding authority of what clothes are depped (sent into the Dollar-A-Pound chute, the language of this book is phenomenal) and what clothes are mined for the higher end spaces of the store. The book sticks mainly in the inner workings of the store and the groups of people working and interacting there, but ventures into Veronica's home life some. The store: there are the Florons (the girls who work on the sales floor), and there are the pickers who spend all day in the Dollar-A-Pound pile, there's Bill the stoner boss, and then there is Lenny a boy who has interesting interests and who thinks Veronica is different in a good way.

This summer job, which her overbearing skinny-is-winny type mom thinks is at an animal shelter, is a turning point in Veronica's life and the way she relates to other people. Two of the Florons actually seem to like her and want to be her friends. But that friendship seems to have a pretty hefty price.

This book is one of those character-driven reads that is just riveting. Un-put-downable, even as I wanted to yell at Veronica that SHE KNOWS BETTER THAN THAT, COME ON! A great read for anyone who likes clothes (or anything) more than most people. Also a great read read for anyone whose ever felt, even a little bit, like an outsider.

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Mysterious howling

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 19:48:00 +0000

This book is possibly the most quotable book I've read in a very long time. I still have mixed feelings about its actual kid appeal, but I know it is a book my mom would quite enjoy.

The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Miss Penelope Lumley has just graduated from Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Girls. Her first position as a governess turns out to be quite the strange one. She's brought to Ashton Place and told to watch over and train the three children that the lord of the manor, Lord Fredrick, found in the woods. Lord Fredrick gives them ridiculous names and no one really expects Miss Penelope to be able to teach them anything. Of course, Miss Penelope Lumley is armed with wit, common sense, a love of learning and teaching, and the many sensible sayings of Agatha Swanburne, founder of the Swanburne school. The three children, Beowulf, Cassiopeia, and Alexander have some strange hard to break tendencies such as chasing squirrels and howling. This is probably due to their unusual upbringing by wolves. But in the end, the children prove their humanity and do abundant credit to Miss Penelope Lumley's governessing skills.

The book is written very much in the time period and vein of "The Secret Garden" or "The Little Princess" but is much more tongue-in-cheek and witty than either of those classic reads. It is very obviously also the first of a series, as the Mysterious Howling is never actually explained and really only comes in towards the end of the book anyway. This book didn't get the full amount of stars mainly for some plotting issues, but it isn't a book that is really so much about plot. It is episodic in nature, and each episode shows a little more about the characters and their relationships and loyalties to each other. The book is also, perhaps, just perhaps, a little to cheeky and impressed with itself. By which I mean, adults, especially those that loved the aforementioned Victorian girl stories will love this book and be in on the joke(s). But will it appeal so mightily to its intended audience? Though quite likely it could be one of those books you loved as a kid for one reason, and then, upon rereading as an adult, find entirely new reasons to love.

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Naked--in death.

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 03:13:00 +0000

Do you read Unshelved? I bet you have at least looked at it once or twice. It is,after all, the library webcomic. Well, sometimes they feature book reviews and sometimes those book reviews tell you a blurb about the plot, why they picked the book up, why they finished it, and who they'd give it to. I like that style and thought I'd give it a try myownself. (Though of course my ownself is more longwinded and not quite as nice as those Unshelved guys.) Anyway, Here it goes.

Naked in Death by J.D. Robb

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A right-wing senator's prostitute grand-daughter has been killed, a lot of heavy hitters are sticking their noses into the case, and more people are dying. The pressure is really on Eve Dallas, but she doesn't have much in the way of backup or suppport...plus she's falling heart first into bed with one of the prime suspects.

Why I picked up this book:

The Romance genre study through ARRT put J.D. Robb on the list of authors for Romantic Suspense subgenre. I get a lot of requests for this series at mpow so I thought I'd check into it and see what I thought.

Why I finished listening: This Romance passes the Bechdel test! Eve has a friend named Mavis, and they talk about things other than DUDES!
HOWEVER:
The romance in this book was almost completely incidental to me. I kind of wanted both Roarke and Eve to stop with the contrived tension already, we get it. Also, I felt like the whole "I don't know why I like you" thing from both of them was ridiculous. You articulate repeatedly what it is you like about the other character and then expect me to feel tension about your relationship? No.

BUT:
Despite that, I liked both their characters and wanted them to get together. And, the fast-moving plot rife with suspense kept my interest. The futuristic setting oddly out-dated already (laser weapons and flying cars, yes, okay, The Future,; electronic memos, seperate electronic communicators, databooks, etc., and all data stored on "discs" not so much The Future.)

Two notes about this book which may or may not be spoilers:
1) The book is really political. I would not say feminist though the the undertones are there, but the way rape and prostitution are handled undermine any feminist leanings. Still, it is pretty left-leaning, mostly in a good way.
2)This one is pretty spoilery.****
I actually laughed out loud when the villian did the classic blunder of telling his supposed last victim (Eve) about his crimes. He actually says that he wants to gloat to her! I just pictured Dr. Evil telling Austin Powers all about his plans as Austin works on escaping. I cannot believe anyone outside of a superhero comic seriously used this plot device.
**********
FINALLY!
The reader, Susan Ericksen, was MOST EXCELLENT. Sometimes that's quite hard to find. Also, the production values were high, and many times that is not the case. I really enjoyed following Eve through Ericksen's narration, and was rooting for her to get her killer and her man.

Who I'd give it to: I can see why this series appeals to so many people (though in my conservative neck-of-the-library woods I'm a little surprised that such an anti-conservative book is so popular.) There's sex, mystery, suspense, action, violence, flying cars, some humor, and more sex. So, basically give it to anyone who likes any of those things in their books.

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Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 04:26:00 +0000

I'd been waiting breathlessly (well, not breathlessly, but with some level of intensity comparable to physical reaction) for the tech services department to finish processing this book every since Josh Berk started promoting it on Twitter. I can report that it was worth the wait. First, there are just not enough books with this kind of male character. I know that you are about to tell me that most male characters in ya lit are kind of geeky--ya lit loves to loathe the popular crowd-- but that isn't what I mean. Will is the kind of character with a strong voice and a strong sense of self, despite a lot of strikes against him from the start. It is refreshing to read. Also, I love a good mystery. Will and Dev are my new favorite crime-fighting duo.

The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin by Josh Berk

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Will Halpin decides to opt out of the political issues at his deaf school and go mainstream. At the mainstream school he will have to use his lipreading skills to get by, but he doesn't mind because his ability allows him to drop some eaves on other people's conversations. In the first week he finds himself in love with the most popular girl in school, but on the bottom run of the social ladder. By the second week a mysterious death of a student (in the very coal mine where one of Will's long lost relatives died) sparks an intensive investigation by Will and his only new friend at the school--the social pariah Devon.

The book is funny (Will's written observations of the silent world around him are hilarious, but when he combines with Devon it just gets better and better) and smart; it plays with narrative. The first week sets everything up for us so when the the book turns into a mystery in the second part it's not jarring. The pieces of the mystery come together quickly, but in a way that make sense for the characters. Putting the book down once you've picked it up is the hardest thing about reading it.

Though the main characters make a lot of references to the Hardy Boys, this is NOT a wholesome Hardy Boys read. There is an edge of the sharp reality of being a real american teenager underneath the cartoony cover that gives the book gravity.

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Soulless.

noreply@blogger.com (Awkward Librarian) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 00:08:00 +0000

I keep wanting to spell Gail C A R R I G E R with an N, as C A R R I N G E R. Evidently I'm not the only one. At my ARRT Romance Genre study meeting today the discussion leader spelled it with an N as well. I did not correct her; I had one of those momentary memory lapses and couldn't convince myself which way was correct. Anyway. This book is a mixing of my last two reviews, one paranormal romance and the other steampunk. In fact I think this book crosses every genre and has something for everyone. I think it should be required reading or something. Also, hot cover appeal. I enjoyed judging this book by its cover and not being disappointed at all.

Soulless by Gail Carriger

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
This book is everything one could want in a Victorian steampunk paranormal Romance. Oddly enough--you won't realize until you read it--you'll love a book encompassing all these genres with the added benefit of a funny/sassy female hero w/out a soul (not as much of a hinderance or moral indicator as you might think) and a surly powerful shapeshifting Duke. The Duke and Alexia dance around their attraction with some verbal sparring that will make your head turn round.

Also, I love that this book is most certainly steampunk but the word "airship" was not bandied about like it was going out of style. For some reason it seems most steampunk books feel like they have to through those airships in right away and keep throwing them in so we remember that this is a steampunk book! No, the world building is much too sophisticated and wonderful.

The plot is sufficiently complicated and twisty, the society suffocating and dry (except Alexia's best friend who is also a girl and who she talks to about Things Other Than Boys--thus this book passes the Bechdel test!) The world building (as I mentioned)is fantastic, the suspense is tightly strung, the paranormal bits are seamlessly woven into the story and the Victorian age.

My only star-stealing gripe: for all her awesomeness Alexia can't take a compliment about her appearance. There is a reason behind this glaring fault, but it does grow thin after awhile. You know that girl who always self-depricates when you try to compliment her and you just want to shake that girl and tell her to say thank you and shut up? Sigh, that's Alexia. Also, her family is just so atrocious. They remind me of the Featheringtons in Julia Quinn's Bridgertons' series, but so much worse. Mostly I just think the compliment thing was overused a bit before resolution, is all. A bit Mary Sue-ish, if you will. Otherwise, Soulless is a very promising beginning to a unique series.

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