Book Nerds http://booknerds.net YA (& sometimes non-YA) book reviews, contests & more! Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:01:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 booknerdsnethttp://feedburner.google.com Release: The Dead-Tossed Waves http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booknerdsnet/~3/RkyUgIegm6M/release-the-dead-tossed-waves http://booknerds.net/release-the-dead-tossed-waves#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:01:42 +0000 Anna http://booknerds.net/?p=2006 Poisoned Honey: A Story of Mary Magdalene by Beatrice Gormley, Split by Awati Avasthi, The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson, Saving Maddie by Varian Johnson & Hourglass (Evernight #3) by Claudia Grey.
]]> http://booknerds.net/release-the-dead-tossed-waves/feed 0 http://booknerds.net/release-the-dead-tossed-waves Release: The Line http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booknerdsnet/~3/KEf06TNNIuY/release-the-line http://booknerds.net/release-the-line#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:01:43 +0000 Anna http://booknerds.net/?p=2004 ]]> http://booknerds.net/release-the-line/feed 0 http://booknerds.net/release-the-line Release: Before I Fall http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booknerdsnet/~3/HhF94DQvpxk/release-before-i-fall http://booknerds.net/release-before-i-fall#comments Tue, 02 Mar 2010 05:01:05 +0000 Anna http://booknerds.net/?p=1998 Forget-Her-Nots by Amy Brecount White, & Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins.
]]> http://booknerds.net/release-before-i-fall/feed 2 http://booknerds.net/release-before-i-fall Boys, Bears, and a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots by Abby McDonald http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booknerdsnet/~3/PqP_VADuQZU/boys-bears-and-a-serious-pair-of-hiking-boots-by-abby-mcdonald http://booknerds.net/boys-bears-and-a-serious-pair-of-hiking-boots-by-abby-mcdonald#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:00:25 +0000 Anna http://booknerds.net/?p=2081 Summary: Jenna may hail from the ’burbs of New Jersey, but Green Teen activism is her life. So when her mom suggests they spend the summer at Grandma’s Florida condo, Jenna pleads instead to visit her hippie godmother, Susie, up in rural Canada. Jenna is psyched at the chance to commune with this nature she’s heard about — and the cute, plaidwearing boys she’s certain must roam there. But after a few run-ins with local wildlife (from a larger-than-life moose to Susie’s sullen Goth stepdaughter to a hot but hostile boy named Reeve), Jenna gets the idea that her long-held ideals, like vegetarianism and conservation, don’t play so well with this population of real outdoorsmen. A dusty survival guide offers Jenna amusing tips on navigating the wilderness — but can she learn to navigate the turns of her heart?

Anna’s Thoughts:

3 stars

Boys, Bears, and a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots was a seriously cute book! It wasn’t cute in the way that was fluffy, but it was in the way that was real. Jenna and her friends, and the situation seemed to really root itself in the book in a way that seems totally realistic. I could see the situations happening, and the feelings and actions of Jenna and the people who are surrounding her play out in my mind. The only thing that seemed a little unrealistic is her parents allowing her to travel by herself all the way up to Canada, I know at 16 there is no way my parents would have allowed me to do that. However, beyond that it’s a cute read with really strong characters, and one hell of a lesson, which is: People change. I loved the evolution of the friendship between Jenna and her best friend, Olivia, and especially between Jenna and her cousin Fiona. Jenna also reminded me a lot of myself, trying to mend burnt bridges with ruthless insistence. Stubbornness can be a good quality to have but it’s also one that needs to rest sometimes, which I think Jenna sadly learns the hard way. There are twists that I didn’t expect in the book (or really really REALLY didn’t expect), as well as ones that you could see from a mile away.

All in all Boys, Bears, and a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots was a light, fun, fast read. I had never heard of Abby McDonald before, but now I have and I will certainly have to check out her previous book Sophomore Switch, as well as any other books from here on out.
]]> http://booknerds.net/boys-bears-and-a-serious-pair-of-hiking-boots-by-abby-mcdonald/feed 3 http://booknerds.net/boys-bears-and-a-serious-pair-of-hiking-boots-by-abby-mcdonald Release: The Reinvention of Edison Thomas http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booknerdsnet/~3/dbopUTSXDOY/release-the-reinvention-of-edison-thomas http://booknerds.net/release-the-reinvention-of-edison-thomas#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:01:52 +0000 Anna http://booknerds.net/?p=1996 Voices of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn
]]> http://booknerds.net/release-the-reinvention-of-edison-thomas/feed 0 http://booknerds.net/release-the-reinvention-of-edison-thomas The Postmistress by Sarah Blake http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booknerdsnet/~3/PWh4mDPowgk/the-postmistress-by-sarah-blake http://booknerds.net/the-postmistress-by-sarah-blake#comments Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:00:00 +0000 Anna http://booknerds.net/?p=2095 Summary: On the eve of the United States’s entrance into World War II in 1940, Iris James, the postmistress of Franklin, a small town on Cape Cod, does the unthinkable: She doesn’t deliver a letter. In London, American radio gal Frankie Bard is working with Edward R. Murrow, reporting on the Blitz. One night in a bomb shelter, she meets a doctor from Cape Cod with a letter in his pocket, a letter Frankie vows to deliver when she returns from Germany and France, where she is to record the stories of war refugees desperately trying to escape.

The residents of Franklin think the war can’t touch them- but as Frankie’s radio broadcasts air, some know that the war is indeed coming. And when Frankie arrives at their doorstep, the two stories collide in a way no one could have foreseen.

Anna’s Thoughts:

4 stars

I love WWII novels, they bring to life something that I wasn’t alive for (something my grandmother was barely alive for) and make it so vivid. It becomes so pressing in the back of my mind, how although WWII was so horrible well beyond just being a war, it still manages to inspire people. It makes me want to learn, want to be more educated on the subject. I also hate WWII novels, because they NEVER end well. However, although I am sure I’m not the leading authority on novels written about people during WWII, or the war itself, the one thing that I’ve always found that they have in common (which is one reason I get so drawn to them) is because of the writing. I’ve not read millions of WWII novels, maybe 5-7, but all of them are so beautifully written, that the pain the characters feel hurts me too. I feel for them so deeply and while I’m an overly emotional person sometimes in general, rarely any other book ever brings me to sobbing tears. The Postmistress did that more than once, in fact it happened constantly throughout the entire book.

Going with the observation of beautiful writing in WWII novels, or war stories in general, The Postmistress serves this observation especially. It was incredibly captivating and so beautiful and skillfully written that I could smell the ocean off of Franklin, I could see the streets the characters walked down and the post office that Iris worked in. The Postmistress isn’t just a war story though, it’s part war, part untouchable. It’s as much about the war as it is about the people across the ocean who thought they were safe, and the people who knew they weren’t. It’s about how something you’ve never been afraid of before can ultimately change your entire life in an instant. The Postmistress was so unbelievably beautiful that it’s one of those books you sit back and think about and wonder: How in the WORLD did any one human write this? It’s utterly breathtaking and equally scary as hell.

Beyond the writing (if you can get beyond it) are the characters, and how absolutely believable they are. There was never a moment where I questioned an action or reaction from a character. Likewise, I also fell in love with some of them and wanted to hit a few of them upside the head. They’re so much like your neighbors, or your friends that you forget sometimes that they’re actually fictional, and their stories are so plausible that you forget they didn’t happen. I was excited for them, I was sad for them, sad WITH them. Other than The Book Thief by Markus Zusack I’ve never had any character in a book challenge my emotions so much.

One of my absolute favourite things about this book was it’s transition from character to character as it’s told from the point of view of four different characters. It amazed me beyond belief how it transferred from Frankie doing a broadcast from Germany to Iris listening to the broadcast in Franklin. Really, can’t say enough about this book, but I can say that if you like Historical Fiction, if you’re interested in WWII or just amazingly beautiful writing then you should read this book. And just because I loved it that much I’m going to leave you with one of the scenes that has imprinted itself inside of my memory:
She got no farther than half a block before what sounded like a freight train roared past her and she had enough time to flatten herself against the wall when the bomb hit with a force that knocked her into the air and then slammed her down onto the pavement. Another shriek in the air and another, the bombs falling so nearby, it felt like the air was shaking. She stayed where she was on the ground, too sunned to move or cry out. Dust rained down around her and then someone cried out across the street. And someone else, and then it was human noise around her. A little way away a siren sounded. Christ, she sobbed. She tried to push herself up, but she was shaking so hard she had to lie down again. It felt like her heart would bolt from her throat. She lay there and time crept back and handed her the last few moments, then the last hour, and the man’s hands on her and his lips – she didn’t even know his name – and wondered if he was walking, where he was walking now.

Someone shrieked. She pushed herself up to sitting, and then, reaching for her satchel, which had blown off the pavement into the street, she pulled herself all the way up onto her feet and started walking. The shrieking woudn’t stop and for the first time in these months, she wanted to break into a flat run and had force herself to slow down in the dark. It was so dark tonight. Where were the bombs now? She crept a little way forward along the street. Please – her feet moved – please, please let me get to the end of the street. Let me cross it and get to the next street. Let me get home, she pleaded. There were four blocks between here and her building.

The Postmistress, pg. 62 (from ARC, subject to change)
]]> http://booknerds.net/the-postmistress-by-sarah-blake/feed 1 http://booknerds.net/the-postmistress-by-sarah-blake Waiting on Wednesday (9) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booknerdsnet/~3/TMu7A-oOwTE/waiting-on-wednesday-9 http://booknerds.net/waiting-on-wednesday-9#comments Wed, 24 Feb 2010 05:01:00 +0000 Anna http://booknerds.net/?p=2060 The Stone Child) and man did he do it well, and quite frankly I kind of miss the increased heartbeat that comes from the descriptions of creepy ass monsters, as well as the ability to make me scared of the dark even though I wasn’t even scared of it as a kid! Me and my mom have read a lot of horror stories, but I guarantee you when I told her Dan Poblocki was coming out with another one, we did a dance (Or I did a dance and she stared at me funny). However my dance, that equally represented us both said: We’re nerds and we like being scared BRING IT ON! And I think Dan’s response would be: OH It’s already been broughten! (Or maybe not, since you know, he’d probably use a word that’s actually… real.)

The Nightmarys by Dan Poblocki

Timothy July has a secret. And it’s giving him nightmares. Abigail Tremens has a problem. Her nightmares are haunting her…while she is awake. When they team up for a school project, they don’t realize that Abigail’s past and Timothy’s present are making them the target of a terrible curse. A curse that turns their worst fears to reality. But their fears are just the beginning. The curse stems from a strange artifact that gains strength by devouring a human soul. And it needs to feed again. Dan Poblocki has written another bone-chilling page-turner to give you goose bumps. It’s the kind of book best read on a bright afternoon…which may keep your own nightmares at bay.

Also, where the story came from & what Dan has to say about The Nightmarys verses The Stone Child under the cut:

Where The Nightmarys came from:

Several years ago, I awoke from a dream in which I’d been standing in a garden. Along the edges of the garden, a group of girls, clad in white dresses, watched me. There was something so odd and creepy about them that the dream stuck. I knew immediately that they were The Nightmarys. Months later, my friend Charlie showed me some of his paintings. He’d found some Victorian photographs and gone over the images with translucent white paint. In one, a group of girls stands side by side, their bodies blending together. A blur of gauze. Their faces are just barely visible behind this veil. I was struck by how similar Charlie’s image was to the one from my dream. It made me wonder: who were these girls? Why did they keep appearing to me? I knew then that I needed to find out by telling their story.
From the authors site.

Info about The Nightmarys verses The Stone Child:

Darker, scarier, more intense than The Stone Child. Fans of the first book might recognize some connections between it and The Nightmarys, but this one is not at all a sequel. If I were to draw a picture of their relationship, I would say the two books hold pinky fingers while standing on line for the water fountain at school. Only The Nightmarys has sharper fingernails… Literally.
From a post on GoodReads.

I really hope the common thread in the two is what I think it is! So excited! Easily my most anticipated book (other than Radiant Shadows that is) for the rest of 2010!
]]> http://booknerds.net/waiting-on-wednesday-9/feed 2 http://booknerds.net/waiting-on-wednesday-9 Paper Towns by John Green http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booknerdsnet/~3/HssB2_g4qgY/paper-towns-by-john-green http://booknerds.net/paper-towns-by-john-green#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:51:09 +0000 Anna http://booknerds.net/?p=1822 Summary: When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the night—dressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows her. Margo’s always planned extravagantly, and, until now, she’s always planned solo. After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally looking up for Q… until day breaks and she has vanished. Always an enigma, Margo has now become a mystery. But there are clues. And they’re for Q.

Anna’s Thoughts:

4 stars

I have turned into a John Green addict, and this book, this book was the cause of it. I had heard of John before, but he was really hyped and I remember a few years ago when Paper Towns came out there was so much promotion for it it kind of make me want to stab myself. It was everywhere, then the whole two covers thing, and at the time I was purely anti-contemporary fiction (Thank you Courtney Summers for showing me the error of my ways), it just wasn’t my thing. And then I met Emilee and the deafening scream I heard all the way from Texas when she found out I hadn’t read any of his stuff. So naturally, not willing to risking someone so awesome being angry at me, I saw it at the Flea Market and it became mine seconds later. I read it in December, and since then I have devoured Looking for Alaska and am working my way through An Abundance of Kathrines, and all I can wish for is that John could learn to write just a little faster. All I have left after this is Will Grayson, Will Grayson… and you know what? It’s not enough. Not to mention it’s not OUT YET!

Anyway, I suppose you want to know something more than how much I’m in love with John & his writing/books/etc. So, Margo Roth Spiegelman? I wish she was my friend. The beginning when you first meet her and she starts her crazy tirade with Quentin, you get such a strong sense of personality that I think although she’s only (pfft) a literary character it’s hard as hell not to be drawn to her. The same could also be said for Quentin, but with Q instead of just seeing the character and liking it you’re on a journey together. Because both of you will be undeniably drawn to Margo Roth Spiegelman, and you know what? Neither of you really have clue as to why. And in the end, I had no idea either, in fact I kind of sort of wanted to hit her with a car. But I still loved the character, it’s a very topsy turvy world we serve.

The most amazing thing I think John manages to pull off in his books is that he doesn’t merely tell a story, and he doesn’t just tell you about a bunch of characters, he brings those characters to life. Every word and every action anyone does jumped off the page and played through like a movie inside my head. The mystery of the entire book and the girl that is Margo Roth Spiegelman is completely intriguing, which surprised me of all people (and I’m sure a few others) since I live all but two hours from the main setting (Orlando, Florida) of the book. You’d think it would be less interesting, less intriguing, but it’s not, it made me look at places I’ve been and things I’ve seen in a completely different light. Florida got a little less boring and mundane after reading this book, and I may have gone on a trip or two finding an abandoned mental hospital. Or not, I mean,… Anyway.

Either way, whether you live in Florida or not, despite my avoidance of Paper Towns in the beginning it really is a book that needs to be read. If you like reading, you should read it – and if you don’t… then why are you here? Hmm.. But honestly, I’ve read all of John’s books (actually finished An Abundance of Kathrines between writing this!) and if you need an introduction to the man and author that is John Green, start with this book, you won’t regret it.
]]> http://booknerds.net/paper-towns-by-john-green/feed 5 http://booknerds.net/paper-towns-by-john-green Release: Token of Darkness http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booknerdsnet/~3/Uk1ijwyWTbU/release-token-of-darkness http://booknerds.net/release-token-of-darkness#comments Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:01:39 +0000 Anna http://booknerds.net/?p=1982 The Life of Glass by Jillian Cantor, Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder, The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin by Josh Berk & Eleventh Grade Burns (Vladimir Tod #4) by Heather Brewer.
]]> http://booknerds.net/release-token-of-darkness/feed 0 http://booknerds.net/release-token-of-darkness Release: The Naughty List http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booknerdsnet/~3/2tqAyNG9KT0/release-the-naughty-list http://booknerds.net/release-the-naughty-list#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 05:01:55 +0000 Anna http://booknerds.net/?p=1979 ]]> http://booknerds.net/release-the-naughty-list/feed 0 http://booknerds.net/release-the-naughty-list