Wastepaper Prose

ReRead-A-Thon 2018: Revisiting Childhood Favorites

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 05:00:00 +0000

When Merphy Napier invited me to participate in her inaugural ReRead-A-Thon, I instantly knew this would be my chance to revisit some of my childhood favorites... Or in some cases my favorite children's books.

You see, I wasn't much of a reader when I was a kid. This is horrifying, I know.

I'll give you a minute to digest this fact and let the shock wear off.

And... We're back!

As I was saying, I have very few favorite books from my childhood since reading wasn't a priority for me back then. But there is one childhood classic at the top of my list...Alice in Wonderland.

I doubt I will ever adore a book, a world or a cast of characters more than that of this children's classic. I own dozens of copies -- old and new -- as well as knick knacks and artwork commemorating this fantastical tale. Books about Lewis Carroll's well-known novel litter my bookshelves, and I even wrote my thesis on the people behind the story and the bits of truth that pepper its pages.

Alice has been with me since I was a little girl, and I've revisited her world more times than I can count over the years, finding renewed joy and appreciation in the story ever time. It's that lasting effect that makes childhood favorites so impactful.

Like any reader, I love experiencing a new world, but there is something incredibly satisfying about delving back into the familiar. Like the literary version of going home again.

That's why I'm so excited to kick this ReRead-A-Thon off with a few of my childhood favorites. There are some children's and young adult books that I've read as an adult in my TBR, but three titles from my youth are at the top of my list.

I'll definitely be rereading Alice in Wonderland and Tuck Everlasting. The entire Nightworld Series is slated for a reread this year, but I doubt I'll finish this week since there are other books I have on my ReRead-A-Thon TBR. Who knows though? Maybe I'll surprise myself!

Are you planning to reread any of your childhood faves for ReRead-A-Thon 2018?

Comment below and tell me what you're reading!

Remember there are daily giveaways during ReRead-A-Thon 2018...

3 hosts per day! 21 total giveaways!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure to check out my co-hosts for the day:

...And tomorrow's hosts:

Announcing the 2018 ReRead-A-Thon!

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 20:00:00 +0000

7 days of rereading... 21 book enthusiasts... 21 giveaways for you!

In a just a few weeks, the first ever ReRead-A-Thon will be upon us! What is the ReRead-A-Thon you ask? Well, it's as simple as it sounds folks...

It's an opportunity for you to revisit old favorites, spend time with beloved characters and immerse yourself in their world. It's a chance to give a second chance to a book you didn't connect with on a first read. And if you're the type who believes there are just too many good books waiting in the TBR to reread old ones, this is a week to put your reader guilt aside and indulge a little bit! Your Unread Shelf has waited this long... What's another week?

This amazing event is the brainchild of avid reader and booktuber Merphy Napier. Like many of us, she'd been lamenting the fact that there's never enough time to read all the galleys and new releases AND fit in rereads of your past 5-Star favorites. To sate the need, she decided we should all devote a week to rereading, which I wholeheartedly support!

During the week, we'll have 21 hosts -- Seven bloggers, seven booktubers and seven bookstagrammers! That means there will be at least three hosts each day posting about rereading, including reflections on Childhood Classics, how rereading can bring new meaning to a book and so much more. There will also be updates and reading sprints on the official Twitter @ReReadathon2018, so be sure to go follow and turn on notifications.

Did I mention the epic number of giveaways yet?

21!

That's right... Every host will be doing a 24-hour flash giveaway for a book or bookish gift card!

(Check out the HOST SCHEDULE.)

Whether rereading means returning to the books you loved and enjoying the ride or taking another chance on a book that didn't resonate with you a couple months or years ago in hopes you find something amongst the pages, we just want you to take the opportunity to kick back and enjoy.

So, my fair readers, prepare to push your current TBR pile aside and join us in the self-indulgent pursuit of bookish bliss! Because there's nothing better than a second helping of dessert when the first taste was so sweet.

Influx by Daniel Suarez

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 17:00:00 +0000

Release Date: February 3, 2015
Publisher: Signet
Age Group: Adult
Source: Purchased
Pages: 528
Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble |
IndieBound | Book Depository
Description: Goodreads
Physicist Jon Grady and his team have discovered a device that can reflect gravity—a triumph that will revolutionize the field of physics and change the future. But instead of acclaim, Grady’s lab is locked down by a covert organization known as the Bureau of Technology Control.

The bureau’s mission: suppress the truth of sudden technological progress and prevent the social upheaval it would trigger. Because the future is already here. And it’s rewards are only for a select few.

When Grady refuses to join the BTC, he’s thrown into a nightmarish high-tech prison housing other doomed rebel intellects. Now, as the only hope to usher humanity out of its artificial dark age, Grady and his fellow prisoners must try to expose the secrets of an unimaginable enemy—one that wields a technological advantage half a century in the making.

Technology in the 20th century made unprecedented leaps. Humans went from being unable to fly in early 1903 to landing on the moon less than 70 years later. Minor cuts and scrapes could become life-threatening if they became infected and then we discovered antibiotics and a range of new surgeries became available. We discovered bombs that could single-handedly both destroy and power entire cities.

Since then, we’ve barely made it back to the moon, antibiotics have lead to the rise of superbugs, and people are so afraid of nuclear fallout that some nuclear reactors are being closed. What if these roadblocks weren’t intentional? What if someone was trying to keep the human race from discovering these disruptive technological advancements? Such is the premise of Daniel Suarez’s Influx, which centers around a government agency, the Bureau of Technology Control (henceforth BTC), whose mission is to protect the public from its own scientific ingenuity. Despite a killer premise and intriguing first quarter or so, Influx ends up squandering its impressively inventive opening with a mixture of subpar writing, unimaginative technology, flat characters, and cookie-cutter plot.

After reading the synopsis and the first hundred or so pages, I probably had unrealistic expectations. While I didn’t exactly expect it to reach the heights of William Gibson’s Neuromancer, Influx seemed to be heading at least in the direction of a game-changing sci-fi novel. Suarez creates a world where anything should be possible, but then the uses of technology and the story beats end up being distressingly unimaginative. The most fearsome technology we see is directly out of Batman Begins. I don’t care how advanced or convoluted the explanation is, a gun that makes a super large bang is still a gun. A cannon that can blow a bigger hole in stuff is still a cannon. A super-advanced way to talk to each other is still basically radio. Suarez sets the stage for truly mind-warping technology, but then we just end up with really fancy versions of all of the same old stuff. It’s a let down.

While I might have been disappointed with the technological vision in the book, Suarez does an excellent job explaining the technology that is there. He might go in a little too much technical detail at times (there’s at least one chapter that doesn’t need to exist because of it), but it’s clear he’s thought out exactly how all of these things work (with one or two leaps of scientific faith). He also sticks to his guns. At one point, characters become essentially able to fly by manipulating gravity, but Suarez insists on referring to it as changing the direction of their fall. They’re small details, but they really do bring the individual technologies alive, even if they might not be as visionary as I might have liked. With that being said, there are two or three very cool uses of the tech near the end of the book and a throwaway mention of a really cool technology at the end of the book.

The novel also wastes the opportunity to meditate on some really interesting questions. The basic question of whether or not all technological advancement is good seems ripe for actual exploration, but the main character simply rejects it outright, the bad guys do truly heinous things, and we end up having to root for the main character just to beat evil people without really examining whether or not these technologies should exist. The novel would have gained a lot of depth, and maybe reached the level of a good imitation of Crichton, if Suarez had introduced a new technology whose benefits didn't necessary outweigh its negatives. There could have been some moral ambiguity and an actual examination of the themes instead of just setting up two sides to start hitting each other with various bits of technology. I will give Suarez credit for a hilarious use of artificial intelligence during the novel’s climax, where (spoilers!) the AI has to try to kill our heroes while helping them or face being shut down.

The writing style itself is generally unremarkable and inoffensive, except for one possibly unfair pet-peeve that could easily be cleaned up in an editing pass or two. Nodding. Characters nod at everything all of the time. Suarez seems to use the action as a crutch just to add a sentence or two. There are multiple times when characters literally nod to no one or nothing in particular. During the last 50 pages I started counting and came up with two pages where various characters nod three times. Twice, the same character nods twice within four lines. Characters stop to nod to themselves while climactic action and general chaos ensues around them. It’s a stupid complaint, but my enjoyment of the last 200 pages would have been greatly enhanced if people just stopped nodding at everything all of the time. There’s also an overuse on Artificial Intelligence. While each individual use of AI makes sense, I was just so bored with them being mentioned by page 200 that the last few hundred pages were a slog. Again, where was the truly inventive technology? Where was the technology that could have existed if we’d had fusion since the 50s and quantum computing for 30 years?

The novel also is littered with plot half-threads that don’t really end up going anywhere. There’s lip service to the examination of how clones can differ from their hosts, but it’s never examined in any depth. One character is genetically engineered to be essentially perfect and there’s not any examination of the mental toll that might take except for her being sad she can’t have kids. The main character is synesthetic, which should make the novel replete with how the stars sound like Chopin or how his technology tastes like the color green, but instead we get four or five mentions of it while it’s used as an excuse for his big breakthrough, but it’s otherwise unmentioned. I actually forgot he was synesthetic for about 150 pages. The novel is from a third person limited point of view of his character and you’d never know he sees light in sound or smells the sensation of flying by the way the novel’s written. It’s just another wasted opportunity.

Despite all of the above complains, Influx is not a bad novel, but it is a disappointing one. Some of that is definitely my expectations, but it’s also the result of the first hundred pages or so. The premise and the set up of the novel promise a truly mind-bending book. Instead, we get a fairly by-the-numbers, obviously good and uninteresting good guy vs. evil-just-because bad guy plot where the resolution is the same old action trope of shooting and punching things. It’s not bad, but when you expect an A, getting a pretty good airplane read is a bit disappointing.

The Progeny by Tosca Lee

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Release Date: May 24, 2016
Publisher: Howard Books
Age Group: Adult
Source: Publisher
Series: Descendants of the House of Bathory #1
Pages: 336
Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble |
IndieBound | Book Depository
Description: Goodreads
Emily Jacobs is the descendant of a serial killer. Now, she’s become the hunted.

She’s on a quest that will take her to the secret underground of Europe and the inner circles of three ancient orders—one determined to kill her, one devoted to keeping her alive, and one she must ultimately save.

Filled with adrenaline, romance, and reversals, The Progeny is the present-day saga of a 400-year-old war between the uncanny descendants of “Blood Countess” Elizabeth Bathory, the most prolific female serial killer of all time, and a secret society dedicated to erasing every one of her descendants. A story about the search for self filled with centuries-old intrigues against the backdrop of atrocity and hope.

Imagine waking up with no memory of your life before, knowing that this is a choice you made, even though the reason why has been erased. That’s the choice that Emily Jacobs made. For some reason. But now, a past that she can’t remember is catching up with her and she has no idea who she can trust.

As part of an ancient bloodline that has been hunted for centuries, Emily must navigate underground societies while running from an order determined to exterminate them. By following bread crumbs she left for herself, she starts to unravel some secrets that have been hidden for centuries and others she gave up everything to keep hidden.

Opening the story with Emily not knowing who she is was a clever device for introducing the reader to the world of the Descendants of the House of Bathory. As our heroine discovers this secret society, Tosca Lee is able to avoid clunky exposition while she reveals these strange new worlds. The secretive underground nightlife is full of rich parties and hedonistic characters that are fun places in which to get lost. I would love to attend an all-night secret masquerade ball. Or would have 10 years ago.

The search to unravel her past is full of twists and turns, which I thought were often predictable, but still very fun. When Emily can’t remember anyone she knew before, she has to trust her instinct about who and what is safe, and it doesn’t always serve her well. As her path takes direction and her true friends become clear, Emily finally starts to understand for what she was willing to sacrifice herself.

An exciting romance, chases around the world, secret societies, forgotten pasts, and all night parties: this is a strong start to a new series that will have readers turning pages.

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn or An Open Letter to a Beloved Author

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Mon, 26 Sep 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Check out this gorgeous paperback cover!!!

Release Date: July 12, 2016
Publisher: Berkley
Age Group: Adult
Source: Publisher
Series: Veronica Speedwell #1
Pages: 368
Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble |
IndieBound | Book Depository
Description: Goodreads
London, 1887. After burying her spinster aunt, orphaned Veronica Speedwell is free to resume her world travels in pursuit of scientific inquiry—and the occasional romantic dalliance. As familiar with hunting butterflies as with fending off admirers, Veronica intends to embark upon the journey of a lifetime.

But fate has other plans when Veronica thwarts her own attempted abduction with the help of an enigmatic German baron, who offers her sanctuary in the care of his friend Stoker, a reclusive and bad-tempered natural historian. But before the baron can reveal what he knows of the plot against her, he is found murdered—leaving Veronica and Stoker on the run from an elusive assailant as wary partners in search of the villainous truth.

Dear Deanna,

How do I love thee? There is not enough room on this blog to count the ways, but that won’t stop me from trying to articulate a few of them here.

You create strong female characters who are very much in their time while being independent and making their own way in the world with cleverness and poise. Veronica Speedwell is a fully realized woman in the vein of Lady Julia Grey and for this, and all your stouthearted and clever heroines, I thank you.
You explore and illuminate aspects of historical periods that may be less familiar to the reader, but are fully based in accuracy and the truth of the time. Plus, I never knew so much about taxidermy or butterflies.
You take me on full speed adventures and mysteries that twist and turn their way through unfamiliar streets. Well researched historical fiction creates a full backdrop for your characters: a band of circus sideshow performers, country cottages and volcanos? Yes please!
You excel in the creation of warrior poets. What woman doesn’t dream of strong heroes who feel so deeply and these taciturn and brilliant men are the challenging and frustrating counterparts to your stubborn leading ladies. Brisbane and Stoker are the perfect foils for Julia and Veronica and their back and forth brings life, excitement and humor to every exchange.
As you may have observed, I’m entirely smitten with Julia and Brisbane. Sometimes it can be hard to embrace new characters when it feels like you are leaving behind old friends. However, each time I’m introduced to the original casts you’ve created, I can’t help but let my Grinch heart defy expectations and grow ten sizes that day. Much as I will always beg for more of my beloved Marches, I fall into the new stories eagerly and excitedly. I’m not even mad about it.

A Curious Beginning is the first installment in a new mystery series set in Victorian London (Huzzah for the return to the dimly lit streets Julia and Brisbane roam), but Veronica is much more determined to shirk the expectations of society than her predecessors, who were confined by their station. Growing up being moved around regularly, she has learned to keep her own company and feels fully prepared to support herself now that her caretakers have passed away. After all, she has successfully navigated her way around the world and excels in the male-dominated pursuit of rare butterflies.

However, fate seems to have different plans for her as she becomes embroiled in a cat and mouse game involving a family she has never known and those who will stop at nothing to reveal secrets long hidden. With the reluctant assistance of the gruff and capable Stoker, Veronica must untangle the mystery of her own past in order to forge a future of her own making.

I don’t often resort to full on fan-girldom, but Deanna and her characters just bring it out in me! When the weather is gloomy (or if you just want to pretend it is) curl up with a good cup of tea and step into the streets of London with Veronica and Stoker in A Curious Beginning.

Delightedly,
Tess

P.S. -- I know I’ve mentioned it before, but it always bears repeating: Tess is an entirely appropriate name for this time period. XO!

Best Frints in the Whole Universe by Antoinette Portis

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Wed, 22 Jun 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Release Date: July 5, 2016
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Age Group: Children's
Source: Publisher
Pages: 40
Buy:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble |
IndieBound | Book Depository
Description: Goodreads
Yelfred and Omek have been best frints since they were little blobbies. They play and snack, and sometimes they even fight, all in a language similar to but slightly different from, English. When Omek decides to borrow Yelfred's new spaceship without asking (and then crashes it), it sparks the biggest fight yet. Can these two best frints make up and move on?

Award-winning picture book creator Antoinette Portis delivers a new universe of cleverness and imagination in this hilarious, sweet, and otherworldly book about friendship.

Six months ago, I had no idea what Best Frints in the Whole Universe even was. I couldn't have told you who wrote it, what it was about or even what the cover looked like. Now, I can't stop talking about this wonderful picture book.

I picked it up on a whim while at ALA Midwinter, and had no idea how much I'd enjoy it. Looking back, it's so appropriate that I read this tale of friendship and its ups and downs with one of my best friends --Tess! We found ourselves smiling and laughing out loud at Yelfred and Omek's antics, and we were instantly their biggest fans.

Friendship isn't perfect. Best Frints in the Whole Universe hits that nail on the head. Yelfred and Omek have been friends since they were blobbies and, while they might fight about playing eyeball (you read that right) or taking a spaceship out for a joyride, they are always there for each other in the end. And that's the most important thing about friendship, right? You've got someone who's there for you through thick and thin.

One of the things I loved most about the way this story is told is the vocabulary. Don't worry! You won't need to refer to a glossary to get it. In fact, you'll probably have a lot of fun mastering the native language of Yelfred and Omek's home planet -- Boborp. You'll learn how "taypo" and "sturples" can fix a broken "spossip" and how to avoid being called a "double-dirt bleebo" by your best friend.

Honestly, I cannot say enough about this extremely engaging and fun story. It's a reminder that whether you're from Boborp or Earth, friends are a gift who brighten your day and they shouldn't be taken for granted or hastily cast aside. Not even if they "shmackle" your "blurfday" gift to bits.

Make sure you pick up a copy of Best Frints in the Whole Universe on July 5, and read it with your bestie!

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 13:30:00 +0000

Release Date: March 1, 2016
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Series: Charlotte Holmes #1
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Publisher
Pages: 321
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble /
IndieBound / Book Depository
Description: Goodreads
The last thing Jamie Watson wants is a rugby scholarship to Sherringford, a Connecticut prep school just an hour away from his estranged father. But that’s not the only complication: Sherringford is also home to Charlotte Holmes, the famous detective’s great-great-great-granddaughter, who has inherited not only Sherlock’s genius but also his volatile temperament. From everything Jamie has heard about Charlotte, it seems safer to admire her from afar.

From the moment they meet, there’s a tense energy between them, and they seem more destined to be rivals than anything else. But when a Sherringford student dies under suspicious circumstances, ripped straight from the most terrifying of the Sherlock Holmes stories, Jamie can no longer afford to keep his distance. Jamie and Charlotte are being framed for murder, and only Charlotte can clear their names. But danger is mounting and nowhere is safe—and the only people they can trust are each other.

Picture a world in which Holmes and Watson literally roamed the streets of London solving crimes. Yes, not just in the hearts and minds of enamored readers everywhere. Now, several generations later, what would the legacies of those families have become? Well, I’m glad you asked, because that is what Jamie Watson and Charlotte Holmes are learning for themselves at boarding school as they are thrown together by an unknown villain framing them for murders on campus that recreate Sherlockian crimes.

Yes, I’m a nerd for all things Sherlock, and I was pleasantly surprised by this new installment in the genre. It’s darker and cleverer than I expected. It pays homage to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but is an entirely new book that doesn’t really require familiarity with the original stories (although those will certainly enhance the reading). It also avoids being cutesy, which I truly appreciated, and was a little worried about given the title.

I thought it would be a light hearted modern day take on the great detective stories, but it is surprisingly dark, in keeping with the Holmes oeuvre, and it doesn’t shy away from many issues for which the detective and biographer were known. In fact, it deals with family histories of addiction and the difficulties of living up to expectations of fame and recognition. In a world where the name Holmes evokes a history of cleverness and standoffishness, this is a well realized portrayal of how that pressure might carry down through the generations.

Brittany Cavallaro also plays with the reasons why two teenagers who are the descendants of Watson and Holmes might want to avoid each other, while also being drawn to a person who could understand their very unique situations. Charlotte and Jamie enjoy as strange and often tenuous relationship that seems, in some ways to have been inevitable. Their own case certainly draws them together, but our current Watson never seems quite as bumbling or awe struck as the original sometimes would. Rather, he is a supportive and necessary foil to his Holmes.

The mystery does include many of the red herrings I’ve come to expect from a Doyle inspired mystery, but it doesn’t unravel quite the same way. There weren’t as many scenes in which Holmes revealed the solution as a result of countless tiny clues that weren’t even mentioned previously, and honestly, it can be nice to follow a case you might be able to solve on your own. Or try to.

I highly recommend this book and hope there are many more to come. I don’t want to spoil anything for the readers, but I’ll just say that Moriarty has descendants as well…

BEA 2016 Recap

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 04:30:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I had the the privilege of attending Book Expo America -- the largest publishing trade show in North America -- which is always an amazing experience!

The best way to describe it is cornucopia of the publishing world, including established and debut authors of all genres, panels on industry trends and, as you'd expect, plenty of books.

Book Expo has historically made it's home in New York City, but this year the show had a change of venue, moving to Chicago and McCormick Place. Of course, the largest convention center in North America would be a fitting place to house the largest publishing trade show on the continent.

I've made some amazing blogger friends in the seven years I've been blogging and seeing them was was a huge highlight of the trip. I ran into too many people to list, but it was great to see them all and meet some new book-loving friends along the way. (Note: I was having such a good time that I took hardly any photos inside BEA.)

Since the exhibit hall didn't open until mid-afternoon on the first day, I grabbed breakfast with Katie from Mundie Moms, Stacey from Page Turners Blog, Heidi from YA Biblophile and Emily from Emily's Reading Room. While we were there, we ran into Katie from Katie's Book Blog.

Then we headed out to the Lincoln Park Zoo. I haven't been to a zoo in years, and this free gem was nothing short of fantastic!

Heidi (right) formed an instant bond with the guardian of the zoo gate.

Our mission was simple - See a rhino. At least, that was what brought us to the zoo in the first place. In our quest to find them on the maze of zoo paths, we found baboons, tigers, lions, zebras, gibbons, giraffes and more. And yes, we did find the rhinos, and Emily was super excited (see below for photographic evidence).

After the zoo, we headed to McCormick Place where we dropped Stacey off at Blogger Con before heading upstairs to wait in the ridiculous but completely expected line to get onto the exhibit floor. The hustle and bustle of BEA began the moment the flood gates opened.

There were numerous familiar faces at booths and on the show floor, and it was wonderful seeing them and having an opportunity to talk books. I also was lucky enough to be invited to several fabulous publisher and publicity company events, including a breakfast with Simon & Schuster Children's and parties for Fierce Reads and Big Honcho.

I confess that I did miss the closeness of NYC. While public transit is very user friendly in Chicago, there's definitely something to be said for being able to walk a few blocks from the Javits and grab a bite or go back to the hotel to drop your bags off in between events. McCorcmick place is a bit of an island, and getting to food or entertainment from the convention was a bit of an endeavor.

But I have to say I enjoyed having Book Expo America at McCormick Place. Compared to the Javits Center, it seemed less claustrophobic -- Less like you were always in a crush of bodies. There just seemed to be space for everything. The autographing lines had somewhere to spill over when the queue filled up, the meeting rooms were off to one side and out of the high traffic area, and rooms where events were being held were on separate floors, cloistered away from the throng of people often crowding the exhibit hall.

I'm proud to say I was more discerning with regard to books this year. I only picked up about 25-30 books at BEA and the other events I attended while in Chicago. Take a look below for some of the upcoming releases I'm most excited for and look for reviews in the next few months!.

Celebrating Audiobooks with June is Audiobook Month

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 05:00:00 +0000

Summer is right around the corner, and the book world's unofficial kick-off is here!

It's June is Audiobook Month (#JIAM), so prepare to trade chapters for tracks and let's get listening. Whether it's on a road trip or while you're cleaning house, audiobooks are the perfect way to keep reading even when you aren't in a position to pick up a book.

Even if you've never listened to an audiobook before, now is the perfect time to try one. Audiobooksync.com is offering two free titles for download every week through mid-August.

SYNC is a free summer audiobook program for teens 13+. Running May 5th - August 17th 2016, SYNC will give away two complete audiobook downloads a week (30 titles) - pairs of high interest titles, based on weekly themes. In 2014, 26 titles were given away over 13 weeks. In 2015, 28 titles were given away over 14 weeks.

New audiobooks are posted every Thursday, and there's a whole lineup of exciting titles coming over the next few months. Head over there today and start planning your summer listening!

Nil On Fire Blog Tour: Interview with Lynne Matson

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Tue, 31 May 2016 04:15:00 +0000

Nil On Fire releases today!

Two years ago, I requested a book with an interesting and intense premise that instantly hooked me. That book was Nil. And at the time, I had no idea it would evolve into the pulse-pounding series it has become, but I am so excited to be the Release Day blog tour stop to celebrate the final installment!

What's even more exciting is that Lynne Matson, author of the Nil series, is here to tell us all about where the Nil series started and how it grew from an idea into a full-blown trilogy.

A Note from Lynne to Readers: Finishing a trilogy is both bitter and sweet, and saying goodbye to my characters and the Nil world was HARD. But it’s not over…yet. :) The end begins on May 31, 2016 with the release of Nil On Fire. So, to all the #NILtribe: THANK YOU. For loving the Nil world, for adoring my characters, for staying until the end. Nil On Fire is for you!

On to the interview!

How did you conceive the idea for the Nil series? Do you remember where you were or what you were doing when the idea came to you?

I remember EXACTLY the precise moment the idea for NIL fell into my head...

Flash back to February 2010: My husband had won a trip to Hawaii (the Big Island) with his job, and it was our first vacation without our boys since the arrival of baby boy number four two years earlier. This meant that our car was crazy quiet—no one fighting, no one asking for a sippy cup. It meant I had time to just chill, look out the window, and let my mind wander.

Minutes after leaving the airport, we found ourselves driving through miles of ancient lava fields. Broken red rock stretched endlessly both sides, gorgeous and desolate. There were no roads, no buildings, no people—and in the quiet of our car, all I could hear was the eerie sound of wind blowing over the rocks. I remember thinking how much the landscape looked like an alien planet, and thinking how creepy would it be to wake up there, alone, without a clue to tell you where you were? And what if you were a teenager? And--because let’s be honest, isn’t this every teens’ worst nightmare? Or maybe just mine! lol—what if you woke up naked?

Nil was born in that moment. That barren-red-rock visual locked in my head, and that's what Charley sees when she first opens her eyes on the island of Nil…that first moment when she wakes up with no cell, no clothes, and no clue. It was the first scene I wrote minutes after checking into our hotel. From that point forward, the story exploded in my head with the island at the story’s core.

For me, islands offer the perfect mix of paradise and doom. The ocean provides a clear and ever-present barrier to escape, but at the same time, beaches embody natural beauty. The idea of being trapped in paradise gave me heaps of material to work with as I created the world of Nil . . . especially the idea of a dangerous paradise, one with cracks in the facade. What if the teens aren’t alone on the island—what if there are other creatures there too? Deadly ones? And what if some teens on Nil have more knowledge than others? What if the island has an entire history, a complicated backstory that creeps into the present? And of course, the year deadline was key. It’s how the teens choose to spend those precious, dwindling days that drives each book.

In the end, the Nil series is more than just a survival story; it’s about love and friendship and above all, hope. Because without hope, we have nothing. Many of my characters felt that way, too.

If you had to stop someone on the street and describe the Nil series to them in 25 words or less, how would you sum it up?

Teens trapped on a mysterious island have one year to escape or they die. Think Survivor meets LOST with dashes of The Twilight Zone and lots of feels.

(Okay, that was 28 but still. :D)

From book to book, there has been a sort of passing of the torch between characters as we begin each new era in the series. Why was it so important in writing this series to have a successor or heir apparent to lead into the next book?

For me, each book is told by the person who is best suited to tell the story and to move the entire Nil story forward. Each book had to not only share each individual character’s story and arc, but also had to tell a crucial part of Nil’s story—a story now told over three books.

In Nil, Charley and Thad told their versions of one girl’s time on the island: Charley’s. But her stay on Nil was one blip in time… one moment in the island’s long history. I knew there was a full backstory to the island itself, but the first book wasn’t the right time or place to tell it.

But Nil was the perfect place to start. In Nil, the teens are not only trapped by the island, they’re locked into the dual framework of survival and escape. Charley’s story introduces readers to both a newcomer and a veteran, allowing readers to feel the shock of arrival and holy-crap-where-am-I? moment, as well as the pain of constant waiting and fear of dwindling time that is felt by each Nil veteran. But there’s more to the island, and its story. I knew if I wanted to tell the readers about Nil’s past, I’d need another way to share that information—which led me to Skye, Maaka, and Paulo, and of course, Nil Unlocked. Plus Rives begged me to give him his own book.:) Readers meet Rives in NIL, and he becomes the link to the next book. In Nil Unlocked, Nil’s story continues with him, and through him. Rives is also in Nil On Fire, as are characters from both books one and two.

But the biggest character that provides continuity through all three books? The island itself. And in Nil On Fire, the island finally gets its own point of view!

The number of POVs increases as the series moves on, and even the island of Nil itself gains a perspective. Was the latter always the intention? What made you decide the island needed to speak for itself?

Even though the POV’s change from book to book, the island is always there, as both the island setting and an evolving character in its own right. Because Nil is truly the heart of the story, it was the natural evolution of the trilogy for Nil to get its own POV. When I first started writing the series, honestly, Nil was a stand-alone. I knew there was a huge backstory to the island, but I also knew (as I mentioned above) that the first book was not the place to tell it. And once I got the go ahead to write book two, I knew that there would have to be a book three and that Nil would have a voice in that final book. For readers to truly understand the island, I would have to let readers more deeply into Nil than ever before.

Unlike the first two books, Nil On Fire contains three points of view, rather than just two! And one of the three POV’s is the island itself. Creepy, but cool. Can you imagine being trapped on a sentient island with a form and substance and abilities beyond our human comprehension? Super fun to write, and I hope the #NILtribe enjoys reading Nil On Fire as much as I enjoyed writing it!:)

Mantras or personal encouragements are a big part of surviving Nil and even life after the island. They are also very telling about a character. For example, in Nil on Fire, Rives says his dad's advice will never leave him: "Look around. Pay attention. Notice what others ignore." What role do you feel these constant reminders have in the books? Do you have words you live by?

Every summer when our boys go off to camp, we always tell them: “Be kind. Be brave. Be strong. Be you.”

I love this advice, and try to live it myself. Kindness matters, as does bravery. You can’t be afraid to fail, to go after what you want in life, or to live life to its fullest. Mistakes matter as much as successes. And you need to be strong, to face the hurdles that life throws in your path, and to do the right thing, which is not always the popular thing. Above all, you need to be true to yourself, and figure out your own special gifts and qualities—the ones that make you you. When you embrace all the wonderful things that make you unique, that’s where the magic in life happens.:)

Lynne Matson grew up in Georgia in a house full of books and a backyard full of gnarly pines. Back then, Lynne would stay up late, reading Nancy Drew books under the covers (with a flashlight . . . a weak attempt at ninja stealth). Now she still stays up late reading books and writing them. When she doesn't have a book in her hand, you'll find her listening to music, messing around with paint, or hanging out with her husband and their four boys . . . or all of the above.

Find her online...

Blog / Goodreads

Facebook / Twitter

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble

/ IndieBound / Book Depository

Despite Rives and Skye's attempt to destroy Nil, the island remains. And back in this world, Nil won't let Skye go. Haunted by a darkness she can't ignore, Skye wrestles with Nil nightmares that worsen by the day and threaten to tear her apart. As Skye fights to keep her mind intact, she realizes that to finally break free of Nil, she must end Nil's vicious cycle once and for all--and she can't do it alone.

Who will return to Nil, and in the end, who will survive? In this thrilling final installment of the Nil series, the stakes have never been higher: everyone's fate hangs in the balance, including Nil's own--and Nil will fight to the death. When the full force of the island is unleashed, Skye faces an impossible choice, a cruel one she'd never imagined she'd have to make. Soon one Nil truth becomes painfully clear: only one side can win.

Losing isn't an option, but winning will cost Skye everything.

Tour Schedule

May 17 - Adventures of a Book Junkie

May 18 - Reading Teen

May 19 - Xpresso Reads

May 20 - That Artsy Reader Girl

May 21 - The Reading Nook Reviews

May 22 - SciFiChick.com

May 25 - The Eater of Books

May 27 - A Backwards Story

May 29 - Fierce Reads

May 30 - The Book Addicts Guide

May 31 - Wastepaper Prose

The Immortals by Jordanna Max Brodsky

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Wed, 11 May 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Release Date: February 16, 2016
Publisher: Orbit
Series: Olympus Bound #1
Age Group: Adult
Source: Publisher
Pages: 447
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble /
IndieBound / Book Depository
Description: Goodreads
MANHATTAN HAS MANY SECRETS.SOME ARE OLDER THAN THE CITY ITSELF.

Manhattan.The city sleeps. Selene DiSilva walks her dog along the banks of the Hudson. She is alone-just the way she likes it. She doesn't believe in friends, and she doesn't speak to her family. Most of them are simply too dangerous.

Murders.
In the predawn calm, Selene finds the body of a young woman washed ashore, gruesomely mutilated and wreathed in laurel. Her ancient rage returns. And so does the memory of a promise she made long ago. To protect the innocent-and to punish those who stand in her way.

Gods.
With the NYPD out of its depth, Selene vows to hunt the killer on her own. But when classics professor Theo Schultz decodes the ancient myth behind the crime, the solitary Huntress finds herself working with a man who's her opposite in every way. Together, they face a long-forgotten cult that lies behind a string of murders, and they'll need help from the one source Selene distrusts most of all: the city's other Immortals.

Selene lives in Manhattan and works as a private investigator protecting women, mostly from abusive boyfriends and spouses. She has been doing this in different iterations for generations because she is, or at least was, the Greek Goddess Artemis. Although the immortals are still around, their power has diminished over time as people lose the memory of and faith in their existence. Then something strange starts to happen.

Artemis feels her powers coming back. Somehow, someone has resurrected an ancient cult practice that’s restoring immortality and invincibility to the Gods, but is it worth the price? Artemis and her unlikely sidekick, a Classics Professor named Theo, are in a race against time to discover how a ritual that had been lost for thousands of years can be stopped before it claims more human lives. Blending mythology and adventure, this story leads the reader through the complicated world of how the deities of ancient Greece have adjusted to our modern times.

This fast paced narrative has an almost DaVinci Code feel with modern day murders rooted in mysterious ancient rituals and an attractive professor unexpectedly pulled into the twisting investigation that combines historical facts with the unraveling mystery. The female action hero main character looking out for the ladies is a nice twist on a traditionally male driven genre. While this style of thriller can be formulaic, it doesn’t make the journey any less fun for fans, and there’s some mythology thrown in too. However, the climax becomes so melodramatic that it lost much of the charm that had led up to the finale by making sweeping over the top statements about the virtues of humanity.

My mythology nerddom is what got me to pick the book up originally, but it wasn’t what kept me reading (especially because I didn’t feel like there was that much of it worked in). Readers certainly won’t require any preexisting knowledge of Ancient Greek Gods and the story mainly skims the surface of, what I would consider to be, the better known stories, often with interesting twists on the generally accepted myth. A lot of the heavy hitters make appearances, including Apollo, Zeus, Hermes, Persephone, Dionysus, and Hades, and it’s fun to speculate on how they might manifest in the modern world. There is a focus of the use on epithets (e.g. Artemis: The Huntress, Protector of the Innocent, She Who Leaves No Trace, etc.) which was interesting, but started to wear thin as the book progressed, and I just wanted the author to decide on what to call each character and stick with it. I wouldn’t call this a grown up version of the Percy Jackson books, but people who enjoy the interweaving of modernity and mythology can enjoy this take on the present day Olympians.

Overall, this is a fun read that will keep you turning pages and a creative take on the mythology of Ancient Greece. It will be a fun introduction for those who don’t know the old stories, and those who do can enjoy these new iterations. Although I indulged in some eye rolling when the book started preaching the need for, and beauty of, humanity at the end, it won’t stop me from reading future installments. I look forward to seeing where then next books take us.

Release Days Round-Up: May 8 - 14

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Mon, 09 May 2016 04:00:00 +0000

New Releases

New in Paperback

Ask Me How I Got Here by Christine Heppermann

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Fri, 06 May 2016 05:30:00 +0000

Release Date: May 3, 2016
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Publisher
Pages: 240
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble /
IndieBound / Book Depository
Description: Goodreads
Addie has always known what she was running toward. In cross-country, in life, in love. Until she and her boyfriend—her sensitive, good-guy boyfriend—are careless one night and she ends up pregnant. Addie makes the difficult choice to have an abortion. And after that—even though she knows it was the right decision for her—nothing is the same anymore. She doesn’t want anyone besides her parents and her boyfriend to know what happened; she doesn’t want to run cross-country; she can’t bring herself to be excited about anything. Until she reconnects with Juliana, a former teammate who’s going through her own dark places.

Once again, Christine Heppermann writes with an unflinching honesty and a deep sensitivity about the complexities of being a teenager, being a woman. Her free-verse poems are moving, provocative, and often full of wry humor and a sharp wit. Like Laurie Halse Anderson and Ellen Hopkins, Christine Heppermann is a voice to turn to for the truth of difficult subjects. Ask Me How I Got Here is a literary exploration of sexuality, religion, and self-discovery.

Told in beautiful yet sparing verse, Ask Me How I Got Here is the story of a teenage girl with a seemingly idyllic life and a bright future laid out in front of her, who's life is drastically changed with a single choice.

Addie -- with her caring, compassionate boyfriend, her understanding parents and a shot at a cross-country scholarship to college -- has her life suddenly thrown off kilter when she winds up pregnant. She makes the difficult decision to end the pregnancy in hopes of keeping her life on track, but too much changes in the aftermath and she loses her momentum.

This slim volume wasn't originally on my radar, but, when it came in the mail, something told me to read a few pages. Then I read a few more, and soon enough I was invested. Forty-five minutes later I turned the last page and found myself immensely satisfied with this story about losing your way and finding a way back.

Christine Heppermann's powerful poetry coupled with her irreverent humor makes for a poignant yet approachable novel about a challenging and often controversial topic. A quick read that rings true of real people coping with real emotional issues in the wake of a life-altering event, Ask Me How I Got Here proves the impact of a book has nothing to do with the number of words between its covers.

This Is Who I Am Now | The Square Root of Summer Blog Tour

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Wed, 04 May 2016 02:30:00 +0000

Happy release day to The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood! As part of the blog tour for this exciting new YA release, Macmillan asked me to answer a few questions about myself. Actually, I answered the same questions a few months back and again a few days ago.

It's all in an effort to see how much life can change in a short time. Some of my answers did, and some of them didn't. So on to the questions...

What Brings You The Most Joy In Life?

THEN: My family & friends

NOW: My family & friends

What Are You Reading?

THEN: The Smell of Other People's Houses

NOW: NIL on Fire

What Is Something You’re Really Looking Forward To?

THEN: My 2nd anniversary.

NOW: Buying a new house.

What Is One Thing That’s Worrying You?

THEN: Preparing my house to sell.

NOW: Balancing work, blogging and all my other pursuits
as the busy summer season kicks off.

What Is Something That You Always Have With You?

THEN: Music. I can't go a day without it.

NOW: Still music, but recently two phones and
a notebook since my job demands it.

What Is Something That You Wish You Could Change?

THEN: My organizational skills.
You know what they say - Messy desk, organized mind!

NOW: My bookshelf space because I need more of it.
(I can't get a new house fast enough!)

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookDepository

This is what it means to love someone. This is what it means to grieve someone. It's a little bit like a black hole. It's a little bit like infinity.

Gottie H. Oppenheimer is losing time. Literally. When the fabric of the universe around her seaside town begins to fray, she's hurtled through wormholes to her past:

To last summer, when her grandfather Grey died. To the afternoon she fell in love with Jason, who wouldn't even hold her hand at the funeral. To the day her best friend Thomas moved away and left her behind with a scar on her hand and a black hole in her memory.

Although Grey is still gone, Jason and Thomas are back, and Gottie's past, present, and future are about to collide—and someone's heart is about to be broken.

Harriet Reuter Hapgood is a freelance journalist, the author of The Square Root of Summer, and hater of writing in the third person.

Find her online: Website | Twitter

Release Days Round-Up: May 1-7

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Tue, 03 May 2016 16:00:00 +0000

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Reading Hacks: How to Integrate Nonfiction into Your TBR

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Yes, I made a vow to read more non-fiction this year. And I was serious about it. So, I thought I would talk a little bit about how I make that happen.

One of the things that can be really daunting about non-fiction is that there are lots of huge tomes out there. There’s also a lot of very dry non-fiction which can read more like a textbook than something informational and fun. Here’s my first piece of advice: if it doesn’t interest you, don’t read it! There’s no need to slough through something that puts you on edge or to sleep. There’s other non-fiction available that can get you excited. Read that.

For my taste, I really enjoy entertaining collections of biographies or interesting facts that are just a few pages each. I like being able to pick something up and put it down easily, reading bits at a time whenever I feel like it. The Best Non-Fiction and The Best Science Writing books are GREAT for this because they’re always interesting and the essays are informative while being an easily digestible few pages. They also don’t have to be read in one sitting, so I can mix them in between novels, read one to help me fall asleep, or just use it to take a break somewhere in my day. Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love is another all-time favorite for this. It’s a collection of short biographies that’s interesting and hilarious. It also makes a great Valentine’s Day gift!

“Ah women, they make the highs higher and the lows more frequent.” – Nietzsche

Badass is another great option, but instead of philosophers, it focuses on, well, “the great ass-kickers of world domination.” With a mix of historical figures you’ve heard of, along with many you haven’t, Ben Thompson crosses cultures and includes women (a big thank you for that) while talking about manifest destiny more than a lot of books about US westward expansion. I highly recommend it.

Short books (around 300 pages or less) are a great option too. They may not be the type of thing you can pick up and put down as easily, but if they’re interesting, you can generally speed through them. Jon Ronson and Bill Bryson both have books on a variety of subjects that fall into this category. Travel and food memoirs are particular favorites of mine in this range as well. I recently read Among the Cannibals by Paul Raffaele, which encompasses both of those things. Kidding! He’s a travel writer who explores cultures around the world that have historically partaken in cannibalism. No recipe suggestions. Don’t worry.

Sometimes it’s nice to take on large books with topics you’re REALLY interested in divided into smaller sections. This is a lot easier for me with non-fiction than fiction because I don’t lose track of what’s happening in the same way, unlike large works of fiction I try and read in smaller increments. Example: the War and Peace read along that was supposed to take a year which I DNF’d like a champ after a couple months. I’m currently enjoying Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters, which is an interesting look at the man behind Sherlock and Watson. The book is HUGE, but it’s divided by sections of his life, and I can handle about 50 pages at a time.

Audio books, audio books, audio books! How do I love thee? We don’t even have time to count the ways, but my goodness do I love nonfiction audio. David Sedaris and Jon Ronson are two of my favorite authors who read their own books and do a fantastic job, but there are so many wonderful things out there read by great readers too. DO NOT let anyone tell you that audio books don’t count as reading, because they definitely do and they are a wonderful way to incorporate things you have trouble getting through, or just helping your make time for books during your commute, or while cleaning, or while typing book reviews… Embrace it!

So, those are some of my hacks for incorporating more nonfiction into my reading this year. Watch for some more in depth reviews and soon to come, the classics…

Release Days Round-Up: April 24-30

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 18:30:00 +0000

New Releases

New in Paperback

Release Days Round-Up: April 17 - 23

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 04:00:00 +0000

New Releases

New in Paperback

Drop Everything and Read!

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Click the image above to learn more.

Happy Drop Everything and Read Day!

If there was every a day I wished were a holiday, it's this one! It's the truth. I even got married -- with a book-themed wedding, of course -- on Drop Everything and Read Day during National Library Week.

Sadly, the reality is that many of us can't take an entire day away from everything to devote to reading. But you're in luck. The brainchild of Beverly Cleary, this day of reading was long-celebrated on the author's birthday; however, it's now become a month-long celebration.

While I'll be working today and likely unable to fully commit to reading anything but paperwork, I have pulled together a stack of books I've been wanting to read and plan to dedicate as much time as possible to devouring them. Hopefully, you too can find some time today or this month to immerse yourself in a book.

Whether it's reading alone, curled up on the couch with a cup of coffee or tea or snuggling with your kids while you share a story, take a time out from the daily grind and escape into the pages. You work hard every day. You've earned it. Just drop everything and read.

So... What's on top of your TBR?

Release Days Round-Up: April 10-16

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 04:00:00 +0000

New Releases

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Reading Resolutions: Give a Popular Book a Chance

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 04:09:00 +0000

I have a bad habit, and it's time for me to confess. When it comes to popular books, I can be a bit judgy.

Oh, don't make that face. We've all done it whether we admit it or not. You might judge books by their cover, publisher, author or any other arbitrary criteria you can come up with. For me, it's very specific. I judge books by their fandom.

Hang on! Before you scrutinize that statement and start thinking I assess every book that reaches some level of popularity solely based on the group of people who like it and the hype they create, I'm going to stop you. It's not like that.

Explaining it is tough, but this phenomena seems to only occur with established contemporary authors. The authors everyone I knew in late high school and college absolutely adored and gushed about incessantly. Who you might ask? Well, you probably love them too, so try not to hate me. I'm talking about Sarah Dessen, Meg Cabot, Deb Caletti, Susane Colasanti and others authors in the same vein.

Yes... The conclusion you've just leapt to is completely accurate. I'll spell it out for you if you promise not to close the browser and write me off forever.

I have never read a book by any of those authors. Not a single one.

But that's the point of this post! The point is I'm changing my ways. I'm going to make a concerted effort this year to read a handful of books by those authors and judge them on their own merits.

I heard amazing things about these authors years ago and continue to hear them today. I even own books by all of these authors. However, every time I pick them up and read the jacket copy I can't help but think two things:

1)"People evangelize for these books like they are the second coming, and I hear it so much that encouraging me to read them feels like you're pushing me to buy a timeshare."

2) "This book description stirs me about as much as the Oxford Unabridged Dictionary, and I can't help but feel they will be the literary equivalent of Applebee's. Adequate, but wholly unsatisfying."

To be clear, none of this is a reflection on the authors. Having never read their work, I can't pass judgment on them or their writing or the readers behind their immense fandoms, but only on book marketing and the fan pitches I've personally been on the receiving end of in the past. Actually, I've met a few of these ladies, and they seem nothing short of amazing.

That being said the somewhat unfortunate truth is that their books just aren't my speed. I tend to be a darker reader, whether it's contemporary, paranormal or dystopian, and reading about situations I see or hear about in my daily life just isn't the escape that fiction has always promised me.

My feelings about the way I read very closely align with a Stephen King quote that I love.

"People want to know why I do this, why I write such gross stuff. I like to tell them I have the heart of a small boy... and I keep it in a jar on my desk."

Despite those darker reading inclinations, I plan to rotate some of the aforementioned authors into my TBR this year. I make no promises that I'll come out of this a changed reader, but hopefully I'll find a few I can relate to and maybe even like. If nothing else, I'll gain a new perspective on why these books are beloved by so many.

Wish me luck.

The Wizard of Dark Street by Shawn Thomas Odyssey

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Release Date: July 26, 2011
Publisher: Egmont USA
Age Group: Middle Grade
Source: Publisher
Pages: 348
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble /
IndieBound / Book Depository
Description: Goodreads
Oona Crate was born to be the Wizard’s apprentice, but she has another destiny in mind. Despite possessing the rare gift of natural magic, Oona wants to be a detective.

Eager for a case to prove herself, she wants to show her uncle—the Wizard of Dark Street—that logic is as powerful as magic. But when someone attacks the Wizard, Oona must delve even deeper into the world of magic to discover who wanted her uncle dead.

Printed in the classified section of the New York Times on November 4th, 1876 was the following ad:

WANTED: ONE WIZARD’S APPRENTICE

Must be punctual, literate, courageous, clever, imaginative, adventurous, mysterious, open-minded, open-hearted, intuitive, and above all else must be trusted with some of the most secret and powerful knowledge in this world or any other.

No experience necessary.

Please send resume to:

Pendulum House, Number 19

Dark Street, on the Drift

New York, New York (Little London Town)

Oona Crane is the current Wizard’s Apprentice, or was until she decided to give it all up and stop using her natural magical talents forever. Instead, this precocious 12-year-old has decided to change her fate and work as a private detective—something that Little London Town desperately needs, given the incompetence of the police. Now her uncle, the Wizard, has to find her replacement. However, mysteries lie around every corner as things start disappearing all over town, so when cobblestones, dresses, and finally the Wizard go missing, it’s up to Oona and her faithful friend Deacon, an encyclopedic talking raven, to find out what’s really happening around Dark Street.

I love a cast of quirky characters, and this book has them positively spilling out of the pages, from bumbling detectives, faerie butlers and an actor fallen from favor to tattooed lawyers, snooty dressmakers and a shadowy villain who has been disrupting the workings of the town behind the scenes for generations. Even the setting is an important character in the book. Little London Town is essentially unknown to the rest of New York because its Iron Gates only open for 1 minute a day and its Glass Gates are locked, protecting the rest of the world from the realm of faerie. This is a place where magic still lives. Graveyards are overtaken by the dead at night, a hill houses witches that no one ever sees and a prison tower is run by goblins. The crowning achievement is Pendulum House, the home of the Wizard. Each magical room has a theme, including the jungle room, home to an actual jungle; the captain’s cabin, which is shaped like a ship and responds to the motions of the sea independent of the rest of the house; and a pink room, which turns everything in it pink.

The setting and supporting characters are the perfect backdrop for the multiple mysteries that intersect throughout the story, but Oona carries it all with her spunk and curiosity. Smarts are a detective’s greatest advantage, and our heroine uses hers to forge through this adventure. Solving riddles, overcoming fears and past mistakes, and braving the unknown, her cleverness shines through the pages while the twists, turns and red herrings will keep the audience enjoying this delightful ride. The book contains enough bread crumbs to keep readers working to solve everything with the mischievous apprentice. A fun first installment in this middle grade mystery series.

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Release Date: April 19, 2016
Publisher: Random House
Age Group: Adult
Source: Publisher
Pages: 512
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble /
IndieBound / Book Depository
Description: Goodreads
This version of the Bennet family—and Mr. Darcy—is one that you have and haven’t met before: Liz is a magazine writer in her late thirties who, like her yoga instructor older sister, Jane, lives in New York City. When their father has a health scare, they return to their childhood home in Cincinnati to help—and discover that the sprawling Tudor they grew up in is crumbling and the family is in disarray.

Youngest sisters Kitty and Lydia are too busy with their CrossFit workouts and Paleo diets to get jobs. Mary, the middle sister, is earning her third online master’s degree and barely leaves her room, except for those mysterious Tuesday-night outings she won’t discuss. And Mrs. Bennet has one thing on her mind: how to marry off her daughters, especially as Jane’s fortieth birthday fast approaches.

Enter Chip Bingley, a handsome new-in-town doctor who recently appeared on the juggernaut reality TV dating show Eligible. At a Fourth of July barbecue, Chip takes an immediate interest in Jane, but Chip’s friend neurosurgeon Fitzwilliam Darcy reveals himself to Liz to be much less charming. . . .

And yet, first impressions can be deceiving.

I've been following The Austen Project, a series of modern retellings of Jane Austen books by contemporary authors, for a while now. From what I can tell, it has drawn some (somwhat expected) criticism for either not following our beloved plotlines close enough or following them too closely and not making sense in a modern world. Though this sounds contradictory, I have to say I understand this mentality. I've seen a reimagining of Austen's words go wonderfully well (The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Austenland) to middling at best (save for the casting, Emma Approved). This is all to say that pleasing the Austenite crowd isn't for the faint of heart.

Because of this, I was cautiously optimistic to see Curtis Sittenfeld had chosen as the Pride & Prejudice scribe, changing the title to Eligible. The premise sounded so fantastic: Mr. Bingley becomes Chip Bingley, recent contestant on The Bachelor-esque show Eligible, who has moved to Cincinnati to be the newest ER doctor alongside his old friend and neurosurgeon Fitzwilliam Darcy. The Bennet family remains intact yet aged up a bit, with the parents and younger sisters living in Cincinnati in a large-but-seeing-better-days Tudor home and Jane and Lizzy making their way in New York City. After Mr. Bennet has a health scare, the family comes together to find that things aren't always as they seem from a distance.

At first, I couldn't get enough of the changes-- Mary as a perpetual grad student, Kitty and Lydia being super into Crossfit (because OF COURSE they are), Jasper Wick as Lizzy's long-time colleague in the journalism world, who is so douchey it's almost painful. I also enjoyed the fact (sadly I cannot think of another way to say this so get ready) that this ain't your mama's Pride & Prejudice. Lizzy and Darcy have something going on here that I've certainly never seen in any iteration of this story before. Yet, the further I got in, the more I could hear those voices in my head: "This isn't close enough! Yet it also doesn’t change enough!"

In many ways, those voices couldn't be more wrong. Though I might not have always liked the new characterizations, once I took off my heart-eyes blinders, I saw what Sittenfeld was going for, and I liked it. I thought the Eligible reality show aspect worked perfectly (even though I've never been a fan of The Bachelor/ette) and I liked the new take on Catherine de Bourgh. Keeping away from spoilers, I will say that I originally thought the Lydia scandal storyline was going to go a certain way which left a very bad taste in my mouth, and I was especially glad to discover that I was wrong. In fact, Lydia post-scandal was one of my favorite characters.

The problem lies in that I wanted to like this more than I actually did. It all clicked once I had a few days' distance between us, but in the moment, I unfortunately felt a little let down. I think I set my expectations far too high, but even with that, it fell flat for me. It didn't carry the atmosphere of the original with it, which is a shame, because that's the mark of a good retelling in my opinion. The writing felt too dry in spots, with Mr. Bennet and Lizzy especially coming across as rude and dismissive rather than witty, and Mrs. Bennet as downright painful instead of a comical bag of poor nerves. When the inevitable happens at the end, I didn't feel it was earned at all.

I would still say this is worth the read, but keep your expectations in check and understand that Eligible may not hit every mark. It will however keep you entertained.

The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 06:00:00 +0000

Release Date: February 16, 2016
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Series: Ravenspire #1
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Publisher
Pages: 387
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble /
IndieBound / Book Depository
Description: Goodreads
Lorelai Diederich, crown princess and fugitive at large, has one mission: kill the wicked queen who took both the Ravenspire throne and the life of her father. To do that, Lorelai needs to use the one weapon she and Queen Irina have in common—magic. She’ll have to be stronger, faster, and more powerful than Irina, the most dangerous sorceress Ravenspire has ever seen.

In the neighboring kingdom of Eldr, when Prince Kol’s father and older brother are killed by an invading army of magic-wielding ogres, the second-born prince is suddenly given the responsibility of saving his kingdom. To do that, Kol needs magic—and the only way to get it is to make a deal with the queen of Ravenspire, promise to become her personal huntsman…and bring her Lorelai’s heart.

But Lorelai is nothing like Kol expected—beautiful, fierce, and unstoppable—and despite dark magic, Lorelai is drawn in by the passionate and troubled king. Fighting to stay one step ahead of the dragon huntsman—who she likes far more than she should—Lorelai does everything in her power to ruin the wicked queen. But Irina isn’t going down without a fight, and her final move may cost the princess the one thing she still has left to lose.

Right from the beginning, I knew I’d have fun with The Shadow Queen. A Snow White & The Huntsman retelling, it wound an intricate, compelling story around the classic fairytale arc. At just under 400 pages it’s a fairly long YA novel, but as I made it farther into the story— I realized much of the best detail would’ve been lost without the length.

Although it was predictable at times, this book held my interest continually. In the author’s defense, it’s nearly impossible to retell a fairytale without some level of predictability.Redwine uses her characters Lorelai, Kol, and Irina to draw you in and then gets in some sucker punching plot twists to make it a wonderful journey.

I did hit a few pages where I was forced to skim due to repetition. Specifically a main character, while battling a major external conflict, begins to repeat certain phrases verbatim. The overuse of phrases like, “Fire, Blood, & Death” extinguished my emotional connection to the character and made the scenario less believable overall.

The characters struggle was very back and forth, lagging and becoming too predictable. That being said, every match has its fair share of bruises. It doesn’t take too much away from the overarching story.

I would read this book again and would recommend it to most. If any of the following pique your interest — dragons, princesses, magic, creatures, adventure, family, revenge (plus a little bit of love) — you’d probably enjoy The Shadow Queen.

Ask the Dark by Henry Turner

noreply@blogger.com (S.F. Robertson) — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 05:00:00 +0000

Release Date: April 7, 2015
Publisher: Clarion Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Borrowed
Pages: 256
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
Loads of people have asked me 'bout what happened. Tell the truth, I'm tired of getting asked. I want to answer everybody all at once and get it all the hell over with…

Billy Zeets has a story to tell.

About being a vandal and petty thief.

About missing boys and an elusive killer.

And about what happens if a boy who breaks all the rules is the only person who can piece together the truth.

Gripping and powerful, this masterful debut novel comes to vivid life through the unique voice of a hero as unlikely as he is unforgettable.

Billy’s life is in a hard place. His mother has died, his dad can’t work, his sister is pregnant, and they’re about to lose their home to the bank. He also used to be a troublemaker, which makes it hard to shake people’s assumptions about the kind of person into which he’s turning. Try as he might, there’s not a lot he can do to keep his house from foreclosure doing odd jobs around town. When boys start disappearing Billy decides that he can use his restless nights to help find them, even if the police won’t listen to him, and just maybe he can use the reward money to change the fate of his family.

The book opens with Billy in the hospital, overwhelmed by the acclaim he’s received for his heroics in saving three missing boys despite his insistence that there’s nothing about it that makes him particularly special. Anyone could have done it. And to prove his statement, he’s going to recount the tale of how it all happened, warts and all. By warts I mean some swearing.

This book is not a mystery or a horror story, which is what I was expecting at the outset. The style of storytelling by the main character, who is dictating his tale to a tape recorder, just doesn’t allow the plot to unfold that way. It’s told in a very straight forward manner that didn’t sustain the buildup of tension over the course of the book. There are several suspenseful scenes in the book and an action packed climax, but Billy himself is a very reserved narrator, refusing to describe the details of bodies that are found or what exactly is done to the boys who were missing. In fact, he is decidedly vague on many of details of his life and the town, assuming that his audience is already familiar with the world in which he lives.

The book never clearly establishes where the story takes place and the first person narrative is written in a dialect that I couldn’t seem to place. As a result, the poor grammar and sometimes strange spelling took me out of the story rather than fleshing out the setting. In all fairness, this is something that I have an issue with in several stories that use stylized first person narrative, and could easily be more a short coming of me as a reader than the book or author; however, I do think that having a clearer sense of the region would have helped me overcome my issues when being distracted by the style.

As a whole, I think this book is a strong choice for reluctant readers, particularly boys. It’s easy to follow and compelling enough to keep the audience engaged. The universality of an underdog determined to overcome the odds and defy expectations speaks to everyone on some level, especially during our teenage years.