I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked It

I Kissed a Zombie, and I Liked It Adam Selzer

Zombies of Des Moines!

Alley is known as the Ice Queen of the viscous circle-- the cynical sarcastic kids who write the school paper and will actually leave their Des Moines suburb once they're done with high school.

It all changes when she goes to review a band for the paper. The band itself is awful, but they guy they get to sing a few songs? Alley's immediately smitten and her Ice Queen heart melts all over her laptop.

What she doesn't realize is that Doug is one of the zombies that Megamart created a few years ago to cut labor costs. Once the world discovered the zombies, the vampires also "came out of the coffin" and it's now a post-human world. Only Alley's guidance counselor (vampire) doesn't like the living dating the dead and demands Alley convert on her birthday or dump Doug. Doug can't leave Des Moines-- can Alley leave him? Or should she stay? And what's with all these new zombies roaming around demanding brains?

A few minor points made me really like this--

1. It takes place in Des Moines. While all Alley wants is to leave it, the Des Moines she lives in is not a stupid caractature of "small midwestern hicksville." Des Moines has surburbs, and is very much... Des Moines. Selzer grew up there and it shows.

2. Alley (and her best friend Sadie) are Jewish, but it's not a major part of the book (except that matzoh balls are things zombies can eat. Also, Des Moines has more zombies than Jews, which is just funny.)

Selzer captures well the heady feeling of first love and the willingness the change everything for a relationship before you start to actually think things through. While Alley was this really strong character who was willing to change EVERYTHING for a guy, the way Selzer wrote it made it totally believable and not weak and insipid. I think it's because she thought through her decisions and her parents and friends kept trying to drum some sense into her.

Either way, a light fun book about dating the undead.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Fallen Angels

Fallen Angels Walter Dean Myers

Richie Perry can't afford college. He's stuck in Harlem with few prospects, so he enlists and goes off the Vietnam.

There are the basics of a war story-- fear, fighting, death, trying to make sense of it all, trying to stay alive.

But there's more to this one-- Perry and most of his unit enlisted for their own reasons, which goes against the standard Vietnam story we tell of draftees. Perry and many in his unit are black. While race isn't a major factor of Myers's story, it's there and sometimes it's an issue.

Myers touches on several issues, never letting them pull focus, but also not merely brushing them off.

Overall, while it's a different perspective on a war story, it holds much in common with other war stories, because the weapons and geography and reasons may change, but there is great universality in battle, in death.

We watch Perry change over the course of his tour of duty. What I really wanted to know is what happens next. Not just to Perry, but to Pee-Wee and Johnson and the others. What world did they go back to and how did they readjust? Did serving in the army open doors to them that weren't open before?

A moving story that stays with the reader.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Bloggiesta Finish Line

It's time to call it a night.

Dan has been incredibly patient with me this weekend, especially given that we has a blog widower last weekend as well. As soon as these cookies come out of the oven, we're off to watch some Lost (we're still on Season 1.)

Here's how I did:

1. Read 1500 blog posts. (I'm currently 1300 behind, but surely 200 more will appear in my reader by the end of this weekend. Heck, probably by the end of today.) I'm still 1000+ behind, but I did read 1001 posts. I was obviously hindered by the large amount of posting that happened this weekend!
2. Write 65 book reviews. I wrote 4
3. Pre-schedule 2 weeks worth of reviews Uh... nope. Just tomorrow's
4. Catch up on my record-keeping YES!
5. Organize my google reader YES!
6. Add reviews to LibraryThing nope
7. Challenge posts nope
8. Tell you about my SLJ reviews couldn't do, because their website's being weird.
10. Write 10 non-review blog posts I wrote 1
11. Tag old posts, add links and pictures nope
12. Clean up the blogroll nope

Not a total bust. I knew not everything would get done, as my goals were EVERYTHING that needed to get done for the website. I would have really liked to get more of those book reviews written, but I've been having reviewing writer's block lately, and this weekend wasn't the cure. *sigh*

Sunday Salon-- TBR

Jen Robinson used to do a series of "reviews that made me want to read the book."

I have a slew of starred posts in my Google Reader of reviews that made ME want to read the book. So, I thought I'd steal Jen's idea and share some of the reviews that make my TBR pile so insane. This is probably become an occasional series:

Grinnell College Libraries Favorite Books and Book Review's review of The Long Way Home: An American Journey from Ellis Island to the Great War by David Laskin

It is interesting to read this book about 12 men who immigrated during the great 19th century wave of immigration in light of current debates on immigration and especially recent legislation in Arizona. Laskin's book is about the interesting path these men took to the United States, looking for opportunity, perhaps even seeking to avoid mandatory service in their native countries' armed forces, only to be drafted into the U.S. forces.

Abby (the) Librarian's review of Matched by Ally Condie.

Cruely, she taunts us with a book that doesn't come out until NOVEMBER.

I think Ms. Condie has created an intriguing world and she builds the tension up nicely to keep the reader interested. I started this book before I went to bed last night and ended up staying awake for an extra hour because I wanted to see what happened next. There are some nice plot turns, some I suspected and some that surprised me. This will definitely please fans of dystopian lit and it has a nice element of romance, so I'd recommend it to fans of paranormal romance, too.

Chasing Ray's review of The Last Samurai by Helen Dewitt

Colleen hadn't even finished it yet, but...

First, I need someone to explain why you all haven't heard of this book. The easy answer is that it is too offbeat, too unusual, basically just too damn different. And yet in a world that supports Scarlett Thomas and Samantha Hunt I do not understand why Helen Dewitt is not equally embraced by a cult-like following. The Last Samurai is not a page-turning thriller but it is so bloody smart and witty that I can not understand for the life of me why it isn't the book that all the 21st century witty smart readers who like learning and think being curious is truly a cool thing bought the heck out of and made it a continuous, on a scale of David Foster Wallace type massive best seller.


Color Online's review of Moonshine: A Novel by Alaya Johnson

The notion of Moonshine being merely another vampire or paranormal fiction novel is taking it a bit too lightly. Though a quirky and supernatural tale, it's also a guise for a more grounded critique on race. Zephyr struggles daily to get humans to see that the "Others", who openly live, work, and play in mainstream society, are still deserving of humanity even if not human.

Editorial Anonymous had an interview with Adam Rex rather than a review of his upcoming Fat Vampire: A Never Coming of Age Story

I have to say the impetus for this book actually came when I misread a banner ad. I was in the middle of my morning web-crawl when I saw an ad for some manga or webcomic or something called My Dork Embrace. And I thought, That's great. I bet it's a story about the kind of awkward guy who's never supposed to become a vampire. And a minute later my brain wouldn't let go of it because the art and tenor of the ad didn't really jive with the assumption I'd made, so I scrolled back to have another look at it. And I discovered it's really just My Dark Embrace. I'd misread it. But then I got excited because that meant I could write My Dork Embrace myself, and it would be a good framework to work out some thoughts I'd been having about high school.

Another one from Chasing Ray. This time it's Touch by Adania Shibli

In many ways it is exactly like a thousand other YA stories and yet the telling is so different that it reads like nothing else. It's poetry in prose; an exotic fragmented tale of often mundane circumstances.

Reading Extensively's review of My Invisible Boyfriend by Susie Day

Heidi is a quirky character with a great sense of humor. She loves to watch DVD episodes of her favorite spy show and has imaginary conversations with the main character, Mycroft Christie...The title suggests that the book is a romance but really the focus is on friendship which I found refreshing. Heidi and her friends are one of a kind.

Emily Read's review of Only One Year by Andrea Cheng

Emily reviews in haiku and I don't want to copy her ENTIRE post here, because that hardly seems sporting, but here's part of the description of the book:

Just before Sharon's mother begins a new job, the fourth-grader's parents send her two-year-old brother, Di Di, to live in Shanghai for a year with their grandmother, Nai Nai. When Sharon questions why a babysitter can't care for him instead, Mama explains that for a sitter, 'Di Di is a job. But for Nai Nai, he is a grandson.'

Maggie Reads has an excerpt from I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali and Delphine Minoui

I walk through an open door and am faced with a group of wailing women and men wearing black robes. This is the place I want to be. It is up to me and only me to find one of those black robed men alone and get what I seek...

The room is empty now and I sit afraid I will be missed as it becomes dark. The lady at the desk goes into the office and speaks to the judge. Suddenly, he is standing in front of me. “What do you want little girl?” I bravely state, “I want a divorce.”

Nymeth from Things Mean a Lot's review of Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear

Maisie Dobbs isn’t only a mystery: it’s also a story about an Edwardian young woman growing up, moving from poverty to a world of comfort and education, and having her life irrevocably changed by the war...

There was quite a bit that I liked about Maisie Dobbs: the glimpses into the pre-World War I Edwardian world and into post-war society; the descriptions of the war period and of civilian life during it; the emphasis on how the war was experienced by people of different genders and different social backgrounds; the commentary on class; and most of all the sensitive analysis of the long-term consequences of an experience as devastating as WWI, both at an individual and at a social level.



Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Bloggiesta Check In

Well, I had to go to work today, so that cut out some of my Bloggiesta time. I also realized one of my goals was impossible for this weekend (and not just for sheer numbers. I know most of mine are practically not going to happen, but this one just CAN'T happen) and thought of some more...

Basically, this blog is supposed to be a record of *Everything* I read, so I link to reviews published elsewhere. I have many reviews published in School Library Journal that I haven't linked to yet that I want to, but due to their moving to new systems, their reviews aren't online at the moment, so I can't exactly link to them, can I? (or find out if certain ones ran this June. The work copy hasn't gotten to my desk yet.) So, that goal gets delayed for now.

But, I remembered that my blog roll needs updating and that I my early posts aren't tagged (Because Blogger didn't have tagging functions back then. In fact, I'm not sure tagging exsisted 5 years ago. The internet moves so fast!) So, there are two more goals.

So far, I've been going for 9 hours.

1. Read 1500 blog posts. (I'm currently 1300 behind, but surely 200 more will appear in my reader by the end of this weekend. Heck, probably by the end of today.) I've read 768, which brings my unread posts to under 1000! Huzzah!)
2. Write 65 book reviews. I've done 2
3. Pre-schedule 2 weeks worth of reviews
4. Catch up on my record-keeping
5. Organize my google reader
6. Add reviews to LibraryThing
7. Challenge posts
8. Tell you about my SLJ reviews
10. Write 10 non-review blog posts
11. Tag old posts, add links and pictures
12. Clean up the blogroll

Bloggiesta check in

Hours spent Bloggiesta-ing: 6

Things accomplished:

1. Google reader organized
2. 350 posts read (out of 1500)
3. 2 reviews written (out of 65)

Bloggiesta check in

Carrie wins "most helpful hint of the day" award for pointing out that if I look in Google trends, it will tell me how many blog posts I've read in a given day! Huzzah!

Anyway, I've now been Bloggiesta-ing for 2 hours. So far I have.

1. Organized my google reader
2. Read 178 blog posts.

In my non-Bloggiesta-ing time, I've been to the bank, the dry-cleaners and salon. My eyebrows no longer look like caterpillars trying to eat my face and my hair is shorter and physically lighter (in color, it's actually much darker.) Seriously, I only cut about 4 inches off (plus some thinning to deal with the weight) but I think I might have lost 5 pounds just by cutting my hair. Easiest and prettiest diet ever!

Bloggiest check in PS

Sure, I post the post and then forget a few things I wanted to say:

I'm not reading every blog post. Some get skimmed, some are showing up in my feed multiple times (especially for the blogs that are part of the bloggiesta feed that I already follow, some of the blogs I follow have weird feed issues where some posts will post multiple times.)

ALSO! I just wanted to say that in one of the posts I read today, I discovered that there is a naked Korean spa in the area! I've wanted to try one since reading about it in North of Beautiful.

Bloggiesta check in

Ok, this is just frustrating!

It's hard to accurately track how many blog-posts you've read when more posts keep getting added to your reader. In reality, my "read 1500 blog posts" means "get my google reader back down to 0."

So, I spent an hour reading posts. Yes, it didn't help that I added the bloggiesta feed to my reader. But... all the new posts and the old posts? After an hour, doing the math, it looks like I only read 3. SERIOUSLY. Oiy vey. Ah well. I know that I made a dent and will keep chipping away, slowly but surely.

I did, however, get my google reader organized. I had a lot of new blogs that weren't in folders, so now they're all filed away.

If you're interested, my folders are

Book stuff (my must read round of book blogs)
Book stuff 2 (book blogs I like but aren't "must reads")
China (blogs that cover China or Chinese language)
Friends (blogs written by my friends or people I at least know)
Local (This is a new folder I just created! It's for all my local news/happenings blogs)
Fun (This is for everything that doesn't fit into one of the above catagories.)

So, 1 hour in, I've read 3 blog posts (?!?!?!?!?!?!?) and organized my google reader.

Now, I'm off to run some errands and do something other things that have to get done. I wish I could easily read my google reader on my phone. Maybe I'll try to figure that out... hmmmm...

Bloggiesta!

Maw Books's Bloggiesta has begun!

Here's my list of impossible-to-finish tasks (I aim big! Like the cheesy poster on the wall in the home-ec room in 8th grade, "Reach for the moon, because even if you fail, you'll still land among the stars")

1. Read 1500 blog posts. (I'm currently 1300 behind, but surely 200 more will appear in my reader by the end of this weekend. Heck, probably by the end of today.)
2. Write 65 book reviews.
3. Pre-schedule 2 weeks worth of reviews
4. Catch up on my record-keeping
5. Organize my google reader
6. Add reviews to LibraryThing
7. Challenge posts
8. Tell you about my SLJ reviews
10. Write 10 non-review blog posts

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy John Le Carre

There's been a shake-up at the Circus (which is what British intelligence calls itself.) Control is out (and dead). Percy's in charge and swept out a lot of Control's men, including George Smiley.

Smiley's wife has left him for good and he's wondering what to do with his life when he gets sucked back in. There's a mole at the Circus, and they want Smiley to find him, but no one at Circus can know what he's up to.

Smiley doesn't look like much of spy, but he's one of the best, and he's about to blow the Circus wide open.

You know what I loved most about this? That it wasn't all international danger and action. While it did look back at past operations by different characters, all the present action mostly consisted of Smiley sitting in a hotel room, reading stolen files, trying to piece together a story.

And you may not think that makes a very thrilling novel, but it does. The reader gets bits of files, bits of Smiley's memories as they're triggered, and tries to put it together, to get the story of Control's downfall and Percy's ascent, and to figure out who's been passing information to the Soviets...

The tension builds slowly, and different mysteries pile on top of each other, we try to tease out the answers, to see if they're related or not. There's a reason this is considered a masterpiece of the genre!

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Beloved Lord

Beloved Lord Mallory Burgess

This is the third book in a series that I love. (Beloved Knight, Beloved Honor, Beloved Lord, and Beloved Heart.) It doesn't really have to be read in order. I reread this one recently because I was thinking about it and got confused on a plot point. I quickly found my answer, but got sucked back into the story and just reread the whole thing.

In 1340, most of Anne's family is in exile, but she remains in Scotland. Her brother is held in the London Tower for killing the man that attacked her. She remains in a small croft on her family's lands, now held by an English lord, trying to find a way to rescue him.

Bayard Berkeley is a lawyer, trying to make the most of the Scottish land that the king gave him. He thought that removing his wife from London society would help their problems, but as soon as she gives birth, she leaves. Not one to let a baby starve to death, his housekeeper finds Anne and brings her home to be a wet-nurse.

Anne's once again living in her family's house, hiding her identity from her boss. But she can't help be attracted to him.

I love, love, love this series. The history, the court intrigue-- full of crosses and double-crosses. You're never entirely sure who is one what side. Burgess can spin a tale that keeps you on your toes, that's for sure.

As an FYI, this is a romance novel and contains several passages of graphic steaminess, as one could probably tell from the cover.

Book Provided by... my wallet, a very long time ago

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Insatiable

Insatiable Meg Cabot

Here's all you really need to know about this book-- it has nuns kicking more vampire ass than Buffy. Seriously. NUNS KICKING VAMPIRE ASS. What more do you need in a book?*

Meena can see when people are going to die. It's a gift/curse she's dealt with for awhile. She's also having a horrible week-- she just got passed over for the head writer job at the soap opera she writes dialogue for. If that weren't bad enough, Shoshona, her work nemesis got it (and somehow managed to purchase the $5,000 Mark Jacobs tote Meena's been lusting after for a very long time.) Even worse? Shoshona is demanding that they work in a vampire storyline, just like their rival show. Meena is SO SICK of this vampire craze. When did we decide that vampires weren't misogynistic monsters and instead objects we should give ourselves to?

Lucien Antonescu is the Prince of Darkness and head of all vampires. He's also dead sexy and on his way to New York, because some vampires have gotten out of control and are killing people again, and dumping their bodies in Manhattan's parks.

Alaric Wulf is a member of the Palatine Guard, the Pope's demon-killing force. After what a den of vampires did to his demon-slayer partner in Berlin, he's hell-bent** on revenge.

When Meena falls for Lucien and then Alaric tells her that vampires are real?

Yeah, she's about to be caught in the middle of a war featuring fighting vampire factions and the forces sworn to destroy all of them.

SERIOUSLY. Nuns go from baking yummy cookies one minute to water balloons filled with holy water and staking vamps the next. What more do you need?!

Definitely for adults (When Lucien bites Meena, it's not on the neck.) But I do love Meg Cabot. Her vampires, while some are definitely sexy and bad boys you could see someone falling for, are not nice guys. Even the good guy is kinda creepy (and at the end, really creepy. I started singing Police in my head.) Meena's not passive and tries not to fall for the vampire thing everyone else seems to be falling for these days. In the end, a very enjoyable vampire book that takes us back to what vampires used to be--villains that were hard to resist, which made them that much more dangerous.

Did I mention the vampire slaying nuns?

*We need more nuns in literature and books that do more than whack your knuckles with a ruler.

**pun totally intended.

Book Provided by... the author, for review consideration

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Hour 48

Hours Spent Reading: 33
Books Read: 10.5
Pages Read: 2860
Money Raised: $725.54
What I'm listening to: Muddy Bubbles Hell

Please remember that I'm reading to raise money for Room to Read, which builds libraries, stocks them with books, and trains people to become their librarians.

Well, it's been 48 hours since I started this thing. I'm going to take a shower and go to bed. My final stats are up at top. I got through half of I Kissed a Zombie, and I Liked It in this last hour-- I got a second wind so I was up to reading at normal speed again and it's a pretty quick read so far.

But, yeah... bed. I'm exhausted. I've only gotten 6 hours of sleep in the past 48 hours, and trust me, starting this thing at 7:30 on Friday? That was unbearably early for a day I didn't have to go to work.

Good luck to those who are still reading!

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Hour 47

Hours Spent Reading: 32
Books Read: 10
Pages Read: 2756
Money Raised: $ 723.54
What I'm listening to: Maria

Please remember that I'm reading to raise money for Room to Read, which builds libraries, stocks them with books, and trains people to become their librarians.

The Last Apprentice: A Coven of Witches Joseph Delaney

Much like The Spook's Tale: And Other Horrors, this is a book of background material, to hold us over until the next book in the series, Rise of the Huntress comes out in September.

In this volume, we have the Spook's story of how he met and fell in love with Meg Skelton, and how it went wrong. It sheds further light on why he distrusts witches, especially relationships with witches. We have Alice's story of her first days with Bony Lizzie, we have remembrances of one of the dead witches buried in Witch Dell, and we have a story told by Tom of when he and Bill Arkwright found a Celtic Witch Assassin (rather different than the English witches.) AND! We get the first two chapters of Rise of the Huntress-- upon their return from Greece, Tom, Alice, and the Spook discover that the War has finally come to the County. The Spook's house, and more importantly, his library, have been burned and destroyed. Bony Lizzie has escaped and the Fiend is still loose... CAN NOT WAIT!

If you're a fan of the series, this is a fun book to hold you over until we get to find out what happens next. I like that it's actual stories with characters we know well and characters that are only on our periphery instead of something like an encyclopedia of facts...

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Hour 45

Hours Spent Reading: 30
Books Read: 9
Pages Read: 2532
Money Raised: $719.54
What I'm listening to: 2 Become 1

Please remember that I'm reading to raise money for Room to Read, which builds libraries, stocks them with books, and trains people to become their librarians.

Intrigue Grace Cavendish

Ok. We've reached the point of the night where I have to read the same page multiple times.

When the Queen finds out about a new play where the audience has to solve a murder mystery, she can't wait for the troupe to be summoned to court and instead has everyone go to the Inn to see it right away. But, when the play's murder victim is actually murdered, things change.

It seems pretty straight-forward, so the Queen doesn't think there's any further investigation needed, but something doesn't seem right to Grace, so she's on the case!

I especially loved the description of what London Bridge looked like.

I do love love love this series so much. I'm sad they didn't gain enough popularity in the States to keep publishing them here.

Book Provided by... my wallet

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Hour 42

Hours Spent Reading: 27
Books Read: 8
Pages Read: 2330
Money Raised: $715.54
What I'm listening to: Life Begins At The Hop

Please remember that I'm reading to raise money for Room to Read, which builds libraries, stocks them with books, and trains people to become their librarians.

Alibi Junior High Greg Logsted

Ok, so here's a problem with working at a library and read-a-thons. I'm always thinking "Great! This can be when I read all the books that are due back and I haven't gotten to yet, plus all those books that I bought and haven't read yet because my book buying eyes are bigger than my reading eyes..." But then I start checking out all these extra books for the read-a-thon. Because I didn't have enough already?

Then, when you spend a day at the library in the middle of a read-a-thon?

I think it shows admirable restraint that I only walked away with 1 extra book today.

Somehow, I had never heard of this one before, when it caught my eye on the book cart this afternoon.

Cody has grown up with his dad, helping him with CIA stuff, his entire life in deep undercover. He changes identities every week. He speaks 5 languages and knows many, may ways to kill you. After a cafe bombing in Santiago, Cody's facing his biggest challenge-- junior high.

It sounds like it should be a comedic romp, but it's not. Cody has some serious PTSD issues from the bombing. He's completely unprepared for junior high-- how to dress and talk like a normal kid, to not be smarter than your teachers, all the unwritten codes he's never had to deal with before-- it's not easy to adjust. Plus, his dad is still out there, somewhere, fighting the bad guys.

To make matters worse, it looks like the guys who were after his dad in Santiago are now after Cody. Luckily, his neighbor is an Army Ranger who's just returned from Iraq missing an arm. The guys bond (without talking about it) over their mental recovery and physical training.

Not to say that there aren't funny bits. It is darkly comedic. And good. I'm surprised it didn't get more buzz last summer when it came out. It should have.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Hour 40.5

Hours Spent Reading: 25.5
Books Read: 7
Pages Read: 2086
Money Raised: $707
What I'm listening to: Someone Somewhere (In Summertime)

Please remember that I'm reading to raise money for Room to Read, which builds libraries, stocks them with books, and trains people to become their librarians.

The Clue in the Diary Carolyn Keene

Oh Nancy, you're so funny. There are two mysteries-- a poor (but clean!) mother and daughter that Nancy and her friends meet at a carnival. The father is off looking for work and supposed to send money, but they haven't heard from him.

On the way home, they see a house burn down. The house belongs to a very rich, but not well-liked character. OF COURSE THE MYSTERIES ARE RELATED!

But! This is the book where Nancy meets Ned! And how! He's moving her car away from the spreading house fire and she thinks he's trying to steal it.

I listened to the first part of this and that was awesome, because all the over-drama was underscored with crazy sound effects and lots of dramatic music. I think I'm going to have to listen to more Nancy Drews for the Nancy Drew challenge. Also, it was narrated by Laura Linney and how can you NOT love Laura Linney?!

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Hour 39

Hours Spent Reading: 24
Books Read: 6
Pages Read: 1970
Money Raised: $684
What I'm listening to: the dishwasher. Exciting stuff, I know.

Please remember that I'm reading to raise money for Room to Read, which builds libraries, stocks them with books, and trains people to become their librarians.

The Red Pyramid Rick Riordan

Ok there are A LOT of similarities between this and the Percy Jackson. Couple of kids discover that they're part of an ancient belief system that's still alive and kicking in the modern world and have just a few days to get across the country and save the world, all the while battling mythical forces of badness.

Only instead of Greek gods, it's Egyptian ones.

Carter and Sadie are brother and sister, even though they didn't grow up together. They are descended from Pharoahs and they should be a part of the organization of Egyptian court magicians that's still alive and kicking... but the organization wants them dead, because they also have the spirits of Horus and Isis hanging out in their bodies with them.

But that's all secondary, because Set has kidnapped their father and is about to destroy the world, so he's their bigger worry.

Like I said, there are a lot of similarities with Percy, but I think I like this one better. I like that Carter and Sadie take turns narrating the story, but they're also bantering back and forth in their narration, like brother and sister. It's hilarious and works really well. I also really like how Riordan writes Bast.

There was some controversy about race when The Last Olympian came out. It's worth noting that Carter and Sadie are bi-racial. Carter is darker skinned, while Sadie is lighter skinned. And race is discussed-- Sadie resents that strangers don't think she's related to her dad and brother. Carter dresses like a dork (according to Sadie) because his dad has made sure that he always looks impeccable because people will judge him on appearance. Cops like to follow him around. Riordan is white. I'm white. I love that the blogosphere has been tackling issues of race in books and I would love to hear other opinions on this. I feel like I should say more, but I'm in the middle of a readathon and don't really have time to mull this issues and have only mulled them to this point because I was thinking about them while at work. But, I wanted to mention it so others could talk about it.

Overall though, I liked this better than Percy Jackson and am excited to read the rest of the series.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Hour 34.5

Just an update to say I'm back from work and reading again. I managed to get another 3 hours in since my last update-- I woke up early and read before work, then listened to part of an audio book on the way to work, read at lunch and on break, and then listened to part of an audio book on the way home.

Now, I'm part way through The Red Pyramid and 1/3 listened through a Nancy Drew. I'm going to finish reading the Nancy Drew (but only counting the pages actually read) and then finish up the The Red Pyramid.

Except maybe the other way around, because The Red Pyramid is long, so I think I'll read that while I can concentrate on a 500 page book. ;)

Hour 16.5

Hours Spent Reading: 16.5
Books Read: 5
Pages Read: 1454
Money Raised: $639
What I'm listening to: Size 12 Is Not Fat

Please remember that I'm reading to raise money for Room to Read, which builds libraries, stocks them with books, and trains people to become their librarians.

Ok, I have to work in the morning, so this is my last blog post until tomorrow night. I'll be reading a bit before bed, then listening to audio books during my commute and reading at lunch, though, so I'll still be plugging away the best I can.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson John Green and David Levithan

If you took the best parts of An Abundance of Katherines and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and put them in a blender, you'd get something almost as awesome as this book.

Two high school students, both named Will Grayson, are having a horrible night when they meet. Then one Will Grayson starts dating the other Will Grayson's best friend. There's a girl named Jane, who has a boyfriend. There's a musical written, directed, choreographed, etc etc etc and starring Tiny Cooper, the said boy/best friend and the gayest large person on the plant, or the largest gay person.

And because it's the best of Green and the best of Levithan, it's about so much more than the plot and it's more madcap and hilarious than I can say.

If you like either author, you'll like this one, too.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Hour 13

Hours Spent Reading: 13
Books Read: 4
Pages Read: 1144
Money Raised: $629
What I'm listening to: Another Man's Done Gone

Please remember that I'm reading to raise money for Room to Read, which builds libraries, stocks them with books, and trains people to become their librarians.

So Punk Rock: And Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother Micol Ostow, art by David Ostow

My second Micol Ostow book of the day, but much different than the other stuff of her's that I've read (which have all been SASS novels.)

Ari Abramson is a junior at a Jewish Day School in New Jersey. In an effort to up his coolness, he starts a band. As the school paper says, The Tribe consists of three Gittleman juniors: founder and self-professed Joe Schmoe Ari Abramson on guitar, quiet dark horse Yossi Gluck on drums-- (seriously-- did any of us see him coming?), and the irrepressible Jonas Fein on base and lead vocals. Rounding out the quartet is backup singer Reena Gluck, whose inimitable vocals have been described as a cross between Amy Winehouse and a sane person. p112

Initially, it's a pretty motely crew, but for some reason, they seriously rock.

Of course, there are tensions as Jonas's ego gets the better of him, Ari still can't catch the eye of hot girl Sari (of course ignoring that Reena is much more awesome and not nearly as annoying.) And Ari's parents are gung-ho about honors classes, the SATs and Ari going to Brandeis (even though it's just the beginning of junior year.)

Friendship, self-exploration, and a book about Jewish kids that doesn't try to explain anything for non-Jews in the text (there is, however, a glossary in the back.) So you get such hilarious exchanges as "Are f^&*ing you serious?" "Serious as Yom Kippur, man" p 37 (And yes, while they swear just as much as you'd expect rocker high school boys to swear, it's all @$#$^^$%#$^@%# out.) Just thinking about that line makes me laugh. Warning world-- I'm going to start using it. The rest of the book is also super-funny.

Parts of the story are told comic-book style, which works well. I wished there was more of it.

A super-awesome book that I loved loved loved loved.

BUT, I was hoping that Ostow was kidding when she referenced a t.A.T.u. cover of How Soon Is Now? Sadly, she wasn't. It really exists. I have a dark, secret, horribly embarassing soft space for t.A.T.u. but... that's just wrong. I've listened to it. It's wrong. I may have downloaded it.

I blame the coffee.

Also, I do love the Murakami references. Because he's awesome.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Hour 10

Hours Spent Reading: 10
Books Read: 3
Pages Read: 890
Money Raised: $623
What I'm listening to: Black Hole Sun

Please remember that I'm reading to raise money for Room to Read, which builds libraries, stocks them with books, and trains people to become their librarians.

The Ghosts Of Ashbury High Jaclyn Moriarty

According to the introductory note, gothic fiction is often full of "mad people locked in attics, secret passageways, monsters, murderers, ghosts, and family curses."

Although this book takes place at a modern high school outside Sydney and is, for the most part, realistic fiction (with just a touch of magical realism) this does have everything that a good gothic novel needs.

I know I owe you reviews of the previous Ashbury High books (although you do not really need to read them to read this one.)

It's Year 12 for Cass, Lydia, and Em. (Liz makes a brief appearance as well and Bindy keeps popping up, never fear.) As with Moriarty's other books, this is told in "stuff" mainly personal essays for the HSC, committee meeting notes, emails, and blog entries.

Of course, due to the nature of most of the narrative-- an exam question to "Write a personal memoir which explores the dynamics of first impressions. In your response, draw on your knowledge of gothic fiction" and an assignment to "Write the story of Term 2 as a ghost story" we're never entirely sure of the reliability of our narrators, even when we know our narrators from previous books and how they're usually unreliable.

Ashbury has two new scholarship students-- Amelia and Riley. The school is obsessed with them, their aloofness, their secret history, their insane talent at everything they touch. Mostly though, their past. They came from Brookfield, but no one's Brookfield connections know them, except Seb, who warns Lydia to steer clear.

The reader sees different parts of the story, different sides, and has to guess what's happening. And there are important elements of gothic fiction that you forget and then, BAM! There they are!

It's not a comedic book, but parts are very, very funny (I mean, everything Em touches is comedic gold.) But it's also a very interesting look at second chances, perception, history and present, and, of course, ghosts and haunting-- real, metaphorical, and imaginary.

More people need to discover the genius that is Moriarty. Seriously.

Book provided by... my wallet.

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Hour 3.5/Poetry Friday

Hours Spent Reading: 3.5
Books Read: 2
Pages Read: 410
Money Raised: $594
What I'm listening to: Judas's Death (although, given the book, it would be much more appropriate if I had been listening to Mercy House. Sadly, my life is soundtracked by iTunes shuffle right now, not a well-thought out playlist.)

Please remember that I'm reading to raise money for Room to Read, which builds libraries, stocks them with books, and trains people to become their librarians.

Keesha's House Helen Frost

Keesha's house is set off the street
s if you don't know what you're looking for
you might not even see the wide blue door
half hidden by a weeping willow tree.

Using sestinas and sonnets (and even a crown of sonnets) several kids tell how they became lost, and sometimes, found. They tell of the safe place they found at Keesha's house, where people just let them live and be. Where they're allowed to exist. We also hear from the adults in their lives, the ones that care, the ones that see what's happening, the ones that don't.

There is tragedy here, and hope. Like the other books written by Frost, I'm always struck by the absolute poetic craft she puts into her work, but her words and story shine through so much that you don't notice it while reading. (Ok, so, I knew it was Frost, so after reading a first poem, I analyzed it and quickly recognized the sestina, then looked at rhyme schemes for the sonnets. BECAUSE I AM A DORK.)

Powerful wonderful stuff.

Round up is over at The Crazy Files.

Book Provided by... a giveaway at a work meeting! score!

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Hour 2.5

Hours Spent Reading: 2.5
Books Read: 1
Pages Read: 296
Money Raised: $591
What I'm listening to: I Fall In Love Too Easily

Please remember that I'm reading to raise money for Room to Read, which builds libraries, stocks them with books, and trains people to become their librarians.

Up Over Down Under Micol Ostow and Noah Harlan

It wouldn't be a 48 Hour Book Challenge without a Students Across the Seven Seas book! And a super-special to boot!

As a super-special, we get 2 stories. Billie is an Australian studying in DC and interning at the EPA. Eliza is an American studying in Melbourne and doing fieldwork in Melbourne bay. They're living with each other's families.

The chapters tend to alternate between the two girls. Billie's a super-hard core environmentalist (and occasionally annoyingly sanctimonious about it.) Eliza, the daughter of a high ranking politico at the EPA, is used to growing up in the spotlight and is looking to cut loose when she's on the other side of the world. It was a bit painful to watch Eliza make a ton of decisions that even she knew were bad.

BUT! Overall, super fun, even though it's a bit odd to read a SASS book about my own city. The map of the city is comical. Also, I must chafe when Eliza claims the DC doesn't function very will because of it's design-- traffic is confusing? The streets are a grid and go in numeric or alphabetic order! Traffic is confusing if you aren't used to it, yes. I found it very confusing for awhile, but I doubt that a born-and-breed DCer would claim it was confusing...

Also, if they're driving from Dulles to DC, why are they going through Maryland? If you work for EPA, your office would be on the Mall, not the Hill, and the Washington Monument is in the middle of the mall, not the end of it, no building in DC proper has 17 floors, and while Billie's disappointed that she doesn't get to do much as an intern, she's doing MUCH MORE than any real intern, especially a high school one would get to do...

Ok, I stopped cataloging the little details after awhile (never watch a DC-based movie with me. The highway signs are always a mess and I will tell you all about it!!!!)

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Hour 0

The coffee is brewing, the dogs are fed, the dishwasher loaded.

It's time to start reading!

Please remember that I'm reading to raise money for Room to Read, which builds libraries, stocks them with books, and trains people to become their librarians.

Fundraising Update!

Read this post from this morning first.

I've already raised a lot of money for Room to Read even though the 48-Hour-Challenge hasn't started yet.

But, someone just said that they would donate $1 for ever $2 that I raise between $500 and $600. $500 was my fundraising goal (it will train a librarian to run one of the libraries that Room to Read builds) and I'm really close to meeting it.

Please, consider sponsoring me for such a wonderful cause.

Weekly Geeks: Graphic Novels

This week's Weekly Geeks evokes strong opinions in me, so I HAD to answer it!

Do you read graphic novels or memoirs? Who are your favorite authors? Which books do you recommend?

If you haven't read any, why not?

Some people have the impression that graphic novels are glorified comic books, are unsophisticated or don't qualify as "serious" literature. What do you think? If you track your book numbers, do you count a graphic novel as a book read?

I read a lot of graphic novels. My favorite authors are Bill Willingham, Jennifer Holm, Sara Varon, and Marjane Satrapi. Many of my favorite words-only-book authors such as Shanon Hale, Meg Cabot, and Holly Black have also come out with graphic novels. Also, let's not forget that Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, which changed comic books.

As for which titles I recommend, it depends on what you like to read. One thing to remember is that graphic novels are a FORMAT, not a genre. Any genre you find in words-only novels, you can find in graphic novels. If you're looking for titles to prove to people the worth of graphic novels, then I'd start people with Maus (both volumes) or Persepolis (both volumes). Alice In Sunderland or The Arrival are also good to show what the format can do, although I wouldn't start someone on Sunderland.

If you want excellent stories, excellent art, and excellent production, it's hard to go wrong with anything that First Second puts out.

Now as to whether or not they are worthy literature or just "glorified comic books," I have to reject the premise of the question. Take Sandman for instance. It was written by Neil Gaiman! And excellent series of books (although it wasn't until the later volumes that I fully understood its complete and utter genius.) But it's not a glorified comic book. It's actually a comic book. The volumes you buy from a bookstore are omnibus editions of multiple issues bound together. I am OBSESSED with the Fables series (written by Bill Willingham, who worked on Sandman, which you can tell in the way that odd plot points or characters come back to haunt the story 5 years later.) I acquire and read them in omnibus form, but they are comic books. (And when I say comic books here, I mean published serially, all paperback, usually bound with staples, and distributed through shops specializing in comic books)

When one says "graphic novel" they think of the one-shot, stand-alone title. It is, however, interesting to note that most authors and artists who work with this format use the word "comics" to describe what they are doing, whether it's an issue of X-Men, or a deeply personal memoir. And I think they do this because they recognize that the lines of distinction aren't that important. You can make silly one-off filled with lots of things blowing up, and you can make a serial that meets the standards of "high literature." Format, not genre.

There are many, many, many books without pictures that aren't serious literature. There are many comic books the same way. (And I'll spare you my ramblings on the importance of reading unsophisticated, un-serious literature.) But there are also several books without pictures that are deep and serious and change your world view. Same with comic books.

Once again, it's a format, not a genre.

And if the book is over 100 pages, it totally gets counted as read. Why wouldn't it?

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Tuesday Morning Announcements

Three-day weekends always throw me off. There's a good chance that blogging's going to be light the next two weeks, with the exception of all the blogging that will go on next weekend for MotherReader's 48 Hour Book Challenge. Basically, I'm behind in my reviews and have a lot on my plate this week, reading-wise, so it will be all-reading, and just a little bit of reviewing.

Speaking off the 48 Hour Book Challenge, I am still asking people to sponsor my reading endeavors. I am raising money for Room to Read, which builds libraries and trains people to run them. They are trying to build 11,000 libraries in Asia and Africa by the end of 2010. I have a fundraising page here that you can donate to directly or if you want to wait to see how I do, or donate based on how much I read (books, pages, hours, number of pots of coffee I drink... you can do that, too!)

I'm looking forward to it! As always the number of books I plan to read is impossible, but it's nice to dream.

Which leads me to another "problem" (really, I can't complain. As a friend reminded me awhile ago, I have awesome problems.)

Thursday is the library's annual Teen Notables Discussion, where teen librarians and librarians with an interest in teen books get together to discuss about ten notable books that came out the year before. The reading list was announced a few months ago and you don't have to read *all* of the books on the list, even though I have every year, because well... I'm just like that. I have 3.5 books to go.

I also have several books that are overdue at the library and should really get returned, but I WANT TO READ THEM.

So, my reading's cut out for me.

But.

Jacyln Moriarty's new book, The Ghosts Of Ashbury High comes out today and the UPS man is bringing it to my house AS WE SPEAK.

OH! Whatever shall I read?!!!


Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.