from goodreads.com

Fairytales aren’t just for children anymore!

Welcome to Jackalopany!  Meet King Jack and Queen Felicia and their estimable children, Paisley and Jackson.  Paisley has reached the year of her majority and is about to endure her “Majority Ball.”  She’s unique, prank-loving, and not ready to change her life.  She’d rather continue her days herding sheep, playing her harp, and avoiding the responsibilities associated with the Jackalopian throne.

The shepherd Henry, Prince Rupert of Froggilandria, Kyle of Kaiandra, Marcus of Wellsbiundia, and the amusing Cletus of Rednecky all battle for the hand (and possibly the rest of) Princess Paisley.  Will Darius of Griffinlund foil the plans of so many?  Will tragedy leave the Jackalopian throne bereft of an heir?  And last but not least, will the narrator ever stop yammering about the rigors and rules of the fairytale genre?

A sweet little Kindle book. Like most Kindle books, it has a couple of typos and some errors, but I guess it was worthwhile if you get it for free. Just read the summary and decide if you want it... :)

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from tweenybopperbooks.wordpress.com

OUTSIDERS 

Widowed just two days after her unwilling marriage to a man twice her age, Marnie finds herself an outsider in the remote seaside village of Torcurra. Spurned by the townsfolk who suspect her involvement in her husband's death, she has only two friends: the local priest and the madman known as Raver, even more of an outcast than Marnie herself. Marnie makes a remarkable discovery about Raver, whom she renames Raven, and the two forge a deep bond that begins to heal her own bruised heart. But the suspicious villagers see Raven's transformation as evidence of witchcraft, and suddenly Marnie finds herself facing an ordeal that threatens not only her future with Raven, but her very life.

Such a beautiful story.

Marnie was a really nice character. Her spirit was so accurately captured in the text. Father Brannan was so good to her, and they were both just wonderful to each other.

I'm not sure if I liked the way Raven was portrayed. In the beginning, he was just more of a simple-minded person, but the bond between Marnie and Raven was a powerful thing. 

The description and the book design (at least in the copy I read) were both beautiful.

Just read it, okay?

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from amitybooktalk.blogspot.com

Welcome to Elsewhere. It is warm, with a breeze, and the beaches are marvelous. It’s quiet and peaceful. You can’t get sick or any older. Curious to see new paintings by Picasso? Swing by one of Elsewhere’s museums. Need to talk to someone about your problems? Stop by Marilyn Monroe’s psychiatric practice.

Elsewhere is where fifteen-year-old Liz Hall ends up, after she has died. It is a place so like Earth, yet completely different. Here Liz will age backward from the day of her death until she becomes a baby again and returns to Earth. But Liz wants to turn sixteen, not fourteen again. She wants to get her driver’s license. She wants to graduate from high school and go to college. And now that she’s dead, Liz is being forced to live a life she doesn't want with a grandmother she has only just met. And it is not going well. How can Liz let go of the only life she has ever known and embrace a new one? Is it possible that a life lived in reverse is no different from a life lived forward?

So this was a totally creative, wonderful book. The premise was very refreshing, the storytelling was marvelous, and Liz was just such an understandable, perfect character. I could relate to her and I loved that.

The narration was somewhat distanced from everything and yet not too aloof, a great way to portray the book's characters. The use of present tense wasn't exactly gripping, but it brought a very clean, fresh tone to the piece. All of the supporting characters were pitch perfect as well - Owen, Betty, Curtis Jest, everybody. Yes, even the dogs. Did I mention there are dogs?

It's not exactly one of those "This is quite queer, and I like that," books, but neither is it a "Boring" book. It's somewhere in between, a happy medium. There was just the right amount of philosophical musing and funny bits. 

Overall, I would say read it. Now. I'll be looking for more of Gabrielle Zevin's books in the future. :)

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I don't really have the time to review every single book I read anymore, so I'll just share the cover, title, author, and synopsis with you... :)

from thebooksmugglers.com

Part of the Grisha Trilogy...

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha…and the secrets of her heart.

from wikipedia.org

Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty’s anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.

Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen’s Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.

In her exquisitely written fantasy debut, Rachel Hartman creates a rich, complex, and utterly original world. Seraphina’s tortuous journey to self-acceptance is one readers will remember long after they’ve turned the final page.

from suzannecollinsbooks.com

Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When her sister is chosen by lottery, Katniss steps up to go in her place. 

from cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com

Zulaikha hopes. She hopes for peace, now that the Taliban have been driven from Afghanistan; these changes could mean a whole new life for Zulaikha--but can she dare to hope they'll come true?

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from thenewdorkreviewofbooks.com

Aibileen Clark is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, raising her seventeenth white child. She's always taken orders quietly, but lately it leaves her with a bitterness she can no longer bite back. Her friend Minny Jackson has certainly never held or tongue, or held on to a job for very long, but now she's working for a newcomer with secrets that leave her speechless. And white socialite Skeeter Phelan has just returned from college with ambition and a degree but, to her mother's lament, no husband. Normally Skeeter would find solace in Constantine, the beloved maid who raised her, but Constantine has inexplicably disappeared.

Together, these seemingly different women join to work on a project that could forever alter their destinies and the life of a small town--to write, in secret, a tell-all book about what it's really like to work as a black maid in the white homes of the South. Despite the terrible risks they will have to take, and the sometimes humorous boundaries they will have to cross, these three women unite with one intention: hope for a better day.

Like The Secret Life of Bees, I didn't expect to like this. I don't usually like historical fiction. I'm sorry. I know I'm a terrible person for it, but still.

I love the narration, especially Aibileen's. It has such a wonderful, natural, dialect-y feel to it. It's very realistic and authentic-sounding.

The protagonists are amazing and the antagonists perfectly awful - just like they should be. Read it. Read it. Read it. You can tell I'm not in an analysis mood today... heh heh heh.

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from bookswithoutanypictures.wordpress.com

Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina - a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.

I did not expect to like this book. So I was completely floored when I loved it. Lily Owens was such a wonderful, believable, lovable character. It's been such a while since I read this that I don't remember much to give you a proper analysis, but I do know that you MUST READ IT. NOW.

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from thepracticebrew.wordpress.com

Here, in one volume: Marjane Satrapi's bestselling, internationally acclaimed memoir-in-comic-strips.

Persepolis is the story of Satrapi's unforgettable childhood and coming of age within a large and loving family in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution; of the contradictions between private and public life in a country plagued by political upheaval; of her high school years in Vienna facing the trials of adolescence far from her family; of her homecoming - both sweet and terrible; and, finally, of her self-imposed exile from her beloved homeland. It is the chronicle of a girlhood and adolescence at once outrageous and familiar, a young life entwined with the history of her country yet filled with the universal trials and joys of growing up.

Wow. Just... wow. I loved the comic art. It was so simple, yet endearing, capturing the essence of the character in a few lines. Witty observations and dialogue peppered the book, making it at some points light, but at some points deadly serious.

So it's been kind of a while since I read it, but I remember it was really, really good. Just read it, okay?

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from ourtimeinjuvie.com

In a world where a small percentage of people have an extreme skill called a Grace, King Leck's Grace allowed him to tell lies that everyone believed.

When Bitterblue became queen at ten years old, she thought her father's murder meant the end of his violent, sociopathic influence.

She was wrong.

Now eighteen and believing her advisers are overprotecting her, Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle at night to walk the streets of her own city, disguised and alone - risking her life as well as her heart.

It's been a while since I've read Graceling and Fire, the first two books in this series-like thingy (I say that because Bitterblue is the sequel to Graceling and the companion to Fire, but both books come together in Bitterblue.). Almost... two years now? So my initial confusion is understandable. Most of what I remembered was Katsa loves Po, Leck is evil, Bitterblue is queen. Yeah.

It was still great, because you don't really need any background information from the first two to read Bitterblue. It was a fascinating story of recovery from a monster so terrible that people don't want to remember.

Bitterblue's curiosity about her city was natural, and therefore I could sympathize with her. Kristin Cashore portrayed her insecurity so well - it was amazing. Although Bitterblue didn't have much personality as a character, her need for reassurance made her such a believable character that I immediately cared about her, which made the story so much more compelling.

Kristin Cashore is an awesome fantasy writer. Her description is sweeping and vivid, her prose elegant. About the settings, and fictional languages, and maps, and other various things - need I say more?

Bitterblue was a beautiful fantasy novel that I encourage you to read - just read the first two first :)

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pic from civileats.com

“What’s for dinner?” seems like a simple question. But do you really know…

• What happens to a field of potatoes destined to become french fries … or
• In how many disguises corn sneaks into your food? (Hint: it’s in your soda, your burger, and that Twinkie!)
• Do you know what that “organic” sticker on your banana actually means … or
• Where the chicken in your nugget grew up?

Do you know the secrets behind what you eat?

In this book, you’ll go undercover at the supermarket. You’ll delve behind the scenes of your dinner, and by the time you’ve digested the last page you’ll have put together the fascinating (and sometimes disturbing) puzzle of what’s on your plate and how it got there.

--From Michael Pollan's website

What an informative (and slightly disturbing) book! From start to finish, Michael Pollan's journey to find out what's really in our food was masterfully presented. It began as a bit of a let-down as it described the cruelty and destruction that went into an industrial meal. The format of the book was also intriguing - each section ended with a meal eaten in the category that Pollan was describing.

The middle was information packed, and the book ended with a really touching message about "voting with our forks" and making sure old food chains didn't disappear from the earth.

Not much analysis to do, really.

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Inspired by the Rapunzel fairy tale, this one started out as just a head of freakishly long golden hair...

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Yay. This is another bunny-themed piece, another collaboration with Mashimaro.

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pic from amazon.com

When 9 year old Audrey and her best friend, Julianna, discover a tattered note in Audrey's mailbox, they embark on an adventure that will change their lives forever. A missing show dog worth a fortune, two dangerous villains and a series of mysterious clues come together in this first exciting adventure of the Jellybean Club.

It was cute. Really cute. Although I'm not a big fan of the mystery genre in general, I was kind of drawn to the cover. I liked the cover (okay, now I'm being redundant). It was on sale for free, so I got it onto my Kindle. However, it was a bit rushed, but it will appeal to younger readers closer to Audrey's age.

The intro was pretty good overall. The inciting incident, in which Audrey got thinking about her future as a detective, was kind of unrealistic, but then again, she was nine years old. I didn't really get the point of having a younger sister in there, though. Ashley didn't do much throughout the book, and neither did Dani, another character's younger sister. I was confused as to why the author would have bothered to write such useless characters.

At first, I was criticizing the way these kids thought of the money - a $10,000 reward - because I thought they would misuse it. A real, touching motive for getting the money only manifested itself much later in the book, and very suddenly. There was almost no foreshadowing whatsoever, except that Georgette, the girl in need, was always very sad. If there had been more foreshadowing, it would be more justified and believable.

The villains were also introduced far too late. If I'd gotten a sense of what these kids were up against, I might have cared more about the outcome of the story.

I honestly didn't like it all that much - it was too juvenile for me. However, it's cheap and I suppose younger kids will like it. Give it a shot.

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