The Book Zombie

Read-A-Thon ♦ Mid-Event Survey

Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-A-Thon Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now?
Life Inside: A Memoir by Mindy Lewis

2. How many books have you read so far?
So far I’ve done 3 - Pretties ♦ Dead Is The New Black ♦ On Writing

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
Probably Pride & Prejudice & Zombies or maybe Slumdog Millionaire

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?
Not really, I successfully worked the Read-A-Thon into my plans today.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
No interruptions so far, everything’s going great.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
Hmm, well last Read-A-Thon I got sorta stressed out about how many pages, how quickly I was reading. But this time I’m a lot more relaxed, enjoying my reading.

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
None, this is my second Read-A-Thon and it’s just as great as my first.

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader if you were to do this again next year?
Find out how to post updates on my blog from my BlackBerry :P

9. Are you getting tired yet?
It’s only just past 10pm here so no, I’ve just gotten my normal nighttime second wind.

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered?
I think the best thing to remember for readers it that it’s not a competition or a race, for me the main idea behind the Read-A-Thon is to spend an entire 24 hour period doing what you love. And sharing that with all the other participants. It’s a celebration!

As for the cheerleaders – they’re always super amazing! Their enthusiasm is incredible and you can really tell how much fun they have motivating and offering encouragement.

Anyone who knows me (or read the title of my blog) knows that I love zombies with all my heart!

While browsing I found this poster available for order at the Demco website. It even has matching bookmarks. They have all kinds of neat library related things on the site.

Not sure what this has to do with the Read-A-Thon. Just a random thing that made me smile :)

Literary Letter Mini-Challenge

Literary Letter

Time for another very cool mini-challenge. This time around Shannon from Flight Into Fantasy would like for us to write a letter to one of the characters from a book we’ve been reading. It can be about nearly any topic we want, and any character we choose. I love this type of creative writing but let me warn you I may like it, but that doesn’t mean I’m not crap at it! Have fun everyone :)

My letter is going to be to Daisy Giordano from Dead Is The New Black, so for anyone not familiar with the book here is the synopsis from the back cover:

Dead Is The New Black by Marlene Perez

Fashion fad … or something freakier?
Everyone in the Giordano family is psychic – except for Daisy. When her mother, who uses her powers to solve crimes, enlists Daisy’s older sister to investigate a teenage girl’s mysterious death, Daisy feels utterly useless. But she takes matters into her own hands when she learns the victim has lots of company – teenage girls are being attacked all over town, including at Nightshade High School, where Daisy is a junior. And when she discovers a vampire may be the culprit, Daisy suspects head cheerleader Samantha Devereaux, who returned from summer break with a new ”look.” She looks a little … well, dead.

Is looking dead just another fashion trend for pretty, popular, Samantha, or is there something more sinister afoot? Daisy will stop at nothing to find out – she even joins the cheerleading squad. And with a little sleuthing help from Ryan, an old friend (who may be turning into something more), Daisy not only reveals the identity of the vamp, she also discovers powers that she never knew she had.

Dear Daisy,

It must really suck to be the only person in your family without any psychic abilities. I mean, really, your mom is like a super-sidekick for the local cops, and between your two sisters they can telekinetically steal the clothes right off your back while reading the outraged curses that are going through your thoughts. It must be kinda weird too, when you are thinking about boys or even just looking forward to the big party that’s coming up, knowing that you mom might be peeking inside your head. Do you guys have any sort of rules about respecting one another’s privacy? And can you trust them not to get in your head? I’d also be curious to know how it makes you feel – being the only normal one in the family. Are you envious of their powers? Or just glad that you don’t have to deal with the weirdness? Do you ever feel like your mom is disappointed in you for not being like your sisters? Must be really tough, plus what on earth was your mom thinking when she named the three of you?? Daisy, Poppy and Rose!! Gah, that’s is just too cutesy for me. Anyhow, that’s what I’ve been thinking of since first reading about your life, just how you deal with the circumstances of your family. Oh and I have to mention, Ryan? that hot guy you’ve been seeing – I think that he may be hiding something from you. I’m not sure why, but I’ve got this weird feeling about him. Then again, you live in a town called Nightshade, where coffins are considered the perfect accessory. You probably know better than me about strangeness!

Take care and watch out for those werewolves,

Joanne

Love Your Library Mini-Challenge

Library Love

What an awesome mini-challenge! Jessica of The Curious Reader works at a library (dream job) and is curious to hear what we all think of our own local libraries. She’s given us 4 questions to answer and we can be as brief or as detailed as we like.

So here goes:

1. What is the name of your local library? What city is it located in?
My local library is known as The Halifax Public Library. It is a collection of 15 branches spread out over the entire Halifax Regional Municipality. My home branch is the Sackville Library, and since I’ve visited most all the branches I would say the one I like best is the Keshen Goodman Library.

Keshen Goodman Library

Sackville Library

2. How often do you go to the library? If you're a regular, do the staff know you?
Usually I visit the library once or twice a week depending on when my items are due back, if either of the boys want are looking for something specific, or if my holds list gets over 10. Yup, I would say most of the staff recognize me, probably as the crazy lady who has to bring 2-3 bags to get the books home, or as the person who racks up the highest late fees.

3. Do you browse while you're there or just pick up items you have placed on reserve?
Most of my visits are to pick up holds, and I always end up browsing a little. Mostly checking out the new release shelf and the dvd section.

4. What is your favorite thing about your local library?
Oh geeze, I would have to say my favorite thing is that the library has such a great amount of services available. Love the DVD and CD selection, the online catalogue is perfect and the selection of books is quite extensive. Another huge thing that really makes our library so great is the ability to download audio-books, e-books and MP3 (ipod/smartphone compatible) books.

Update 1 ♦ Read-A-Thon 04/09

Wow, my first update for the Read-A-Thon and we’re coming up on hour 9. So far, I haven’t read too many books, but that’s because I listened to an audiobook all morning. I did manage to finish off a book I totally forgot leaving in the glovebox of the car on the way home though.

The library sale was pretty cool – I did happen to pick up some paperbacks and the entire Wideacre trilogy (lol) And I bought a Library bag which is cool since it’s not even from my library system. But what was supposed to be a quick trip turned into a half-day jaunt since hubs and youngest son wanted to stop at some used bookstores – I was going to grumble and complain about being in a hurry (yeah right haha) So we had a very nice and totally bookish day :D

Now I’m all ready to be lazy and read the day away, after taking an hour or two to blog-hop first! Hope everyone’s having a wonderful time!

Title of book currently reading: Pretties
Title of books read: Dead Is The New Black ♦ On Writing*
Number of books read since you started: 1
Pages read: 474
Running total of pages read since you started: 474
Amount of time spent reading: 8 hours
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 8 hours

*audiobook

Getting Ready For The 24 Hour Read-A-Thon ♦ 04/09

It’s almost that time … time to start reading for 24 straight hours! Or as close as I can manage. I’ve got everything prepared, all my books, snacks, drinks, cozy PJs and hopefully everything will go smoothly.

Oh but wait, I already ran into a glitch in my plans earlier this evening. Hubs mentioned to me that Saturday morning there was a Library Book Sale going on (o.O) Gee thanks, here I am a total book-geek hoping to read for an entire day and night, and he goes and tells me that! Thankfully we came up with a solution – he’s going to drive so that I can read in the car, then while browsing I will listen to an audiobook. :D Problem solved! I can still take part in the Read-A-Thon and I get to go to the Library Sale. It’ll Be A Perfect Day!

So what I’m hoping will happen is that I will take breaks from reading about every 2-3 hours to post my updates and do some blog-hopping and see how everyone else is making out. Last time I took a break every hour, but this time I want to concentrate more on reading so 2-3 should be good depending on what book I’m reading at the time.

My method for choosing my bookpile was a little bit erratic. I grabbed a bunch that I’ve been saving especially for the event and then I added some that will be good for when I feel tired. It’s a giant stack but I’m not too concerned with the number of books I finish, only that I stay focused on what appeals to me. I’ve taken some photos of all my books. Not too pretty but I wanted to have them all right where they are easy to grab – most of my reading gets done curled up at one end of our sectional sofa so all the books are sharing the other half today.

Good luck to all the readers! Hope everyone has a terrific Read-A-Thon :D

Tuesday Thingers – LT Style

“To do a dull thing with style - now THAT'S what I call art.”
~Charles Bukowski

Time for another installment of Tuesday Thingers hosted by Wendi’s Book Corner! This week’s question has to do with visual styles and your library.

Have you explored the different styles? Have you customized any of the styles? If so, what are your favorite customized items (isbn, Dewey Decimal, Reviews, Book-Swap, etc)?

This was one of the first things I fooled around with on LibraryThing. For me everything I use whether it be a web-based application of desktop software must have lots of flexibility in terms of visual style. One of my major defects is that things which aren’t appealing format wise drive me nearly insane. I don’t want to see features I won’t be using and I also want the ability to style toolbars and such in my own way. LibraryThing has the perfect customization features for me and after fiddling with the columns I’ve come to find a great style that allows me to see all the information I want in the exact way I prefer.

The snapshot above is my preferred LibraryThing style. Cover, Author, Title – just the basics and sortable. I like the column for Awards & Honors which is helpful for quick reference. Next I have my personal Tags – I use like to keep track of all reads, along with year read, and whether they are owned or library books. The Subject column is really handy, often I will read a book on a certain topic and then I want to read another – Dystopian or apocalyptic is a great example. Then I have a column for Private Comments, I don’t use it all that often but it’s great for jotting down a note if I lend a book out to a friend or if I am looking for the same book but in a different format (for example, I prefer Trade PBs over Hardcovers.)

My one and only complaint is about the last column – Shared – I hate it! I wish there were some way to get rid of it, but if there is I haven’t found it yet. If anyone knows if it’s possible please, please, please let me know :)

So what about you? Have you found your personal style LibraryThing? Head over to Wendi’s Book Corner and share your thoughts :)

Review ♦ The Forest Of Hands And Teeth

About the Book

In Mary’s world there are simple truths.

The Sisterhood always knows best.

The Guardians will protect and serve.

The Unconsecrated will never relent.

And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village. The fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

But slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and it’s secrets, and the Guardians and their power. And, when the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness.

Now she must choose between her village and her future, between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded by so much death?

My Thoughts
The Forest of Hands and Teeth starts out quite slowly, but not in a bad way, it’s more like the author really wanted to impress upon the reader just how different Mary’s world is from the one we are familiar with. We are given small glimpses at first of a secluded village of people, survivors who have come together after a catastrophic event has caused the dead to walk, to hunt, to prey on the living. Through the eyes and thoughts of Mary it is explained how this community works, what type of new society they have created in order to live on, despite the constant threat of violence from the bodies who should be unmoving, dead, at peace. Because we are learning about the village from Mary’s perspective, a lot of her doubts and worries color the descriptions of the the Sisterhood who seem to control everyone with their rules and enforce those same rules with the help of the Guardians. Mystery surrounds this entire world, curiosity is hard to avoid, as Mary truly believes that the people are not being given the whole truth about the situation. It seems that the fence which surrounds and protects them has also created a cocoon around the minds of the villagers. Most are so happy to have someone else responsible for their well-being, that they have chosen to ignore the old stories from before the Return of the dead. Over time, they’ve become so comfortable with the situation that the idea of questioning would be like admitting that their lives are not as satisfying as they’ve been led to believe. Mary, whose grown up hearing her mother’s tales of oceans, sandy beaches and a whole world beyond the fences, has only grown more curious. Rather than feeling protected by the fences, she feels trapped within a cage of lies. She can’t keep herself from her private spot atop a hill, searching the horizons and obsessing over what better world might lie beyond the fence, because surely the forest cannot go on forever.

No one remembers where the paths go. Some say they are there as escape routes, others say they are there so that we can travel deep into the Forest for wood. We only know that one points to the rising sun and the other to the setting sun. I am sure our ancestors knew where the paths led, but just like everything else about the world before the Return, that knowledge has been lost.

No matter how curious she is, her questions will never be answered however, because the world she lives in is a very structured one. The Sisterhood has been running the village forever now, and the structured life that ensures the living never join the legions of undead, means that Mary must be partnered with a fellow villager, to live as a married couple and create new lives to once again populate the earth. If a marriage is not arranged she will join the Sisterhood. Neither are choices that Mary would choose though, because the one she loves is not her intended, but her intended’s brother. Even in her grief over a love that cannot be, she is haunted by the thought that the Sisterhood is hiding something, and she begins to feel as though the Sisterhood are worried and a little more than threatened about how far she is willing to go to find uncover that truth. Mary knows the Sisterhood has been creating their own truth, and that truth is not enough for her.

We are our own memory-keepers and we have failed ourselves. It is like that game we played in school as children. Sitting in a circle, one student whispers a phrase into another student’s ear and the phrase is passed around until the last student in the circle repeats what she hears, only to find out it is nothing like what it is supposed to be.

That is our life now.

As I said earlier, this is a book that starts out slowly, creeping along and leaving bits of mystery along the way. But the reader can never forget that this is also a zombie story, and as the undead never give up in their relentless desire to overtake the living, the momentum is building quietly in the background. Being the huge zombie fan that I am, I was a little skeptical of how a young adult novel would pull off a serious zombie story. But I was more than satisfied, the undead action is excellent. I was also wondering exactly what species of zombie would be starring here. Would they be classic Romero shamblers, or the more modernized Rage-Runners that have all the gorehounds up in arms over. Unlike with the Zombie vs Unicorn debate (and by the way I’m 100% Team Zombie) I’ve never been a supporter of either the Rager or the Shambler – I love both equally and even after many a debate I see the positive aspects of both. So now I guess you’re wondering which type Carrie Ryan has chosen to highlight as the fence-shaking, villager-eating, villains eh? Well, you’ll just have to read The Forest of Hands and Teeth if you want to find out, but let me assure you regardless of whether you want your zombies sprinting or hobbling - these zombies are perfect!

The Forest of Hands and Teeth has earned a spot on my treasured zombie shelf and I cannot wait for Carrie Ryan to toss another zombie book towards this Book Zombie :)

About The Author
Born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, Carrie Ryan is a graduate of Williams College adn Duke University Law School. She lives with her writer/lawyer fiance, two fat cats and one dumb puppy in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are not at all prepared for the zombie apocalypse.

Title:	The Forest of Hands and Teeth
Author:	Carrie Ryan
Book Genre:	Young Adult Fiction
Book Type:	Hardcover 310 pages
Publisher:	Delacorte Press
Publication Date:	March 2009

Other Reviews
Becky's Book Reviews

Bookshelves of Doom

Fantasy Book Critic

Karin's Book Nook

Pop Culture Junkie
Presenting Lenore
The Story Siren

Have you reviewed this book too? Let me know and I’ll add your link to the list :)

Easter = Jesus? Zombies? Peeps? $$$?

Yesterday, it came to my attention that we were on the very last roll of toilet paper. Being the last shopping day before Easter, one needs to weigh out whether they are willing to grab a small two-pack from the corner store or brave the insanity of Wal-Mart for the super-strap-to-the-top-of-your-car-bulk package. (both costing around $10) Needless to say I headed off to Wal-Mart… sigh I should have wasted the money at the convenience store.

Right away as I pulled into the parking lot, I knew it was going to be hell. No empty spaces for miles, cars honking and speeding around, pedestrians running to their cars pushing shopping carts piled high with toys, clothes and candy. I hadn’t even parked yet and I was already having trouble breathing.

Finally, parked and ready to walk through the magical doors of Wal-Mart whose cutesy slogan is: “Save Money, Live Better” or as I was thinking at the moment “Die Horribly, Trying to Save”. It was complete pandemonium, empty shelves, crowded aisles, parents looking violently at those lucky enough to have found chocolate, kids screaming that they wanted the newest, coolest whatever.

So I rushed quickly to grab our butt-wipe and thought to myself while I was there I may as well see if they had the ink cartridge we need for our printer – kill two birds and all that. I was shocked upon seeing the state of the electronics department! People were actually buying things for easter like big screen TVs, Nintendo WIIs, PS3s and laptops! This is worse than christmas! My boys, both too old for the whole easter bunny schtick normally usually always got something like a new bike if they’d outgrown theirs, now as teenagers they get some money for new summer clothes – both useful things that I would have bought anyways – but nothing of this scope or cost. People are insane!!

It’s sad in a way to see shopping centers and department stores filled to bursting with people, while church parking lots look practically deserted. As a non-religious person it’s not so much that people are forgetting the origin of the holiday, but more the fact that people fully embrace any event that allows them to spend money so flamboyantly.

For my family easter was celebrated for the fact that it gave us a long weekend to enjoy family, friends and relaxation. This weekend was just that, and today I will be doing more of it by enjoying some good old fashioned zombie books – cause really wasn’t jesus the first zombie (lol) I mean no offense to anyone who is celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ today. I may not be religious myself, but I have the utmost respect for others faith and beliefs.

Happy Easter, Resurrection, La Pasqua, Ostern, Pascua (I know I’m missing a few) and to those who consider it a pagan holiday or don’t observe Easter - Happy Sunday!

Oh and believe it or not people actually celebrate Zombie Jesus Day!

If you are a member of the Everyday is a Wal-Mart Day Cult – Burn, Sinners, Burn :P

Review ♦ In The Forest

About the Book

Set in the countryside of western Ireland, In The Forest centers on unwitting victims for sacrifice: a radiant young woman, her young son and a trusting priest, all dispatched to the wilderness of a young man’s unbridled, deranged fantasies.

Edna O’Brien’s riveting, frightening and brilliantly told novel reminds us that anything can happen when protection isn’t afforded to either perpetrator or victim…

My Thoughts (could contain spoiler if the synopsis wasn’t obvious enough)
The main plot of this story is about a boy who grows up completely out of control, bouncing from boys homes to lock-ups, acting crazy in front of everyone he meets. Most all of the townsfolk ignore or avoid his presence until he ends up on trial for murder. Much of the story is told from his point of view which can give the reader a glimpse into a mind that is quite obviously broken. The other part of this book concerns the mother and son who he will kidnap and murder. There is also a lot of other characters brought into this, with (in my opinion) a ton of meaningless happenings that really don’t add to the story or any character development.

You’ve probably gotten a hint that I wasn’t too impressed by this book, and you’d be right. I decided to read this because it has received many good reviews and it is listed on page 922 of Peter Boxall’s 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, but there were a few things that didn’t appease the book lover in me.

After reading In The Forest, I used my handy-dandy internet connected computer to research the history of the event the book was based on. In the 1990’s Brendan O’Donnell kidnapped and killed a woman, her child, and a local priest, after having been very well known as crazy in his town. The townsfolk, family, social services etc. did not attempt to help O’Donnell in any way during his adolescence or early adult life, even though it was painfully obvious that he needed help. Now In The Forest is identical aside from changing the names, and writing the story as a fictionalized account that includes possible interactions/thoughts that some of the characters may have had.

Okay, so there are many books to be found that create fictionalized stories of real events, but in this case I found it slightly annoying that it wasn’t more obvious (at least from my edition) that this was based on a true story. At the end of the book, the author has included a brief paragraph long Author’s Note that sums up the entire story with full names and dates. But that still wasn’t enough for me. I just have this completely irrational feeling that readers may end up giving credit where it isn’t due.

However, with that in mind, I will say that the author does indeed have a wonderful way with words. The writing found in this book was beautiful for such a horrible topic. Here is one passage that I found perfect as I’ve many colored or oddly shaped rocks that may seem a mystery to others but for me are a reminder of certain beaches and woods I’ve walked:

In the basket are the several stones that Eily collected on her journeys, stones sometimes chosen in the vertigo of love. She picks one up – round, squat, grey, inscrutable, its stony life locked within it, so that it tells nothing of its former whereabouts.

So there’s nothing negative I can say about the writing of In The Forest, it’s mainly the content, my own personal preferences in terms of fiction, non-fiction and the blurring of the two was offended. I enjoy books that draw upon true stories for inspiration, but with this particular book I felt there was not enough fictional input, or maybe not enough recognition given to the origin of the books plot. A truly talented writer can make a grocery list found in a trash can sound lyrical, but does that mean they should be applauded for improving on content they did not create? Where does the line between fiction and non-fiction fall?

Two local men interviewed by a reporter from The Scotsman said exactly what I am thinking after finishing this book:

"Most people want to forget about what happened," one man says, before correcting himself. "Not forget about it, just leave it alone."

"Why didn’t she write a well-researched book about it instead of making it a novel?"

Both quotes are from the article entitled “Making A Killing Out Of A Murder” by Tina Neylon (2002)

I’ve seen many comparisons between this book and Truman Capote’s famous novel In True Blood, but for me the main differences are the amount of consensual research Capote did for his book weighed against the fact that relatives and townsfolk pleaded with O’Brien to not write her book. I guess in the end it all comes down to the fact that regardless of how others may feel, a writer may write about anything they like, anyway they like. And only their conscience may tell them otherwise.

About The Author
In more than twenty books, Edna O'Brien has charted the emotional and psychic landscape of her native Ireland. Often criticized in her own country for her outspoken stance, she has forged a universal audience; the San Francisco Chronicle described her as 'a worthy heir to the great Irish forebears in Irish literature', while Le Figaro noted that 'the breathlessness of her language is comparable to Faulkner'. Awards and prizes include the Irish PEN Lifetime Achievement Award, Writers' Guild of Great Britain, Premier Cavour (Italian), American National Arts Gold Medal and Ulysses Medal 2006.

Title:	In The Forest
Author:	Edna O’Brien
Book Genre:	Fiction
Book Type:	Trade paperback 273 pages
Publisher:	Phoenix
Publication Date:	March 2003

Other Reviews
Reading Matters
MariReads

Have you reviewed this book too?
Let me know and I’ll add your link to the list :)

Anya Bast & Ginourmous Vegas Celebration Contest!

What Happens In Vegas … After Dark

Grand Prize: $100 GC to Amazon.com

Runner Up: $25 GC to B&N and a box of surprise paperbacks and other goodies (like chocolate, bath goodies, ect). This is going to be a NICE prize!

Runner Up: $25 GC to B&N and a box of surprise paperbacks and other goodies. (same as above)

Plus chances to win books (almost) every day for a month!

Go to http://www.anyabast.com/blog/ for details on how to enter.

Seems my mind was on a vacation when I announced my Kitty Norville giveaway, because I failed to leave an entry deadline. So winners will be drawn on Sunday, April 12 (midnight EST) and announced/notified Monday, April 13! Thanks to everyone whose entered already :)

Tuesday Thingers – Brand Spanking New LT Widgets

This week’s Tuesday Thingers courtesy of Wendi’s Book Corner!

I know we have looked at the widgets section on Library Thing before, but it appears that Library Thing has added an all-new widget building page, with more options than ever, including the ability to customize your widget, chose colors, animate your books so they change every 5, 10, 15, etc seconds, add your Amazon Associates ID, have your widget show a portion of your review and/or your rating, and much more!!
You can visit the LT blog to learn even more with their Widgets Get a Lot Better post!! OR . . . you can run over and play with your widget now by going here!!

Questions: Do you have a LT widget on your blog? If so, what is your favorite thing about it? Have you had a chance to go see the all new widget building page, and if so, have you built a new widget? If so, what do you like about it?

Great question! But how much of a doofus does it make me that I actually had to look at my blog to see if I had a LibraryThing Widget? ( O.o ) And I discovered that I don’t, I used to have one but it must have gotten left out when I changed my blog template a few months back. I hadn’t really noticed it missing, I guess because I use Amazon.com for making my widgets.

This morning I played around with the new, improved LibraryThing widgets, and I’m pretty impressed with the new features. Anything that allows customization is a big thing for me. What I ended up with is a pretty cool looking random display widget of my books and I was soo happy to see that there was a size option that allows you to make your widget “fill the space” – because I had wanted something to put at the very bottom of my blog and this stretches across nicely. This new widget will become a permanent part of my blog design, as long as it doesn’t cause any loading drag.

So what about you? Have you tried out the new widgets at LibraryThing? Head over to Wendi’s Book Corner and share your thoughts :)

Review ♦ Horns & Wrinkles

About the Book

How can you tell if a rivers under a spell? River trolls, rock trolls, blue-wing fairies, the usual suspects. The stretch of the Mississippi where Claire lives has rumors of them all, not that she’s ever spotted any. But then Claire’s cousin Duke takes a swim and sprouts a horn, a long, pointy, handsome thing. After that, Claire doesn’t have much choice but to believe that something rivery is going on, especially since she’s the only one who can help Duke lose his new addition.

My Thoughts
In my giant bag, that tries so hard to pass as a fashionable hobo purse, I keep a little notebook that I use for jotting down book titles, authors or topics that I want to check out. If I see something mentioned more than once I add a little star along with the persons name whose mentioned it. That way the more stars something has the better the recommendation (or that’s my theory at least lol). But things can get complicated (because I’m OCD like that) and sometimes things get cross-referenced, this is what happened with Horns & Wrinkles. The note for this book was starred because of the awesome reviews I read at Books & Other Thoughts and Maw Books Blog, I also had a footnote below it stating that it was illustrated by Nicoletta Ceccoli who I became interested in after reading about her on Nymeth's blog. (this is totally unrelated to the book itself, but I always find it interesting how a book makes it onto a person’s reading list)

Horns & Wrinkles centers on two main characters, Claire and Duke, they’re cousins but act more like brother and sister. When the story first begins they are in the middle of quite a quarrel, well actually Duke is being a complete ass by holding Claire over the side of a bridge threatening to drop her into the river below. What ends up happening is Claire gently floats down to safely land upon a boat being glided along the water by an old woman. Duke on the other hand, doesn’t meet such a safe outcome and ends up with a nose that may look a little too much like a rhino horn! Something rivery is definitely happening to him.

The story continues on as Claire vows to help her cousin Duke escape his horned and wrinkled fate, despite the fact that he’s a total jerk. Although this is the main plotline of the Horns & Wrinkles, there are many other plots introduced and moving along with the kids quest to defeat Duke’s river-magic cursed nose-horn. There are the river trolls and rock trolls with their own missions, family members that encounter rivery things and hold secrets that will help the kids out, and a magical history of this river that unravels some mysteries for Claire and Duke.

Horns & Wrinkles is a terrific book, well-written and paced wonderfully to hold the readers attention. Also the beginning of each chapter features a gorgeous illustration by Nicoletta Ceccoli (squeee!) that portrays some of the characters and/or happenings – I’m a huge fan of her artwork, so you’ll just have to trust me when I say that the pictures she’s drawn capture the feel of this book perfectly. Altogether a fun, interesting read and even though this is stated as a book for ages 9-12 I think it could be enjoyed by younger and older.

About The Author
Joseph Helgerson grew up in the river town of Winona, Minnesota, fishing the sloughs, camping the sandbars, and hiking the bluffs. He eventually swam upstream far enough to reach the University of Minnesota, where campus is split in half by the Mississippi and where he received a degree in American studies. After a few dry years out West, he's returned to Minnesota, where he can frequently be found admiring the fall of Saint Anthony and other rivery sights, sounds, and smells.

About The Illustrator
Nicoletta Ceccoli is the illustrator of many acclaimed picture books published around the world. She was awarded the Silver Medal in 2006 by the Society of Illustrators in New York, and in 2001 she won the Andersen Prize, honoring her as the best children’s book illustrator in Italy. Ms. Ceccoli has illustrated, among other titles, An Island in the Sun, written by Stella Blackstone; The Girl In The Castle Inside the Museum, written by Kate Bernheimer; and The Barefoot Book of Fairy Tales, written by Malachy Doyle. She lives in the town where she was born – San Marino, Italy.

Title:	Horns & Wrinkles
Author:	Joseph Helgerson
Illustrator:	Nicoletta Ceccoli
Book Genre:	Children’s Fiction (9-12)
Book Type:	Hardcover 368 pages
Publisher:	Houghton Mifflin
Publication Date:	September 20066

Other Reviews
Books & Other Thoughts
Maw Books Blog
Nothing Of Importance
Here, There, and Everywhere

Have you reviewed this book too?
Let me know and I’ll add your link to the list :)

TSS: Off With Her Head … Please?

A couple of weeks ago, I asked all of you to help me out by asking questions about some of the books I need to get reviewed. Thanks to everyone, I will be answering all of them sometime this week. Also within the comments I was graced with a visit from a mysterious member of the Book Blog Review Completion Committee who has given me permission to forego 4 of the 20 books to be reviewed! Along with this and the suggestion from Dawn and Ali to do mini-reviews of some books, I will be blogging about books this week in a way that I like to think of as ‘short but sweet’.

Something that’s been on my mind this past week, is the feeling of unease that I get when I let my blogging and blog browsing/commenting slow down. These past two months I’ve not been keeping up with my online stuff as much as I’d like. I’m still reading everything in my Google Reader but not commenting as much as I’d like. At first it was making me feel crappy, but I’ve now decided that there’s really no reason to. All of us have lives outside the blogging life, and sometimes things happen and the online life must suffer as we deal with stuff IRL (geeze I hate that phrase ‘IRL’ – makes it sound as though our online/blogging lives aren’t just as much a part of who we are) Anyway, I guess I just wanted to say that even though I may not be commenting as much, I am indeed still following.

Awards! Yay! It stills makes me feel completely amazed when someone feels my blog is worthy of an award. I’ve received a couple that I haven’t given thanks for yet.

First I’d like to say thank you so much to Mari of MariReads for passing along the Proximidade award to me. I really appreciate the gesture and I apologize for being an entire month late in saying so :)

"This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!”

Also, I received the Sisterhood award from Mo of UnMainstream Mom Reads. I was so happy when I saw this, it means so much to me. Mo is fantastically awesome, we share a lot of the same opinions book-wise, she is helpful and caring and super fun. And I can always count on her honest opinion. Mo is definitely a treasured bloggy friend and sister! Thanks so much Mo :)

And last, but certainly not least, this is the coolest new award on the block – the Zombie Chicken Award! Woohoo, thanks so much to Chris of Book-A-Rama for passing this wicked award on to me. The rules state: The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken - excellence, grace and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their words. As a recipient of this world-renowned award, you now have the task of passing it on to at least 5 other worthy bloggers. Do not risk the wrath of the zombie chickens by choosing unwisely or not choosing at all...

Normally I pass awards on right away, but with so many fabulous bloggers out there it’s getting hard to just choose a few. So this one time I’m going to cop out. I’m also going to risk the wrath of the zombie chickens … and besides a zombie chicken apocalypse would be sweet :P

And now I’m going to try and get through my overflowing Google Reader and enjoy some more of The Tudors Season 2. The newest third season begins tonight! Cannot wait! But does it make me a bad person that I also cannot wait for Anne Boleyn to lose her head? God she’s driving me mad, I find her to be such a whiny bitch!

Happy Sunday Everyone!

March 2009 – Reading Recap

Books Read in March 2009

Mr & Mrs Fitzwilliam Darcy ♦ Sharon Lathan
The Reader ♦ Bernhard Schlink
Paper Towns ♦ John Green
Sum ♦ David Eagleman
Emily’s Secret Book of Strange ♦ Rob Reger
Joy Of Spooking ♦ PJ Bracegirdle
Horns & Wrinkles ♦ Joseph Helgerson
Unhappy Endings ♦ Brian Keene
Ghostwriter ♦ Travis Thrasher
Wondrous Strange ♦ Lesley Livingston
Peculia & The Groon Grove Vampires ♦ R.Sala
Kitty Takes A Holiday ♦ Carrie Vaughn
Wetlands ♦ Charlotte Roche
The Dreaming Volume 1 ♦ Queenie Chan
Kitty And The Silver Bullet ♦ Carrie Vaughn
Forest Of Hands And Teeth ♦ Carrie Ryan
Kitty And The Dead Mans Hand ♦ Carrie Vaughn
Kitty Raises Hell ♦ Carrie Vaughn

Not too bad, I’m definitely doing well with the reading side of things. But still pretty crap at the reviewing, although March has been crazy what with the kids home from school. During the past month I did manage to catch up on some of the books I’ve been meaning to post about bringing my reviews done to 29 out of 55! These are the previously read books I’ve reviewed in March

Girl In The Castle Inside The Museum ♦ Nicoletta Ceccoli
Poe’s Children ♦ Peter Straub.
Kitty & The Midnight Hour ♦ Carrie Vaughn
Kitty Goes To Washington ♦ Carrie Vaughn
Skeleton Creek ♦ Patrick Carman
Fairy Tail ♦ Hiro Mashima
Twilight Saga ♦ Stephanie Meyer
American Born Chinese ♦ Gene Luen Yang

Weird. Strange. Unusual. Keywords.
Here’s some of the search terms which led people to my blog in the month of March. Not many interesting ones this time, it seemed like most of the searches lately have been about getting book analysis and summaries, lots of book report searches – makes me breathe a sigh of relief that my own kids enjoy reading and don’t have to search the internet to do their homework – if these kids can’t read a book for jr high school, how are they ever going to make it through University? Anyways, that’s a rant for another day :P

“book of negros” + “different title” – Not sure if I mentioned it in my review or not, but The Book Of Negroes is known as Someone Knows My Name in the US market. Lawrence Hill addresses the name change in this article.

“sparkly vampires must die” – Mwaaahhhaaahhhaaa \m/

“people who constantly whine about the weather” – I live in Nova Scotia, you’d whine too.

“holding readathons” – There’s a readathon coming up on April 18, check it out here.

“morocco, pirates, embroidery” – Sounds like you’re looking for Jane Johnson’s book The Tenth Gift aka Crossed Bones.

“name the 16 characters of The Westing House” – Had about 25 searches for this question. You’d probably have more luck using the books correct title The Westing Game and try Wikipedia, it has answers to questions you never even knew you even asking.

“haunted harbours chapters/indigo” – Sweet book! Haunted Harbours was written by a local author known as Steve Vernon. Check out his website to find out whether he’s doing any appearances. He was at last years Word On The Street event, I wanted to get my book signed, but yeah I was too shy :)

“how to get passed the crypt in god of war” – Sorry, no idea. I so want this game though!

“naked sex lolcat” – That’s so wrong dude! I will however take advantage of any opportunity for lolcat fun, so here’s some sex/nudity related kittehz!

Review ♦ Sum: Forty Tales From The Afterlives

About The Book

Sum is a stunning exploration of funny and unexpected afterlives that have never been considered – each presented as a vignette that offers an extraordinary lens through which to see ourselves here and now.

In one afterlife you may find that God is the size of a microbe and is unaware of your existence. In another, you work as a background character in other people’s dreams. Or you may find that the afterlife contains only those people whom you remember.

The stories in Sum are rooted in romance, science, and awe: a mixture of death, hope, computers, immortality, love, biology, and desire that cuts through human nature at new and exciting angles.

Review
This book came my way through the wonderful world of Twitter. Penguin Canada was holding a contest and I was one of the lucky winners – Yay! And I ending up really enjoying this book of short stories – double Yay! Sum contains 40 little stories, or maybe they should be called hypotheses about just what may be waiting for us in the afterlife. I’m the type of person who likes questions with solid answers, however, I found this book great because there are no answers to this particular question. Different viewpoints of what happens after death have always been interesting to me because of my agnostic-atheist beliefs. Because my only true knowledge of the afterlife is the impossibility of knowing what really happens, I find it fascinating to hear what others believe. In Sum, David Eagleman gives the reader 40 different situations to mull over, from good to bad, funny to ironic.

The story Circle of Friends is one that really makes you reconsider how you are living your life at the present time. In this imagined afterlife, you wake up to what you would normally expect. Everything and everyone that is familiar to you. It’s a world populated with things you’ve remembered from your life, but although this may seem like heaven it can also be a sort of hell. If there are no strangers, then you must forever be surrounded with people you’ve known – whether they are good memories or not. But it goes much deeper than just the people, there is also the smaller things we take for granted in our lives. In the story the narrator notices all the empty factories, because of course the products they produced are familiar to you but not the mechanics behind their production. The irony of this story is that you chose in your former life to live happily within this comfortable circle of familiarity, only to realize what you may be missing.

Metamorphosis is a scary sort of idea to me, according to this version of the afterlife there are three stages to death – first the body dies, second the body is put to it’s resting place, the third and final death is when your name is spoken for the last time. Because of family, friends, fame, and notoriety it may be quite some time before your name is last said, so until then all the dead(souls?) wait inside a giant waiting room for the unknown and mysterious Callers to let them know they are moving on to a better place. Some are happy to hear their names after hundreds, maybe thousands of years. Others are leaving sadly just as the last person to utter their name is arriving. Then there are the people who are perhaps bound forever to this eternal waiting room, men and women whose names grace Universities, hospitals or street signs. Others will live on forever within the pages of history books, or online knowledge banks.

My favorite story of the bunch was Mary. I’ve heard of the christian god being compared to Victor Frankenstein before, and maybe this is why I enjoy this one, but it also one of the most powerfully written stories. Upon arrival in this afterlife, you come upon a woman seated in a throne, surrounded by and cared for by angels. This woman is Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, the author of Frankenstein. God had read her novel and finally found a being who fully understood him. She wrote of a creator whose masterpiece is given the gift of life, but then realizes too late that the creation he was so proud of, is beyond his control. He must watch as his monster revels in self-destruction and eventually in anger and futility turns on it’s creator. The story is a very short one, only 2 and a half pages, but it carries such power. God describes the wonder and pride he feels for mankind as they evolve over time from basic animals to technological wizards, building cities and machines, learning and bettering themselves. But he also begins worrying as he sees the mistakes they make, building weapons, waging wars, killing and destroying.

The bright colors of His ground were darkening with Man’s blood, and there was precious little He could do to stop it. And all throughout, the voices of Man reached him with pleas for help, entreaties for aid against one another. He plugged His ears and howled against the cries of pillaged villages, the prayers of exsanguinating soldiers, the supplications from Auschwitz.

That is why He now locks Himself in His room, and at night sneaks out onto the roof with Frankenstein, reading again and again how Dr. Victor Frankenstein is taunted by his merciless monster across the Arctic Ice. And God consoles Himself with the thought that all creation necessarily ends in this: Creators, powerless, fleeing from the things they have wrought.

This is a collection that I highly recommend for anyone curious about just how the afterlife may play out. The three stories I mentioned are very bleak outcomes, but don’t let that turn you off, there are also many happy, funny and weird ones too. But the most intriguing aspect of all the stories is that they really make you think. Every situation that’s described could be real, could be what’s waiting for us all. These tales could lead to many a good debate, because there is no right answer, only the opinions and beliefs of the people debating them.

David Eagleman talks with On Point host Tom Ashbrook about Sum

Click here to go to the On Point website:
Envisioning the Afterlife

Or use this link to listen to the show:
Heavens and Hells and more

About The Author
David Eagleman, Ph.D., is a neuroscientist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. His forthcoming books include Dethronement: The Hidden Hegemony of the Unconscious Brain (Penguin Group Canada, 2009) and Wednesday Is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synethesia (MIT Press, 2009).

Title:	Sum: 40 Tales Of The Afterlives
Author:	David Eagleman
Book Genre:	Fiction / Collection
Book Type:	Hardcover 128 pages
Publisher:	Viking Canada
Publication Date:	February 2009

Other Reviews
Cindy's Love Of Books

Have you reviewed this book too?
Let me know and I’ll add your link to the list :)

Read-A-Thon ♦ Mid-Event Survey

Literary Letter Mini-Challenge

Love Your Library Mini-Challenge

Update 1 ♦ Read-A-Thon 04/09

Getting Ready For The 24 Hour Read-A-Thon ♦ 04/09

Tuesday Thingers – LT Style

Review ♦ The Forest Of Hands And Teeth

Easter = Jesus? Zombies? Peeps? $$$?

Review ♦ In The Forest

Anya Bast & Ginourmous Vegas Celebration Contest!

Tuesday Thingers – Brand Spanking New LT Widgets

Review ♦ Horns & Wrinkles

TSS: Off With Her Head … Please?

March 2009 – Reading Recap

Review ♦ Sum: Forty Tales From The Afterlives

Subscribe To The Book Zombie

Followers

Blog Archive

Labels

About Me