Review: Backward Compatible

Title: Backward Compatible
Authors: Sarah Daltry and Pete Clark
Genre: YA, romance
Published: 8 December 2013
Pages: 316
Rating: 5 / 10
Challenges: NetGalley Challenge

Synopsis: "A YA Gamer Geek Comedy in the vein of Scott Pilgrim and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Ideal for fans of The Big Bang Theory, The Guild, and all things Joss Whedon.

WARNING: There is no sex in this book. Your Kindle or other device will remain at a pleasant room temperature. At no point will your panties drop. Your significant other will be allowed to snore in peace as you read. You may, however, laugh yourself out of commission.

Not too long ago, in a town that, depending on your current location, is either not super far or actually quite close... (insert Star Wars theme music here...)

It is a time of chaotic hormones.

Two nerdy gents home for winter break have discovered a female gamer at a midnight release.

During the break, the gamer trio manages to reveal the game's secret boss, a hidden enemy with enough power to destroy anything in its path.

Pursued by other gamers who want to be the first to beat this boss, George and Katie race to level up, and, in so doing, restore decency and sexual activity to their personal galaxy..." (from GoodReads)

My Review: Ok, here's the thing. I'm not the target audience for this book. I thought I was (I'm a geek, I'm [relatively] young, I'm a fan of all those things listed in the synopsis, I picked up on almost every single reference in this book, etc), and yet I really didn't relate to the characters in this book. For one thing, they are REALLY immature. When they talked about being in college, I didn't believe them. I teach high schoolers with better socialization skills than these kids. For another thing, they are REALLY mean. And not just to the random mean girls who show up towards the end and harass one of the main characters; George and Lanyon, supposedly the best of friends, spend most of their conversations trading insults. When they game as a group, they gang up on one player in particular (a "hipster douche" who had the temerity to grow a goatee IRL) and constantly attack him verbally and kill him virtually. The two main geeks are pretty one-dimensional: Katie likes to game and has boobs! George also likes to game and he also likes boobs! Neither one of them really has much personality, and they don't really know anything about each other. Katie seemed like she was getting some characterization and growth (she appears borderline-agoraphobic and admits to feeling depressed and anxious about her budding relationship with George), but that is magically dealt with when he - no joke - pulls a Spider-Man-esque stunt and cheers her up. George, for his part, spends a lot of time quoting Shakespeare (along with literally HUNDREDS of pop culture references) and reading books, so of course he's an English major. I felt like these were stock "geek" types rather than being fully fleshed-out people. There was no need for George and Lanyon to constantly allude to Star Wars, Portal, WoW, etc. And some of the allusions didn't make sense! Sephiroth's forehead compared to a bright light? Seriously? And can we please, for the love of all that is holy, drop the "That's what she said!" jokes? There were other minor things that bugged me as I was reading (ripping on The Hobbit sequel, referring to it as The Hobbit 2, sexual harassment during said movie, Katie's vehement anti-girly agenda), but honestly I'm getting more annoyed now as I'm thinking about it.

Which is not to say that it was all bad. There were parts that I liked - the "secret boss" of the video game and what it entails reminded me of Ready Player One, but I really enjoyed the twist in this book. It's also got some humor, although a lot was lost on me because it involved insulting someone's mom or threatening violence or rape. Ultimately, it's a lighthearted romance that just didn't work for me.

Full disclosure: I received an electronic ARC of Backward Compatible from NetGalley.

Other Reviews:

If you have reviewed this book as well, leave me a message in the comments and I'll link to your review.

Review: Plain Kate

Title: Plain Kate
Author: Erin Bow
Genre: YA, fantasy
Published: 1 September 2010
Pages: 314
Rating: 7 / 10
Challenges: N/A

Synopsis: "A debut novel that's as sharp as a knife's point.

Plain Kate lives in a world of superstitions and curses, where a song can heal a wound and a shadow can work deep magic. As the wood-carver's daughter, Kate held a carving knife before a spoon, and her wooden charms are so fine that some even call her "witch-blade" -- a dangerous nickname in a town where witches are hunted and burned in the square." (from GoodReads)

My Review: I read this for my FYA book club meeting in January. It was definitely not what I was expecting, but I really enjoyed it. It's a beautifully-written fairy tale with a talking cat - Who doesn't love a talking cat?!? - and it's also one of the saddest books I've read in a long time. In fact, I waited to write this review because I was hoping some distance would help. Seriously, the last twenty minutes I was reading this book, I had tears pouring down my face and was a snotty, emotional mess. The tone of the entire book is pretty depressing throughout (mostly because Plain Kate CANNOT CATCH A BREAK, sheesh), but that ending just absolutely did me in. The world-building is phenomenal and fantastical and the characters are realistic and sympathetic. Even the bad guy has a totally justifiable reason for being bad (which is understandable, given the author's note at the end). But mostly, there are tears. I'm getting upset all over again just thinking about it.

Other Reviews:

If you have reviewed this book as well, leave me a message in the comments and I'll link to your review.

Review: We Were Liars

Title: We Were Liars
Author: E. Lockhart
Genre: YA, romance, mystery
Published: 13 May 2014
Pages: 240
Rating: 10 / 10
Challenges: Net Galley Challenge

Synopsis: "A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE." (from GoodReads)

My Review: I absolutely loved this book, even though the ending was like a punch in the gut. It's beautifully written and the characters are incredible (and incredibly flawed). I loved Cady and her stereotypical blue-blood family and her dysfunctional relationship with her mom and her obsession with fairy tales. Reading about her dealing with love and regret and trying to unravel the mystery of her accident was fascinating and heartbreaking and it ended much too quickly. My Kindle is a mess of highlights and notes, and I can't wait to discuss it with other readers. It's like Gossip Girl, Wuthering Heights, and Momento all rolled into one awesome, emotional YA novel.

Full disclosure: I received an ARC of We Were Liars from NetGalley.

Other Reviews:

If you have reviewed this book as well, leave me a message in the comments and I'll link to your review.

Vitro contest!

I think there's only one more day, but you can still join the fun!

Lucky No. 14 Reading Challenge

Yup, another one. There are 14 different categories. My list may change throughout the year, but these are the books I'm thinking about reading for it right now:

1. Visit The Country: In a Sunburned Country

2. Cover Lust: Diverse Energies

3. Blame it on Bloggers: Silver Phoenix

4. Bargain All The Way: 13 Little Blue Envelopes

5. (Not So) Fresh From the Oven: Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish

6. First Letter’s Rule: Jessica Darling's It List

7. Once Upon a Time: Picnic at Hanging Rock

8. Chunky Brick: In the Garden of Beasts

10. It’s Been There Forever: Pretty Monsters

11. Movies vs Books: Gone Girl

12. Freebies Time: Attachments

13. Not My Cup of Tea: Eight Girls Taking Pictures

14. Walking Down The Memory Lane: Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret

2014 NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge

My reading challenges for last year didn't go so well (meaning I didn't actually do any of them), but this one is something I should be doing anyway: reading and reviewing ARCs I receive from NetGalley! I'm going for the bronze level (ten books) because I already have five that I've been approved for and haven't reviewed yet. Four of them are from the Jane Austen Academy series, which I'm really excited about.

Completed:
1. Fall For You
2. So Into You
3. When I'm With You
4. We Were Liars
5. Backward Compatible
6. Suddenly You
7. Alienated
8. Mafia Girl
9. Diverse Energies
10. Black Canary and Zatanna: Bloodspell
11. The Here and Now

Review: Netherworld

Title: Netherworld
Author: Lisa Morton
Genre: Historical Fiction/Steampunk/Horror/Fantasy
Published: January 2014
Pages: 282
Rating: 2 / 10
Challenges: N/A

Synopsis: "In nineteenth-century Victorian England, a young widow finds that she has inherited more than her late husband’s property: The Furnavals serve as the ancestral keepers of supernatural portals scattered around the globe. When demonic entities begin crossing over from the Netherworld, Lady Diana realizes that a war is brewing, and she must be the one to confront it." (from Goodreads)

My Review: Disclaimer: I received an electronic version of this book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers list in exchange for an honest review.

Here it is: I didn't like this book. I had to force myself to keep reading, even though it's relatively short, at least by my usual reading standards. I found the characters ridiculous and unbelievable and the historical bits anachronistic, and a huge chunk of the book was incredibly racist and offensive. The story sounded interesting; I expected Diana to be a steampunk Buffy Summers, kicking ass and killing demons. Instead, she's more of a Mary Sue (and I hate to use that phrase). She relies entirely too much on the men around her, and for a character who is purported to be intelligent I found many of her actions to be unconscionably stupid. I think (hope) this is meant to be an alternate universe, which would make some of the quibbles I have with the historical aspects of the story forgivable (but still bothersome to me). The worst part was the section which took place in China. My boyfriend is Chinese (so maybe I'm overly-sensitive to stereotyping?), and I found the trope of the "noble savage" a bit hard to swallow. Don't even get me started on the magic cat (who can understand English and is apparently indestructible). Or the two (TWO) near-rapes Diana endures after being seduced by demons pretending to be her husband. Or the resolution of the storyline involving her husband.

This book was definitely not for me. Perhaps I'm just not a fan of the steampunk/horror genre. It is the first in a new series, but I will not be reading any others.

Other Reviews:

If you have reviewed this book as well, leave me a message in the comments and I'll link to your review.

Friday Links

Cleaning out my Instapaper links...

Interesting Reads:
Trust your memory? Maybe you shouldn't
"One conversation with Elizabeth Loftus may shake your confidence in everything you think you remember. Loftus is a cognitive psychologist and expert on the malleability of human memory. She can, quite literally, change your mind.

Her work is reminiscent of films like "Memento" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," where what you believe happened is probably far from the truth -- whether you're the eyewitness to a crime or just trying to move past a bad relationship." [via]

Masturbation Is at the Root of the Culture Wars
"The 19th century's secularized anxiety about masturbation was rooted in a fearful reaction to women's growing demands for political and economic power. Simply put, doctors and moralists feared that masturbation made men more dependent—and women less so. Kellogg and Graham worried that boys who masturbated would not only lose their physical vitality, but would become more easily influenced and even dominated by women. The boy who could resist pleasuring himself as a teen was learning the strength he'd need not to allow himself to be manipulated and hen-pecked by his future wife. At the same time, Granville, Baker-Brown, and their peers worried that a woman who learned to give herself sexual pleasure might pursue self-sufficiency in other areas. At a time of rising male anxiety about feminist demands for suffrage, female masturbation became an unsettling symbol of women's independence." [via]

Pope Francis: Being an atheist is alight as long as you do good
I already like him more than Pope Palpatine! [via]

For the Homestead:
Use a French Press to Add Flavor to Your Beer
These all sound delicious, but I really can't wait to try the Framboise with cocoa nibs - yum! [via]

The Best Pocket-Sized Tools for Your Inner MacGuyver

How to Build the Essential Toolbox for Every Level of DIY

The Sweethome
"It’s a list of the best home gear, each item chosen mindfully and in accordance with many hours of research and interviews with the world’s most knowledgable experts and testers, all in service of backing up our own testing and opinions. It’s not a blog. We don’t do news and we don’t post multiple times a day—we just want to help you pick out great gear and get on with your life." [via]

Literary Fun:
Four Literary Pub Crawls We Love

How to make a multi-book secret stash

Hi, there.

I'm still around, just really busy with school. Our brand-new building is beautiful, but my air conditioning doesn't work and I'm still getting used to the seven periods a day (as opposed to four 1.5 hr-long blocks). I'm hoping to get caught up with grading this weekend, which would give me more free time for playing on the Internet. I'm still posting (sporadically) on Twitter, but I do have a bunch of books to review and new recipes to post, so those will hopefully go up in the next week or so. Congrats to all the BBAW winners! Hopefully you'll all be hearing from me again soon. :)

Is anyone else reading Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters? I'm loving it! I'm only a few chapters in, but it's so much fun. I loved P&P&Z, too. It was pretty much 75% Austen, 25% zombies. S&S&SM is more like 25% Austen, 75% sea monsters, and it works. Poor Colonel Brandon with his face tentacles...

A Prayer for #owenmeany Discussion Post

So, chapter six. How's everyone liking the book so far? I really got into this one. I tried to make notes as I was reading, and I'll attempt to make sense of them now. Some are just thoughts, some are observations, and some are questions I had while I was reading. Feel free to comment below!

First thoughts: when I went searching for images, I found the three covers pictured above. My book has the third cover (with the dressmaker's dummy), but I thought it was really interesting that all three highlight a different theme or motif from the novel. Which cover do you have? Do you have a preference? It seemed like the armadillo and the idea of being armless weren't mentioned in the chapter, but it's possible I missed it. They did talk a lot more about the quarry and Owen's visions of his own grave marker.

One of the biggest themes from this chapter (at least, the one that spoke to me the most as a teacher) was education. Harriet Wheelwright has some very decided views of reading and writing:

She was a passionate reader, and she thought that reading was one of the noblest efforts of all; in contrast, she found writing to be a great waste of time -- a childish self-indulgence, even messier than finger-painting -- but she admired reading, which she believed was an unselfish activity that provided information and inspiration. She must have thought it a pity that some poor fools had to waste their lives writing in order for us to have sufficient reading material. (261)

I find it interesting to read about reading and writing. It's very meta for a character in a book (a narrator, no less!) to be pondering the importance - the worthiness - of reading and writing. It's not a major idea in this chapter, but as a reader it struck me, especially when compared to Harriet's almost-immediate love for television. Any thoughts?

Back to the education theme. Noah and Simon are being "saved" by being shipped off to Gravesend Academy, while poor Hester is sent to public school: "The idea that she was not in need of rescuing would surely have insulted her; and the notion that my aunt and uncle might have considered her beyond saving would have hurt her in another way" (269). Up until now, everything we've heard about Hester has been hearsay (from her brothers) or through Johnny's perspective (which we know is skewed, at least as regards Hester). Is she really that bad? It seems to me that she would have gotten a lot more out of a private school education than her brothers did - look how hard she worked to move up a grade, just to prove herself. And what really happened with that boatman in the Caribbean? For that matter, what really happened with Owen after the dance? Given all the religious symbolism, I'm inclined to view her as a sympathetic Magdalene figure, but I haven't read ahead so that may not be the case.

Other things I found interesting:

* Owen's continued anti-Catholicism: fearing the nuns, finding them "unnatural" and calling them "penguins;" using The Voice to change the school's fish on Fridays policy; his contempt for Catholic iconography and relics (while at the same time collecting "relics" of his own - the dummy, the armadillo claws, etc)

* The search for Johnny's father - any guesses as to who he might be? Will Johnny ever find out?

* The relationship between Owen and Harriet - they bond over LIBERACE (?!) and she takes on Tabby's role by getting him properly attired for the Academy

* Owen as a teacher - he stays back a year to help Johnny with his school work and even helps him learn to enjoy reading. He also calls being an English major "easy" (it is!) and I'm assuming that's what helped Johnny decide to become an English teacher.

* When Johnny talks about teaching, he mentions Thomas Hardy. Owen says that Hardy tells you everything you need to know: Tess is doomed, fate is against her. Johnny also talks about foreshadowing re: Hardy and we've seen it used a few times in the book so far. Owen says, "After I'm gone" (319), and when Johnny thinks about him in Canada, it's in past tense. So, I'm assuming something happens to Owen (he did see his own headstone, after all) and have pretty much resigned myself to bawling my eyes out by the end of this book. Anyone else?

* The idea of Owen as a prophet - he had that vision at the Christmas play, he knows that the new headmaster is going to be making big changes - is Owen just really intuitive, or is it something more?

* Owen as the Big Man on Campus - he's the one getting dates (but he'll only double, so you'd better bring a friend for Johnny!), he's influencing the hiring decisions at the Academy through The Voice, and he's not afraid to bite a big dude's toes off in a fight. Oh, and he'll sell you a fake draft card so you can buy beer. Does anyone else find this Owen strange and intimidating?

Anything I forgot? Mention it below! Let's get this discussion goin'!

Waiting On Wednesday: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

I've never done a "Waiting On..." post before, but when I checked my Google Reader this morning (okay - afternoon...I saw The Half-Blood Prince at midnight last night and needed to sleep in to get my seven hours) I found a bunch of posts about a sequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which I loved.

Are you ready for this?

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters! Heck yes. Although I think Persuasion would've been a better choice for sea monsters (Captain Wentworth, the Lyme Regis trip), I can't wait to read this book.

There's an official book trailer, too:



September 15th can't come fast enough!

48 Hour Book Challenge

Mother Reader is hosting the 4th annual 48 Hour Book Challenge this weekend, June 5-7. I missed out on the 24-Hour Read-a-thon this past time, so I'm looking forward to this one. The rules:

1. The weekend is June 5–7, 2009. Read and blog for any 48-hour period within the Friday-to-Monday-morning window. Start no sooner than 7:00 a.m. on Friday the fifth and end no later than 7:00 a.m. Monday. So, go from 7:00 p.m. Friday to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday... or maybe 7:00 a.m. Saturday to 7:00 a.m. Monday works better for you. But the 48 hours do need to be in a row. Edited to add: But during that 48-hour period you may still have gaps of time in which you can’t read, and that’s fine. In the middle of the three different challenge weekends I’ve had to go to work, attend a ballet recital, and drive for a Girl Scout event. You can certainly work around the other events in your weekend.

2. The books should be about fifth-grade level and up. Adult books are fine, especially if any adult book bloggers want to play. If you are generally a picture book blogger, consider this a good time to get caught up on all those wonderful books you’ve been hearing about. Two graphic novels can be included in the reading. I’m not trying to discriminate, I’m just trying to make sure that the number of books and page counts mean the same thing to everyone.

3. It’s your call as to how much you want to put into it. If you want to skip sleep and showers to do this, go for it. If you want to be a bit more laid back, fine. But you have to put something into it or it’s not a challenge.

4. The length of the reviews are not an issue. You can write a sentence, paragraph, or a full-length review. The time spend reviewing counts in your total time.

5. On your blog, state when you are starting the challenge with a specific entry on that day. This makes it easier to track the participants. Write your final summary on Monday, and for one day, we’ll all be on the same page, so to speak.

6. Your final summary needs to clearly include the number of books read, the approximate hours you spent reading/reviewing, and any other comments you want to make on the experience. It needs to be posted no later than noon on Monday, June 8th.

7. Sign up in today’s comments. You’re more than welcome to post the challenge on your site. Point them to today’s post to sign up. On Friday, June 5, I’ll have a starting-line post where you can sign in to say you’re officially starting the challenge.

I have a huge stack of books to read, and an even bigger stack to review. Maybe next month I should host a 48-hour review-a-thon...

Review: Rock Bottom

Title: Rock Bottom
Author: Michael Shilling
Genre: Fiction
Published: 09 January 2009
Pages: 400
Rating: 8 / 10
Challenges: N/A, but I did receive it through the LIbraryThing ER Program
Awards: none

Synopsis: (from the back cover)

Once upon a time, Blood Orphans were the next big thing. They had a fat recording contract, the swagger of the gods, and cheekbones that could cut glass. They were the darlings of the LA music scene. They were locked and loaded for rock-and-roll greatness.

And then everything...went...wrong. The singer became a born-again Buddhist who preached from the stage. The bass player's raging eczema turned his hands into a pulpy mess. The drummer, a sex addict tormented by the misdeeds of his porn-king father, was losing his grip on reality. And the guitar player - the only talented one - was a doormat cowed by the constant abuse of his bandmates.

Set in Amsterdam on the last day of Blood Orphans' final tour, this novel tells the raucous story of a band - and their heroically coked-out female manager - trying to get in one last shot at fame's elusive bull's-eye. Rock Bottom is a pitch-black comedy, a wild ride on the crazy train of outrageous misfortune, and a bighearted paean to the power of dreams. It heralds the debut of a fierce new voice in American fiction.

My Review: Full disclosure: I almost stopped reading this book in the first chapter. See, the first few pages are narrated by the bassist (the one with eczema) and the first chapter is an obscenity-laden quest for him to find some relief from his itching hands. It's really gross, and I immediately disliked the guy. Luckily for me, the narrative shifts several times in this novel (all the guys in the band get a turn to tell their side of the story, as does Joey, the manager), so I didn't have to deal with him for very long.

The novel takes place over the course of a day in Amsterdam. It's Blood Orphans last show, although not all of them realize it yet. They've been dropped from their label, a major magazine has described them as racist, and they're basically seen as a joke. As each band member takes his turn as narrator, we learn how the band got to where it is today. We also see a lot of fighting (mostly with each other, although there is an assault on a local protester - but he really had it coming), a little romance (true love, for real) and, of course, sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll. It's an interesting story, and I really liked the way that Shilling shifted the narration. It made me - well, not sympathize, exactly, but definitely allowed me to understand and appreciate what the characters had gone through in the past and how that shaped their present actions. None of them are terribly likable, except for maybe Adam, the talented and beaten-down guitarist. He's the one I was really rooting for, but I ended the novel feeling more like Darlo (the sex-crazed drummer with Daddy issues) was the hero.

All in all, it's a pretty good book. By the time I got to the last 100 pages, I was reading into the wee hours of the night just to get finished. I've always been a little fascinated by the music industry, so this was a nice (fictional) peek into that world, and I enjoyed reading about the characters, even if I didn't like them much. Does that make sense? Either way, the characters make this book. Shilling did an excellent job of giving each an individual voice. They were five completely different personalities, and they all came alive for me while I was reading. I wouldn't recommend it for the faint of heart, but I think it's a great book.

Other stuff: There's a Blood Orphans website, where you can read more about the band and the book and hear music based on the lyrics in the novel. It's actually pretty good!

Shilling's next novel is set in Victorian England, and I'm really looking forward to reading it.

Other Reviews:

If you have reviewed this book as well, leave me a message in the comments and I'll link to your review.

The Sunday Salon - 22 February 2009: Playing catch-up

Good morning, fellow Saloners! Things I've done over the past two weeks that have kept me from blogging regularly:

* Finished a shawl I was crocheting for my mom's birthday next month.

* Finished reading Rock Bottom, read The Tenth Circle, and started reading Matrimony.

* Received two books in the mail: Cassandra and Jane (thanks to J. Kaye for the giveaway!) and I Put a Spell on You (by my high school friend and amazing YA writer Adam Selzer). I can't wait to read these two.

* Taught my students about poetry. Some of them enjoyed it, some didn't. I had arranged for a rapper to come talk to them about rhythm, assonance, consonance, etc, but we had a few tornadoes coming through the area the night before and he couldn't make it.

* Remember that Austenland giveaway I had several weeks back? Well, I only had two people enter, so I decided to give both of them a book. Congrats to Chayenne and liane66!

* I also had an opportunity to watch the amazing Pierre Bensusan perform Friday night. He was voted the world's greatest guitarist last year, and after watching him, I can understand why:



Now I'm off to do some more reading and writing. Have a great Sunday, everyone!

Mailbox Monday

Look what I got this week!
The Rose That Grew From Concrete and the Dive trilogy were actually purchased at my local Waldenbooks (Rose for my poetry unit, and Dive because it was 90% off for all three books). I got Sag Harbor as part of the Barnes and Noble First Look Book Club; it sounds like a great book and I can't wait to get started on it. The 13 Clocks I actually ordered LAST YEAR and it just now arrived. I'm reading it as part of the Dream King Challenge.

Books Read in January

To give y'all an idea of how far behind I am in my reading-and-reviewing schedule, here are (in no particular order) the books that I actually read in January:

The Last Days of Dogtown, Anita Diamant (started in December, but finished in January)
Jane Austen in Scarsdale, Paula Marantz Cohen
Audrey, Wait!, Robin Benway
The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, Girls in Pants, and Forever in Blue, Ann Brashares
Aquamarine, Alice Hoffman
Bingo Brown's Guide to Romance, Betsy Byars
Taffy Sinclair Strikes Again, Taffy Sinclair, Queen of the Soaps, Taffy Sinclair and the Romance Machine Disaster, Taffy Sinclair, Baby Ashley, and Me, Taffy Sinclair and the Secret Admirer Epidemic, The Truth About Taffy Sinclair, Betsy Haynes

Here are the short stories I've read and not reviewed:

"Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket," Jack Finney
"Everyday Use," Alice Walker
"The Pedestrian," Ray Bradbury
"The Storyteller," Saki
"Lamb to the Slaughter," Roald Dahl
"The Masque of the Red Death," Edgar Allan Poe

I also re-read one book that I've already reviewed:

Enthusiasm, Polly Shulman (Yep, it was so good, I actually read it again three months later - seriously, if you love Austen, you need to get yourself a copy!)

I'm currently reading:

What Would Audrey Do?, Pamela Keogh
Rock Bottom, Michael Shilling
Song for the Blue Ocean, Carl Safina

So...clearly, I am off to a good start re: the YA Reading Challenge (12!), I just need to get off my duff and actually review 'em.

And would you believe I still have books from last year that I haven't reviewed yet? They are:

An Abundance of Katherines, John Green
The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Tale of Despereaux, Kate DiCamillo
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Ann Brashares
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: The Graphic Novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald, et al

Sigh. On the plus side, a lot of these are challenge books, so the sooner I get them reviewed, the better I'll feel.

Mini-Review: The Mating Season

The Mating Season, by P.G. Wodehouse, is yet another Bertie-and-Jeeves story in which Bertie does something ridiculous that could get him in trouble, and Jeeves has to step in and save the day. In this book, Jeeves is saving him from potential matrimony (the horror!) and a bad reputation. Bertie travels to a country estate in the guise of his friend, Gussie Fink-Nottle, who has been detained by the police for taking a dip in a public fountain after a night of inebriation. The ruse causes assorted romantic mix-ups, of course, and the day can only be saved by Jeeves' dry wit and clear thinking.

The diction in these books is one of my main pleasures in reading them, and The Mating Season was no exception:

Jeeves, in speaking of this Fink-Nottle, had, if you remember, described him as disgruntled, and it was plain at a glance that the passage of time had done nothing to gruntle him.

Fans of The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks will probably get more out of that quote than others. :) The Mating Season is a great book, very fun and funny; highly recommended.

Recipe Tuesday: Deceptively Delicious Tuna Salad

Today's recipe comes from Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food, by Jessica Seinfeld. I got a copy a few months ago in a white elephant-style gift swap. The recipes are a little unusual: to prep, you need to puree vegetables, divide them into labeled plastic baggies, and freeze or refrigerate until you need to use them. It's a little time-consuming, but it's nice to know that you're adding that extra bit of vegetables into the recipes. On the plus side, you can't even tell they're in there, which should be nice for you mommies who have picky eaters.

This tuna salad recipe is one of my favorites so far. You could also make it without the puree, if you don't want to bother with it.

Deceptively Delicious Tuna Salad

Ingredients:
2 (6 oz.) cans light tuna packed in water
1/2 cup cauliflower puree
1/4 cup reduced-fat mayo
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt (I used less in my 2nd go round; I found it too salty the first time)
1/8 tsp. pepper

Drain the tuna, then mix it with the other ingredients. Voila! Easy, if you puree the cauliflower ahead of time. I served it in a pita pocket with spinach leaves:

Mailbox Monday

This is my first time participating in Mailbox Monday. Every week, Marcia at The Printed Page hosts this meme. I wanted to share this week because I actually got quite a few books in the mail this weekend:


I got a copy of Rock Bottom from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers, and I won two cookbooks from Bethany: Katie Brown Celebrates and Confetti Cakes for Kids. My copy of Dumbing Us Down also arrived, but after I took this picture. Yay, lots of books!

To be honest, the recipes in Confetti Cakes look a little intimidating, but I'm willing to give them a try. Katie Brown Celebrates, though, is full of easy, yummy-sounding recipes. To celebrate, I cooked the Tomato Bread Pudding recipe that Bethany featured on her site. It is delicious!


I actually just had some for breakfast. Yum...

What about you? Have you received any exciting packages in the mail?

Books Read in 2009

E-Books:

Graphic Novels:
Fables #11: War and Pieces

Non-Fiction:
What Would Audrey Do?, Pamela Keogh

Novels:
Dead Until Dark, Charlaine Harris
Drawers and Booths, Ara 13
Jane Austen in Scarsdale, Paula Marantz Cohen
Julie and Julia, Julie Powell
The Last Days of Dogtown, Anita Diamant
Matrimony, Joshua Henkin
Mr. Darcy's Diary, Amanda Grange
Rock Bottom, Michael Shilling
Song for the Blue Ocean, Carl Safina
The Tenth Circle, Jodi Piccoult
Under the Tuscan Sun, Frances Mayes
1st to Die, James Patterson

Poetry:

Short Stories / Short Story Collections:
"The Cold Equations," Tom Godwin
"Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket," Jack Finney
"Everyday Use," Alice Walker
"Lamb to the Slaughter," Roald Dahl
"The Masque of the Red Death," Edgar Allan Poe
"The Nine Billion Names of God," Arthur C. Clarke
"The Pedestrian," Ray Bradbury
"The Storyteller," Saki

Young Adult:
Aquamarine, Alice Hoffman
Audrey, Wait!, Robin Benway
Bingo Brown's Guide to Romance, Betsy Byars
The Chronicles of Vladimir Todd: Eight Grade Bites, Heather Brewer
The Chronicles of Vladimir Todd: Ninth Grade Slays, Heather Brewer
Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, Ally Carter
Dial L for Loser, Lisi Harrison
Enthusiasm, Polly Shulman
l8r, g8r, Lauren Myracle
Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys, Kate Brian
The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, Ann Brashares
Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood, Ann Brashares
Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood, Ann Brashares
Taffy Sinclair Strikes Again, Betsy Haynes
Taffy Sinclair, Queen of the Soaps, Betsy Haynes
Taffy Sinclair and the Romance Machine Disaster, Betsy Haynes
Blackmailed by Taffy Sinclair, Betsy Haynes
Taffy Sinclair, Baby Ashley, and Me, Betsy Haynes
Taffy Sinclair and the Secret Admirer Epidemic, Betsy Haynes
The Truth About Taffy Sinclair, Betsy Haynes
ttfn, Lauren Myracle
The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin

Total books read: 20
Total amount to be donated to RIF through The Year of Readers: $20