Top Ten Tuesday Rewind

This is a weekly feature from The Broke and the Bookish. 

This week is a "Rewind" meaning I can pick any topic I want. I chose Top Ten Childhood Favorites. These books are in no particular order! I like revisiting this topic, as I've always loved to read and my parents even used to punish me when I was a child by not letting me read before bedtime.

The Nina Tanleven series by Bruce Coville - I think my favorite was The Ghost Wore Gray, but I loved all of these books. They center around a girl who can see ghosts and she solves the mysteries surrounding them and their deaths. 

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder - I did read some of the later ones, but this was always my favorite. I used to pretend to be Laura and and make mud pies. Growing up in West Texas, I think the fact that she lived in a huge woods always appealed to me. And now I live not far from where this book takes place!

 

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis - I think I read some other books in the series, but I never liked any of them as much as I liked this one. I know a lot of people poo poo this book now because it's a Christian allegory, but when I was little, I didn't realize this and I loved Narnia.

D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'aulaire - I read this book so much when I was a child that my copy is falling apart. I loved the illustrations! I was also very visual, so I actually remember some of my childhood books by the illustrations rather than the plot.

The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone - I was pretty little when this was my favorite, but I would beg my parents over and over to read this to me. I loved it so much! Well, still do!

Are You There God? It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume - My favorite Judy Blume book. I probably read it when I was a little too young, and I think I read the outdated version, so needless to say, when puberty started for me, I was very confused by the "belts!"

The Witches by Roald Dahl - While I've read many of Dahl's books, this was always my favorite. My copy is also completely worn out, I read it so much.

Wise Child  and Juniper by Monica Furlong - I loved the world that Furlong created. It made me want to be a witch like Juniper. I also loved the medieval and British Isles setting. This book probably fueled my love for all thing medieval when I was younger.

 

Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman - Loved (and still love!) this book about a girl living in the 13th century.

Anything by Shel Silverstein - I especially loved his two books of just poetry, even if I didn't really understand some of them until I was older.

Links Roundup

Thanks to all the book blogs I've been reading, I'm getting overwhelmed with links to click on. I'm going to start posting the most interesting links I find. Some might be old, but are still worth a look.

Upcoming Trends in YA from YALSA's The Hub - I think the idea of a YA Game of Thrones the most interesting.

10 Ways to Support Authors You Love from Jody Hedlund's blog - Some interesting ideas that I hadn't thought of.

Fantasy by Women Who Broke Away from Europe from The Mad Hatter's Bookshelf & Book Review - Wow, this list is so expansive, and since I've been getting into speculative fiction, I like the idea of settings that aren't Europe.

A rant from Stacia Kane on book reviewers and authors. I've read a lot about this topic recently, and as a new book reviewer, I sometimes worry about an author reacting negatively to one of my reviews.

Book Borrowing Etiquette from Literary Exploration. I have trouble lending out my books, because of these kinds of issues.

On not judging book choices from Clear Eyes Full Shelf. I know I have been bad in the past for judging people for what they read, but since I've discovered genre fiction, I've loosened up considerably. And I don't call any of the books I read "guilty pleasures" anymore.

This post from Readventurer about adult book series the bloggers made me realize how I need to get on reading Native Star. And glad I only read the first Sookie Stackhouse book.

Retro Friday: Rosemary and Rue

Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted at Angieville and focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out of print, etc. Everyone is welcome to join in at any time! (From Angieville)

Summary from Goodreads: October "Toby" Daye, a changeling who is half human and half fae, has been an outsider from birth. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the Faerie world, retreating to a "normal" life. Unfortunately for her, the Faerie world has other ideas...

The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose pulls Toby back into the fae world. Unable to resist Evening's dying curse, which binds her to investigate, Toby must resume her former position as knight errant and renew old alliances. As she steps back into fae society, dealing with a cast of characters not entirely good or evil, she realizes that more than her own life will be forfeited if she cannot find Evening's killer.

This book isn't maybe the oldest or most under the radar books I could have chose, but I chose it anyway. I first heard about this author and this series on the Black Phoenix Alchemy forum. Seanan McGuire is a member over there and there is a whole thread dedicated to her books. I have been getting into sci fi/fantasy recently and have yet to read an urban fantasy. From all the glowing recommendations over at the BPAL forum, plus good reviews for the series on blogs like Fantasy Book Cafe, I thought I would give it a try.

The description on the back of the book made it hard for me to want to read it at first, however. I find that faeries have been watered down so much, that reading about faeries doesn't really appeal to me. I was hoping that McGuire went down the route of the traditional faeries, before they became like Tinkerbell. I wanted the faeries to have some edge and not just be light and happy pixies.

The story follows October (Toby) Daye, a half fairy, half human changeling. She was a private investigator for a member of the fairy nobility, and due to the drawbacks of a position like this, she was exiled in a pond as a fish for 14 years. The book begins not long after she has been transformed back into herself. Toby wants nothing to do with the faerie world, not surprising considering her past experiences. However, she is drawn back into the world, when an acquaintance/friend, Countess Evening Winterrose is murdered and Toby is the last person she calls. Toby is forced to investigate the crime and find the culprit, otherwise her own life may be in danger.

I had mixed feelings about the book. I did enjoy it, but there was a lot of info dumping from Toby and explanations of how the world worked. McGuire did a good job creating the world, but over half of the book felt like explanations of how the world functioned. The book is in first person, and it seems a little odd that Toby would be explaining things that are second nature to her, but I realize that McGuire has to set up the world. It wasn't until the end of the book that the action really started. There is a lot of build up and not enough action. I did like the world building, despite the info dumping. I loved all the little details that McGuire added, such as cats being in tune with the faerie world and the rose goblins. I really want a rose goblin after reading this book!

However, I have heard that the later books are excellent, so of course, I picked up the sequel, and I'm liking it so far, especially now that all the exposition on the world is mostly over.

I loved the characterization. Toby isn't a perfect character and even though she is a half faerie, she struggles with magic to the point that it can be crippling. My other favorite character is Tybalt. I have heard he features even more into the later books and I can't wait! Even Dare, a very minor character that dies, was well developed and I felt a little twinge of sadness when I realized she wasn't going to make it to the next book. I also liked how San Francisco was a character.

As said before, I'm on the second book and I can't wait to see where McGuire goes with these characters. Again, I love her characterization in the second book, and the ability McGuire has to make "monsters" likeable.

Waiting on Wednesday: Worldsoul

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature at Breaking the Spine.

My pick this week is Worldsoul by Liz Williams. This will be published on June 6, 2012 by Prime Books. What grabbed me was this, "What if being a librarian was the most dangerous job in the world?" Any book that starts with that will draw me in, of course!

Summary from Goodreads:  What if being a librarian was the most dangerous job in the world?

Worldsoul, a great city that forms a nexus point between Earth and the many dimensions known as the Liminality, is a place where old stories gather, where forgotten legends come to fade and die—or to flourish and rise again. Until recently, Worldsoul has been governed by the Skein, but they have gone missing and no one knows why. The city is also being attacked with lethal flower-bombs from unknown enemy. Mercy Fane and her fellow Librarians are doing their best to maintain the Library, but... things... keep breaking out of ancient texts and legends and escaping into the city. Mercy must pursue one such dangerous creature. She turns to Shadow, an alchemist, for aid, but Shadow—inadvertently possessed by an ifrit—has a perilous quest of her own to undertake.

Waiting on Wednesday: Gifts of the Crow

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature at Breaking the Spine.

My pick this week is Gifts of the Crow: How Perception, Emotion, and Thought Allow Smart Birds to Behave Like Humans by John Marzluff and Tony Angell. This will be published on June 5, 2012 by Simon and Schuster. While the focus of my blog is on genre fiction, I love non-fiction books such as this. I am fascinated by crows/ravens and have been reading quite a bit recently about how they are more intelligence than people give them credit for. I love reading anything that redefines intelligence and/or shows the intelligence of animals. However, I don't love the latter half of the title, because I think there is more to intelligence than human intelligence.

Summary from Goodreads: Stan Coren’s groundbreaking The Intelligence of Dogs meets Bernd Heinrich’s classic Mind of the Raven in this astonishing, beautifully illustrated look at the uncanny intelligence and emotions of crows.New research indicates that crows are among the brightest animals in the world. And professor of Wildlife Science at the University of Washington John Marzluff has done some of the most extraordinary research on crows, which has been featured in The New York Times, National Geographic, and the Chicago Tribune, as well as on NPR and PBS. Now he teams up with artist and fellow naturalist Tony Angell to offer an in-depth look at these incredible creatures—in a book that is brimming with surprises.     Redefining the notion of “bird brain,” crows and ravens are often called feathered apes because of their clever tool-making and their ability to respond to environmental challenges, including those posed by humans. Indeed, their long lives, social habits, and large complex brains allow them to observe and learn from us and our social gatherings. Their marvelous brains allow crows to think, plan, and reconsider their actions. In these and other enthralling revelations, Marzluff and Angell portray creatures that are nothing short of amazing: they play, bestow gifts on people who help or feed them, use cars as nutcrackers, seek revenge on animals that harass them, are tricksters that lure birds to their deaths, and dream. The authors marvel at crows’ behavior that we humans would find strangely familiar, from delinquency and risk taking to passion and frolic. A testament to years of painstaking research, this fully illustrated, riveting work is a thrilling look at one of nature’s most wondrous creatures.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Blogs/Sites You Read That AREN'T about Books

This is a weekly feature from The Broke and the Bookish.

This week it's "Top Ten Blogs/Sites You Read That AREN'T About Books.

Mine are:

1. Tom and Lorenzo: Blog that started about as Project Rungay, but has now morphed into a general fashion blog.

2. Cracked: I remember reading this magazine when I was little, and I don't know how I found the website, but they have a numbered list every day and some of them are VERY interesting.

3. Slate: Liberal news site with interesting articles, but my favorite feature is Dear Prudence, the advice columnist.

4. TV Tropes: Ok, maybe this one is cheating a little bit, but it's not just about books! It's such a good source for analyzing and thinking about all sorts of media and I don't even want to think about how much time I've wasted here.

5. Snopes: I check this website from time to time. I also have to use it quite a bit to refute a lot of things posted by Facebook friends.

6. Skinny Taste: Just discovered this cooking/recipe blog and I have tried making several of her recipes, all with good results.

7. Smitten Kitchen: Another cooking blog that I love.

I can only think of 7 that I really look at on a regular basis.

Retro Friday Review: Dani Noir

Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted at Angieville and focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out of print, etc. Everyone is welcome to join in at any time! (From Angieville)

This is my first time participating in this weekly feature. I hope to continue reviewing older books. I'll see if I can maintain it. My pick this week is Dani Noir by Nova Ren Suma. This book is only a few years old (2009) but I never see this book mentioned that much. I was first drawn in by the cover and the name of the book. The cover deliciously illustrates the mood and tone of the book. It harkens back to old film noirs, which is what the book is also based on. This is truly a cover that fits the book and the themes within.

It's the summer between 7th and 8th grade and Dani lives in a small town in upstate New York. She is obsessed with old movies, especially movies with Rita Hayworth. She uses films to narrate her life and to understand it, and she spends massive amounts of time at the local movie theatre, which shows old films exclusively. Her life is complicated by the fact that her parents are divorcing and her mother is falling apart while her father has moved across the river. Her best friend has moved away and Austin, son of the local theatre owner, spends his time annoying her or so she thinks. Dani is struggling with her parents' divorce and when she discovers that Jackson, Austin's older cousin, is being visited by a mysterious femme fatale, she finds herself in her own film noir. To unravel the mystery of this girl with the polka dot tights, Dani uses the detective skills she learned from watching these films.

The best way I would describe this book is cozy. I knew what was going to happen just from the first chapter, but I still enjoyed the book. The book is a mystery/noir and a coming of age story. I liked the combination of the two genres and thought the author did an excellent job of using the medium of film to illustrate the divorce between Dani's parents and the turmoil she is experiencing. Dani's favorite actress at the beginning is Rita Hayworth and this shifts at the end of the novel, which is a nice way to show the changes in her life.

The most interesting thing about the novel were the characters. Dani is not a perfect person, but she grows throughout the story. She is bratty, intelligent, selfish, curious and even caring at some points. At the beginning, she is selfish and while she doesn't completely outgrow this at the end, she has begun to realize that she has flaws, and that her parents, friends and acquaintances are flawed and complex as well. My favorite realization that Dani has is when she realizes that Austin has a crush on her and Taylor, her former best friend, has also changed and maybe their friendship can be rekindled. I also loved the character of Austin and while Dani found him annoying at first, his friendship with her was very sweet.

As this is Nova Ren Suma's debut, I thought she did an excellent job at making complex characters and I already have her second book on my to-read list.