Once Upon a Time 3

Last year I learned that reading challenges are not good for me. As soon as I want to participate in a challenge the books on that list become "required reading" and I have never liked that. BUT...
Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings holds two challenges a year that I look forward to and it is time for Once Upon a Time. http://www.stainlesssteeldroppings.com/?p=1083
So I will take The Journey which means I will read one book. Here is my pool of books

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
Onion Girl by Charles deLint
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Ghostlight by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor
Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Express Yourself Musically

Express Yourself Musically

Fiction
Brenner, Robin. Audrey, Wait!

Brooks, Kevin. Candy

Brothers, Meghan. Debbie Harry Sings in French

Castelucci, Cecil. Beige

Cohn, Rachel and David Levithin. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Korman, Gordon. Born to Rock

Krovatin, Chris. Heavy Metal and You

Kuehnert, Stephanie. I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone

Manga
Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad

Midnight Opera

Nana

Non-Fiction
Greenwald, Andy. Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo

Partridge, Elizabeth. John Lennon: All I Want is Everything

Punk. DK Publishing

Trevor, Kelley. Everybody Hurts: An Essential Guide to Emo Culture

Warner, Jay. On This Day in Music History

Magazines
AP

Revolver

Rolling Stone

Express Yourself in Writing

Express Yourself in Writing

Fiction
Cabot, Meg. The Princess Diaries series

Kinney, Jeff. Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Lyga, Barry. The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl

Payne, C. D. Youth in Revolt

Rennison, Louise. Confessions of Georgia Nicols series

Thomas, Rob. Rats Saw God

Townsend, Sue. Adrian Mole series

Non-Fiction
Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Arfin, Lesley. Dear Diary

Freedom Writers Diary

Johnson, Arne and Karen Macklin. Indie Girl

Riverbend. Baghdad Burning and Baghdad Burning II

Todd, Mark and Esther Pearl Watson. Whatcha Mean, What's a Zine?

Warren, Frank. Postsecret

Wrekk, Alex. Stolen Sharpie Revolution

Magazines
Merlyn's Pen

Teen Ink

Black and White by Paul Volponi

Marcus and Eddie are Black and White, basketball stars and friends nicknamed for their races. They are a team on and off the court. When they find themselves short of cash for the senior dues, Eddie shows Marcus his grandfather's gun and they pull off a few robberies to get the money. Once the dues are paid though the temptation is too great and they continue. One night the gun goes off and grazes a man getting the boys into more trouble than they ever anticipated.

The title not only refers to the boys' nicknames, but also racial lines and the nature of the truth. Marcus and Eddie tell their story in alternating voices. The story moves along at a quick pace. I really enjoyed it. A perfect book for boys and reluctant readers.

Yellow - An Action Adventure Yaoi?

Goh and Taki are "snatchers." (Ironic for a Yaoi title isn't it? By the way Alanis Morisette, this is an example of irony. You know, as opposed to anything in your song "Ironic.") Anyway, they get information on drug busts and it is their job to get the drugs before the authorities to make sure non-corrupt officials get them. Each chapter is a different case with new circumstances. The one constant in the story is Goh's love for his hetero partner Taki. I have a feeling there will be more sexual situations in upcoming volumes.

Bizenghast Volume 5 by M. Alice LeGrow

It had been so long since I read volume four of Bizenghast there was a HUGE plot point that I had forgotten about. Luckily, the reader is reminded of it quickly. Dinah deal with more vaults in the mausoleum but has trouble completing her tasks because of her grief. The first thing that drew me to this manga series was the art over the story, and I still like the art more than the plot. But on the other hand my favorite character would have to be Edaniel, drawn in such a sketchy fashion without a ton of detail. I recommend this series for teens who like Tim Burton movies.

More Seth and Ash!!!!!

There is a sequel to Wicked Lovely coming out in April! See?
Fragile Eternity Review

Thanks Leila for the info!

Wicked Faeries, Wicked Lovely

I've finally read Wicked Lovely and I think if faeries truly are the new vampires this book is one of the reasons why. It started out slow for me, but I stuck with it because it is a particular favorite of one of my friends and I love the character of Seth. In fact, I might be a little in love with him. Can we find me a grown up version? Aislinn has the sight and can see faeries in their true form. This gives her an advantage when Keenan, the Summer King, chooses her to take the test of the Summer Queen. So he falls in love with her but Aislinn is in love with Seth. Which really confuses Keenan because he is not used to modern girls. I wish Melissa Marr had gotten to the faerie action sooner. I prefer the second half of the book to the first. It just went faster for me. This is good for fans of Holly Black and Cassandra Clare.

Weekend Reading Review

I have a habit of having bookmarks in numerous books and lately I've been trying to finish up a number of these. I managed to finish two this weekend plus read a manga.

Marked by P. C. Cast and her daughter Kristin is the beginning of the House of Night series. A vampire series for teens! Can you believe it! *end sarcasm now* This book seems to be setting up the series and not a lot else. In this case, vampyres are known to the world and are marked as teenagers to indicate that they will begin the change from human to fledgling and eventually to vampyre if their body doesn't reject the change. Zoey's mark is special, it changes at a rapid speed, and she is advancing as a vampyre faster than normal. The climax of the book was a little bit of a let down. Most of the build up was for future books, so I suppose that I will read them someday.

Ain't Myth Behaving by Katie MacAlister contains two novellas. It is nice to have paranormal romance that it A) funny and B) not about vampires. I love my vamp books, but it's nice to switch it up a little. One story involves a fertility god looking for a bride in order to stay immortal. The other is about a group of Vikings who are cursed to sail for eternity until the captain can find the one who can break the curse. If I had to pick one story over the other, it would be the first one. But that's totally because of the image of toy poodles as hell hounds.

Shirley by Kaoru Mori takes place in Victorian England as did the author's previous series, Emma. This collects several short stories, most of them about the title character, Shirley, a 13 year old girl who takes a job as a maid. The stories go quickly and are charming.

A teen's addiction, an ordinary man's adventure, and an angel's mistake

Glass by Ellen Hopkins continues Kristina's struggle with drug addiction. The story picks up about three months after her son's birth. She falls back into drug use and is still searcing for unconditional love. Even though this story is sad and I really want to slap Kristina throughout the book, it is so gripping I couldn't stop reading. This one ends on a cliff hanger and I want Ellen Hopkins to write another volume about these characters. Do you hear that Ellen? PLEASE!

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman is an AWESOME book. Richard leads a hum-drum life, going to work and dealing with his fiancee (who I though was an annoying person). On their way to dinner one night, Richard notices an imjured girl in the road and insists on helping her ruining the annoying fiancee's plans for dinner with her boss. The injured girl is a resident of London Below, a magical place full of interesting and terrifying characters. This book is perfect for people who enjoy stories such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Un Lun Dun.

The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore is hillarious. Pine Cove, CA has many quirky residents that we meet in this story. As Christmas approaches, an angel arrives to grant a child's wish. Unfortunately, the angel's work is somewhat sloppy and his attempt at wish granting culminates in a zombie attack. I do believe Christopher Moore may be one of my favorite authors.

From the Stacks Challenge

Here is my list for From the Stacks:

Vampire Kisses: Blood Relatives 1 by Ellen Schreiber
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Magic's Pawn by Mercedes Lackey
Blood Sucking Fiends by Christopher Moore

Wow! That's a lot of supernatural stuff!

Vampire Kisses: Blood Relatives

This manga is a cute story that stands alone from the Vampire Kisses series. It focuses on Alexander's half-vampire cousin, Claude, and his three half-vampire cohorts. It is short so it's great for reluctant readers. I'm going to count this for the First in a Series challenge and the From the Stacks challenge.

Vampire Kisses 5: The Coffin Club by Ellen Schreiber

School's out for summer so Raven has the opportunity to escaped Dullsville for the more attractive Hipsterville. Not only is Hipsterville the home of Raven's ultra cool aunt but Raven suspects her boyfriend Alexander is residing their. She doesn't plan on sneaking in to The Coffin Club, but she does and stumbles upon an underground club within the club, run by and geared towards real vampires! It's not all bloody drinks and thrashing music though; there is a power struggle going on and Raven must avoid trouble while avoiding being outed as a human. This series is so fun. It's perfect for kids who are interested in the vampire genre but not horror novels. Even though it's not on my list, I'm counting it for the RIP challenge.

The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren

I was reading a paranormal romance that takes place in Sweden and a character mentioned Astrid Lindgren's World, a theme park devoted to Pipi Longstocking. I was floored. A theme park named after an author! How cool is that! This led to a friend telling me how much she loved The Children of Noisy Village when she was a child, so I just had to read it. Noisy Village is a grouping of three farms and all the children in each of the farm houses play together and have quaint Swedish adventures. I hope that children still discover and love this book, although it does let the cat out of the bag about Santa.

Magical creatures, a charming English family, and an ancient society

Spiderwick Chronicles: The Seeing Stone (#2) and Lucinda's Secret (#3): This series continues to charm me. I like the dynamics amongst the siblings and that they all have very different personalities. I look forward to the rest of these books, and also anything else by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi.




Forever Rose by Hilary McKay: It makes me slightly sad that the Casson children are growing up. According to McKay's website, this will be her last Casson book due to the age of the characters. This story takes place as Christmas approaches and Rose is stressed about lots of issues: mom, Eve, is sick and trying to finish paintings that she's making on comission, Saffy and Indigo seem far too busy for Rose, and Caddy is nowhere to be found. On top of all that Rose's teacher is a terror who won't let the class celebrate Christmas. After finishing this book, I wanted to read the whole series again from the beginning.

Last but not least, A Great and Terrible Beauty. I loved the magical elements mixed with Victorian London. I know that The Luxe is supposed to be the 19th century Gossip Girl, but I would love to see Felicity square off against Blair. The magic in this book definitely has the sinister feel found in the works of Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. This title is for the First in a Series and RIP 3 challenges.

Spiderwick Chronicles #1 - The Field Guide by Holly Black

I felt the need to move on to the Spiderwick Chronicles since I finished up Holly Black's teen books recently. I spent a splendid lunch hour being charmed by the Grace children and their discovery of fey creatures. I look forward to curling up with book #2, The Seeing Stone, when I get home this evening.

R.I.P. 3

I've followed this challenge the past two years and I'm participating this year. Even though I did not finish Once Upon a Time, I will succeed this time.

There are three challenges this year: one book, two books, or four books. I'll shoot for two, but will hopefully read four and not beat myself up if I only read one.

Here is my pool of books to choose from:
Rebecca by Daphne duMaurier
The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe
The Old Willis Place by Mary Downing Hahn
Jane-Emily and Witche's Children by Patricia Clapp
Thornyhold by Mary Stewart
Ammie, Come Home by Barbara Michaels
Marked by P. C. Cast
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Here's the challenge info --- R.I.P.

Book Update or Oh, that's right, I have a book blog!

I know I said I wasn't going to update more often and not do a ginomous book post. Oops.

First in a Series Challenge - Persepolis by Marjane Satrappi ---I loved this graphic novel memoir. The art conveys the story just as much as the text.

This puts my First in a Series total at four.

Young Adult Challenge - Valiant by Holly Black --- Val finds her mom and her boyfriend in an intimate situation and takes of for the city, only to get caught up in human/fey intrigue. This might be my favorite of Holly Black's three teen books.

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer --- I thought it was a satisfying ending to the series.

Ironside by Holly Black --- Kaye's story continues from Tithe. Characters from Valiant also figure in. I like how the stories meshed.

This completes my Young Adult Challenge. Woo-hoo!

Other random books - Hard Rock Akane Abe --- I was a little disappointed in this yaoi. It was closer to bi-shonen in my opinion. The love story between the boys in a rock band was sweet, but I was hoping it would've been a little juicier.

Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrappi --- I think it was wise to publish the two volumes together for the trade edition. It reads well as a continuous piece.

Dead Over Heels by MaryJanice Davidson --- I know, another vampire book. Shocker!

The Stone Prince by Gena Showalter --- This sweet paranormal about a tough Texas woman and an alien come to life from a statue reminded me vaguely of Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon.

I'm the Vampire, That's Why by Michele Bardsley

I don't typically read two vampire romantic comedies back to back, but this had been on the pile for a few weeks so I gave it a shot. Single mom Katie takes out the trash one night, gets attacked, and wakes up a vampire. A paranormal group called The Consortium turned Katie, and ten other single parents in her small town, after they had been attacked by a vampire with some sort of supernatural plague. The Consortium is working on a cure for the plague and buying up Katie's town in order to set up a community where creatures of the night can safely reside. Aside from dealing with her new lifestyle, Katie is also dealing with a hot vampire named Patrick who claims they are soulmates.
This story was cute. This doesn't seem like a series that will get boring because each volume focuses on a different recently turned vamp. I am looking forward to reading book two.

Undead and Uneasy by MaryJanice Davidson

There is something I love about the Queen Betsy series. MaryJanice Davidson has a knack for snappy dialog. This is the seventh book in the series and I still haven't gotten tired of the characters. This one wasn't my favorite but I still liked it. Garret, former fiend, has been feeding the still rapid fiends his blood and they have awoken and are more coherent. Of course, this means they're mad at Betsy for not helping them sooner. The excuse of "but we didn't kill you" doesn't work with them. The other issue in the book has to do with random deaths that detective Nick wants Betsy's help with. I read the book so fast I don't recall a whole lot about that. The plot was lacking, but it's a fun read nevertheless. I don't care too much for the new cover design. I read that they changed because the cartoonish cover was on a lot more paranormal romance and this was the perfect time to change covers since book six wrapped up the first story arc and this is the beginning of a three book story arc. When I see those cartoonish covers though, MJD is the first person I think of. I can understand why they wanted a change, but I do not think this cover reflects Betsy at all. She would never wear a bat necklace like that! She's miss designer shoes and can be somewhat prissy when it comes to her looks. Maybe the next cover will be better!