Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:  Absolutely gorgeous book!  Maggie's writing is like poetry.  Her phrases are carefully crafted, her every word chosen to build the feelings and the theme.  I read a borrowed copy, but I will buy my own copy so that I can highlight phrases and words.  I also know who I would cast in the movie as Grace and Sam, so I will find pictures and glue them inside the cover.  I only do that when I am totally captivated by the story and characters!  This is a book that I will re-read many times, for the language, for the romance, for the human drama (mingled with werewolf drama).  I already love wolves but this story makes them so dimensional, so breathtakingly close, that I wanted to reach out and touch the wolf as Grace did.  Now I have to find out if the sequel is out, because I WILL have it!

I would recommend this for older teenagers and adults.

I Finally Joined the Twilight Club!

I fought it for two years.  I don't care for vampires, and I thought folks were making too much of it just some books.  OK, I was wrong.
These are such beautiful books, so well written, such wonderful characters.  Oh the memories Bella's teen emotions bring up! And really cool new takes on vampires and werewolves!
...So now I have read Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse, and I have Breaking Dawn waiting (when I finish Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater).  I bought the set in hardback, plus a companion book.  I have been saving movie photos from magazines and making bookmarks.  I have seen the Twilight movie twice and cannot wait for the New Moon movie later this month!
Now I'm even making silly fanart--sigh.

Next On My Agenda

A passionate recommendation comes from my 8-yr old daughter: the Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage that begins with Magyk, Flyte, and Physik. In September '09, two more books for the series and a companion book come out. There is also a great website for the series.

http://www.septimusheap.com/

Arthur C. Clarke Is Turning My Brains into a Pretzel

"Time's Eye" by Clarke and Stephen Baxter has aliens messing with timelines on earth, resulting in Alexander the Great going to battle against Ghenghis Khan, with some Colonial British troops (and Rudyard Kipling) and three soldiers from 2037 on hand. The mental meltdown comes in the last few chapters, when we learn what is going on. It was like sour candy--it's almost painful, but it is so much fun, I jumped right into the sequel, "Sunstorm." Then there's a third book, "Firstborn." Woooo-hooo!

Book Fair!

Every fall and spring our school has a Scholastic Book Fair. In August, I get the Book Fair for Fall on my calendar. The librarian is a buddy of mine, and my daughter and I get to shop "Sneak Peek" on Friday afternoon before the Fair opens Monday morning. Same thing, then, in January: I've got to know when the Book Fair is coming.

I adore Scholastic: great teaching materials, great prices on books, totally NUTS fun stuff for kids!!! I even do the classroom fliers and book orders, for the points to use on classroom goodies. So today, we got to Sneak in on the spring sale.

I bought: Bones of Faerie (hardback!), Savvy (hardback), Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism, Gamer Girl, and, for THREE DOLLARS IN HARDBACK!!!!!... The Sea of Trolls!!!!! One of my FAVES! plus it's by Nancy Farmer, who also wrote A Girl Named Disaster, another fave. Katie got a poster for her bedroom, and our total was $31. Not that it needs to be said, but we walked away from another stack of books we wanted, but I couldn't spend more.

Affected by Books

Before I read the Barcode Tattoo books, I was plowing through The Mediator series. The Tattoo books were good sci-fi, kind of heady, and I find I cannot settle back down to spunky Suze and her brand-name-dropping and worries about cute boys. I am moving on, instead, to Arthur C. Clarke. Hope I can handle it! I've only read one ACC book, "Childhood's End," and it kind of freaked me out. I think I'll go back and re-read that one, though, because that was a lifetime ago, before marriage, children, and BIG philosophical changes. Funny how what we read is affected by our current mood, our life changes, our current interests, etc. I'm just glad that summer is coming SOON with lots of reading time!

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The Bar Code series

Very interesting series! I think this is marketed to Young Adults, the packaging is kind of cheap, parts of the story may be hard to swallow, but overall the author did a great job. She really did a lot of research into science, bar codes, politics, social science, and...more. (I even got on the internet to do some light research on points and names she brings up, i.e. her Global 1 vs. the real world GS1.--something like that.) There are Biblical allusions, and the story's pro-Bar Code movement seems very much like a fanatical religious movement. The book made me think about the countless fads we jump into with a passion and no questions and the liberties that we take for granted in, at least, the U.S.A.

I took me a little while to get into the first book, but then I plowed through the book and the sequel. Worth a read, but be ready to think!

Bel Canto

A beautiful, touching book! This one stayed with me for weeks as I mulled over the characters and events. I still sigh when I think of this one. Terrorists take over an international party in a South American mansion, and the hostages are held for a long time (weeks? a month?) During that time, the hostages, translators, and terrorists begin to interact. Their emotions and relationships transcend language barriers. *sigh* I might have to read this one again...

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

One of the most important books for my life. Can't really remember a lot of details, but I absorbed more of an "approach" to life that helps me a lot. The most memorable moment in the book was when a bolt broke off in the motorcycle and the author (this is a "true" story) didn't know what he was going to do. Finally he stepped away, took a break, and came back. When he came back mentally removed from the problem, he figured out what to do to remove and repair the seemingly hopeless problem. So now when I am stressed about a situation, I take a break from it and come back refreshed and more clear-headed. It is also a great approach to writing: write, leave, return, and edit.

I Love Books...

Big books, little books. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry. Biography, autobiography, geography. Adult books, young adult books, kids' books. Old books, new books. Books with movies. Coffee table books. How-To books. Never....enough....time....