Blue Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews | Book Review

Throwback Review!

I originally read this book in October 2011, according to Goodreads, and I gave it 4 of 5 stars and no written review.  

Here's the summary from Goodreads:

The popular Mary Kay Andrews delivers a tasty holiday treat as she brings back the winning characters from Savannah Blues and Savannah Breeze for a little Southern cheer. It's the week before Christmas, and antiques dealer Weezie Foley is in a frenzy to do up her shop for the Savannah historical district window decorating contest--which she intends to win. She throws herself into putting up a Graceland/Blue Christmas motif, with lots of tinsel, an aluminum tree, and all kinds of tacky retro stuff. The project takes up so much time that Weezie is ready to shoot herself with her glue gun by the time she's done, but the results are stunning. She's sure she's one-upped the owners of the trendy shop around the corner. But suddenly, things go missing from Weezie's display, and there seems to be a mysterious midnight visitor to her shop.

Still, Weezie has high hopes for the holiday--maybe in the form of an engagement ring from her chef boyfriend. But Daniel, always moody at the holidays, seems more distant than usual.

Throw in Weezie's decidedly odd family, a 1950s Christmas tree pin, and even a little help from the King himself, and maybe there will be a pocketful of miracles for Weezie this Christmas eve.

I may not remember all the details, but I do remember loving this book!  In late October, I was already able to see Christmas on my horizon and this was just a perfect read.  There were a couple of different storylines going at once, but it never felt like the book (or the author) was trying too hard.  It all flowed so well.  And as I've said before, I just absolutely love books set in the south!  Savannah at Christmastime... I'd love to see that in person someday.  This is Book 3 in a series by Mary Kay Andrews.  The fourth book in this series is Christmas Bliss.  This is also the latest book in the series, published in 2013.  We're only halfway through 2014... not too late for Mary Kay Andrews to announce a fifth book featuring the dynamic duo of Weezie and Bebe!  Please?

Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos | Book Review

My sister-in-love recommended this author to me, and we read this particular book nearly concurrently.  As I write this, I have just finished the book and she has just begun and it's driving me INSANE because I want to talk talk talk about it with her but she's not done yet and I don't want to give her any spoilers!  Such an absolutely fantastic book.  I'm fangirling pretty hard over this new-to-me author and have already recommended her to my mother-in-love.

Falling Together is about Pen, Cat, and Will.  In college, they were a totally dynamic trio.  They were all the same major and they went nearly everywhere together and they just clicked together so perfectly that it was almost off-putting to others.  At one point the author describes, through another character, their mode of communication: they were were so in-sync with each other that shortened phrases, words, would ricochet between them.  It was like listening to conversational bumper cars.  When college ends and Cat gets engaged, the three break off their friendship 100%, cold turkey.  Pen and Will agree that they wouldn't know how to be friends with just each other, without Cat, and for reasons explained in the book, they know that they can't expand their friendship to include Cat's husband.  Fast forward six years.  A lot has changed in each of their lives, but Cat has just emailed Pen and Will for the first time since college.  She wants them all to meet up at their college reunion, and she desperately needs their help.  From the book jacket: "But instead of happy reconciliation, what awaits is a collision of past and present that sends Pen and Will, with Pen's five-year-old daughter and Cat's hostile husband in tow, on a journey across the world."  Literally!  No spoilers, but they really do literally travel across the world.  I love books that take me on a trip!  

Falling Together has so much going for it.  The author is a great writer; the sentences flow very naturally and easily, and convey so much emotion in so few words.  I tore through this book in just a few days.  I also totally identified with multiple characters, in different ways.  Occasionally a character would make an observation or have an epiphany and I'd go "Oh! Me too!  I hadn't ever thought of it that way..."  All of the characters were very human, quite imperfect, but you will love them all the more for that.  At one point Pen, Will, and Jason are asked whether or not Cat would want them to find her and they have to actually think about it.  I don't blame them.  They're not bad people, but are they good enough?  

A slight tangent, but I wonder if this book resonated with me a little more than it might for others, because I was also part of a tight trio in college.  My roommate, Ali, and I had a close friend, Sean, with whom we did nearly all of the freshman "things."  We were all the same major, we all lived in the same dorm building, we went to our first frat party together, we studied together, we ate together.  Sean and I were from the same hometown, and a couple of times he drove me to and from.  However, when Sean and I changed majors and Ali became a resident advisor for a different building, we all fell apart.  I wonder if it'd be easy to fall back together, like the characters in this book.

Back to the book, to the ending (no spoilers):  I liked the ending.  I think it's one of those endings that could make some readers really frustrated, or that some people may not like, but I agreed with it.  There was one last rollercoaster ride in the last three chapters, but then we sailed smoothly out the other side.  It is a decently tidy wrap-up, but not so tidy as to be unbelievable.  

*I received my copy of Falling Together from my public library.

Top Ten Tuesday

This is a neat weekly feature over at a blog I really enjoy, The Broke and the Bookish.  They read books similar to some that I've been reviewing, and they're fun and they write well.  Totally worth checking out!

Top Ten Characters I'd Want on a Deserted Island With Me

1. Anne from Anne of Green Gables.  I just know we'd be buds, and you'd definitely want some friends with you on the deserted island.

2. Stephanie Plum from Janet Evanovich's "Stephanie Plum" books.  She seems fun, and she knows her way around a stun gun.  She's tough, but also fun.

3. Hayduke from The Monkey Wrench Gang.  He's tough; he regularly goes out in the desert and survives on nothing but his hunting skills, canned beans, and beer.  And listening to him talk about conspiracy theories could be entertaining.

4. Velva Jean from Jennifer Niven's "Velva Jean" series.  She can sing, so that's entertainment, and she's tough.  She once survived being a spy in Nazi-occupied France.  Oh!  And she can fly planes.  So if by any chance we had access to a plane, we'd be able to get off the island.

5. Father Tim and Cynthia from Jan Karon's "Mitford" series.  This might be cheating a little, but these two really should automatically come as a pair.  They balance each other so well!  With Father Tim, we'd have a priest and counselor and with Cynthia we'd have a storyteller and positive spirit.

6. Bedlam from Elizabeth Corrigan's "Earthbound Angels" series.  He can "teleport" all over the world, so he'd be able to go fetch us food and supplies and whatnot.  And he's entertaining.

7. Perry from Veronica Rossi's "Under the Never Sky" trilogy.  He's used to living off the land, so he could help us hunt food and build shelter.  And he has super-heightened senses that could come in handy if we needed to keep watch for passing ships or planes to signal for help.

8. Josh Hanagarne from The World's Strongest Librarian.  This one is a slight "cheat" also, as this is a nonfiction autobiography.  But I still want Josh on the island.  He's nearly 7' tall and a body builder and a fellow redhead and he loves literature like I do.  So he can help with all the heavy lifting (literally!) and I bet he squirreled away some books on the island.

9. Vianne from Joanne Harris' Chocolat.  Because we will need someone to make chocolate.

10. Last but not least, Zuzana from Laini Taylor's "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" trilogy, just for entertainment and positive attitude.  

Looking back over my list I see a strong trend toward character who I would find entertaining.  So if you want to come on my desert island vacay with me, you better bring talent to the table!  lol  Who would you bring with you?

Requiem by Lauren Oliver | Audiobook Review

(Cover: ugh.  Not as bad as Pandemonium, but worse than Delirium.  Lena spends pretty much this entire book filthy dirty living out in the woods.  So when did she get her hair all silky and her eyebrows all plucked?  Why is she doing sexy in the woods?  There's a revolution on, people!)

So I finally finished this yesterday, praise God.  GROOOOAAAANNNNN  What a long and difficult book to listen to.  I'm considering reading the book in physical form to give it another chance.  It was the narration.  I'm trying to think back to the narration of Pandemonium but I can't remember it much.  It was the same person, but I don't remember it grating my nerves like this.   Here's the problem:  Every.  Word.  Was.  Emphasized.  To The.  MAX.  For.  The.  ENTIRE.  BOOK.  The narrator made it seem like Lena lived two months of her life at a constant state of near panic/heart ache.  All the time.  Even if she was just discussing foraging or scouting with her group, it was a level of ferocity that put me off.

I gave myself overnight to cool down a little and gather my thoughts and I think that the book itself was decently well-done.  And it had a pretty good ending for a trilogy-ending book.  And I liked the set-up.  Hence the reason I'm considering picking up a physical copy to try again on.

Requiem is told in alternating chapters between Lena and Hana, which was a smart move on Lauren Oliver's part.  This way we still get all the main character's action outside the city, in the Wilds, but we also get to know what's going on inside the city, where Hana is.  Through Lena we see the atrocities foist upon the Invalids--the horrible conditions inside the Crypts where prisoners are kept and the hardscrabble subsistence of the people living in the Wilds.  As the government forces more Invalids out of the cities, things become denser and tenser in the Wilds, leading to fights and theft.  And through Hana we see the realities of life inside the city:  only a very few are privileged enough to have electricity 24 hours a day and many people are living on severe food rations.  There's now a solid concrete wall around the city, so the residents can't enjoy seeing the water or the trees anymore.  

I am glad that I stuck through this to the end.  I liked the way in which the author brought the girls together one last time.  It was very natural and felt right.  I wanted to cheer at the ending.  It's not perfect; there aren't happily-ever-afters handed out to each and every character; but it's right.  It's a good ending.  I know I'll continue to recommend Delirium for a while yet, but I'm not sure I'll really push Pandemonium and Requiem.  Still, I don't consider my time "wasted" for having read them.

Stacking the Shelves

Stacking the Shelves

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Team Tynga's Reviews.  You can find their blog here:  www.tyngasreviews.com.  This weekly meme, which Tynga's team posts on Saturdays, is all about sharing the books that you received or purchased over the previous week.  Feel free to leave a comment with a link to your own Stack!  This week my stack is tiny; I'm trying to cut back on how many books I order through NetGalley and the library as I catch up my TBR pile!

Library
(Who doesn't love free books?  Go use your library!)

Drink the Harvest: Making and Preserving Juices, Wines, Meads, Teas, and Ciders by Nan K. Chase with DeNeice C. Guest--have already read this one and written the review, so look for that very soon!  I loved the book.

The Best Homemade Kids' Lunches on the Planet: Make Lunches Your Kids Will Love With More Than 200 Deliciously Nutritious Meal Ideas by Laura Fuentes

The Book of Not So Common Prayer: A New Way to Pray, a New Way to Live by Linda McCullough Moore--love love love the cover!

Book Art: Creative Ideas to Transform Your Books-Decorations, Stationary, Display Scenes, and More by Claire Youngs | Book Review

I can never resist checking out book art books whenever I come across them!  My job is to provide lots of programs for teens in a library, and I love doing book art with them.  Also, I love doing book art in my own home-I'm just nerdy like that.  And what else are you going to do with all the books you weed from work or home libraries?*

Book Art contained tons of great craft ideas, and almost all of them use a pretty short and standard list of supplies, like a craft knife and tracing paper and glue sticks.  I love when there's not a lot of front-end investment in crafting!  The author does a great job with the instructions for the various projects--they're not overly long or complicated, and very clear.  And she provides templates in the back for all of the projects!  

Doesn't the little street scene on the front cover of the book look gorgeous?  I might try something like that at Christmas time.  Could you picture a few books with street scenes cut out of them lined up on the mantel over the fireplace, with a little faux snow underneath?

But right now it's the middle of summer, so the first project I attempted were the greeting cards.  They're a combination of drawing/design and cut-out, and I must say I'm really pleased with the result.  Here's a picture of two of my greeting cards:

I made 14 cards over the course of three days!  I'm going to give a set of 12 to someone for a gift.  Not pictured: a snail design with a flower cut-out.  I used all different brightly colored cardstock for the cards.

I give this book 5 of 5 stars.  It's got easily approachable projects and read well and had lots of photographs.

*Actually, there's lots to do with weeded books.  Writing projects, like black-out or ransom note poetry.  Upcycling, like discussed in this review.  Sell them, if they're in good condition, to a local used-book store.  Donate them, again-if they're in good condition, to your local library or school.  Have a book giveaway on your book review blog.  Recycle them, if they're in poor condition.  Give them away.  Or use them for BookCrossing.com funtivities.  Did I forget any?  Please comment and let me know!

*I received my copy of Book Art from my public library.

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver | Audiobook Review

(Nope.  Not digging this cover.)

Throwback Review!

I originally listened to Pandemonium in June 2013... so just over a year ago.  I ended up giving it 4 of 5 stars on Goodreads, but I didn't write a review and I really can't remember why I gave it so many stars.  My lasting impression a year later is that I didn't care very much for this book.  I think if I were rating it now I'd give it 3 of 5 stars.  It's not the world's worst book by any stretch, but I did some struggles.  Maybe I gave it 4 stars out of peer pressure?  This whole trilogy was just completely blowing up the YA book blogosphere at the time.  And yeah, I can see a lot a lot of teen girls loving these books.  So that's probably it.

The first issue was completely my fault:  There were six months and dozens of books between finishing Delirium and starting Pandemonium and I didn't go back and reread the last chapter or read any book reviews of Delirium before I started.  Turns out there were a few details I wasn't clear enough on before we started.

The next issue:  in the audiobook you can't see differences in type to have any kind of visual clue as to who is talking when.  In Pandemonium the chapters alternate between being in the here-and-now and being in the not-so-distant past.  Yes, the narrator would announce chapter headings.  But I listened to this during my work commute.  I can't sit in my car and listen to books until it's conveniently between chapters!  I have to turn off my car now and go into work and just hope that 8 hours later I'll remember which time period we're in.

The next issue:  I don't know if it was the narrator's style of reading or the way the character was written, but I started to not really like Lena much anymore.  She's this weird mix of whiny and naive and adventurous.  

The last issue:  This is an in-between book.  It has an abrupt beginning and a cliffhanger ending.  This doesn't have to be, ya'll.  Go read Victoria Schwab's Archived books.  Or Elizabeth Wein's Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire books.  They have great beginnings, middles, and ends all on their own.  

I'm not going to say that this book isn't worth reading, but I would like to encourage you to read a physical book or ebook version of it so that you can see the type and see the time period changes.  And you'll definitely need to read it if you intend to go on to read Requiem.