The Time Traveler’s Wife- Discussion

Written By: Kellie - Jun• 10•11

DISCUSSION= SPOILERS!!!

I’m conflicted about this book. On one hand, I loved it… it kind of bugs my other hand. Part of this is my own fault. I was really enjoying the book and wanted to see what other people had to say about it because I was just dying to talk about it (I’ve seen the movie, no real risk of spoilers) and once people pointed out some of the books flaws, I couldn’t stop noticing them.

Starting at the beginning though… the cover. I love! the cover. It’s such a perfect representation of the entire story, it’s really fantastic. It was never really a cover I noticed before, I picked this book up because of the hype (I know, I’m a little behind), but in spite of the cover. Now I get it, and love it. I like covers that mean a little extra to people who have read the book so you can look back on it later on and remember why you loved the book. From a marketing standpoint, maybe not the best plan.

The story and concept were great. Such a cool idea. I also like that his time traveling came from a scientific phenomenon, not a magical one. It just happens… sometimes it sucks, sometimes its great. What made this story so interesting, was looking at the story from those left behind, specifically Clare, the title character. She’s normal, she has to wait for Henry to come back to her. Thankfully she likes being alone, so sometimes it’s okay. As she says (more or less) “sometimes I like being alone, but I always like when he comes back”.

Now, what bugged me. This book is more than a little pretentious. Not the characters, the book (won’t go so far as to say the author, it could just be a mood or setting she was trying to create. While Clare and Henry never seemed to look down on (or even really talk to) those who didn’t like their indie music or frequent art galleries or eat painstakingly described meals… it comes up, ALL the time. Past the point of being over done. Although, to be fair this is what I didn’t notice until it was pointed out… but once I noticed it became impossible to overlook.

I did like it better than the movie, but only slightly. They both had their upsides. The movie didn’t really have a lot of downsides, it was really well done, but there were so many details and characters lost in order to shorten the book down enough. I also thought it was really well cast, but that could be bias from seeing the movie (a few times) before reading the book.

So, what are your thoughts? Will this be the classic it’s predicted to be? How did the movie compare? Share with the class.

Posted in Reading , , | 2 Comments »

Gimme A Call- Sarah Mlynowski

Written By: Kellie - Jun• 08•11

Synopsis: Devi’s life isn’t turning out at all like she wanted. She wasted the past three years going out with Bryan—cute, adorable, break-your-heart Bryan. Devi let her friendships fade, blew off studying, didn’t join any clubs . . . and now that Bryan has broken up with her, she has nothing left.

Not even her stupid cell phone—she dropped it in the mall fountain. Now it only calls one number . . . hers. At age fourteen, three years ago!

Once Devi gets over the shock—and convinces her younger self that she isn’t some wacko—she realizes that she’s been given an awesome gift. She can tell herself all the right things to do . . . because she’s already done all the wrong ones! Who better to take advice from than your future self? -Goodreads

Review: This book has such a fun concept! A broken cellphone gives a recently heartbroken senior the chance to talk to herself, over three years ago. She has the chance to make better decisions and change the things about her life that she’s currently unhappy with. Great concept, lack luster execution. Not bad, just not great.

The story tends to jump around too quickly to keep track of and not all of the changes that happen are fully explained. As young Devi makes new decisions, older Devi instantly see’s the consequences, but sometimes this is taken too far. Not every decision you make (in terms of who to date, for example) is going to affect anything in your future. It got a little silly. A lot of the action and character motivations in the book seemed to just be there to move the story along. Plus, Devi never got the corresponding memories that came with her new life, so she was always left in a bit of a daze, so I was usually just as confused as she was.

Devi (cool name) tries to make a lot of the same changes that I would. Do better in school, do more extra curricular stuff etc. But the main thing she attempts to change is the three year relationship between her and her high school sweetheart, Bryan. You can see pretty early that she’s doing this for the wrong reasons, but it’s still interesting to watch. Older Devi also goes a little crazy on her younger self, trying to push herself as hard as she can. This is another thing I could totally see myself doing.

Kind of random, but I love the cover on this one. It’s simple but really grabs your eye. Just glancing at it my mom knew it was something she’d want to read after I was done.

All that being said, it’s still a fun, light read. I seriously finished this book in less than 2.5 hours, that’s a new record for me. Plus, I got to do it while lounging around outside in the summer, so I’ll definitely call this book a great summer read.

Rating:

Second Opinions:
@ YA Book Nuts
@ I’m Booking It
@ Story Snoops

Posted in Young Adult Books , , , , | 1 Comment »

Doppelganster- Laura Resnick

Written By: Kellie - Jun• 07•11

Synopsis: “In Laura Resnick’s Doppelgangster, the New York actress is ‘resting’ between roles by working as a singing waitress at a Manhattan mob restaurant because wiseguys tip well. Then duplicated gangsters appear, bullets start flying, and it’s up to Esther and her friend Max the Magician to fight Evil by stopping the gang war before it starts killing the wrong people. And if she has time, maybe Esther can actually keep a hot date with her hunky detective friend Lopez, who doesn’t believe in magic. Yet. Unplug the phone and settle down for a fast and funny read.”
—New York Times bestselling author Mary Jo Putney

Review: Alright, I’ll start off by saying I LOVED this book and then continue on by going right into complaining about it. My complaint isn’t about the book itself, just a really irritating mishap by I assume, the publisher. This is not the first book in this series! When you open to the list of books in this series, this is the first one listed, followed by two with little *’s to indicate they hadn’t been published yet. The whole reason I read this book was I liked the look of book number three in this series (which has in fact, now been published). I was willing to take the time and start from the beginning and they let me down. /rant

I should probably mention, that not reading the first book in no way took away from the story. I loved this book and will continue to love it even though a swap in publishers made for one very annoyed Kellie.

All that being said, this book was hilarious! The title alone should tell you something. It was laugh out loud funny the whole way through. It was clever, witty and very well written. I loved the main character, Esther as well as her mafia “sidekick” Lucky. The older sorcerer Max was a little harder to get to know, but apparently that was what the first book was for. Sorry, I said I’d stop.

I love that the mystery had a mob twist on it. I’m not especially a fan of mob stories, actually I’m not sure I’ve ever read one but it gave this story some unique flair that I’ve never seen before. It really helped to build the world that Esther lives in and the people that populate her life. Her cop, would-be boyfriend, even manages to play a roll in how the various crime families interacted with the main character. I cracked a smile every time someone chimed in with “You date a cop!?”

I’ll definitely be reading the next book in the series. I will not be going back to read the first though *shakes fist*

Rating

Second Opinions
@ Grasping For The Wind
@ SciFiChick
@ Enchanting Reviews

Posted in Urban Fantasy Books , , , , | 1 Comment »

Why I Love YA!

Written By: Kellie - Jun• 06•11

There has been a lot of hubub in the YA community over the past few days concerning an article in the Wall Street Journal, bashing YA fiction as a whole. The upside? YA lovers everywhere really came together to speak up about the genre they love. It’s been phenomenal. There were oodles of tweets on the topic of #yasaves, where people told their stories about how YA has helped them through the roughest patches of their lives.

This has really gotten me thinking about how much I love this genre. I make a point of shelving the teen cart as often as I can at work, just so I can look at all the pretty covers. Even more than I like to shelve fantasy books. Teen books have just come so far, there is such variety, brilliant writing and really something for everyone. While I haven’t been a teen for a couple of years now, most of what I read (maybe 65%) is YA. Interestingly enough, I’m reading more YA now than I was as a teen. I just find the stories so much more fulfilling then a lot of the alternatives.

As someone who works in a bookstore, it really bothers me how ill informed the WSJ is about the genre as a whole. The teen shelves aren’t just lined with dark, gritty and depressing books that don’t portray how most parents want to see the world their teens live in. Anyone who can’t see that isn’t opening their eyes. Isn’t seeing this genre for what it is. I’m dying to know how the author of this article is taking the outcry in response.

Now, I don’t really read a lot of the darker books that the WSJ article was referencing, but I support them 100%. Life isn’t always cupcakes and puppies (I’ll keep wishing for it anyways), kids are facing a lot of really difficult situations and having books that show them they aren’t alone is huge. At the same time, if teens (or their parents) are looking for something a little more clean cut and “wholesome”, that’s there too. There are tons of reworked fairytales and sappy romances if your looking to escape your reality rather than delve into it’s darkest corners.

What my store calls the 9-12 genre (middle grade) has tons of the type of books that teach strong moral lessons as well as exciting adventures. What I especially love is that some of the best books from earlier generations are still in print. so parents who want their children to read the same things they did, totally have that option. Babysitters club, Judy Blume and Nancy Drew are all readily available (okay, I only really know the girl books). So when kids are in that specific age group they aren’t being bombarded with too much darkness, there is still a sense of innocence. Once you reach your teens though, you need something a little different, you need to take away more from what you’re reading. And no two people need the same thing from books, we all have our own reasons for getting lost in the written word. In teen there is something for everyone, you can take what you need and leave the rest.

Anyways, I’ve gone off on a tangent because I could talk about these books forever and now I can’t help but look at things from the book store perspective as well as the blogger. I should even throw in that what I write is slowly edging away from fantasy and into YA because I’m continuously falling more in love with the genre. Not that I especially think I will ever write a book that could save a life, or even change one… but just imagine the possibilities.

I just love how everyone is speaking out and giving their take on things There have been some beautifully written rebuttles to this article, which really speak to why this genre is so important for teens and so important. One that comes to mind can be found at Word for Teens. Seriously, fantastic article.

YA is important, crucially so. The tweets I’m seeing have blown me away. I never imagined how much good these books were doing, they have literally saved lives, and will continue to do so, and not just teen lives. It’s a beautiful, wonderful, inspiring genre that deserves more than a little credit.

Part of me has toyed with the idea of switching this blog to purely YA because I just love these books so much, but I believe there’s room for a little variety in life, book selection and blogging. But one thing I do know is I’ll be reading teen books til I’m eighty (probably while squinting at super large print, reading on the high tech ereader of the future).

Posted in Reading, Young Adult Books , , | 2 Comments »

Perfect Chemistry- Simone Elkeles

Written By: Kellie - Jun• 05•11

Synopsis: When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created “perfect” life is about to unravel before her eyes. She’s forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she’s worked so hard for—her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect.

Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more.

In a passionate story about looking beneath the surface, Simone Elkeles breaks through the stereotypes and barriers that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart. -Goodreads

 

Review: I had been meaning to read this one for awhile now, and I wish I’d read it sooner. If I had, I probably would have read it five times by now, it’s that good. A definite rereader. This story is a beautiful, modern love story, somewhat reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, although in this case it’s their circumstances more than their families that try to keep them apart.

Alex and Brittany are so different but it’s easy to understand how they managed to fall for each other. Both characters are wonderfully fleshed out. The story alternates between both perspectives so you really get a chance to feel like you know these interesting, deep individuals. I like that we got to see the male point of view, where most romances focus solely on what the girl or heroine is going through.

I thought it might be hard to like Alex’s character. He’s a gang member, which is something I find a little scary. But he has his reasons, and it definitely isn’t all of who he is. His life is hard and that’s made him hard but he’s still an easy guy to like.

Brittany is a bit more of a typical character but she is so well fleshed out that you just have to think about the girls in your life that she reminds you of and wonder if maybe they have more going on behind the scenes than you would think as well. Brittany keeps everyone out, is extremely private and values her public image. But like Alex, she had her reasons for everything.

While the love story in this book is the reason I picked it up, there is just so much more to it. Some tough life decisions are made, friendships built and families whose lives just aren’t as easy as they appear from the outside. There is really something in here for everyone, but what will keep you coming back is the love story. *melt*

I managed to whip through this story in an afternoon because I just couldn’t put it down. From beginning to end, this book is masterful and addictive. Let’s call it additively masterful, or even masterfully addictive. Either way, it’s THAT good. Now I need to get my act together and find time to read the next book in this series, which follows Alex’s younger brother Carlos.

Rating:

Second Opinions
@ My Keeper Shelf
@ The Book Bell
@ Y.A. Love

Posted in Young Adult Books , , | 3 Comments »

Just Listen- Sarah Dessen

Written By: Kellie - Jun• 03•11

Synopsis: Last year, Annabel was “the girl who has everything”—at least that’s the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf’s Department Store.This year, she’s the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until she meets Owen Armstrong. Tall, dark, and music-obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth-telling. With Owen’s help,maybe Annabel can face what happened
the night she and Sophie stopped being friends. –Goodreads

Mild spoilers in this one guys… I got a little on the ranty side.

Review: This was my first Sarah Dessen book. I had been hearing so much hype that I was really looking forward to reading one of her books that I just picked at random, I’ve got to say, I was disappointed. Maybe it had something to do with all the hype but this book just didn’t do it for me.

It felt like nothing really happened. Yes, the budding relationship was adorable as budding relationships always are, but in terms of plot there really wasn’t much going on. It’s hard to go into details without giving spoilers (and I don’t dislike this book enough to rant about it in a discussion, I mean it was okay just nothing special) but most of the book focuses on things that have happened in the past, either to Anabel or her sister. Too much happens in flash backs and I get that they were needed for the story but it just didn’t seem to drive anything forward.

I liked the characters, especially the sisters Kirsten and Whitney, they were both really well fleshed out. But on the other hand there is a raving b*tch character who there was zero closure with. Maybe the message is that it’s best to just forget people like that, but I’m really more a fan of karma in situations like this. Maybe that’s just me? Owen was a pretty fun love interest, a little different from the usual heart-throb but definitely still likable and I did believe the friendship between him and Annabel.

Anyways, I can see how some people would love this book, no question. It just didn’t leave me with any kind of warm and fuzzies or anything to think about.

Rating

Second Opinions
@ G Reads
@ Anime Girl’s Bookshelf
@ Reading Teen

Posted in Young Adult Books , , | 3 Comments »

Game of Thrones- Discussion

Written By: Kellie - Jun• 02•11

SPOILERS! This is a book discussion, where  talk about specific aspects of a book I’ve read recently, there will probably be SPOILERS!

I don’t see much point in writing a review for this one as I’m admittedly jumping on the bandwagon kind of late so instead I’ll ramble on for a little while about the first book in George R. R. Martin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’. It took me over a month to get through this, but I still really enjoyed it. I just felt like I wouldn’t absorb everything if I tried to take it all in at one time. So I read a couple of chapters at a time while I read whatever else caught my eye at the time. I’ll probably take a month or so off before starting the next one. Oh and I should probably mention that I’ve been trying to watch the show but stay ahead of the reading so I read first and then get a refresher via the show.

Anyways, this book is so fantastically in depth, it’s really been a long time since I’ve read anything this well done. I always do this, I ignore all the hype surrounding specific books or series because I have too much else I need to read and then I’m kicking myself for not catching on later. I didn’t read Twilight until after the last book had come out, obviously the two series are on completely different levels, but you get my jist on being a fad slacker. I STILL haven’t read a single Hunger Games book.

There were some really great characters that I really rooted for but wowza, no one was spared. I can’t believe that Ned was killed off. He was the epitome of good guy and didn’t live past the first book. Daeny is my favorite though, I can’t wait to see what happens to her next. The final image in the book, of her naked with three baby dragons was just epic! I was disappointed Drogo couldn’t stick around though, as I’m a fan of the actor that plays him on the show.

Damn those Lannister though eh? Those are some badass, take no prisoners people. Jamie and Cerei are clearly power hungry and self involved but Joff is just evil. I know I’m not supposed to be rooting for Sansa, but always tend to root for the female characters so I hope she gets her act together. Arya is obviously the more awesome sister, but jeez, why can’t those two just get along?

The wolves are another fantastic asset to this story. Those are some awesome pets and I suspect (because I haven’t managed to stay all that spoiler free) they will play a bigger role as the story goes on.

I assume we’re going to get some new POV characters as more get killed off and I’m curious to see who we get next. There’s no way I’ll be done the series by the time the new book comes out, I’m not even going to try as these are obviously not books you can rush but I am really looking forward to continuing on with these books.

So, how about you? Have you read A Game of Thrones? Sometimes it feels like I was the only one who hadn’t. I’d love to hear any thoughts you have just please, please don’t spoil the rest of the series for me.

Posted in Reading , , | 2 Comments »

Giveaway- Cinder and Ella by Melissa Lemon

Written By: Kellie - Jun• 01•11

Ladies and gentlemen!!! It is time for ReaWrite’s first ever give away, in celebration of Melissa Lemon’s blog tour for Cinder and Ella. The winner will receive their choice of either a Cinder and Ella ARC or an ebook copy of the book, your choice.

To Enter, just click the button below and fill out the form. You will gain one additional entry for following ReaWrite and one additional entry for following Melissa’s blog, HERE. Even if you’ve just become a follower today, it still counts! Winner will be chosen at random.

Enter Here

Posted in Fun Stuff & Promos , , , | No Comments »

Melissa Lemon Interview

Written By: Kellie - Jun• 01•11


Woo, finally June 1st. Today kicks off Melissa Lemon’s blog tour to promote her upcoming book, Cinder and Ella. Melissa was kind enough to answer a few questions about herself, the book and how she writes.  Enjoy!

Q- Tell us a little about yourself?
Hmmm, let’s see.  I’m short.  I’m married and have three beautiful daughters.  I love rain and the color blue.  Two of my favorite things are writing and running, but never at the same time.

Q- How long have you been writing?
Almost as long as I can remember.  It is one of those things where you love it so much that it’s hard to believe it could actually be considered work.

Q- What is Cinder and Ella a story about?
Cinder and Ella are sisters trying to keep their family together after their father’s disappearance.  When Cinder leaves for work at the castle, Ella finds their home unbearable and leaves herself.  But she is found by a handsome, young knight and brought to the castle as well, which proves to be the most dangerous place for both her and Cinder.  When Ella learns what the evil prince keeps in the tower above his chambers, she will stop at nothing to destroy him.

Q- What inspired you to rework the classic fairy tale, Cinderella? And why did you take it the direction that you did?
I’ve always loved the story Cinderella, probably because, to me, she is the most human of all fairy tale characters.  I thought it needed a fun, fresh twist, hence the two sisters and a bit of the supernatural.

Q- How did you decide which aspects of the original Cinderella story, like step-sisters and Prince Charming, that you would keep and which to discard?
With Cinder and Ella, I kind of threw it all out, or at least tweaked everything.  I really wanted it to be fresh because it has been done so many times before.

Q- What kind of books do you read? Any favourites?
I love classics.  Some of my favorites are A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

Q- How did you go about plotting Cinder and Ella?
With Cinder and Ella, I had thought everything out quite a bit before the writing even began, but things came a piece at a time.  The first idea was to have the two sisters make up Cinderella.  Then there had to be a reason for that, which brought the mother’s insanity.  There had to be a reason for that as well, so I made the father disappear, and so on.  I keep several notebooks around so I can write down ideas or bits of dialogue as they come.  Once I have something thought out pretty well, I just start writing and see where things go.  That is one of the most amazing things about writing—seeing how things evolve as you start putting the words down.

Q- How long did it take you to write, start to finish? How many drafts were involved?
After about six months of brainstorming, my first rough draft took about three weeks.  From there, it’s been through four or five drafts which have taken around 18 months.

Q- Have you started working on your next project?
Yes, I’m always working on my next project!  Right now I’m working on a YA science fiction novel and I am loving it!  I hope to do a few more retellings as well.

Q- Where do you hope to be, as a writer, ten years from now?
I would love to get one book out a year, so I guess in ten years that would be ten books.  I hope that writing is always a part of my life and that I continue to learn and improve.

Thanks again Melissa for answering all these! You can follow Melissa at her blog HERE or on Twitter, HERE.

Everyone else, be sure to check back later today for ReaWrites first ever give away. Enter for your chance to win either an ARC or ebook of Cinder and Ella! In the mean time, check out today’s other tour stop I Like These Books!

Posted in Fun Stuff & Promos, Reading , , , | 3 Comments »

Cinder and Ella- Melissa Lemon (BLOG TOUR!!)

Written By: Kellie - Jun• 01•11

Synposis: After their father’s disappearance, Cinder leaves home for a servant job at the castle. But it isn’t long before her sister Ella is brought to the castle herself—the most dangerous place in all the kingdom for both her and Cinder. Cinder and Ella is a Cinderella story like no other and one you’ll never forget.

Review: We’ve all heard the story a million, billion times. Girl leads hard life, girl has crappy family, girl goes to ball, girl meets boy, girl lives happily ever after. Cinderella. We all know it. Or do we? Melissa Lemon has written a wonderfully creative new take on one of our favorite classics.  She’s left the bare bones of the story and has done something really wonderful with what she had to work with, and as someone who is a sucker for rewritten classics, I loved it.

I reviewed this awhile ago but thought I would tweak the review to the new review style in celebration of her blog tour, which starts today!! ReaWrite will be kicking off the tour later today with an interview from the author herself, Melissa Lemon. Very exciting!!!

In Cinder and Ella there isn’t one girl but two. Sisters. They try to make the best of a bad family situation (sisters don’t have to be of the step variety to be jerks) and from there… adventures ensue! I won’t give anything away, but the story is a lot of fun. It has all the makings of a fairytale and yet you never know what little twist is coming next.

Most of the characters aren’t taken from the classic version (okay, for me that means Disney) of the story and for me that was a big part of what kept this fresh. I didn’t go into this book with any preconceptions about who these people were supposed to be (prince charming, evil step sisters etc) so I never got pulled out of the story because something wasn’t going how I thought it should. My favorite was definitely Ella, but I thought her sister Beatrice was pretty hilarious to read as well.

One issue I did have with it is that sometimes this book read a little awkwardly, and I couldn’t always tell which age group this story was meant for. Granted, usually I know going into a story who it was meant for, so that might have helped but I do think no matter which book shelf this story ends up on, it will be a welcome edition. Anyways! The solution to the story reading awkwardly problem…

This story was meant to be read out loud! I noticed it a few chapters in, and while I didn’t actually read the whole thing out loud to myself, it was so clear that the language used in this book is perfect for reading to someone. I even found myself thinking about the different voices I would use for each character. It made the whole thing really come to life. THAT is the making of a true fairytale.

It’s awhile still before this one comes out but it is definitely a title to watch for! And again, check back later today when Melissa Lemon answers some questions on the book, writing and fairy tales!

You can pre-order your copy from Amazon!

Provided by the publisher via NetGalley! Thank youu!

Rating

Posted in Fantasy Books , , | 6 Comments »
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