#9books9days

If you've been following our twitter (or our Facebook page), you might have noticed that I took a little trip!  And since I had nine relaxing days away from work, I decided to read nine books while I was away.

I'm only going to review seven of them today (you're going to have to wait until the end of the week when Alex and I do Bunnicula books), but I'm going to review the rest of them right here, right now, including TWO books that aren't out yet!!

Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld (Release date 9/29/15)

Really, did you expect a Westerfeld book to be bad?  Well, if you're waiting for one, this isn't it.  You have dynamic characters, who grow not only in their characters but in their powers too.  And you know what?  They pushed the envelope on what we think super heroes are.  We think of people with powers as either good or evil, but these kids?  They could really go either way.  And that's kind of what I love about this book.  At the end of the day, they're still just people.

Full Tilt by Neal Shusterman

This is one of Shusterman's earlier ones and, honestly, I was a little weary.  I had read Downsiders and had been a little disappointed, so I wasn't sure how I would feel.  the Unwind distology is a high bar to set, and some of his other writings hasn't met it.  However, Full Tilt isn't in that category.  It was gritty and in your face and really made you think about life.  It was this nice middle ground between Goosebumps and Fear Street.  Scary, but not so scary you had to put the book down.

The Lightning Thief Graphic Novel (Percy Jackson #1) by Rick Riordan

What is there to say about Percy Jackson that hasn't already been said?  Do I love him?  Of course I do.  Percy Jackson is one of my go to book series.  And, if your kid isn't big on the reading, I might direct you towards the Percy Jackson GNs.  Graphic Novels are great things, and I think they fill a certain niche.  But at the end of the day, this just doesn't even hold a candle to how good the first book was.

Poison by Sarah Pinborough

This one was the only real wildcard in my books this month.  All the other books were either ones I'd read before or by authors I adore.  Pinborough was the only author I knew nothing about, and really didn't know much about her books other than they were retellings of fairy tales.  But I like fairtale redos and the covers on her books look beautiful if nothing else (plus, I got them fairly cheap during employee appreciation.)

However, it was the biggest disappointment this week.  Really, Poison just ended up being the same old Snow White story we always knew, with a twist ending.  The only problem was that twist, wasn't really good enough to make up for the rest of the book.  Her writing was mediocre so, really, the book ends up just being something to look pretty on my shelf.

Sold by Patricia McCormack

I have found I have a love hate relationship with McCormack's book.  Some are AMAZING, some are... eh.  Some I think the topics are important, I think the execution just is a little wanky.  Sold I think falls into the last category.  It most definitely gets better as it goes along, but the beginning of it was just really slow and hard to get through (and not in the 'this is so terrible it's hard to read' kind of way.  In the 'this is kind of boring; please get to the story' kind of way.)  But once our main character had entered the brothel and we saw her deal with her life, her reality, and learn to make friends and negotiate her situation, I think that's where the real story came out.  So, good book, but one that you had to stick with to get there.

Rumble by Ellen Hopkins

I actually expected more out of this book.  That's not to say that I didn't like it, because I did.  I think I've just gotten used to the shock factor in her books and this wasn't one of those books.  BUT I will say that I really did like her approach to the ideas of religion and there being a God.  The main character of our book is an atheist, and there are varying degrees of religious belief all around him, from his overtly christian girlfriend, to his mildly religious aunt, who believes in a creator, but doesn't push it.  As usual, Hopkins hits those topics that people are afraid to talk about, like the idea of a creator, and how people believe, and THAT is what I liked about this book.

Another Day by David Levithan ( Release Date 8/25/15)

When I saw this sitting on the break room table just two days after David Levithan had posted a picture of the cover, words can not describe the excitement I felt.  Seriously, I was jumping up and down in our break room, I was so stoked (we hardly ever get ARCs that I TRULY want to read.)  And this book was every word as good as I thought that it would be.

Levithan really pushes the bounds of sexuality for us, really making us rethink what is male and female, gay, straight, does it even matter, if we're in love?  And I like that it's not a straight forward answer either.  A has been like that his whole life, but it's much harder for Rhiannon to get past the conventions.  Either way, Levithan construction a most wonderful love story that pulls at our heart strings.  I've been waiting for this book for years, and I was not disappointed for a moment.

Win a SIGNED copy of The Rithmatist

So Alex and I fully realize that we have been super busy and, maybe, just maybe, slacking a little as bloggers.  We are human and both are married with full times jobs.  I know; crazy.

But, we want you to know that we appreciate you guys for sticking around these past couple of months and want to do something to welcome new readers, so we're giving away a signed copy of The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson!

I know!  It's because we love you guys so much and want you to know it!  So, now the rules!

-You can do each thing once per day (So you can retweet us, share us on FB, comment, etc., once a day.)

-As much as I hate to say this, you must live in the contiguous US, as per usual, because unfortunately, neither Alex, nor I, have won the lottery or inherited a large amount of money since the last time we had a contest, so we STILL don't have the money to sent it outside the contiguous US.

-Contest HAS ALREADY STARTED SO GET ON IT!

-And it ends on Saturday, May 9, 2015 at 11:59 PM  We'll announce the winner on Sunday.

-Winner must provide us with a valid US address within one week of winning the prize.  If the winner does not claim the prize, we will pick another winner and the same rules apply.  If BOTH winners do not claim it, we can do with the book as we please.

-The prize will be mailed via USPS, no signature required, with a tracking number.  The number will be emailed to the winner the day that it has been mailed.  Alex and I are not responsible for delivery errors made by the USPS.

-All the rules/regulations/whatever else you can think of as a loophole are up to Alex and I.

If there are any questions or comments, just let us know.  Otherwise, we'll be giving it away in ONE WEEK!  Good Luck!

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Favorite Gross Book

I really like Scott Sigler.  He writes some awesome alien books, let me tell you, and the Infected series is awesome.

However, it is not for the feint of heart.  Sigler... as much as I like the man and his writing, I kind of feel like he's gross for the sake of being gross sometimes.  Sometimes not, and I will conceded that there is a point to the gross in the first one.  Our main character, Perry Dawsey, basically has an inferiority complex and feels that he can't show any weakness ever, so he doesn't do things like go to the doctor when little blue triangles show up on his skin and start talking to him.

Instead he rips them out of his own body by doing things like like burning his own arm on his stove.  You heard me.  He slams his arm down on a scalding hot stove burner, then grabs the head of the alien and RIPS it out of his body (by the way, this aliens embed themselves into your body and use hooks to stay there.  And he just ripped it out.)

The story line is amazing, and the concept great, but you really can not read this if you don't do well with gross things, and even if you do, I wouldn't recommend reading it on your lunch break.

When I tried to think of a "gross" book that I like, the first thing I thought of is that I love a good gory scene. So I redefined "gross book" to "gory book" in my head and had a lot of books to pick from. As we've discussed before, I had a pretty decent Stephen King phase (and there's all sorts of gore in Desperation, The Regulators, The Long Walk... the list goes on) plus there's quite a bit of gore in some of my favorite YA books like Ashes and parts of Unwind, and books like World War Z and I Am Legend. But I had to go with The Running Man for one simple reason. Have you ever thought about what it would feel like to hold your own intestines in your hands? Neither had I, until I read this book. And say whatever you want about Stephen King and his writing, but the scene I'm talking about is incredible. It's desperate, it's heart-breaking, and it's sick... and I love it.

Review Me Twice - A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

I was actually glad that Alex picked this book.  It was a short book, so I figured I'd get through it pretty quickly, I like stars and space and astronomy, so I figured I would enjoy it, and Stephen Hawking is supposed to be pretty funny, so I thought that would translate into the book.

None of these things happened.  Yes, it was a short book, but it was so dry, that it took me way longer than it should have to finish.  I do like astronomy, but the book was filled with a lot of technical jargon, making it hard to follow.  That's not to say that I didn't learn ANYTHING from the book, I did, but it was really hard to follow SO MUCH of this book, and if you didn't understand what he was talking about, he referenced back to things a lot later in the book.  I often found him referencing things I hadn't understood earlier in the book to explain things later in the book, making me then not understand them because I had grasped the earlier concept.

He also didn't let his supposed humor really show through in this book.  I felt like it was filled with hubris more than anything else.  A Brief History of Time is supposed to be the common man's version of physics, the stupid man's physics if you will, and I had a really hard time grasping some of it, which makes me wonder what the smart version is like.

This is a book that you need to read two or three times to really get a firm grasp of what he's trying to tell you, but it's such a dense book, I'm not sure I could get through it again.

I started off really liking this book. I thought it was pretty funny, in the way British humor (which I love) is funny. Later on, it got a little denser, like Cassy said, but I still enjoyed it. It's not something I would pick up for fun usually, or read over and over, but it was still interesting.

I definitely learned things, but there were also things that went over my head, which I fully expected. It was easy to start, harder to finish, but interesting all around. I'm glad I finally read it (it has been on my "someday" list for a few years). If you like physics/cosmology, but aren't a physicist/cosmologist, I would highly recommend this book.

Favorite Non-Fiction book

We've read a surprising amount of non-fiction on this blog, and I've ended up liking a lot of it.  And science we just talked about our favorite since book, we're talking about our favorite non-fiction book this week.

I don't think I have ever talked about this book on this blog before, which is a tragedy, because it's actually an amazing book.  Stepakoff is a writer for a ton of Hollywood shows, most notably, Dawson's Creek.  Basically, it was his idea to have Joey and Dawson kiss (at least... I think that's the kiss that saved the show.  It might I have been Joey and Pacey now that I think about it.  It's been awhile since I've read the book and I never watched the show.)  Anyway, the point is, he talks about all the things that go on in a TV show writing room, how intense writing for a show can be, and really is just open an honest about the industry.

It's a FUNNY book too.  You so rarely find funny and insightful memoirs these days, and I really felt like his was.  I didn't feel like he was trying to preach anything to me or make me think anything.  He was just telling me about his life, about his experiences.

The best part was is that I picked this book up on a whim at a discount book sale.  I think I paid a big old $2 for a hardback copy.  What's more, when I read it, and LOVED it, I went back to the book sale months later and bought another copy for Alex.

Outside of children's non-fiction and elementary and middle school textbooks, this may well have been the first non-fiction book I read cover to cover. It was assigned in my eighth grade English class and it was one of those instances where we were told to read, say, Chapters 1-3, before next class, and I read the whole book in two days.
This was the book that taught me that I like to be horrified by books. I don't, by any means, think the Holocaust is there for my entertainment, but I appreciate the way Elie Wiesel conveys the horrible things that happened in his life through the written word. I feel more connected to the events than I do when I read, for instance, Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl.
I learned a lot from this book, and it sparked my interest in Holocaust and WWII autobiographies and memoirs. I might never have picked up Maus if I didn't peruse the WWII section of the public library's non-fiction collection every once in a while, hoping to find another autobiography on par with this one.

It's An Epidemic

No Safety in Numbers in all about epidemics and spreading disease and people dying via a virus, so I figured I would give you some other great books that are based on viruses.  It's not really sometimes we read a lot of in this blog, so you're going to get some stuff we haven't see before!

The Birtchbark House is one that I read in college and is probably one of the best Native American literature books I've read.  Right up there with The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.  It follows the year of a Native American family in 1847.  We see them building their summer home, dealing with preparations of the winter and all of it is told through the eyes of Omakayas.

So why do I recommend this for an epidemic book?  Well, there is a huge smallpox outbreak and there is a large part of the book where Omakayas is dealing with not only her own sickness, but the sickness of her family and tribe members.  It's moving and heart-wrenching and just pretty much wonderful.

Ok, so this was a book I won a REALLY long time ago off of Goodreads as an ARC.  And, to be honest, the book does get a LITTLE over the top with all the things that happen to this family (seriously.  Everything that could go wrong, does.)  However, the book is about a massive outbreak of bird flu during a snowstorm.  The family lives in the mid-north west, (where the snowstorm hits), but the Bird flu hits the whole nation and lasts for years.

Even though the story line for the family is a little crazy, I do have to admit that Buckley is REALLY good at writing panic.  I FELT panicked reading this book.  I mean, really freaked out while reading it.  Definitely worth picking up if epidemics are your thing.

Who doesn't love a good parasitic alien is taking over the world novel?  That's what I thought.  I put this on the list because, while as the reader you know that it's an alien life form, the society as a whole doesn't.  They take over these bodies and infect them and drive them crazy and then completely disintegrate them so that no one has any idea what is causing all of this to happen.  As a reader, we only know because we're watching it happen first hand to one of the characters.

While I DO love this book and it's immensely well done, read it with caution.  Sigler is INCREDIBLY graphic.  I have a particularly high tolerance for things and there were even times that it was a little much for me.  So, if you're especially grossed out by things, he may not be the one for you.  If not, definitely pick him up.

Review Me Twice - Unwholly by Neal Shusterman

If we were going to kick of a new year, I'm glad we decided to kick it off with this book.  I don't know if any of you have remembered, but Alex and I both LOVED Unwind.  I named it my favorite book of that year, and while she didn't, it was a close second for her.  We both have mentioned it more than a few times, I fangirled over Neal Shusterman when I met him, and I recommend that book to almost everyone I possibly can.

It's good to know that Unwholly lived up to its predecessor.  We got to see all of our favorite characters again: Lev, Conner and Risa all returned, but they weren't the only ones.  We got to see knew friends and old.  There were new enemies and new risks and new things coming at them from all angles that they had to deal with.

My favorite new character was Cam, a boy who was made completely out of parts from unwound kids.  You're not really sure if you want to love him or hate him because, just like the kids who are unwound, his rewound status is completely not of his own doing.  So really, should you hate the guy because other people decided to take parts of kids and put them together into him?

I really liked the ending of this book, because you knew, just KNEW that things were starting to come to a head.  Book three is going to be filled with a LOT and a LOT is going to happen (alternatively, I just happen to know that book three and four were supposed to be one book and had to be split into two, so what does that tell you?)

If you haven't read Unwind, well really, why do you bother to read this blog, because we've been telling you to read that forever now, but really, Unwholly was just as good and should be picked up.

Loved it. Can I just leave it at that? Because I loved it. And then I read UnSouled because I couldn't stop. I'm currently awaiting Undivided from the library.

I adore the concept of Cam, the first Rewound person in the world. By the end of this book, I wasn't entirely sure whether I liked him or not (I made up my mind during UnSouled). I love what Lev gets up to in this book. I really like Miracolina, because other than her, you don't get much of the true tithe perspective (she really insists that she still wants to be tithed, for even longer than Lev did in the first one).

If you like Unwind, you will absolutely, without a doubt, like Unwholly (and UnSouled).

Remember: Neal Shusterman?

In celebration of a new year, we're getting a little retrospective... for the next five weeks, we're going to be reading and reviewing SEQUELS of books we've read before! And we're starting with a favorite author around here... Neal Shusterman! We'll be reading UnWholly, the second book in the Unwind dystology (there are four books total, plus a companion novella about Lev Calder).

So here's a little look back at the first book's history here on the blog.

We reviewed Unwind a little less than two years ago, in January 2013. Naturally, we both loved it. (If we didn't, we probably wouldn't be so eager to review the second book.)

That was back when we were still doing By Its Cover on Saturdays, so we also talked about the cover of the book.

When it came time for us to pick our favorite books we reviewed that year, Cassy named Unwind (and it was part of my own three-way tie, even though I talked about World War Z instead).

This year, Cassy met the man himself, which we'll call a belated birthday gift for her, and she was able to get us a signed copy of Unwind to give away to the lucky winner Brent! (And me, too.)

So, I think it's pretty clear that this is going to be an amazing way to kick off 2015 for us. Stick around throughout January for the rest of the Month of Sequels!

Win a Signed Copy of Unwind

So do you remember when I met Neal Shusterman?

Yeah, I do too.

What you may not know is that I have a signed copy of Unwind to give away to you!!

Mostly we want to say CONGRATS to all the NaNo winners and we want to say GREAT JOB to all the people who made a go at it but might not have won.  Basically, we're just proud of anyone who wrote this month, and as a reward, we're giving away this book.

I know: the excitement is unbearable.  So, here are just a few rules about the contest:

-You can enter once per day.  And you can do each THING once per day.  So you can tweet us every day and comment every day AND share the giveaway on Facebook.  So many ways to win!

-You have to live in the contiguous United States.  It's not that we don't LIKE people in other countries, but we just can't afford that shipping.

-Contest Starts today, midnight (so it's going on right now!) and ends, Saturday, Midnight.

-Winner will be announced on Sunday, December 7, 2014

-Winner must provide a valid address within one week of winning.  If they do not, the next winner will be chosen and the same rules apply.  If neither claim the prize, we will choose what to do with the book at our discretion. (probably give it away to one of our friends as an awesome Christmas gift.)

-Prize will be mailed via United States Postal Service, with no signature required. A delivery confirmation number will be provided to the winner upon mailing, via email. We are not responsible for delivery errors made by the USPS.

-At the end of the day all rules/regulations/entries/whatever else are up to our discretion. 

So start in with those entries, and we'll choose the winner in a week!

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Favorite Audiobook

This week, we're reading Ready Player One and I, like probably Alex also did, listened to the audiobook.  Mostly because Will Wheaton read it and who WOULDN'T listen to that, but also because a friend of ours recommended the book, based off the audio.

So this week, we're giving you favorite audio.

I just ended up really liking Lean In way more than I thought I was going to (business books not really the books I tend to pick up.)  I really love Sandberg's approach to the idea of leaning into your career, not being afraid of it, and not forestalling it because of something that might, one day, happen in the future.

She is basically telling to you plan your career based on the here and now, not on the 'what if I have a family etc.' of the future.  But she doesn't do it in a condescending way.  I don't feel like I CAN'T go have a family as opposed to a career.  She makes that part of my life as a woman, that choice as a woman, just as valid.  If I want to choose to be a stay at home mom, to give up my career because that what I want in life, then do it.

But she is very clear it should be MY choice, and not the choice of my male peers or society's choice because I'm a woman.  I shouldn't ever stay home or forestall my career because I think that I'm expected to.  It's really a wonderfully feminist book, in the right kind of way (totally supportive and there's no male bashing.)

But I also love the audio book because this woman reads it.

Who is that, you may ask?  Why, that's Elisa Donvan.  Here, let me put her in more familiar surroundings.

That's right: she was Amber from Clueless.  And while there were not "whatever"s going on in Lean In, she still did a wonderful job reading the book.

Have you ever heard Neil Gaiman read his own work? Have you heard him say the word "Cinnamon"? Even if you aren't an anglophile, you can appreciate that he has an amazing story reading voice. I love his audiobooks. "Cinnamon" is a short story that, at some point, I found on iTunes for free or really cheap, I can't remember which. I think it's the only audiobook in my iTunes, ever. I remember listening to it on a plane once (actually, a couple times... pretty sure I was flying to Oregon, so that's a five-hour flight and then a two-hour flight).

"Cinnamon" is very much a fairy tale... It's about a princess and her parents and a tiger and you learn a lesson from it, but it's an odd lesson.

Neal Shusterman Signing

Today, Neal Shusterman came to Barnes & Noble (yes, the one where I work) to sign books!  He also read from his new book, Undivided, the fourth, and final book, in the Unwind Dystology.  He was such a great sport about the whole things.  He signed books, took pictures, and stayed for like, two hours, talking to all the fans (and a certain blogger who might have been fangirling out.)

That would be Shusterman, reading from his new book, 

in the bookstore that I work at.

Of course, we reviewed his book way back in January of 2013 (that's almost two years ago for those of you keeping track), but it's popped up many a time since then because we loved it so much, most noteably later on that year when we told you about our favorite books of the year.

And, because it was a book signing, I OF COURSE got one signed for you bloggers.  We're not giving it away just yet, but keep and eye out, because we're definitely going to be giving away a signed copy of Unwind.

My Selfie with Shusterman.

The Top Ten

Just like last year, I'm going to give you the top ten books that have been challeged/banned in the last year (since it's 2014, this is the list for 2013.)  There are a lot of repeats (Captain Underpants is number one again!  Really!?)  But there are some newbies to the list too.

The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

Reasons: Offensive Language, Unsuited for Age Group, Violence

The Bluest Eyes by Toni Morrison

Reasons: Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit,  Unsuited for Age Group, Violence

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Reasons: Drugs/Alcohol/Smoking, Offensive Language, Racism, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited for Age Group

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

Reasons: Nudity, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited for Age Group (which is just silly, because it's an adult novel, so you're basically telling me either A. it's appropriate for people YOUNGER than an adult or B. it's inappropriate for everyone.  Everywhere.)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Reasons: Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited for Age Group

A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl by Tanya Lee Stone

Reasons: Drugs/Alcohol/Smoking, Nudity, Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Reasons: Drugs/Alcohol/Smoking, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited for Age Group

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Reasons: Drugs/Alcohol/Smoking, Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group

Bless me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

Reasons: Occult/Satanism, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Sexually Explicit

Bone by Jeff Smith

Reasons: Political Viewpoint, Racism, Violence

A good list this year (especially because we don't usually see graphic novels, so good for you, Jeff Smith.)  The usual reasons for banning book, sex, drugs and inappropriate topics, though I will admit, this is the first time I've seen Occult/Satanism on the list (though, I'm sure not the first time that it's been on there.)

What are your favorite banned books?  We would love to hear and tell us why they've been banned.  What "reasons" were given for the challenge?  

What Makes it Historical and Not Fiction

This week, Salem, MA comes up a lot in our book (which is being released on SEPTEMBER 2!!  So you're getting an early review of this book!!!!)  And, while our book this week isn't technically historical fiction, it does kind of have that feel and talk a lot about the Salem witch trials.

So what is that fine lines between a historical book and a historical fiction book?

A really good example of historical fiction is Phillipa Gregory.  She writes nothing but historical fiction.  Probably one of her most famous is The Other Boleyn Girl.  We've also reviewed The Queen's Fool.

These books are all based on historical events, mostly the Tudor family.  Elizabeth the first (appearing in The Queen's Fool) and Mary and Anne Boleyn, along with Henry VIII, who were in The Other Boleyn Girl, were all real people.  And a lot of the characters they portrayed in these books were accurate.  The Boleyn sisters were very prominent and lovers of Henry VIII.  Anne Boleyn did eventually become his wife.  Gregory did a lot of research about the time period and their lives and incorporated all of that into her books.

However, the relationship that Mary has with Anne is entirely fabricated by Gregory (might have existed, no one really knows.)  She created the conversations, the situations, all of the non-major events (and even some of the major ones.)  The books are, largely, fictional ones and should be treated as such, despite the fact that they're based on people that actually existed.

This book is called Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne by David Starkey.  It's a non-fiction book (a very good one at that) all about how Elizabeth I grew up.  It tells about how she was continually disowned and then readopted by her father.  She was in his favor and then dismissed, depending on his wife and his mood.  One second she was an heir to the throne and then the next second she wasn't.

Starkey tells us all about Elizabeth's life up until she claims the throne of England on Nov. 17, 1533 (PS I didn't even have to look that up.)  He tells us a story, just like Gregory does, the difference is, his story is nothing but fact.  There are footnotes and end notes telling us exactly where his information comes from.  He tells us when he's speculating and that it might be true, and it might not be true, but that there's no real way to tell, XYZ are just the reasons he thinks they are.

At the end of the day, the biggest difference between between the two genre is the, well, fiction.  Starkey can't tell us anything but the true, while Gregory is allowed a little more embellishment.  But, they both tell a good story.

Beach Reads

So, if you're reading this, I'm at the beach (I know; be jealous.)  And I figured there was a good chance one (or more) of you are going to the beach this summer.  So I'm just going to crank out a few books that are fabulous for sitting in the sun with.

I would be doing this list zero justice if I didn't start it off with a romance novel.  Really, it's the first thing that everyone thinks of when they think beach read.  What's more, this is one of the better romance novels out there (as far as these things go.)  You can read our review of it, or just pick up a copy.  After all, why not read a little smut on the beach?  What else do you have to do?

It's very rare these days that you get a book that's just ONE book.  No Sequels, no trilogies, just one.  And while Stargirl does, technically, have a sequel, it was so terrible I couldn't get pack chapter four.  So I like to pretend it doesn't exist.  But Stargirl is one of the best, most touching books about love and high school and "fitting in" that you can find.  It's fairly short, fairly uncomplicated and entirely wonderful.

This book is fun and a fast read.  It's just a bunch of quotes of really odd things Jen Campbell has heard over the years, working at a bookstore.  No plot, no need to pay a lot of attention and you can open it anywhere and start reading, which makes for a perfect beach read.

Sometimes, a little chicklit is all you need.  Confessions of a Shopaholic is funny, ridiculous with just the right amount of romance thrown in to make it a perfect beach read.  You can't help but love Becky Bloomwood, despite all the messes she seems to get into.

What are you reading at beach this summer?

Review Me Twice - The Dark by Lemony Snicket

This book was absolutely adorable.  I love that the Dark had a persona.  I love that Laszlo is afraid of the dark, but not so much that he's not willing to have it out with the dark.

By making the Dark a character, Snicket shows kids that there's nothing to be afraid of.  The Dark isn't scary or mean and there's nothing to be afraid of.  He just wants to help you out.  Snicket approaches the book in such a way that it helps kids stop being afraid of the dark, but not by shaming them.  He's telling them that being afraid is fine, normal, but showing them that maybe they don't have to be if they don't want to.

It's also beautifully illustrated.  Klassen does wonderful work on this book, like he does with all of his books.

I love Lemony Snicket. I love clever picture books. I love children's horror. I love the illustration style Jon Klassen brings to the table here. And I love the main character of this book, Laszlo, because he's a brave little boy who is going to do what he has to do whether he likes it or not. This is one of those picture books you should read to your kids because you'll enjoy it as much as they do (and it's one that I didn't feel weird about checking out of the library despite everyone knowing I don't have kids to read it to).

Review Me Twice - For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide by Ntozake Shange

This week, Alex chose us a play, which I like.  Plays are a little different than our usual pick and they can be really fun.

Ok, so I didn't like READING For Colored Girls.  It was confusing and hard to follow and no one had names, they had colors, which is a little hard to keep track of when you're reading.  It's also a lot harder to imagine faces.  The whole title of this play is, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf.  And all the woman in the play are wearing a color of the rainbow, which I think is cool.  But, again, not helpful when reading.

This play is very visual, so that's why I'm telling you not to read the play.  That's right, I am telling you NOT to read something.  Go SEE the play, or at least watch the movie that they made out of the play, which I did, and it WAS very good.  It was powerful and moving and made your heartbreak and showed you all the social commentary that Shange was trying to convey.

It's a WONDERFUL play, and I think it's very well done, you just don't get nearly as much out of it if you read the play.

I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. After learning about Ntozake Shange and what a passionate activist she is (which is great, you should fight for what you believe in, but usually those types of people make okay writers at best, because they're too focused on the message, not the story) I was concerned, but she tells great stories in this play.

I actually liked the colors-instead-of-names bit. I like that it makes the characters more of an everyman (everywoman, I guess) and I'm terrible at keeping track of characters' names when reading anyway, so it was helpful to me.

However, I do agree with Cassy that this play is probably better watched than read. I know that Ntozake Shange liked the movie version (the Tyler Perry one) but she said she wasn't sure she'd call it a finished movie... just something to keep in mind if you choose the film over the live version.

Author Bio: Ntozake Shange

The author of this week's book is Ntozake Shange (pronounced n-to-zaki shan-gay). She is best known for the book we'll be reading this week, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf but she has written many plays, novels, and poems, plus some children's books.

She was born Paulette Williams in Trenton, NJ in 1948. She and her family moved to St. Louis shortly after Brown v. The Board of Education and she was sent to a predominantly white school, where she was the target of racial discrimination.

Her family entertained many famous artists and musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie, Chuck Berry, and W E B DuBois, which likely fueled her interest in the arts.

After graduating from college, getting married and then divorced, and attempting suicide, she changed her name. Ntozake means "she who has her own things" and Shange means "one who walks/lives with lions" in Xhosa, which is one of the official languages of South Africa (spoken by about 18% of the population).

Review Me Twice - The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming by Lemony Snicket

This book was VERY obviously a book by Snicket.  Even if his name wasn't on the cover, you could have easily guessed that it was him.  There was a lot of sarcastically defining things that you obviously knew the definition to (much like his Unfortunate Events books.)

In fact, there was just a lot of sarcasm in general.  Such as, he kept referring to it as a "Christmas Story", but pretty much told you all about Hanukkah and not a lot about Christmas.  Which I thought was fun.  And the illustrations were also really good.  It honestly reminded me of the little towns that my mom puts underneath the Christmas tree every year.

I am not a huge fan of Snicket, but I did like this book and I am always supportive of authors who remind us that Hanukkah is a holiday too and that it's not all about Christmas.

I love Hanukkah. I love latkes and my future father-in-law's brisket and the songs and the story and everything. And now, I love this book, too.

I think Lemony Snicket is hilarious (not in a laugh-out-loud kind of way, but a subtle, English, "you should read this, it's funny" kind of way). And this book was everything I expected from him and then some.

Without giving it all away, we have a latke who, upon feeling the scalding oil he is to be cooked in, hops out of the pan and runs away, encountering numerous symbols of Christmas. It's weird, it's funny, and it appeals to both children and adults. It's a shame I've already started on Christmas presents for all my friends and family, because I would rather go to Barnes & Noble and buy 30 copies of this book to give out.

By Its Cover: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

I've already said a lot about the illustrations in these books, but today is the last day I'll be talking about them (probably).

As far as the cover goes, I think they're equally effective. (You didn't see that coming, did you?) I actually really like Helquist's cover (on the right). It illustrates what is probably my favorite story of the whole book. You've probably heard it before in the form of an urban legend. Basically, some kids are talking about how it's dangerous to stand on top of a grave because the inhabitant will reach out, grab you, and pull you in. One girl says she isn't scared, so her friends give her a knife and tell her to go stick it in a grave to prove she stood on one (because going to the cemetery with her and watching her do it would be... well, it wouldn't give us a story, now, would it?) So she goes, she stabs the grave, and turns to leave but she can't because something's holding her back. She's found dead the next day... because she had a heart attack thinking a dead person grabbed her, when really, she had just stabbed the knife through the hem of her dress and into the ground.

I like the creepy nature of the cover on the left, too, and I like Gammell's style in general. Also, Gammell's cover is iconic. You can easily identify that series by that cover. Helquist's on the left would blend in on a shelf (especially one dedicated to children's horror) and not stand out as much.

But, when all is said and done, based entirely on the cover, I like them both pretty equally.

Honestly, I like the grave cover better.  It's creepy and it's scary and it's got just the right amount of macabre in it.  I like when covers actually illustrate what's going on in the book.

The cover on the left still has a certain amount of creepiness to it, but honestly, the pipe in the skull's mouth... just makes me kind of giggle, which I think is kind of the antithesis of what they were going for.

Review Me Twice: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz

I was ridiculously underwhelmed by this book. It has been on banned books lists. It's scary stories for kids, which I usually love. It's classic to my generation, because I know several people around my age who remember it as being terrifying, or at least leaving an impression.

For the record, I read the version on the right up there. The one illustrated by Brett Helquist. (For more about the difference between the two, see my post yesterday about the illustrations.) I think that allowed me to pay more attention to the lackluster stories.

Perhaps as a kid, I might have found some of them more interesting and scary. But as an adult, I know all these stories. I've seen the Urban Legend series of movies, as well as Scream, and I attended my fair share of sleepovers back when I was a Girl Scout. None of this was new or interesting to me. (And if I recall correctly, none of it was actually scary back when I heard it the first time.)

And perhaps accompanied by Gammell's illustrations, the stories would have been more effective... but then again, his illustrations are effective all on their own; they need no accompaniment.

I can't help but feel like the only reason this book was on banned books lists to begin with was that Gammell's illustrations were too scary for some people, and now that it's been redone, that's why it dropped off the lists.

Hey!  Nothing like being late to the party.  Like Alex, I wasn't really that impressed with this book.  I vaguely remember reading it as a kid, but that's only because I recognized the picture and I have a good visual memory.

The pictures are sanitized from the original, but that doesn't mean they're still not scary.  Because there are pretty freaky looking.

I think the stories would be a lot scarier told by fires, in the dark, and out loud (kind of like the cover suggests.)