What's it REALLY like to be a 13-year old Boy?

Black Swan Green by David Mitchell (294 pgs, Random House) answers that very question. I choose this book to read as a part of the NY Times Notable Challenge, and I'm certainly glad I did!

Black Swan Green is the name of the small village in Worcestershire where 13-year-old Jason Taylor lives. It's a sleepy little village minus the swans. The year is 1982, and Jason is trying to navigate his way through a maze of difficulties: bullies at school, trying to blend in, overcoming a stammer that could label him forever, parents at war with each other, an older sister that calls him "The Thing", a war in the Falklands, and gypsies that have taken up residence is the village. Can life really be so difficult at 13? You bet it can!

Eliot Bolivar is a poet that submits his writing to the local parish magazine. He is talented and writes eloquently. And he is actually Jason Taylor, our 13-year-old antagonist. But really, could a kid hold up his head in school if he admits to being a POET? I think not!

This book is chocked full of insight. It is exactly one year in the life of Jason Taylor. Mitchell's writing is so fantastic, you can actually see through the eyes of this boy. At first, it was a bit difficult to understand some of the British phrasing and terms, but that didn't stop any enjoyment I felt reading this book. When Jason was called on to read aloud in class, I actually could FEEL his fear in the pit of MY stomach. Trying to navigate through school without being seen, not popular enough to be part of the in-crowd, and not detested enough to be one of the lepers, Jason tries hard to fit in. And he has to fit in in a way that lets him live with himself.

One of my favorite passages in the book comes right at the end: "The world's a Headmaster who works on your faults. I don't mean in a mystical or a Jesus way. More how you'll keep tripping over a hidden step, over and over, till you finally understand: Watch out for that step! Everything that's wrong with us, if we're too selfish or too Yessir, Nosir, Three bags full sir or too anything, that's a hidden step. Either you suffer the consequences of not noticing your fault forever, or , one day, you DO notice it, and fix it. Joke is, once you get it into your brain about THAT hidden step and think, Hey, life isn't such a shithouse after all again, then BUMP! Down you go, a whole new flight of hidden steps. There are always more.

The entire book is filled with this type of writing and insight. The characters are all well-rounded, simple yet complex. This book will make you laugh and it will make you cry. And it will make you exceedingly glad that you never have to go through that horrible time in life again. I would recommend it whole-heartedly! 4.5/5

Who Doesn't Love Zombies???

OK....well maybe I don't LOVE Zombies, but I love the genre!! Starting with the cheesy Romero movies, all the way to the new "Dawn of the Dead" and "28 Days Later", I have a passion for them. But I have to say, I haven't read a lot of Zombie books. Enter Monster Island by David Wellington (288 pgs, Thunder's Mouth Press). This is the first in a trilogy of Zombie books that Wellington originally published online.

Some time in the very near future, the Epidemic hits our planet. What is this epidemic? We never find out: but it causes the dead to rise again. Dekalb used to be a weapons inspector for the UN working in Africa. After the Epidemic took his wife, Dekalb and his daughter were captured by a band of female rebels in Somalia, led by Mama Halima. Normally, a man wouldn't have a chance with this group of females. But Dekalb has special knowledge that the Somalians need: he can lead them to the UN hospitals. Mama Halima needs AIDS medication. After a lengthy search through many of the countries in the area, no meds are found. All the hospitals have been raided. There is only one place Dekalb can think of that will have the much needed medical supplies: The UN Headquarters in New York City. With his daughter being held as collateral, Dekalb and a band of teenage school girl rebels set out on a ship and sail halfway around the world to find the drugs.

Now we meet Gary, a man who used to be a doctor in the city. Gary decided the old philosophy "if you can't beat them, join them" was the only way to make it. With his medical training, Gary felt that the reason the Zombies were so slow and stupid is because of a lack of oxygen to their brain when they dead and before the reanimated. So Gary hooked himself up to machines to keep everything flowing through the death process. When Gary "awakened", he was still able to think logically and move better than the rest of the zombies. The only real difference is the hunger that is unquenchable.

This book was fun!! The best part of the novel to me was the change in Dekalb. He had to rewire his way of thinking: from a peace keeper to a survivor. It was really hard for him to pick up a weapon against others, even if they were already dead. But when it came down to it, Dekalb became the hero that he needed to be to save his daughter. Wellington tells a great story and doesn't go too over the top. The suspense level was high from page one all the way till the last page. Although, I must say, he left us hanging, BIG TIME, by the end. So I guess this means I'm going to have to read Zombie Nation now!! 4/5

Booking Through Thursday - Monogomy

One book at a time? Or more than one? If more, are they different types/genres? Or similar?
(We’re talking recreational reading, here—books for work or school don’t really count since they’re not optional.)


A lot has changed the last few years. Until recently, I was strictly a one book woman. I focused on one book at a time until I joined some of the Yahoo book groups. Then I started reading more books at once. It really isn't as difficult as I thought it would be. But I don't usually cross genres when reading. Right now, I'm reading a YA book, a coming-of-age book, a vampire book and 2 non-fiction books.


That being said, if I get really engrossed in a book, I will generally put all the others aside until it's finished. There are just books that are meant to be read immediately! Sometimes, I just can't wait!

Apparently I am Thoughtful!!

My wonderful friend Bonnie, who hosts many fantastic blogs, nominated me for a "Thoughtful Blogger Award". This was from her Words from a Wordsmith page. Please check it out. Fabulous reading!

I don't know if I'm really all that thoughtful, but I like to think that I am!! Truthfully, I just sit down and the words pour out. I like to write reviews of the books I've read, and I try to post lots of literary related stuff. Other than that, you will all have to suffer with some of my personal things as well! I'm supposed to nominate 5 more "Thoughtful" Bloggers. Truth be told, ALL the blogs I read are thoughtful! I missed reading everyone's thoughts when I was on vacation. But I will throw out 5 blogs that I do read daily.

• Wendy from Musings of a Bookish Kitty - Some of the best book reviews around.
• Chris from Book-A-Rama - Chris and I started blogging about the same time, and her book reviews and literary posts are wonderful!
• Chris from Stuff as Dreams are Made on - Chris not only has great book reviews, he also details so much of his life in New Orleans. A great person with a great heart and a great blog!
• Kelly from Kailana's Written World - Kelly is a reading machine! So many great book reviews! She is actually the one who talked me into the blogging world and I'm so glad she did!
• Nymeth from Things Mean a Lot - Nymeth has probably added more books to my TBR than anyone with her fabulous reviews on books I'm generally not familiar with.

GREAT Blogs! Check them out if you want to add to those TBR's!! Thanks again, Bonnie!

Later

We're Back!!!

And in need of a vacation from our vacation!!! What a trip!! Was it ever HOT!! I wouldn't recommend Florida in August to anyone......but the kids had a great time!! We met some friends there, so there were 8 of us all together. It's really hard trying to make 8 people happy at the same time, but we did OK. We flew in on Saturday, and checked into our hotel.

We stayed at the Pop Century Resort on the grounds. It's big, colorful, and totally cheesy (in a good way!) It was a lot of fun. We stayed in the "60's" which was full of Peace Signs and the "Hippy-Dippy" Pool with Flower Showers! (which was perfect after a long hot day at the parks!) It's one of the budget hotels, but it was well-worth the money. There were 3 pools, a food court, game room and loads of pop culture everywhere.

The first day we went to Epcot and ran the kids right into the ground! It's hard trying to see everything in one day. The lines were long, and the sun was horrible. But we did most of the rides we wanted and saw most of the sites we wanted to see.

We went to the "Princess Breakfast" at the Royal Banquet Hall at the Akershus in Norway (Epcot). The girls loved it, although the food left a little to be desired. I'm all for trying new things, but some of the Norwegian food wasn't really kid friendly!! But we got to see Belle, Aerial (that's the girls with her), Mulan, Snow White and Aurora. Sadly, Cinderella was a no-show, and we had to track her down at the Magic Kingdom, since she is Ana's favorite princess EVER! Chad was rather unimpressed with the Princesses though. What can I say? Boys!! After Epcot, we did go to the Magic Kingdom and rode all the favorites: Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, the Pooh Bear ride, Peter Pan's Flight, Snow White's Adventure and of course, Pirates of the Caribbean!! They have added some Jack Sparrow to the ride!! We saw the Electric Light Parade and the Wishes fireworks show.


The Animal Kingdom was fun too. The Kilimajaro Safari was wonderful and we saw so many of the animals. They have a new roller coaster called Expedition Everest which was a lot of fun....and had a huge Yeti!! The boy's loved it!! (our friends have a son Chad's age, so he had someone to pal around with too!) The Tree of Life is just amazing, and so is the 3-D show called "It's Tough to be a Bug!". We ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe which is always a treat. The brought out a "lava" cake for Chad and Belle's birthday and sang to them. They were too embarrassed for words!! Gotta love that.

MGM is probably my favorite, just because I love movies so much. I had to take the girls to the High School Musical Pep Rally. They are hooked on that show. It was a lot of singing and dancing and just plain fun! Here are the girls trying on some princess hats! The boys went to the Indiana Jones Stunt show and loved it, although Mike had a hard time getting the bullwhip away from Chad. Although it was cool, figured he'd use it on his sisters! The Tower of Terror is awesome!! It's a Twilight Zone theme, and it's entails getting into an elevator and having it drop! They also have the Rock and Roller Coaster which goes from 0 to 60 in something like 3 seconds!! It's in the dark just like Space Mountain, but there are lots of neon signs and Aerosmith songs playing.....loudly! Ana freaked out after the Tower of Terror, and wouldn't even go on some of the other rides!! She usually loves stuff like that too. But she had her fun. We saw the Fantasmic show which is absolutely incredible. Don't miss it if you ever go!! There is also the Great Movie Ride and lots of memorabilia from all the old MGM movies, like Dorothy's ruby Red slippers! Again, there is almost too much to see in a day. I think we ended up at MGM 3 times during the week.

We finished up our final day with a Pooh Bear Breakfast at the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom. It was just Ana and I, since Pooh Bear is our favorite. She was so excited to see Eeyore!! This is probably my favorite picture from the whole vacation! We also saw Pooh himself, Piglet and Tigger. The the kids got flags and got to join a parade! The food was wonderful!! Way better than the princess breakfast! They had a puffed French Toast that was to die for! Yummy!! Finally we took all the kids to Downtown Disney to do some shopping. I got the cutest Tinkerbell purse, Ana got a Minnie Mouse doll and a Princess Wallet, Belle got a Lady doll and a High School Musical necklace, and Chad got some sort of light and string contraption and a Pirates of the Caribbean sword and shirt. Fun was had by everyone.

Our flight was delayed coming home, but everyone was glad to get back. The doggies missed us terribly, not to mention the grandparents (who live down the street from us). It really is good to be home. Hope to catch up with everyone soon!

Later!

Walt Disney World.....Here we Come!

If I have been absent a lot this week, it's mainly because I've been trying to get ready for vacation. We are leaving for Florida tomorrow morning. It's a horrible time for us, and we really can't afford it....but this will probably be the last big family vacation for awhile. So it looks like we are going to do it up right!

'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane, I don't know when I'll be back again (OK...I do KNOW when we'll be back, I just had that song in my head!) Have a great week without me, and I will catch up on the 12th!

Later!

Letters!! We've Got Letters! Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday

Have you ever written an author a fan letter?

I can honestly say I've never written a "fan" letter to anyone, even authors!! Now, I DID email a couple of authors.

Did you get an answer?

Yes, I did!! When my bookclub was reading My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, we started questioning some of the circumstances. Why did the author write this...and why did she decide to do that. So....I emailed her and asked!! She was kind enough to reply the same day! We emailed a couple of times. Nice lady!

I also emailed John Shors when our bookclub was discussing Beneath a Marble Sky. He was also kind enough to answer all of our questions.

Colleen Gleason is an author that I have just recently become acquainted with via the web. I read her blog alot: For all the World to See. Another super person! READ her Gardella Vampire Chronicles, if you want to have some fun!

Did it spark a conversation? A meeting?

The only author I have met personally was Laurell K. Hamilton at a book signing in Springfield. I hope to do more of those when I can!

(And, sure, I suppose that e-mails DO count . . . but I’d say no to something like a message board on which the author happens to participate.)

Happy Birthday Bella!!

Tuesday is actually Miss Isabella's 7th birthday, but we had a party today. This is a picture of her and her best friend, Mallory. It was a day filled with a cookout, Chocolate cake with yellow frosting, and lots of High School Musical presents. At 7, she has a major crush on Zak Ephron! That's why I've been gone for the last few days. Trying to get ready for the party!!

Later!!

Best Moustache-Twirling

Booking Through Thursday

Who’s the worst fictional villain you can think of? As in, the one you hate the most, find the most evil, are happiest to see defeated? Not the cardboard, two-dimensional variety, but the most deliciously-written, most entertaining, best villain? Not necessarily the most “evil,” so much as the best-conceived on the part of the author…oh, you know what I mean!

Now this is really a fun question! I mean, what's a good book without a good villain?? In the literary world, they come in all shapes and sizes. And I'm sure many are going to choose Lord Voldemort, since it's been a Harry Potter couple of weeks. But if I had to to choose just one, I'd have to say Randall Flagg from The Stand by Stephen King. He was truly evil! Trying to take on a such a sweet spirit like Mother Abigail?? What was he thinking?? Stephen King KNOWS how to write a villain, too. Flagg is evil incarnate. And he was not just out and out bad. He was a master of using a person's weaknesses against them. Very psychological he was.

Classically, there a quite a few villains that I could throw in the mix. Inspector Javert in Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. Of course, with Javert all is kind of grey. Is it fair to label a man a villain when he was trying to do his job? Then again, it is fair to label a man as a convict for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family? But my love for Valjean made me hate Javert....ALOT! So he gets the label of villain from me.

What about Mrs. Danvers from Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier? She spent so much time trying to undermine the second Mrs. de Winter, I was constantly rooting against her. The second Mrs. de Winter was so insecure, it made all of Mrs. Danvers actions seem even worse. But she was just plain mean!!

What about Iago in Othello by William Shakespeare? I mean, he was supposed to be Othello's friend?? What could be worse than a villain posing as a friend? He actually made Othello believe that Desdemona was unfaithful, ruined his reputation and caused him to commit suicide. Pretty sick stuff!!

Finally, just for fun, see who your movie villain inner-self is:

Blogging Tips Meme

Blogging Tips Meme


What fun!! (And since I'm feeling rather blah today, and don't have anything else to post, thought I would join along!)


Angela from SciFi Chick has tagged me with the Blogging Tips Meme. And as they say, this isn’t your usual meme. But here are some helpful blogging tips that fellow taggers can add to…


-Start Copy-


It’s very simple. When this is passed on to you, copy the whole thing, skim the list and put a * star beside those that you like. (Check out especially the * starred ones.)


Add the next number (1. 2. 3. 4. 5., etc.) and write your own blogging tip for other bloggers. Try to make your tip general.


After that, tag 10 other people. Link love some friends!


Just think- if 10 people start this, the 10 people pass it onto another 10 people, you have 100 links already!


1. Look, read, and learn. **-http://www.neonscent.com/

2. Be, EXCELLENT to each other. **-http://www.bushmackel.com/

3. Don’t let money change ya! *-http://www.therandomforest.info/

4. Always reply to your comments. ****-http://chattiekat.com/

5. Link liberally — it keeps you and your friends afloat in the Sea of Technorati. *-http://chipsquips.com/

6. Don’t give up - persistence is fertile. *-http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/

7. Give link credit where credit is due. ***-http://www.sfsignal.com/

8. Pictures say a thousand words and can usually add to any post.*-http://scifichick.com/

9. Visit all the bloggers that leave comments for you - it's nice to know who is reading! -http://stephaniesbooks.blogspot.com/


-End Copy-

Don't you just love fun things? And this one is rather helpful too!! So...in the spirit of things, here are my 10 links!!

• Amanda at A Patchwork of Books
• Bonnie at Bonnie's Books
• Chris at Book-A-Rama
• Iliana at Bookgirl's Nightstand
• Tanabata at In Spring it is The Dawn
• Wendy at Musings of a Bookish Kitty
• Rhinoa at Rhinoa's Ramblings
• Chris at Stuff as Dreams are Made On
• Nymeth at Things Mean Alot
• Gentle Reader at Shelf Life

and a bonus blogger, Kookiejar at A Fraternity of Dreamers (Since she is just so damned fun!)

Later!

Rockin' Girl Blogger

Wow! According to Kelly at Kailana's Writtern World, I'm a Rockin' Girl Blogger!! Now, let me ask you.....how cool is that?? And kind of ironic too, since she is the one that actually talked me into STARTING this blog!! So...I'm supposed to nominate 4 others that I feel are Rockin' Girls too! It seems a lot of my 'daily' bloggers have been nominated, but I do have a couple to add to the list!!

• Darla D at Books and Other Thoughts has wonderful reviews, especially on children's and YA books!! I love to read her Other Thoughts!
• Trish at Trish's Reading Nook is pretty new to the blogger world, but she has some wonderful insight in her book reviews. Check them out!!
• Kimmie at Kimmie's Krap is a reader and a crafter! I love reading her opinions about books and other stuff! Besides...you just have to LOVE her blog name!!
• and finally Erin at The Paperback Stash is a new-to-me blogger. She has a wonderful blog, with book reviews, book news and other literary 'stuff'. A must-read for the bibliophile!!

Truthfully, all the blogs I read on a daily basis are Rockin'!!

Vivaldi's Virgins, A Musical Story

Vivaldi's Virgins by Barbara Quick (304 pgs, Harper Collins) is one of the books I got from the First Look Program at HC. It really was an excellent book.

The story is told by Anna Maria dal Violin, one of the elite musicians of the Ospedale della Pieta, the foundling home whose maestro and composer is the ambitious and eccentric "Red Priest" of Venice, Antonio Vivaldi.

If you would like to read my review of this book, please check it out Here: At Historical Tapestry!!

Later!!

Beautifully Written Tale That will Live On

O' Pioneers by Willa Cather (212 pgs) was a book I choose to read for the Decades challenge. One of the reasons I ended up with this title was I've heard wonderful things about Willa Cather and her writing. I'm very glad I did!

As the story opens, we meet 16-year-old Alexandra Bergson. She and her family had immigrated from Sweden years before, and are now settlers on the wind-swept Nebraska prairie. As her father was dying, he told the children that Alexandra, as the oldest, was to be in charge of the land. A land he wanted to keep in the family, no matter what the cost. He didn't trust the boys to do what was right, and he knew that Alexandra would.

Many people at that time were cutting and running, selling the land for so much less than it was really worth. And the boys wanted to do this as well. But Alexandra knew better. She knew that the land would be worth a lot some day, and talked the boys into mortgaging the land to buy more. She traveled to different counties and universities to find the newest farming techniques and crops -- much to the dismay of her brothers, who were always so worried their neighbors would be "laughing" at them. And yet, as time went on, the Bergson farm flourished and grew. Lou and Oscar, the two older boys, each found a wife and moved out on their own. But Emil, the youngest, was Alexandra's heart. He was sent to the university to become more than just a farmer. She wanted him to have a life beyond just the land.

And just as Alexandra is starting to really feel the lonliness of her life, an old family friend, Carl, reappears to visit. She has some decisions to make about her life, her family and her land.

This tale spans a space of 25-years in the life of Alexandra. She is an incredibly smart business woman and a wonderful strong character. She is not given to do things based on appearnces, which is an attribute that I love about her character. But she is lacking a lot of the social awareness that most women have. Especially since the character was written by a woman! But through all the hard times and the good times, Alexandra is there to hold this family of pioneers together. This is truly a fantastic book, well deserved of the title "Classic"! If you haven't read anything by Cather, I strongly urge you to read this one!! 4.5/5

Also reviewed by:

Chris @ Book-A-Rama

Just Wild About Harry

Booking Through Thursday

Okay, love him or loathe him, you’d have to live under a rock not to know that J.K. Rowling’s final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, comes out on Saturday… Are you going to read it?

Yes, I'm wild about Harry!! And yes, I'm going to read the book!

If so, right away? Or just, you know, eventually, when you get around to it? Are you attending any of the midnight parties?

My son, Chad, and I went to the last midnight party and had a ton of fun. So we will definitely be going this year too! I have my books already on reserve at Barnes & Noble, just waiting for us to pick them up! I will probably read it right away, only because I'm afraid of all the spoilers that will be hitting the blog waves!

If you’re not going to read it, why not?

N/A

And, for the record… what do you think? Will Harry survive the series? What are you most looking forward to?

OK.....Here is my take on the whole Potter mystery. I love Harry Potter. The WORLD loves Harry Potter. And yes, we will be incredibly sad if Harry dies. But J.K. Rowling said there would be 7 books. Then it would be ended. I think that unless she kills Harry, the pressure on her will be awful to keep the series going. So, unfortunately, I do think that Harry Potter will meet his demise in the Deathly Hallows. That being said, if he DOES die, he will only die if Voldemort dies. Good MUST win over Evil. There can't be another ending than that. Again...this is just MY opinion. But we shall soon see!!

What am I most looking forward too? Closure. I just need to know what happens. I do like series reading, but I tend to need closure too. If that scary creature gets away at the end of a book or movie, it tends to make me jumpy!! I also need to find out what will happen with Snape! Borders has the "Friend vs. Foe" thing going....and I would fall into the friend category. Again...we will see in just a couple of days!

Happy Thursday!!!

Reading Slump???

Sheesh! I don't know what's wrong with me right now!! I think I'm kind of in a reading slump, or something. I just can't seem to get into anything right now! The books I'm reading are really good. I just can't seem to stick with them!! I am almost finished with Vivaldi's Virgins, by Barbara Quick. I will be posting a review for it soon over at Historical Tapestry.

I DID receive my book yesterday, from Graeme's Fantasty Book Review. You know...that book I WON! And guess what?? It was SIGNED! How cool is that?? I was pretty pleased. Maybe that will help me get out of this slump.

I also got a call from the library yesterday. Some of the books I had requested came in. So I tripped on over there to pick them up...and nabbed a few others before I got out of the door. Maybe THAT will help!! I got some good ones too!!

• Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
• Dreams of my Father by Barack Obama
• The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
• Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
• Alentejo Blue by Monica Ali
• Flaubert: A Biography by Frederick Brown
• Restoration by Rose Tremain
• The Zahir by Paulo Coehlo

Now if those books don't bring me out of this slump, I may just have to resort to Vampires and Zombies!! May be the only way. What do you do if you find yourself in a reading slump? Do you ever find this a problem? Help!!