Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl

My Rating: 3 out of 5

Ruth Reichl, world-renowned food critic and editor in chief of Gourmet magazine, knows a thing or two about food. She also knows that as the most important food critic in the country, you need to be anonymous when reviewing some of the most high-profile establishments in the biggest restaurant town in the world--a charge she took very seriously, taking on the guise of a series of eccentric personalities. In Garlic and Sapphires, Reichl reveals the comic absurdity, artifice, and excellence to be found in the sumptuously appointed stages of the epicurean world and gives us--along with some of her favorite recipes and reviews--her remarkable reflections on how one's outer appearance can influence one's inner character, expectations, and appetites, not to mention the quality of service one receives.

I loved reading this book.  It was fun.  It was interesting.  I laughed.  I cried.  I learned more than I expected. It's three stars because I'm a harsh critic and I don't know that I will ever pick it up for a reread...4 or better for multiple readings is a rule with me.  Too many books and not enough time for me to read them all limits my ability to go back.  I especially loved Ruth's disguises and her insight into both sides of the restaurant culture.

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Billed as a "Cinderella story", Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden is a fabulous story about a young woman's life as a geisha. When her mother grows ill, Chiyo's father sells her and her sister into slavery. Chiyo's sister is sold into prostitution, while Chiyo is sold to the geisha house of the Nitta family. Into this world Chiyo is thrust, having to endure harsh treatment from the house's star geisha - Hatsumomo. It is not long before Chiyo is convinced her life will be lived as a servant to the Nitta house and to Hatsumomo.

It is when she has almost given up that fate intervenes in the forms of two characters:

The Chairman - Chiyo's "Prince Charming", who rescues her during an emotional breakdown through the simple act of kindness. This act convinces her to go on. She will spend the rest of her life trying to attain the Chairman's affections, if only in her own fantasies.

Mameha - Chiyo's "Fairy Godmother", who will become Chiyo's teacher in the world of the geisha. Mameha's cleverness and knowledge will protect and shape the woman and the geisha Chiyo becomes.

Chiyo becomes the geisha, Sayuri, and the book changes from a "coming of age" novel to a more dramatic examination of relationships and love. It's here where the story becomes weaker. The first half is so engaging and well-developed that the second half falls a little flat. The second half is a great book - which makes the first half phenomenal! I loved this book and could not put it down.

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy

Dark, scary, and at times almost to painful to read - this is what I thought of Louise Murphy's The True Story of Hansel and Gretel.

There are so many books out there about the Holocaust and there are a few that combine it's history with the idea of a fairytale. One example is Briar Rose by Jane Yolen. Both books are good and emotional reads that do not try to hide the horrors of the holocaust. Briar Rose is aimed more towards a young adult reader. The True Story of Hansel and Gretel is not. That is not to say a young adult couldn't read Hansel and Gretel, they could but the language is harsher and the horrors deeper.

Set in Poland during the Nazi occupation, Hansel and his sister Gretel are abandoned in the woods by their father and Stepmother. This is as much to try and save them as it is to give the parents a chance to escape, after all the Nazis are after them. This is a race for survival. The children are slowing the parents down and the parents are beacons for he Nazis to find the children. Spliting up may be the only chance for survival. It is the stepmother who tells them to forget who they are and renames them after the fairytale pair.

We follow the children, who end up in the house of a local Rom witch. We also follow the father as he joins up with the resistance army, trying to reunite with his family. It's a heartbreaking story where both the fairytale and history blend together into a stark tale.

Book Description:
In the last months of the Nazi occupation of Poland, two children are left by their father and stepmother to find safety in a dense forest. Because their real names will reveal their Jewishness, they are renamed "Hansel" and "Gretel." They wander in the woods until they are taken in by Magda, an eccentric and stubborn old woman called "witch" by the nearby villagers. Magda is determined to save them, even as a German officer arrives in the village with his own plans for the children.

As Simple as Snow by Gregory Galloway

What a great book! I found a year or so back in the local bookshop and thought it sounded like an interesting read. It did not disappoint.

I am not really a traditional mystery book fan. I've always been far more interested in books that contained a type of puzzle. As a child I loved The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. It was the solving the puzzles within the mystery that grabbed my attention. As Simple as Snow by Gregory Galloway is such a novel but with a story that is more suitable for older readers.

Book Description: A mesmerizing labyrinth of art, magic, cryptic codes, and young love that sparks the imagination and teases the mind-an arresting first novel about a young man's quest to unravel the puzzle his missing girlfriend may (or may not) have left behind. Anastasia (Anna) Cayne is a complicated high school girl with a penchant for riddles and affectionate mind games, who spends much of her time writing obituaries for every living person in town. She is unlike anyone the narrator has ever known, and her energy and enthusiasm explode his quiet universe, revealing a world of Houdini tricks, strange art, covert messages, and ghost stories-although her past remains an even bigger enigma. Even so, he couldn't be happier. But a week before Valentine's Day, Anna disappears, leaving behind nothing except a dress placed neatly near a hole in the frozen river, and a string of unanswered questions. Determined to find Anna-to comprehend what happened, and why-he begins to retrace their past five months together. Soon the fragments of events, conversations, and letters (and new messages that continue to arrive) coalesce into haunting and surprising revelations about friends, about family, and especially, about Anna Cayne. And perhaps these revelations will solve the puzzle of Anna's disappearance, whether it was her own invention, or is simply another of life's great mysteries

Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog by John Grogan

Ok. It's a bit sappy and probably more than a little cute - but don't hate me because I LOVE this book.

What can I say about Marley that hasn't been said in reviews all over the world? It's just a great book. If your a dog, loved a dog, wanted to own a dog, known someone who once knew someone who owned a dog - read this book. It mad me cry and laugh. It's non-fiction so it is a change from my norm but it was such a great read. In the end I think I appreciated Holly more when I was done with it. Remember: Pick up the book and a box of tissues - Marley breaks hearts.

Book Description: John and Jenny were just beginning their life together. They were young and in love, with a perfect little house and not a care in the world. Then they brought home Marley, a wiggly yellow fur ball of a puppy. Life would never be the same.

Marley quickly grew into a barreling, ninety-seven-pound stream roller of a Labrador retriever, a dog like no other. He crashed through screen doors, gouged through drywall, flung drool on guests, stole women's undergarments, and ate nearly everything he could get his mouth around, including couches and fine jewelry. Obedience school did no good—Marley was expelled. And yet Marley's heart was pure. Just as he joyfully refused any limits on his behavior, his love and loyalty were boundless, too. Through it all, he remained steadfast, a model of devotion, even when his family was at its wit's end. Is it possible for humans to discover the key to happiness through a bigger-than-life, bad-boy dog? Just ask the Grogans.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Dark, mysterious, and an all together great read. This book was amazing. I found it when it first came out and read it over a rainy two day period. I was totally engrossed and was sad to see it end. After recommending it to several friends, I reread the book a few weeks ago and listened to the audio on my long commute. Both the audio and book still held me enthralled. One co-worker, Wonder Woman (dubbed so by the March Hare) and I have spent every lunch for three weeks talking about this book. Wonder Woman even wrote notes in her copy, which as a librarian I am greatly disturbed by! LOL. Why is this all important? Because The Thirteenth Tale is one of those stories that gets under your skin.

The novel weaves together the lives of two women. One is Margaret Lea, a novice biographer and our narrator for the novel. It is through Margaret's eyes that we learn her story and that of the mysterious Vida Winters, England's best loved author. The tale that unwinds before us is a maze of mystery and verbal slight-of-hand. What you think you know if often incorrect and those nagging shadows of thought often prove to mean something deeper.

This is a love story written to anyone who has ever had a deep romance with reading. There is a line I love, spoken early by Margaret. "Reading is dangerous." It's in a part of the book where she talks about being so engrossed in a book as a child that she relaxed her body and fell off a wall. As a reader I understood that line. In a great book you can lose yourself within the realm of the book and not know there is any other world. Reading CAN be dangerous. Reading can let you live many lives. My greatest disappointment in this book is that it ends and there is nothing else I have found quite like it.

Book Description :
All children mythologize their birth...So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter's collection of stories, which are as famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale as they are for the delight and enchantment of the twelve that do exist.

The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish life histories for herself -- all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she at last wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. She summons biographer Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth, hidden by those who loved her most, remains an ever-present pain. Struck by a curious parallel between Miss Winter's story and her own, Margaret takes on the commission.

Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman

What can I say. I'm a gamer who lost herself within the realm of "City of Heroes" for well over a year. I saw this book and had to read it. No regrets. It was so much fun! A superhero and a supervillian, the tale told from both sides of the spandex. This book was fast paced, hilarious, and also disturbingly deep. Who could want more out of a pleasure read?

That's the problem lately. With so much going on in life, and time just slipping away, I don't seem to get the "fun" books anymore. So much of my life is spent on the 'required' reading list. Reading for enjoyment seems a fond and distant memory. This brought it all back.

Now you may not be into the whole comic book world. You may say to me, "Fable, I want a book with substance and respectability. I can't be seen reading a book about flying crusaders and their arch nemesis!" In that case read The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, it's a classic and not entirely stuffy. As for me I want a good story!

Go, pick up Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman to understand the villain. Pick it up to find the depth of character within a hero. Pick it up for fun. Just pick it up!

Book Description: Doctor Impossible—evil genius, diabolical scientist, wannabe world dominator—languishes in a federal detention facility. He's lost his freedom, his girlfriend, and his hidden island fortress. Over the years he's tried to take over the world in every way imaginable: doomsday devices of all varieties (nuclear, thermonuclear, nanotechnological) and mass mind control. He's traveled backwards in time to change history, forward in time to escape it. He's commanded robot armies, insect armies, and dinosaur armies. Fungus army. Army of fish. Of rodents. Alien invasions. All failures. But not this time. This time it’s going to be different...

Fatale is a rookie superhero on her first day with the Champions, the world's most famous super team. She's a patchwork woman of skin and chrome, a gleaming technological marvel built to be the next generation of warfare. Filling the void left by a slain former member, we watch as Fatale joins a team struggling with a damaged past, having to come together in the face of unthinkable evil.

Beauty by Sherri S. Tepper

Beauty has always been one of my favorite novels, dating back from when I first read it as a teen. About once a year, I pick it up and read it again. It is always like meeting up with an old friend, comforting and familiar. It was always like that, even the first time, because Beauty is a fairytale retelling. Primarily a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, but interwoven with a myriad of other classic fairy tales, the story will always seem familiar and then it will go veering off into the strange. Beauty if one of the few books I have ever read where I feel both fantasy and sci-fi work together instead of against. Most of the time, when a novel tries to have elements of both genres, it works against the believability of the novel's world. In Tepper's Beauty, it is the one world that is destroying the other and so it makes sense that they would work against each other. As of my last reading, I am noticing that it wasn't quite as enthralling as I recall but I don't think most books from our youth stand up to our jaded adult minds. I still love this book. There are parts that still make me very sad and others that still surprise me. That's impressive with my line of work.

Book Description: Drawing on the wellspring of tales such as "Sleeping Beauty," Beauty is a moving novel of love and loss, hope and despair, magic and nature. Set against a backdrop both enchanted and frightening, the story begins with a wicked aunt's curse that will afflict a young woman named Beauty on her sixteenth birthday. Though Beauty is able to sidestep tragedy, she soon finds herself embarked on an adventure of vast consequences. For it becomes clear that the enchanted places of this fantastic world--a place not unlike our own--are in danger and must be saved before it is too late.

The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin & Nicole Kraus

Guilty pleasure or beach read in the middle of winter. I'm not sure what else I can say about the Nanny Diaries. It was a good book with a lot of disturbing issues buried under it's dark humor. I would place it in the same category of ChickLit that I would place "Devil Wears Prada" by Lauren Weisberger but I enjoyed this much more. Nanny is really highered as a replacement parent for her charge and that alone disturbs me on so many levels. Makes me wonder if my students have had this happen to them. If you like similar books than you should enjoy this - it differs enough to blow other ChickLit titles away.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:
Wanted:One young woman to take care of four-year-old boy. Must be cheerful, enthusiastic and selfless--bordering on masochistic. Must relish sixteen-hour shifts with a deliberately nap-deprived preschooler. Must love getting thrown up on, literally and figuratively, by everyone in his family. Must enjoy the delicious anticipation of ridiculously erratic pay. Mostly, must love being treated like fungus found growing out of employers Hermès bag. Those who take it personally need not apply. Who wouldn't want this job?

Struggling to graduate from NYU and afford her microscopic studio apartment, Nanny takes a position caring for the only son of the wealthy X family. She rapidly learns the insane amount of juggling involved to ensure that a Park Avenue wife who doesn't work, cook, clean, or raise her own child has a smooth day.When the Xs marriage begins to disintegrate, Nanny ends up involved way beyond the bounds of human decency or good taste. Her tenure with the X family becomes a nearly impossible mission to maintain the mental health of their four-year-old, her own integrity and, most importantly, her sense of humor. Over nine tense months, Mrs. X and Nanny perform the age-old dance of decorum and power as they test the limits of modern-day servitude.

Ill Wind by Rachel Caine

Several years ago, L (the Caterpillar) discovered Mercedes Lackey's Diana Tregarde Series and introduced me to it. I loved the books, wishing there were more than three to the series. Then, L discovered Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series and shared it with me. I read them and enjoyed. However, after several books, I stopped enjoying them. I'm not a total prude, and maybe I have been working with teen books too long, the series became nothing more than a porno in a dust jacket. I don't even know where the plot ends anymore. Take than and all the books that have been ripping off Laurell K. Hamilton lately and I am crushed. I want a good action paced urban fantasy. I don't mind a little sex thrown in but if I wanted smut I would read romance. So what happened is that we managed to find 3 hopeful alternatives. L found Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison and Bitten by Kelley Armstrong look promising. I found Ill Wind by Rachel Caine and I loved it.

Book one of Caine's "Weather Warden" series drops the reader right into the middle of fast paced novel whose main character is a weather warden named Joanne Baldwin. The book has demons, wicked weather, Djinns, and gifted abilities that play out like "magic". I picked up the first three books in this series on a trip to Philadelphia and ended up reading most of the trip. I couldn't put them down. Now, I am not saying the ideas in this book haven't been done before. They have, many times. You have your smart mouthed, fast driving, magically talented heroine. There is the staple romantic male lead that happens to be supernatural in nature. The usual cast of characters are present and accounted for, I just feel Rachel Caine does it better. I cared about the characters, enjoyed the action, followed the plot, and felt the sex scenes fit the book without slowing down the story. I am up to book five in the series and still very happy with it. I actually crave the next book and that is saying a lot considering how many books I get to read for work. The series may change. It may go the way of so many others and disappoint me. I am hopeful that it won't. The writing is fast paced and fun to read. So if you are looking for an urban fantasy, liked the earlier books in similar series, or are attracted to more romantic action novels - pick this one up.

Book Description: First in the new Weather Warden series... Joanne Baldwin is a Weather Warden. Usually, all it takes is a wave of her hand to tame the most violent weather. But now, she's trying to outrun another kind of storm: accusations of corruption and murder. So, she's resorting to the very human tactic of running for her life... Her only hope is Lewis, the most powerful warden known. Unfortunately, he's stolen not one but three bottles of Djinn-making him the most wanted man on earth. Still, she's racing hard to find him-before the bad weather closes in fast...

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

When seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human.

I read this book for a few reasons. I was involved in the summer reading group - Read-a-ton. My boss, the March Hare and every female student I had this year told me I HAD to read it. At last, with the sequel a few months from publication I guess it would be good to know what we are stocking in the library. I tried 3 times unsuccessfully to read this. I couldn't get into it, and failed every time. So I tried once more time, determined to toss the book into the "lost cause" pile if I couldn't read it. Well, I read it and I was able to even enjoy myself. I don't think this book is for everyone but in the end I really did like it. It's more of a Chick-lit book than I really care for but it is a good story. It's kind of a soap opera with vampires. If you read it, forget everything you thought you knew about the blood stalkers of the night. Those old rules don't apply here. Everything is different! There is action in this book but it is primarily a love story, one of those sweet and perfect love stories.

Read-a-Ton - Week 3

Sorry all but I have been totally obsessed with reading and saving the world. My first week off was very relaxing and a lot of fun. K and I got another friend into saving the world, of course this was unfair of us. This friend is easily addicted.

Week three of the Read-a-ton from Bubbles in my Head: a literature and writing resource. It's time to update my summer reading list. Because of the holiday I was a little late getting last week's list posted. Again, having trouble with the image uploads from blogger. Hmm, not good. Here are last week's books:

1) Twilight by Stephenie Meyer - When seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human. My boss, the March Hare and every female student I had this year tried to get me to read this. I tried 3 times unsuccessfully to read this. I couldn't get into it, and failed everytime. So I tried once more last week. I don't think this book is for everyone but in the end I really did like it. It's more of a Chick-lit book than I really care for but it is a good story. It's kind of a soap opera with vampires. If you read it, forget everything you thought you knew about the blood stalkers of the night. Those old rules don't apply here. Everything is different! There is action in this book but it is primarily a love story, one of those sweet and perfect love stories.

2) I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith - A reprint of the 1948 novel recounting the story of Cassandra Mortmain, a young woman living on the edge of poverty in a crumbling castle with her somewhat eccentric family, whose prospects begin to improve when new neighbors arrive from America. This came highly recommended by the Dormouse and I have to admit she was right. It was a great book. Kind of Jane Austenish. Cassandra falls for her sister's beau but her sister really doesn't love him. Poverty, love, and high jinx - sounds like Austen or Bronte and I wasn't disappointed.

3) Inkheart by Cornelia Funke - Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father Mo, a bookbinder, can "read" fictional characters to life when an evil ruler named Capricorn, freed from the novel "Inkheart" years earlier, tries to force Mo to release an immortal monster from the story. I read this several years back when it first came out but I was having trouble with the sequel (see below) and read it again. As before, I loved it but was amazed at how much I missed. The ability to read characters out of novels is a lot of fun and Funke doesn't disappoint. The world she creates is colorful and a joy to escape to. Her translator Anthea Bell does an amazing job. The translation seems flawless. I wish all books could excite me like Inkheart!

4) Inkspell by Cornelia Funke - Now thirteen, Meggie "reads" herself into Inkworld, where she, her family, and the characters in the book face chaos and danger as the original creator of the world frantically tries to redirect the story. I had such a hard time starting this. The first 100 pages or so just seem so slow. I've spoken about this book to a few people, some agree and some do not. Either way I was told to just keep reading. It is worth it. This time we get to travel into the world of Inkheart itself and meet the characters in their own place.

5) Ella enchanted by Gail Carson Levine - In this novel based on the story of Cinderella, Ella struggles against the childhood curse that forces her to obey any order given to her. This is a lot of fun if you like fairytales, which you must all realize I do. There was a movie made of this book. It was a cute movie. Book is three times better. Ella is "blessed" by moronic fairy at birth with the "gift" of obedience. Things are fine though until Ella's mother dies and her father remarriage. The stepmother comes with her own two daughters, and her in lies the problem. There are princes, giants, fairies, balls, elves but as with any truly great twisting of classic fairytales - it's all different. Great book and a fun read!

Read-a-Ton - Week 2

Last week of work and than I am FREE until the end of August. The days just don't seem to be moving fast enough.

As I stated last week, I am participating in the Read-a-ton group that is taking place over at Bubbles in my Head: a literature and writing resource. It's been a great excuse to read and so far it's been fun finding out what everyone else is reading. You can pick up some great book ideas this way.

So on to this week's list of last week's reads. (Sorry - No pictures this week. Had trouble uploading them through Blogger) :

1) Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom - A bitter eighty-three-year-old war veteran who believes his life is meaningless dies while trying to save a little girl's life and finds himself in heaven, where five people from his past--some loved ones, some strangers--explain what his years on Earth really meant, and whether or not he succeeded in saving the child. I know this was popular when it was published but I never really got around to reading it. It's been on my "TO READ" pile for a long time. I figured now was as good a time as any and it left me. . .Sad. It's an emotional book. I don't think it should be one of those books you pick up for a good time. This is definitely a thinking book - thought provoking and at times difficult to read.

2) The House of The Scorpion by Nancy Farmer - In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patron, the 142-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States. Let's just say I started the week out with a bang as this is another deeply thought provoking book. Great read and it's a multiple award winner as well. Clones have little rights in the world of this novel, then again they aren't suppose to be allowed to grow and think either. This book brings up a number of ethics questions while encasing them in a great sci-fi book.

3)Briar Rose by Jane Yolen - The tale of Sleeping Beauty and the dark tale of the Holocaust twined together in a story of darkness and redemption. Well the hit's just kept on coming! This book is a classic member of the "Fairy Tale Series" - I'll be reviewing a few of the other stories in the series in the upcoming weeks. For anyone who loves fairytales told with a twist, this is the series to read. It's been around for years and had some big named authors pen the tales. Briar Rose doesn't disappoint. Again, an emotional read. Rebecca Berlin has grown up listening to her grandmother's horrific version of Sleeping Beauty. When her grandmother dies, Rebecca uses the "story" to trace her grandmother's life and finds the Holocaust. Wonderful book and a great fantasy.

4) Beauty by Robin McKinley - Kind Beauty grows to love the Beast at whose castle she is compelled to stay and through her love releases him from the spell which had turned him from a handsome prince into an ugly beast. From one twisted fairytale to another, at least I got to end my week with a lighter book. Beauty is more of a straight forward telling of Beauty and the Beast. If you know the fairytale than you know this book. This has to be one of the best retellings I've ever read. McKinley does an amazing job of creating the fantasy world. Beauty and her Beast feel real and you get to know them. Great way to end a week of heavilyy emotional reading!

Read-a-ton - Week 1

So the kids have finished and my work year is quickly coming to an end. This, of course, makes me excited about my own summer reading list. While surfing a few other blogs the other day I can across Bubbles in my Head: a literature and writing resource. I've stopped by the site before and always enjoyed what I read. This time, however, I was blown away by the owner's cool idea. Zoe, the owner over there, has come up with a reading "contest" that I think is just really fun. It's called a Read-a-ton, so I joined up. So about once a week I will be posting about the books I read the previous week. No worries, I still intend to do full reviews as often as possible.

So let's get started:

1) Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde - his 4th, and as of now, last book in his Thursday Next Series. This was a re-read for me. Let's face it. I think it's clear I love this series. I was surprised at how much I missed the first time around. You can find a more detailed review of the series and it's first book here.

Book Description: The resourceful literary detective Thursday Next returns to Swindon from the BookWorld accompanied by her son Friday and none other than the dithering Hamlet. But returning to SpecOps is no snap - as outlaw fictioner Yorrick Kaine plots for absolute power, the return of Swindon's patron saint foretells doom, and, if that isn't bad enough, The Merry Wives of Windsor is becoming entangled with Hamlet. Can Thursday find a Shakespeare clone to stop this hostile takeover? Can she vanquish Kaine and prevent the world from plunging into war? And will she ever find reliable child care?

2) Xenocide by Orson Scott Card - 3rd book in his Ender Series. Sci-fi soap opera, really but a fairly good read. Not as involved as the first two books in the series - this deals with more abstract ideas. You can read a full review of the series first book here.

Book Description:
The war for survival of the planet Lusitania will be fought in the hearts of a child named GloriousBright. On.On Lusitania, Ender found a world where humans and pequininos and the Hive Queen could all live together; where three very different intelligent species could find common ground at last. Or so thought. Lusitaniania also harbors the descolada, a virus that kills all humans it infects, but which the pequininos require in order to become adults. TStarwaysays Congress so fears the effects of the descolada, should it escape from Lusitania, that they have ordered eh destruction of the entire planet, and all who live there. The Fleet is on its way, a second xenocide seeinevitableble

3) The Angels of Resistance by David V. Mammina - I don't know. This was written by one of my brother's best friends and I liked it but. It's a little heavy and very nontraditional for fantasy, which this book is not. It's kind of an odd mix of fantasy, sci-fi, and horror. I may have to read it again to understand it better.

Book Description-Join the Resistance- When an unfathomable evil force known as the Demon Plague mysteriously invades Earth, bands of valiant warriors must unite with each other in order to survive. A unique fighting force lead by a noble sage apprentice, Michael Miuriell, fights for their lives to defeat the demons and uncover the truth behind their arrival.

So come on all - start reading because summer is here!

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

I LOVE this book. What can I say? Quirky people like quirky books and based on friends' evaluations of me - this book and I are soul mates! This series and all the adventures that abound within the pages left me begging for more. I mean that, literally. Jasper Fforde is a British novelist and the Thursday Next books for a while were available in Britain several months before they were available in the US. The Dormouse is British. I would beg her every Summer to bring the newest book home to me. What is it about these odd and confusing books that had me so enraptured? The humor and action that ran through every page!

The Eyre Affair, the first book in the series, introduces us to our heroine - Thursday Next. The year is 1985 and the setting is England, but this is NOT out England in our 1985. In Thursday's world artistic renaissances turn into bloody revolutions, the Crimean War had been going on for over 130 years, and Shakespeare might as well be a religion. Thursday is a literary detective and the first novel brings her up against the third most wanted criminal, Acheron Hades. Fictional characters are going missing and it's Acheron who is kidnapping them out of their original manuscripts. Thursday must catch a mad man who can look like anyone and can rip characters out of their books. This twisted, funny, and sometimes unnerving adventure will take Thursday into the very pages of the novels' themselves.

Fun, twisted, and different in a really good way, these books should appeal to anyone who's ever liked Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, or Christopher Moore.

Book Description:
In Jasper Fforde's Great Britain, circa 1985, time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection. But when someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature and plucks Jane Eyre from the pages of Bronte's novel, Thursday is faced with the challenge of her career. Fforde's ingenious fantasy-enhanced by a Web site that re-creates the world of the novel--unites intrigue with English literature in a delightfully witty mix.

Sabriel by Garth Nix

Sabriel is a wonderful fantasy, a little dark but well written with a fairly unique story. The title character is the daughter of a powerful charter mage known only as Abhorsen. He is a type of guardian between the realms of life and death. Sabriel has spent most of her life attending a boarding school, outside of the walls that separate the modern lands from the Old Kingdom. She has been sheltered and kept safe from the magic and the creatures that roam in the lands of her birth. Now, however, something is terribly wrong. Dark creatures are crossing over the wall, and Sabriel's father has gone missing.

It was my very first year in the library when I discovered Sabriel by Garth Nix. The dark hardcover book was nestled into it's shelf waiting for our winter inventory. I picked it up and asked the March Hare and the Mad Hatter if they had ever read it. Neither had, but they had heard good things about it. You see, there are so many books within a library's walls that it is near impossible for a librarian to read them all. Sometimes we must relay on other peoples' opinions. That was why the March Hare suggested I read it, at least someone in the library would have knowledge of the book.

So I read it over Christmas break, over the course of a 16 our love affair. I barely stopped to eat a sandwich. I was engrossed in every line. I stayed up all night not wanting to put it down, but not wanting it to end either. I cried. It had been so long since a book had this much of an impact on me. When I closed the cover it was like saying farewell to a good friend. As soon as school started up again, I started to read the sequel. When I was transferred to the elementary school a few months later, the Tea Party Trio purchased the entire trilogy for me as a present. This book and it's series had changed my life. I began to read other children's authors. I've added many YA novels to my home library since. I try and read all those the kids recommend to me. Sabriel is popular enough. Many of the kids try and like it. For me though, Sabriel is a passion because it started it all.

Book Description
Since childhood, Sabriel has lived outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, away from the power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who refuse to stay dead. But now her father, the Mage Abhorson, is missing, and Sabriel must cross into that world to find him. With Mogget, whose feline form hides a powerful, perhaps malevolent spirit, and Touchstone, a young Charter Mage, Sabriel travels deep into the Old Kingdom. There she confronts an evil that threatens much more than her life'and comes face to face with her own hidden destiny. . . Garth Nix's first young adult novel, Sabriel was recently nominated for the Aurealis Award for Excellence in Science Fiction in Australia.

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate Dicamillo

Love and forgiveness. Dark and light. Opposites coming together for balance. These seem to be the thoughts at the center of The Tale of Despereaux : Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate Dicamillo. I read Despereaux to a third grade class when it was chosen as the Newbery Medal Book of 2004. Most of the children seemed enchanted by it. I wasn't completely sure why. It was a charming story but nothing about it made me overly excited. I originally chalked it up to age. Perhaps I was too old to grasp the true charm of Despereaux.

A few weeks ago I listened to the audio version as read by Graeme Malcolm. I had heard mixed reviews concerning the audio version. I LOVED it and I think I now understand my students reaction. While Despereaux is a good story, there is something it gains in the reading of it aloud. It is a book to be shared! Despereaux is one of those books that should be read aloud and explored by parent and child together. Suddenly, upon this realization, Despereaux became a very different book in my eyes.

Despereaux is a type of fairytale and contains three separate but intertwining story lines:

• The story of Despereaux, a small mouse born with his ears too big and his eyes open. He breaks all mouse laws, loves all things beautiful, and is condemned for speaking to a human princess.
• The story of Roscuro, a rat who delights in the torment of others. He is born into the dark world of the dungeon but longs for the light of the upper world and the wonderful soup contained within that world.
• The story of Miggery Sow, a farm girl who longs to be a princess. She is sold by her father, abused by the man who purchases her, and used as a pawn by Roscuro.

My only area of dislike was the story of Miggery. There is no escape for poor Miggery in the tale of her world. She is abused. She is neglected. She receives no love. Later she is depicted as slow-witted, which seems to be how she is duped by Roscuro. I don't think that is true though. I think Miggery falls for the rat's plans because he shows her a kind of twisted kindness and seems to respect her. Miggery gets very little respect or kindness anywhere else in her world. Now, the abuse and reactions given to Miggery by other characters is probably very appropriate to the Middle Ages. Miggery's plight does reflect the truth that not all lives are happy. It's all true. It's all real. It's all appropriate to the story. Still, it bothered me.

All in all, Desperaux is a wonderful story. The story was charming, challenging, and fun to read - better if shared aloud.

Card catalog description:
The adventures of Desperaux Tilling, a small mouse of unusual talents, the princess that he loves, the servant girl who longs to be a princess, and a devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

I think in many areas of the book world many genres get a bum rap. Romances are trashy, Fantasy is childish, Science Fiction is for teen boys, and mysteries are for bored accountants who want more excitement. As a librarian I think I've heard almost all the stereotypes there are about books, I think I have also heard all the librarian stereotypes. Yes, some of the stereotypes may appear to be true but they are generalizations. Remember, there are four of us who work in our school's library and I think I am the only one who EVER sported a real bun. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is one of those books that make me glad that I have never paid attention to the stereotypes. It's also one of those books that make me love the genre of Science Fiction.

I've heard it referred to as a cult classic, and as it's now been around for over 20 I guess I can see why some call it that. I can't say if it is or it isn't. Lots of great books seem to get this label when they become wide read. I should rephrase that statement, lots of great genre books seem to get that label when they get a wide readership. You hardly ever hear about a "mainstream" or "literary" book getting a cult following, but genre fiction seems to be full of them. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Ray Bradbury, Tanith Lee, and so many other authors of different genres get lumped into this category. Wouldn't it be better to say their books are just fantastic reads? Ah well, off my soap box.

Ender's Game is another one of those books people seem to either love or hate. Taking place in a war torn future for Earth, Ender is a child genius. He is Earth's last chance in an upcoming future battle to save the human race from total extinction. The book deals with guilt, family, politics, friendship, loss of innocence, and so much more to it than that. It is a coming of age novel. It is an action book. It is a science fiction mantra. It is NOT for everyone, but perhaps everyone should at least try it. Card's writing is not overly detailed, but for me that's a plus. I had difficulty with another good book, Eragon by Christopher Paolini, because I felt overwhelmed by description.

Remember what I said about some stereotypes appearing true? Well Ender's Game is labeled as Science Fiction. I work in a middle school library. Ender's Game is very high on the "I Loved this book" list with many teen boys. So that stereotype fits this book, teen boys do read Ender's Game. However, so do our girl students and teachers of both sexes. Hmm. The reviews are mixed among all the readers. Some like it and some do not. Just like all the "literary" books on our shelves. This brings me back to a point I've made a few times in my reviews. You never really know what a reader will truly love. Book publishers can guess by what sells best. I cringe at this because I believe it leads to formula fiction, some good and some bad. Librarians can guess based on what circulates in a library and by what a reader has enjoyed previously, but still you can't always win. Who hasn't had a friend declare the virtues of a book, only to read it and think their friend is crazy? All I can do is tell you how great this book it. The rest is up to you. Try it. If you don't, you may be missing one of the greatest books I have ever read. If you do read it and hate it, then you can call me nuts. Go ahead, I don't mind if you think I am.

Book Description:
Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards
In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut -young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.

Ender's skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister.

Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives.

Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo

FROM THE PUBLISHER:
The fabulous powers of the Red King were passed down through his descendants, after turning up quite unexpectedly, in someone who had no idea where they came from. This is what happened to Charlie Bone, and to some of the children he met behind the grim, gray walls of Bloor's Academy. Charlie Bone has discovered an unusual gift-he can hear people in photographs talking! His scheming aunts decide to send him to Bloor Academy, a school for genius's where he uses his gifts to discover the truth despite all the dangers that lie ahead.

Let me start off by say, yes - I did read Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo. It came highly recommended by several students and one of the library's Media Specialists, the March Hare to be precise. I enjoyed it. The book is quick and interesting. As the first book in the Children of the Red King series, it sets the pace nicely for the following books. There are about 4 or 5 of them now in total. There will inevitably be comparisons between Charlie Bone and the Harry Potter Series, so let's get that out of the way.

I relied heavily on Charlie Bone when I worked in an elementary school library. The kids loved it, and while I may have simply thought it a nice book, it never mattered to them. I had 2nd graders who wanted so badly to read Harry Potter, their older siblings and the movies only made this desire deepen. However, the Harry Potter books can be very advanced reading and many of my younger students were upset that they couldn't read the books on their own. Behold the beauty of the Charlie Bone books. They are NOT dumb down versions of the Harry Potter books. While there is similarities in a magical boy going off to a school for "gifted"children both series have their own stories.

I highly recommend Charlie Bone for readers between 6-11 years of age. It may also interest some older readers who can't wait for another Harry Potter book!

For Edgar by Sheldon Rusch

FROM THE PUBLISHER:
The crime scene was a work of art: a blanched human skull impaled to a tree in a public park and trailing a brightly colored ribbon. The brilliant twist was the delicate scarab, hand-painted a lustrous gold. State Police Special Agent Elizabeth Taylor Hewitt recognizes the grim tableau - only the first in a series of slayings that pay tribute to the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, committed by a madman known only as The Raven." Trying to anticipate the murderer's next move, Hewitt seeks the help of Professor Scott Gregory, her former lover and an expert on Poe. Struggling to understand the ghoulish motives of the killer - by delving into the twisted imagination of literature's macabre genius - they are quickly caught up in a race against time, as Hewitt herself becomes a pawn in The Raven's triumphant endgame.

Hmmm. What to say about For Edgar by Sheldon Rusch? I liked it. It kept my attention. I will probably never read it again. For Edgar is well written and deals with an interesting plot - a killer is using Edgar Allan Poe's works as the muse for multiple murders. The main character is Special Agent Elizabeth Taylor Hewitt and, besides her fictional parents rather absurd baby name choices, is well rounded and mostly fleshed out. The story is a bit formulaic, there's really nothing new here for dedicated mystery fans, but the casual mystery reader or Poe buff should find a good weekend read within the 320 pages.