Unhinged by A. G. Howard…3 emmys

Synopsis: Alyssa Gardner has been down the rabbit hole and faced the bandersnatch. She saved the life of Jeb, the guy she loves, and escaped the machinations of the disturbingly seductive Morpheus and the vindictive Queen Red. Now all she has to do is graduate high school and make it through prom so she can attend the prestigious art school in London she’s always dreamed of.

That would be easier without her mother, freshly released from an asylum, acting overly protective and suspicious. And it would be much simpler if the mysterious Morpheus didn’t show up for school one day to tempt her with another dangerous quest in the dark, challenging Wonderland—where she (partly) belongs.

As prom and graduation creep closer, Alyssa juggles Morpheus’s unsettling presence in her real world with trying to tell Jeb the truth about a past he’s forgotten. Glimpses of Wonderland start to bleed through her art and into her world in very disturbing ways, and Morpheus warns that Queen Red won’t be far behind.

If Alyssa stays in the human realm, she could endanger Jeb, her parents, and everyone she loves. But if she steps through the rabbit hole again, she’ll face a deadly battle that could cost more than just her head.

Rating: 3 emmys

Review:  This is the second book in a series that started out pretty mediocre.  I had a hard time empathizing with the main character.  In the beginning of this book, I couldn’t quite remember what I needed from the last one.  All in all, I would have given up on this series, except the author is REALLY good at writing endings that make you want to pick up the next one.

The Fabulous: The end. The rest of it is nothing to write home about, but dang-it if that last page doesn’t make you want to pick up the next one.

The Flaws: I still don’t really care for the main character, she needed to grow a bit of a backbone.  Oh, and learn from her mistakes.  And I’ll be honest, I’m an artist and all, but this is a little over the top.

Favorite Moments: The tea party at the end with Dad.

Best line: “you’ve been given a chance at two lives and two loves.  That is nothing short of a miracle. Cherish the gift for what it is.”

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AUTHOR BIO: A.G. Howard was inspired to write SPLINTERED while working at a school library. Her pastimes are reading, rollerblading, gardening, and family vacations which often include impromptu side trips to 18th century graveyards or condemned schoolhouses to appease her overactive muse.

Links: http://www.aghoward.com

 

Cress by Marissa Meyer…5 emmys

Synopsis: In this third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who’s only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

Rating: 5 emmys

Review:  I haven’t found a series this good in a long time.  One where I’m actually waiting for the next novel’s release.  A series where I’m actually kind of disappointed I have to wait until NEXT YEAR to get the next book. Insert time machine here.

The Fabulous: There are some books where you know where it’s going.  And some books make you wonder when the twist will come.  And then there are the ones that make you wonder if you’re supposed to wonder or if that’s what the author wants you to wonder.  The crafty ones.  They’re wonderful.

The Flaws: The next one doesn’t come out until NEXT YEAR.  Did I mention that?

Favorite Moments: Any moment where Thorne is being himself.  Swagger, swagger, wink, wink.

Best line: “Oh. Um. In a constellation, the brightest star is called the alpha.  I thought you meant that she’s…like…your brightest star.”

OR

“Now, let’s never talk about you being related to her again.  Because I’m technically still engaged to her, and that’s really weird.”

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AUTHOR BIO: I live in Tacoma, Washington, with my fiancé and our two cats. In addition to my slight obsession with books and writing, I’m big on road-tripping, wine-tasting, and hunting for antiques. I’m represented by Jill Grinberg.

CINDER, my debut novel, is a futuristic re-envisioning of Cinderella in which Cinder is a cyborg mechanic. Release date: 3 Jan 2012.

Links: http://www.marissameyer.com

 

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand… 3 emmys

Synopsis: On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.

In her long-awaited new book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in Seabiscuit. Telling an unforgettable story of a man’s journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.

Rating: 3 emmys

Review:  Out of my norm, but engaging, entertaining and incredibly enlightening.

The Fabulous: I had no idea.  I really haven’t spent enough time really digging into the details of war.  It’s a fascination with most of us to understand where the battles were won or lost.  Details are often lost in the telling of the tale. The overview is prominent and well storied. But these details paint a picture of human nature that not many would like to admit.

The Flaws: There are a lot of details.  They tend to drag at points. And yes, they are relevant, but sometimes they take away from the story.

Favorite Moments: When Louie visits the Japanese Prison to visit his captors.

There were also some good quotes from Billy Graham, almost as well read as they were delivered.

Best line: Did you know… “In less than two hours over Pearl Harbor, Japan badly wounded the American navy and killed more than 2,400 people.  Almost simultaneously, it attacked Thailand, Shanghai, Malaya, the Philippines, Guam, Midway, and Wake.”  Goes to show, we are a very self-centered culture. But I digress.

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AUTHOR BIO: Laura Hillenbrand (born 1967) is the author of the acclaimed Seabiscuit: An American Legend, a non-fiction account of the career of the great racehorse Seabiscuit, for which she won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year in 2001. The book later became the basis of the 2003 movie Seabiscuit. Her essays have appeared in The New Yorker, Equus magazine, American Heritage, The Blood-Horse, Thoroughbred Times, The Backstretch, Turf and Sport Digest, and many other publications. Her 1998 American Heritage article on the horse Seabiscuit won the Eclipse Award for Magazine Writing.

Born in Fairfax, Virginia, Hillenbrand studied at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, but was forced to leave before graduation when she contracted chronic fatigue syndrome, which she has struggled with ever since. She now lives in Washington, D.C

Links: http://laurahillenbrandbooks.com/

Because I think it’s worth it, you all should know.

Aspen by Rebekah Crane… 5 emmys

Synopsis: One quiet night in Boulder, Colorado, Aspen Yellow-Sunrise Taylor made a mistake.
In the next instant, her life changed forever.
Aspen doesn’t want to remember the devastating car accident that killed Katelyn Ryan, a sleek-haired popular soccer player. But forgetting is hard– because Katelyn may have died — but she didn’t leave. Her ghost is following Aspen around, and heading into senior year, it’s kind of a problem. Especially when Katelyn’s gorgeous former boyfriend Ben appears to be the only person at school with a clue as to how Aspen feels.
Popularity, college, Homecoming Court, hot guys – none of these things ever mattered to Aspen. She’s been busy trying to rein in her giant mass of blonde curls, keep her stoner mother Ninny away from Toaster, her mom’s awful bongo drumming boyfriend, and prevent her best friends Kim and Cass from killing – or kissing – one another. But with Ben sitting next to her in Physics looking all too gorgeous, Katelyn’s spirit dogging her steps, and her obsessive snow-globe collecting therapist begging her to remember all the things she wants to forget, Aspen is thrust into a vivid, challenging world she can’t control … and doesn’t want to.
A darkly funny, emotionally gripping story of opening up, letting go, and moving on, ASPEN is about the best-worst accident of your life … and what comes next.

Rating: 5 emmys

Review:  I can always tell a book is good if I cry at the end.  Why is always different,  but the tears always come.  Normally, I can tell you why a book hits home with me, but this one was not so easy.  I can give you a list of things that were perfect.  But when it comes down to why I loved it, I’m stumped.  There’s not one answer.  And there shouldn’t be.  It was just that good.

The Fabulous: If I have to pick one thing, I think the trauma in this book is written really well.  It’ll make you cringe.

The Flaws: I’m not sure Ben would get on those bike pegs, but it does create a pretty awesome picture in my head, so this one’s forgiven. And kinda awesome.

Favorite Moments: “I want a bike for Christmas”

Best line: “I think after death might just be the time when we’re most alive to people.”

“I’m pretty sure no one is satisfied with the number on their gravestone.”

“Sometimes what we feel can’t be defined because it would take every word, every sound, every emotion ever created to do it.”

Buy the Book:  COMING SOON!  Release date June 5th

AUTHOR BIO: Rebekah Crane fell in love with YA literature while studying Secondary English Education at Ohio University. After having two kids, living in six different cities, and finally settling down in the foothills of her beloved Rocky Mountains, her first novel, PLAYING NICE, was published. ASPEN, her second YA novel, set in Boulder, CO, is due to release in summer 2014 from In This Together Media. She now spends her day carpooling kids or tucked behind a laptop at 7,500 ft high in the Rockies, where the altitude only enhances the experience.

Links: http://www.rebekahcrane.com

Almost Royalty by Courtney Hamilton…4 emmys

Synopsis: Courtney Hamilton is a Velveeta-loving attorney driven to distraction by a city that seethes with soul-sucking status seekers. When her friend Marcie formulates an impossibly detailed rating system for acceptable men–the Los Angeles Eco-Chain of Dating–Courtney goes on a self-destructive binge that doesn’t stop until she gets thrown out of group therapy for insulting a former child actress.
Courtney is mortified as she watches her best friends give up stellar careers in law and the arts to marry entertainment royalty and civilian overachievers. Worse, they expect Courtney to do the same. So they hatch plots to get her to give up her career, break her addiction to fake cheese, marry into high-orbit wealth and rule the stratosphere alongside them.
But Courtney resists. She doesn’t want to be a poster child for the Opt-Out Generation. And she certainly doesn’t want to be molded into date bait for the top rung of L.A. society. All Courtney wants is to be left alone so she can search beneath the surface for a meaningful life. But between a meddling, narcissistic mother, a self-absorbed therapist and friends trying to send her to dating re-education camps, it seems that fake cheese is the only genuine thing left in the city. Social ambition combats self-actualization in this biting tale of one woman’s search for certainty in a city full of mirages.

Rating: 4 emmys

Review:  A good book will make me cry.  A good book will teach me things without my knowledge.  A good book can be subtle and bold and crazy all at once.  This was a good book.

The Fabulous: The redemption.  Of all circumstances.  If you don’t read any other part of this book, read the last two pages.  It’s all anyone ever needs to know.

The Flaws: At first, I thought the characters shallow and one-sided.  Then I got it. They’re supposed to be, or the book would never work.

Favorite Moments: Aside from the last chapter (which I found brilliant), the hysterical one line come backs to her therapist, and an overwhelming line of self-indulgent and over-important males, one of the best write ups for Match.com ever written.  I wish I’d used it myself.

Best line: Just a couple…

“I love Velveeta.”

“And you already know who it was.”

Buy the Book:  Available May 30, 2014 on Amazon

AUTHOR BIO: Courtney Hamilton has worked in Hollywood with writers, directors, executive producers, actresses and actors in the entertainment industry in L.A., Las Vegas and New York, including Golden Globe and Emmy winners in television and feature films (particularly in the humorous fiction, humor romance and women’s fiction genres). Based in Los Angeles, California, Hamilton is a keen observer of L.A. Royalty and southern California society (which many consider a romantic fiction of its own). Almost Royalty is a fictionalized satire of Los Angeles social classes and especially those who aspire to be part of the city’s A-Level Royalty.
Sit. Read. Have some Velveeta. Enjoy. Laugh.

Links:

Blog: http://ecochainofdating.com/blog/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18753354-almost-royalty

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EcoChainOfDating

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ecochaindating

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury… 4 emmys

Synopsis: The terrifyingly prophetic novel of a post-literate future.
Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to burn books, which are forbidden, being the source of all discord and unhappiness. Even so, Montag is unhappy; there is discord in his marriage. Are books hidden in his house? The Mechanical Hound of the Fire Department, armed with a lethal hypodermic, escorted by helicopters, is ready to track down those dissidents who defy society to preserve and read books.
The classic dystopian novel of a post-literate future, Fahrenheit 451 stands alongside Orwell’s 1984 and Huxley’s Brave New World as a prophetic account of Western civilization’s enslavement by the media, drugs and conformity.
Bradbury’s powerful and poetic prose combines with uncanny insight into the potential of technology to create a novel which, decades on from first publication, still has the power to dazzle and shock.

Rating: 4 emmys

Review:  It’s interesting to re-read a book that you read in High School and find, as prophetic as it was then, it’s even more prophetic than you thought.  The imagination that some authors have is disturbingly real.

The Fabulous: This book may have been ahead of its time, but reading it now is scary relevant.  With the invention of smartphones, smart TV’s, interactive video games and the constant social media stream we’ve all retreated to our own parlors waiting for the fourth wall installation to be with our “family.”

The Flaws: I found most of the flaws with this novel were not about the book, but more my lack of knowledge.  I really wanted to know every quote.  While I knew some, the one’s I didn’t made me a bit more disappointed in myself.

Favorite Moments: When Montag decides on his noonday quote is probably the most memorable.  However, I loved the moment where Granger talks about how his grandfather thought about legacy.

Best line: “We all made the right kind of mistakes, or we wouldn’t be here.”

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AUTHOR BIO: American novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, screenwriter and poet, was born August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois. He graduated from a Los Angeles high school in 1938. Although his formal education ended there, he became a “student of life,” selling newspapers on L.A. street corners from 1938 to 1942, spending his nights in the public library and his days at the typewriter. He became a full-time writer in 1943, and contributed numerous short stories to periodicals before publishing a collection of them, Dark Carnival, in 1947.
His reputation as a writer of courage and vision was established with the publication of The Martian Chronicles in 1950, which describes the first attempts of Earth people to conquer and colonize Mars, and the unintended consequences. Next came The Illustrated Man and then, in 1953, Fahrenheit 451, which many consider to be Bradbury’s masterpiece, a scathing indictment of censorship set in a future world where the written word is forbidden. In an attempt to salvage their history and culture, a group of rebels memorize entire works of literature and philosophy as their books are burned by the totalitarian state. Other works include The October Country, Dandelion Wine, A Medicine for Melancholy, Something Wicked This Way Comes, I Sing the Body Electric!, Quicker Than the Eye, and Driving Blind. In all, Bradbury has published more than thirty books, close to 600 short stories, and numerous poems, essays, and plays. His short stories have appeared in more than 1,000 school curriculum “recommended reading” anthologies.
Ray Bradbury’s work has been included in four Best American Short Story collections. He has been awarded the O. Henry Memorial Award, the Benjamin Franklin Award, the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America, the PEN Center USA West Lifetime Achievement Award, among others. In November 2000, the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters was conferred upon Mr. Bradbury at the 2000 National Book Awards Ceremony in New York City.
Ray Bradbury has never confined his vision to the purely literary. He has been nominated for an Academy Award (for his animated film Icarus Montgolfier Wright), and has won an Emmy Award (for his teleplay of The Halloween Tree). He adapted sixty-five of his stories for television’s Ray Bradbury Theater. He was the creative consultant on the United States Pavilion at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. In 1982 he created the interior metaphors for the Spaceship Earth display at Epcot Center, Disney World, and later contributed to the conception of the Orbitron space ride at Euro-Disney, France.
Married since 1947, Mr. Bradbury and his wife Maggie lived in Los Angeles with their numerous cats. Together, they raised four daughters and had eight grandchildren. Sadly, Maggie passed away in November of 2003.
On the occasion of his 80th birthday in August 2000, Bradbury said, “The great fun in my life has been getting up every morning and rushing to the typewriter because some new idea has hit me. The feeling I have every day is very much the same as it was when I was twelve. In any event, here I am, eighty years old, feeling no different, full of a great sense of joy, and glad for the long life that has been allowed me. I have good plans for the next ten or twenty years, and I hope you’ll come along.”

Links: http://www.raybradbury.com/

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs … 3 emmys

Synopsis: The extraordinary journey that began in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children continues as Jacob Portman and his newfound friends journey to London the peculiar capital of the world. But in this war-torn city, hideous surprises lurk around every corner. Like its predecessor, this second novel in the Peculiar Children series blends thrilling fantasy with never-before-published vintage photography to create a one-of-a-kind reacting experience.

Rating: 3 emmys

Review:  The first book had me going.  The second book lagged a little.  Then, POOF, the second book ended.  I now feel like I have to read the third book… and I’m slightly pissed.

The Fabulous: The adventure doesn’t slow down.  There are soft moments, but they don’t delay the action.

The Flaws: I still have a hard time with the relationship between two main characters.

Favorite Moments: The picture on the front of the book is really the best moment in the novel. Well played.

Best line: “Don’t tease me,” Horace replied. “I bite.”

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AUTHOR BIO: I grew up in Florida, went to Kenyon College in Ohio, then film school at USC in LA, where I still live. I write books and screenplays, blog daily for mentalfloss.com, and make short films.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is my first novel. I’m really excited about it — it was challenging and rewarding and I hope people like it. If you read that and like the found photographs in it, you might be interested in a book comprised entirely of found photographs that I have coming out January 2012 from HarperCollins. It’s called Talking Pictures. You can find sneak peeks by doing a search for “mental floss talking pictures” (I included a number of images in blogs there) and I made a kinda-sorta book trailer for it, which is on my youtube page: youtube.com/ransriggs.
Also, watch out for a Miss Peregrine book trailer, which I’m working on right now! I get to go to Belgium and film inside creepy abandoned chateaus, which I’m *really* looking forward to.

Links: http://www.ransomriggs.com

 

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ranson Riggs … 4 emmys

Synopsis: A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs.

It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows

Rating: 4 emmys

Review:  I did not expect this book to engage me.  I was happy to be disappointed.

The Fabulous: I found myself looking for the pictures that were warped into this imaginative tale.

The Flaws: I found myself looking for the pictures. (Yes, I said that again on purpose.) It did heighten the anxiety, but also pushed me to neglect relishing the story.

Favorite Moments: The first picture.  I was excited to see where the book would go with these eerie old photos.

Best line: “Will you quit shouting and let me bleed in peace!”

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AUTHOR BIO: I grew up in Florida, went to Kenyon College in Ohio, then film school at USC in LA, where I still live. I write books and screenplays, blog daily for mentalfloss.com, and make short films.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is my first novel. I’m really excited about it — it was challenging and rewarding and I hope people like it. If you read that and like the found photographs in it, you might be interested in a book comprised entirely of found photographs that I have coming out January 2012 from HarperCollins. It’s called Talking Pictures. You can find sneak peeks by doing a search for “mental floss talking pictures” (I included a number of images in blogs there) and I made a kinda-sorta book trailer for it, which is on my youtube page: youtube.com/ransriggs.

Also, watch out for a Miss Peregrine book trailer, which I’m working on right now! I get to go to Belgium and film inside creepy abandoned chateaus, which I’m *really* looking forward to.

Links: http://www.ransomriggs.com

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman … 4 emmys

Synopsis: “I bought the milk,” said my father. “I walked out of the corner shop, and heard a noise like this: T h u m m t h u m m. I looked up and saw a huge silver disc hovering in the air above Marshall Road.”

“Hullo,” I said to myself. “That’s not something you see every day. And then something odd happened.”

Find out just how odd things get in this hilarious story of time travel and breakfast cereal, expertly told by Newbery Medalist and bestselling author Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Skottie Young

Rating: 4 emmys

Review:  Mr. Gaiman has a talent that I am so glad he shares with us. I will definitely be sharing this with my children.

The Fabulous: Convoluted Genius.  It’s a story where you are always wondering what could possibly be next.  And then it gets better.

The Flaws: You don’t have to be a child to enjoy this book, but you do have to suspend belief like one.

Favorite Moments: Just turn the page, they’re all good.

Best line: “Especially not how you saved the world from being remodeled.  Or the pirates.”

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AUTHOR BIO: Neil Gaiman was born in Hampshire, UK, and now lives in the United States near Minneapolis.  As a child he discovered his love of books, reading, and stories, devouring the works of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, James Branch Cabell, Edgar Allan Poe, Michael Moorcock, Ursula K. LeGuin, Gene Wolfe, and G.K. Chesterton.  A self-described “feral child who was raised in libraries,” Gaiman credits librarians with fostering a life-long love of reading: “I wouldn’t be who I am without libraries. I was the sort of kid who devoured books, and my happiest times as a boy were when I persuaded my parents to drop me off in the local library on their way to work, and I spent the day there. I discovered that librarians actually want to help you: they taught me about interlibrary loans.”

Links: http://www.neilgaiman.com/p/About_Neil/Biography