Love Story

It's been a while since I read a review that instantly had me clicking over to Amazon to buy it. Lately I have been trying to restrain myself since I already have so many books in my TBR shelves at home, as well as a growing array on my Kindle. That's why I much more frequently add books to my Amazon list and wait until I have gift certificates. Nonetheless, when I read The Story Siren's review of Jennifer Echols' Love Story yesterday, I could not resist. I was so relieved that I would only have to wait one day for the pre-ordered copy to be delivered to my Kindle.

Today as I was pulling out of the driveway to take the girls to swimming lessons and the park, I turned on my Kindle to make sure it downloaded while I still had wireless. Once at the park, I started clicking away while the girls played and played. I snuck any chance to continue with the story until finishing it tonight.

Echols wove together narratives for a creative writing course, as well as the main character Erin's first person narrative -- a fun format. At her first semester of college Erin was living out her dream of pursuing her creative writing. Inspired by a stable boy back at her grandmother's racehorse farm that she had known since she was twelve and could not get out of her mind, she wrote a historical romance - only the day the class was going to critique it, the real life Hunter joined the class. Mortified, Erin worried what others would think if they found out.

It was evident from the start that Erin's and Hunter's relationship had been interesting, with a lot of information missing, so much left unsaid. Through the narratives they write for the course, they send each other messages; however, that leaves the interpretation up to the reader, sometimes leaving their intentions unclear.

Wondering exactly what each character's full motivations were, as well as their feelings continually built tension and anticipation. What a fun summer read!

Populazzi

Elise Allen's Populazzi is one of those books that makes me anxious from the start since given the premise, the main character is obviously going to dig herself into a big hole. In the novel Claudia and Cara have been best friend since kindergarten when "The Incident" marked them for their school careers as outcasts with their classmates and bonded them together. They were resigned to the idea that they could not change their scale of popularity until Cara's family ended up moving to a different suburb nearby.

Unbeknownst to Cara, Claudia planned all summer, compiling a binder which she unveiled to Cara right before the start of the school year with a theory that Cara could move up the ladder of popularity at her new school by carefully gauging the different layers, making connections and moving up. Only it gets even worse because Claudia's "genius" idea relies on boyfriends. Hence, anytime Cara would meet someone new I would start cringing about how Claudia's plan could end up hurting others. More than once I was aggravated with Claudia for not realizing how her plan and continual encouragement to go through with it was not very healthy.

Nonetheless, tension and wondering how it is all finally going to work out always keep me flipping the pages, so I read it in one sitting. I appreciated that Cara had different emotions about the process as she went along, as well as her motivations shifting. There were a couple of times when I wanted to see more development with respect to her reactions and thoughts. Yet, other times I was more satisfied with the descriptions.

The book would give teen girls a lot to discuss about making decisions, values, and what aspects of their lives are worth the majority of their time and energy. There was also an array of fun characters that developed and emerged in different ways throughout the book. I had fun guessing just exactly what some of their long-term roles would be. There was also depth to family dynamics in the book.

The publisher recommends it as 9th grade and up which I was glad to see because of some of the issues. I had forgotten until after I finished her book that she has also written a lot for television and movies, such as some of the Barbie movies, which my girls absolutely love. Elise Allen has a talent with knowing her audiences and adapting for different target age groups.

Populazzi's release is coming right up in August, and I imagine it will be a hit! Join me on August 2nd for a stop on Elise Allen's blog tour. I also want to read Elixir that she co-wrote with Hillary Duff.

*Review copy provided. 2011 Debut Author Challenge Book 11/12.

Lord of the Flies

For this month, we decided to read a classic for our book club. The host debated between Lord of the Flies and The Count of Monte Cristo but ended up going with Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

Though I had heard of the book and recognized the title, it was not until I started reading the book that it hit me that I really did not know a lot about it. I remember my sister that is about two years older talking about reading it for school, but by the time I got to that grade level teachers had changed and it was no longer required. Needless to say, anything that she said about it years and years ago were lost.

From the start I thought to myself that this book is obviously an example of what another language arts teacher in one of my classes called jump and tuck, where the author jumps right in to the action and then tucks in background details as they go along. Thus, with the first pages I was trying to orient myself to see what was going on with the boys and how they ended up on an island without any adults, as well as the historical context of the time. I quickly realized that the boys were from England (again that was one of the details that made me think about how most people who are knowledgeable about the book would have known that, making me realize that aside from the title maybe I did not know anything about the book!).

It does not take the boys long to bond together, setting up a governing system to have order and determine priorities. Nonetheless, this quickly falls apart as various boys have different understandings of what is most important and what should be most highly valued. Reasoning does not always win out and often superficial aspects, such as weight, bear more importance than aspects such as intelligence in deciding who to follow. Throughout the book the sense of order decreases and the madness escalates, leading up to a page-turner toward the ending.

The book has a lot to offer as far as self-identity, making decisions, aspects of being a human, and symbolism. It left me with a lot to think about... I imagine that we will have a deep discussion today of this classic tale at the coffee shop. I am also thinking that this might be an engaging read for an 8th grade boys book club during the school year.

Exposed

As expected, today I clicked right through Kimberly Marcus' Exposed, a debut novel in verse. At the start of the novel Liz thinks her biggest problem is adjusting to having her brother away at college and missing him, or maybe the normal squabbles that she has from time to time with her best friend Kate.

Only the morning after an argument with Kate about whether or not she should focus on a career in dance, her passion, or be a history major everything changes. Liz cannot figure out why it was such a big deal. However, for Kate the full story of the events that happened that night are a very big deal - one that will change their friendship forever.

Liz is trying to come to grips with all that the night encompassed as everything comes into focus, conflicted between various feelings and emotions. Along with that, she is navigating the normal aspects of a senior year, working toward her dream of building up her photography portfolio and getting accepted to art school.

The lyrical verse unveils the plot one short poem at a time. As typical with great novels in verse, it tells so much with so little words. Fans of Lisa Schroeder's novels in verse will enjoy Marcus' debut.

*2011 Debut Author Challenge book 10/12.

Falling for Hamlet

I can't say enough about how much I love modern updates of classics, especially updates of Jane Austen's and Shakespeare's works, so naturally, I could not wait to read Falling for Hamlet by Michelle Ray, which was released this week.

While reading adaptations of tragedies, the question in the back of my mind is always whether or not the author is going to maintain the tragic aspects to their full impact or not.

I remembered certain aspects of Hamlet. I can't remember if I read it for my college Shakespeare class or not. What stood out to me was watching another local high school perform it around my junior year of high school. Needless to say, I was rusty on a lot of the finer points, so I looked up information about it on-line to refresh my memory.

Wondering how closely Ray's version would align kept me clicking away on my Kindle. I won't share how many details aligned because that would spoil part of the fun, but I will mention that Ray had a nice author's statement at the end of the book that explained her inspiration for the novel, as well as her decisions on what to keep the same and what to change. A couple of smaller details that won't spoil anything is that I loved that she kept the names, even though as she explains, it was awkward at times in a modern setting. However, with a couple of characters, she simply had the classical names be their last names and everyone just called them by their last names - a nice fit.

The format of the book also helped to build tension. The start of each chapter began with a small part of an interview between Ophelia and Zara, a popular talk show host and ended with pieces of an interrogation between Ophelia and two officers. The parallel interviews were so fascinating, leaving the reader wondering which happened first and how Ophelia's story in this novel would end. The narration between the two book end interviews was the full truth that Ophelia was not going to tell either Zara or the officers.

I love, love, loved this book. In some aspects, it is probably better suited for older YA readers. It will be especially nice for those who are reading, watching, or performing Hamlet in class. I know a novel like this is exactly what I would have loved when I was in high school or college (where my interest in modern updates was initially sparked).

The book reminded me once again just how powerful and universal Shakespeare's messages are. Though I often think such tragic endings are rare (but then again maybe not...), so much is applicable to every day like, such as: the emotions of wondering what to do in complicated situations when people that you love are pulling you in different directions, how to grieve, how to handle disappointments and betrayals in a healthy way...

In my TBR pile, I also have The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet, Enthusiasm, and The Romeo and Juliet Code. I just can't get enough of adaptations!

*2011 Debut Author Challenge Book 9/12

2011 Debut Author Challenge TBR List

In order to officially complete the 2011 Debut Author Challenge, I need to read four more books to get to the minimum requirement of twelve. Last night I skimmed through my challenge wish list of possibilities on Amazon and decided on my four remaining titles; although, there are many more that I still want to read as well. All books are downloaded on my Kindle, except one that is pre-ordered for next week. I still have not decided the order in which I will read them.

Entwined by Heather Dixon

The beautiful cover alone is enough to make me want to read the book, but the Amazon product description including, "Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her ... beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing ... it's al taken away," was enough to clinch the deal. I love novels set in previous time periods, as well as novels that have fantastical elements, so this one sounds like it will be a fun, suspenseful read.

Leverage by Joshua Cohen

This one caught my eye from the first time I read about it and have been tempted to buy it earlier, but I always hesitated because I know that the content will be heavy. Yet, I keep on coming back to it. I am excited to read it, but know that I will need to carefully select when I pick it up, preferably at a time that is relatively less stressful so that I can be emotionally ready for more difficult topics.

Exposed by Kimberly Marcus

This is another title that I frequently considered whenever checking for challenge books. The deciding factor that had me clicking to purchase last night was noticing that it is a novel in verse, a format that I absolutely love. Last night I also noticed that it has a new cover. I liked that the old cover had more of a photography feel playing on the word exposed, but I also like the vulnerability that this cover expresses. I am expecting this to be a quick, powerful read.

Falling for Hamlet by Michelle Ray

Finally, pre-ordered to deliver on July 5th is Falling For Hamlet. I can never resist modern updates, twists on, or allusions to classics. Can't wait for this one!