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Sunday, February 7, 2010

Book Cover Musing

Is it just me? Every time I see this cover, I thought I was staring at Angelina Jolie.

Posted by christa @ mental foodie at 7:53 PM 5 comments
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Too Funny - LOST vs. Avatar

I never thought I'd be so addicted to LOST! Love that show - but I had only watched 3 seasons (about to watch Season 4) so need to be careful when I read about LOST online. I have to say after Season 3, I am not liking Jack very much... I am amazed though how the writers can weaved a story within a story within a story and how everyone is all somehow connected. Talk about being creative and imaginative!

I'd also watched Avatar - while I thought it was quite good visually, the storyline was too predictable for me. Was fun to watch it in 3D.

So when I saw Books Are My Only Friends posted a really funny link called LOL: LOST vs. Avatar (Direct link here), I had to go take a looksy! So true, so true!
Posted by christa @ mental foodie at 5:31 AM 2 comments
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Posted by christa @ mental foodie at 4:50 AM 0 comments
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Posted by christa @ mental foodie at 4:40 AM 0 comments
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Book Review - Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story by Carolyn Turgeon


Title: Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story
Author: Carolyn Turgeon
Year: 2009
Page: 288
Genre: Fiction

New to me author? Yes
Read this author again? Possibly
Tearjerker? No
Where did it take place? US
FTC Disclosure: Borrowed from the library

Summary (from amazon.com):
In a decidedly different take on Cinderella, Turgeon limns the travails of Lil, the fairy godmother chosen to ensure that, because she is fated to marry the prince, Cinderella gets to the ball. Lil, however, lets herself feel human emotions, falls in love with the prince, and goes to the ball in Cinderella’s place. The fairy elders banish her to the human world, where she lives, wings furled and bound behind her back, as an old woman working in a tiny Manhattan rare-book store. This take on the tale unfolds in alternating first-person accounts, one of Lil in the past, the other of Lil in the present, yearning to rejoin her sister and friends in the fairy world and finding a way to redeem herself when she meets Veronica, a vibrant young woman, and realizes that by finding a soul mate for Veronica, she could make up for that night so long ago. Lil is complex and appealing, and vivid imagery and lyrical writing give shape to a charmer with a very satisfying, enigmatic ending.

First Sentence:
I loved arriving at the bookstore first thing in the morning, when the streets were still quiet, the sun half risen, and the whole place felt like a secret meeting room.

Why did I pick this book?
Read Stephanie's Written Word's review and thought re-telling of a fairy tale is something I had not read before, so willing to give it a try!

My thoughts:
  • Book lovers will be charmed by the first few pages - which one of us wouldn't want to work in a book store where the books are loved? (An independent one too! One that has rare and used books!) 
  •  
  • I really liked the concept of the book. I read that some reviewers didn't like the ending. I thought the ending was a bit abrupt and a little unclear (needed to google to make sure I understood what happened correctly - I did, but it was an educated guess). I can certainly understand why others didn't like how it ended (again, can't elaborate to avoid spoilers), however I actually quite liked it and thought it was successful because it was unexpected. Definitely a memorable one. The ending really makes or breaks a story doesn't it?

  • I liked the characters - who wouldn't want a grandma like Lil, a friend like Veronica (or hairstylist!), a significant other like George... but they had their faults and were not perfect, which made them more realistic

  • The reason I only gave it 3.5 instead of 4 stars was because I felt the book could be shorter. I found it was a bit too descriptive that I skimmed through some paragraphs just to find out what happened next. I guess I just like books that are concise and to the point, but not boring or too "sterile". Also, the story alternated between past and present, but it wasn't clear at first and got a bit confusing - I guess I am one of those that like to have each chapter labeled "past" or "present" - it doesn't always work with such labels (i.e. if the author doesn't want to spoil the surprise for the readers... e.g. like the author wanted you to think it happened now but it actually happened in the past, or vice versa) but for this book I don't think it posed a problem. It'll just make the story easier to follow

  • Have you read other books that are re-telling of other famous stories? I don't believe I have (I remember someone told me about a humorous book that is a collection of the supposedly true stories behind these tales - Little Red Ridding Hood may be one story in the book - but I don't remember what it's called... it has probably been 16 years since I heard of it) Would love to have some recommendations! I love hearing stories from different perspectives :)

  • This book was a fun read, but also not a fun read... hate speaking in riddles, but that's exactly how I felt about it (explanation = spoilers)

  • I also don't think the cover really portrayed the book well... it's a difficult book to design a cover for I think - to not give the story away - and see what I said above? It's a fun book and not a fun book - so do you make the cover fun? Or not fun?

  • The quote is a bit long - but I have always wondered the same. Many of you probably do too

Quote
I loved the scribbles in the margins, the notes in the front of the books that told their stories, the ways they passed from one person to another. "To Jennifer, Christmas 1921. May these words stay with you." The stray phrases and numbers jotted on the side of a page -- "Indian Taj, 74th Street" emerging from the margins of Utopia, "BUY PUMPKINS" blaring up at me from the back cover of To the Lighthouse. As I sat behind the register, carefully erasing the penciled marks, I felt as if each book had a secret to tell, only to me.

In this one, my favorite one, someone had scribbled on the inside of the back cover, in French, "Tous mes anciens amours vont me revenir."


All my old loves will be returned to me.


I had often imagined who had written it, the faded pencil, the strange scrawl. Sometimes I imagined a young girl, daydreaming. Sometimes an old woman like me, left with nothing but memories. I wondered what had happened to the woman, if she'd ended up having a life rich with love or if she'd lived how I had lived, starving and alone. It could have been anything, an artist's note or a quote to tell a friend, but I felt I could see this woman, her face lit with hope, the pencil poised in her hand like a swooping bird. (p3-4)

Rating:



Have you read this book? 
If you have, I would love to hear what you think!
I'll link your review here if you wish!


Challenges:
100+ Reading
Bibliophilic Books
Take Another Chance
Posted by christa @ mental foodie at 4:07 AM 4 comments
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Book Review - The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E Pearson


Title: The Adoration of Jenna Fox
Author: Mary E Pearson
Year: 2009
Page: 272
Genre: Fiction - Yound Adult, Dystopian

New to me author? Yes
Read this author again? Yes
Tearjerker? No
Where did it take place? US
FTC Disclosure: Borrowed from the library

Summary (from amazon.com):
Who is Jenna Fox? Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a coma, they tell her, and she is still recovering from a terrible accident in which she was involved a year ago. But what happened before that? Jenna doesn't remember her life. Or does she? And are the memories really hers?

First Sentence:
I used to be someone.

Why did I pick this book?
Read reviews on several blogs (sorry, didn't write down which blog) and it sounds interesting. Plus I need some YA for my YA Challenge!

My thoughts:
  • I read the hardcover version of this book - which was the one with the butterfly on it. While the white paperback cover might be a bit more eye-catching, I thought the butterfly goes with the story better as it was an important part of the book, as was the hand. What do yo think? I always wonder why they have different covers for hardcover and paperback? Anyone know why? I know they may have different covers (and/or titles) for different countries as different market has different taste... does the same hold true for hardcover and paperback?

  • While I didn't love this book, I did quite like it. The reason I didn't love it is that I could guess where the plot was going and how it was going to end (while I am not always right at guessing, I was this time.) But, it was good to have the affirmation that my guess was correct, and that it had a logical explanation

  • It's definitely a book that made you think. Most books probably make you think what you'd do if you were the protagonist.. but this book made me think of what I'd do for many characters as they all had some kind of decisions to make. What if you were... Jenna? Her parents? Her grandmother? Her friend Allys? Allys' parents? Her friend Ethan?

  • I thought her grandmother Lily was an interesting character in how she treated her daughter, and her granddaughter. Since I am not a mother, let alone a grandmother, I wonder about the type of relationship between grandmother/mother/daughter. I can't elaborate more without giving spoilers, but if you have read this book you'd probably know what I mean around the theme of what parents would do for their child

  • The question I have was about two other characters who were Jenna's friends (their name started with D and G... again, avoiding potential spoiler here!) - it seemed like the former would have a more important role? But D just disappeared after the last interaction with Jenna and it was never really explained what made D so different. As for G - it almost seemed like G was an extra character that could have been omitted (unless I am missing something significant?)

  • And when I finished the book, I had to chuckle (oops, am I sounding too much like Edward from Twilight? After I read Twilight, I thought Edward chuckled A LOT, like, every second page... anyway I digress)... it is almost the as though the author read my review of Liar and ended this book the way I said Liar should have :) Interestingly, both books were published in the same month and same year (Sept 09)

  • My quotes for this book were more like food for thoughts... I didn't necessarily agree or disagree, but again, this is a book that makes you think


Quote:

The mind is an energy that the brain produces. Think of a glass ball twirling on your fingertip. If it falls, it shatters into a million pieces. All the parts of a ball are still there, but it will never twirl with that force on your fingertip again. The brain is the same way... but the mind, the mind could never be transferred... we found that it is like a spinning glass ball. You have to keep it spinning or it falls and shatters. (p123-124)

They say you can only remember events when you have the words to name them. (p148)

"When I was going through my bitter phase, my counselor told me we're all products of our parents, genes, or environment in one way or another... And I may wish I could change the hand I was dealt, but I can't, so all I can do now is choose how I will play it. So that's what I'm doing. Playing it the best I can." (p168)

Do certain events in our lives leave a permanent mark, freezing a piece of us in time, and that becomes a touchstone that we measure the rest of our lives against? (p221)

Faith and Science, I have learnd, are two sides of the same coin, separated by an expanse so small, but wide enough that one side can't see the other. They don't even know they're connected. Father and Lily were two sides of the same coin, I've decided, and maybe I am the space in between. (p263)


Rating:


You may also like these books:

I can't think of any right now that I'd read that is similar to this book, but I will be reading The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist and Genesis: A Novel by Bernard Beckett soon. I think both are of the same genre (but we'll see!)



If you want to read a YA book about another girl and coma, try If I Stay by Gayle Forman. Have some tissues handy though (for some reasons the book really touched me... probably because I was missing my family and hadn't seen them for several years.) Love the simplicity of the cover!


NOTE - there is a list of Dystopian Literature listed in Wikipedia. I had read 3 - Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, The Road by Cormac McCarthy and Never Let Me Go by by Kazuo Ishiguro (actually did not finish this one). I enjoyed Uglies and may read the rest of the series. I found The Road boring (didn't feel the despair/hope/hopelessness/love...). While I thought the concept of Never Let Me Go very very interesting, the writing was too slow for me and I abandoned it... but I did google to find out what happened. Perhaps it's one of those books that I will have an easier time watching the movie just to know the plot (think The Lord of the Rings, Time Traveler's Wife - I hadn't read the former, but did read the latter.)



Have you read this book? 
If you have, I would love to hear what you think!
I'll link your review here if you wish!


Challenges:
100+ Reading
Young Adult
Posted by christa @ mental foodie at 2:33 AM 4 comments
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Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Book Review - Liar by Justine Larbalestier


 







Title: Liar
Author: Justine Larbalestier
Year: 2009
Page: 384
Genre: Fiction - Young Adult

New to me author? Yes
Read this author again? Don't know... she said this book is very different to her other books...
Tearjerker? No
Where did it take place? New York, US (though the author is Australian)
FTC Disclosure: Borrowed from the library

Summary (from amazon.com):
Micah will freely admit that she’s a compulsive liar, but that may be the one honest thing she’ll ever tell you. Over the years she’s duped her classmates, her teachers, and even her parents, and she’s always managed to stay one step ahead of her lies. That is, until her boyfriend dies under brutal circumstances and her dishonesty begins to catch up with her. But is it possible to tell the truth when lying comes as naturally as breathing? Taking readers deep into the psyche of a young woman who will say just about anything to convince them—and herself—that she’s finally come clean, Liar is a bone-chilling thriller that will have readers see-sawing between truths and lies right up to the end. Honestly.

First Sentence:
I was born with a light covering of fur.

Why did I pick this book?
I became aware of this book when I read about the cover controversy on different blogs (it originally had a Caucasian girl on the cover, when book said she was half African American/half Caucasian), and thought the premise sounds interesting.

My thoughts:
  • Have you ever finished a book, and wanted to toss it across the room? This hardly ever happened to me, but that was exactly how I felt after I was done. The start of this book was so promising (I finished it in one day) but the ending frustrated me so much that I'm giving it 1 star only!

  • A lot of reviews said they like her writing style, but to me, it sounded more like rambling. But I suppose, since the book was written in first person as a 17 year-old girl, that could just be her personality... but I thought this book could well be shorter

  • After the whole book cover controversy, I still think the revised cover didn't really capture Micah (the protagonist) - apart from looking bi-racial, how Micah was described in the book simply didn't match up with the cover (I don't want to explain how they differed - but if you read it, you'd know what I mean)

  • Now - if the ending was different (if it ended the way I'd hope it ended - and nope, that doesn't necessarily mean happy endings, in fact, I usually prefer non-happy endings...), I probably would've given this book 4-4.5 stars. AFTER YOU HAVE READ THE BOOK, YOU CAN COME BACK TO THIS REVIEW AND WE CAN DISCUSS!! :)

  • Interesting tidbit I found from Normal Public Library Teens: Justine Larbalestier is married to Scott Westerfeld, writer of the Uglies and Midnighters trilogies! I have read Uglies, and enjoyed that (may read the rest of the series)

  • It's hard to talk about this book (or explain why I got so frustrated with it) without giving away spoilers - so, SPOILERS ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't read the review below if you don't want to know what happened!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Now supposedly there is this big twist in the book that many people were saying "OMG"! (that Micah said she's a werewolf, p170) - while I didn't guess it, I didn't think it was that big of a deal, so this wasn't what got me frustrated. In fact, I thought they way the she explained the whole werewolf story with menstruation, and how guys couldn't change without girls were kinda interesting, that it could actually be plausible

  • I also don't get the whole attraction among Micah, Sarah and Tayshawn? How did that add to the story? I understood they were all grieving, but huh?

  • What frustrated me was that there was no ending!!! It was way ambiguous. So did she lie about being a werewolf? Did she kill anybody and if so whom? How did she get back to the city from the farm if she had no money? Why did her parents treat her the way they did? How did the brother die or did she really have a brother? Who is Pete? There were so many questions, with no answers... I seriously had no idea what the message the author was trying to send... maybe I'm too dense

  • So, since we could google, I found that the author actually had a spoiler thread on her on website where people could speculate what happened - and WOW, how did they come up with all these theories?!?! The mental institution / sexual identities / multiple personality theories seemed to make sense... normally I'd probably re-read to see what I missed, BUT, the author wrote the following when answering some questions about the book (on her website):

    Q: Can you tell me what really happens at the end of Liar?

    A: No. I deliberately wrote the book to be read in at least two different ways, which means that there is no one ending, and thus no way I can tell you what really happens. You’re on your own.

    and

    Mel: How much do you know that the reader doesn’t? I mean, I know you’re not going to tell us whether Jordan was real, or whether Micah is really a wolf, or where she ends up at the end — but are all the answers clear to you?

    Q: You know even if I did know I would not tell you because admitting that I do know is just an invitation for people to bug me to tell them the truth. Thus I will tell you that I have no idea. Which I don’t. Trust me!



    So, what would be the point to re-read when there is no answer? She also said there will be no sequel, so I am not about to waste my time to re-read and speculate what might have happened when I would never know the truth anyway! So I felt like I wasted my time reading a book without an ending - it's like reading a murder/mystery without knowing who the killer was... now I know that in real life, we don't always have answers, that there are many cold murder cases... but this is fiction! I don't even care that the protagonist betrayed the reader's trust by lying, since well, she was a liar, but I just don't like having no solutions to a puzzle (no answers to crossword puzzle? no solution to some IQ problems?)

  • Had the author included an epilogue or author's note or something to wrap it all up to tie up the loose ends, this book would have been much, much better. It'd definitely give the a-ha! moment (remember The Sixth Sense?) So, it's not worthwhile to invest my time to re-read, when I have so many other books waiting for me. Which is a shame, as it'd have been worth a re-read just to spot the clues! It would have been clever

  • It reminded me of another book I read, Life Sentences: A Novel by Laura Lippman. Now, that book did have an ending, but there was this BIG SECRET that was supposed to be so important that just disappeared in the end, making me think "Huh? Did I miss something? Why was it such a big deal?" So of course I googled again (what would I do without the internet!) to try to find some spoilers and I was not alone thinking so! At that time (I read this book about 8 months ago), the only link I found was the author commenting in a Barnes & Nobles discussion board - she didn't give the answer, but said she will if people were interested... I checked back a couple of times and didn't see an update, and gave up. After reading Liar, I thought of it, and decided to google again, and found out she explained the big secrecy on her facebook page! (if you are interested... my question was about Aubrey.) See? It would have made the book that much better if she had just explained it in the book... instead, the book just felt unfinished.

  • Okay, < end > venting < / end >!

*** Spoilers Ended! ***

    Rating:


    You may also like these books:
    I haven't read any of these books - but on the author's website, people asked if there were other books like Liar, and here are some suggestions - I may read some just to see if I'd like them better!

    • If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson
    • I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier
    • We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
    • Letters from the Inside from John Marsden

    (Actually, I'd read Letters from the Inside when I was in High School... but I seriously don't remember what happened... I remember liking it back then, but don't recall how it is similar to Liar)




    Have you read this book? 
    If you have, I would love to hear what you think!
    I'll link your review here if you wish!


    Challenges:
    100+ Reading
    Young Adult
    Posted by christa @ mental foodie at 12:02 AM 11 comments
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