Library Loot! My Library Books for August~Going Back

Excerpt :

Playing for Time

 

He began to die when he was twenty-one, but tuberculosis is slow and sly and subtle. The disease took fifteen years to hollow out his lungs so completely they could no longer keep him alive. In all that time, he was allowed a single season of something like happiness.

When he arrived in Dodge City in 1878, Dr. John Henry Holliday was a frail twenty-six-year-old dentist who wanted nothing grander than to practice his profession in a prosperous Kansas cow town. Hope—cruelest of the evils that escaped Pandora’s box—smiled on him gently all that summer. While he lived in Dodge, the quiet life he yearned for seemed to lie within his grasp.

 

At thirty, he would be famous for his part in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. A year later, he would become infamous when he rode at Wyatt Earp’s side to avenge the murder of Wyatt’s younger brother Morgan. To sell newspapers, the journalists of his day embellished thin fact with... (continued)

This is a great read by Mary Doria Russell who is best known for her fantasy books of years ago.  I have always had an affinity for Doc and Wyatt Earp.  My mother's family is linked closely with the Earps!  Don't know if that makes me an outlaw or law-abiding... ;]

Nevertheless, "Doc" is a book that I enjoyed very much and recommend to all readers.

Editorial Review:

Hush is a timely book these days, when it seems as if hardly a day goes by without the news media reporting another child molestation by a religious leader. The main character, Gittel, is a sixteen-year-old girl who is harboring a devastating secret. Six years ago, when she was ten, she witnessed her best friend Devory being sexually abused. In their Chassidic Jewish community, reporting what she had seen would only lead to family shame and dishonor. Gittel's enforced silence is difficult for her to bear, and becomes even more so as she reaches the age at which she should be married off and become a mother. This taut tale alternates between ten-year-old Gittel and present day Gittel, never losing its momentum. It is not always a pleasant or easy read, but it is a powerful, gripping young adult novel that demonstrates that sexual abuse can happen anywhere, even in an insular, devoutly religious community. Reviewer: Jennifer Waldrop

I haven't read this one, but I'm anxious to get to it.  I think this book has a different slant on the problem of child sexual abuse and another child's feelings about "telling" to help another.  The fact that it's centered around a Chassidic Jewish community interests me, as well, because this is a specific one I haven't read of.

Just this week, a 10 yr. old twin boy died by his father and step-mother's hands...being punished for "swiping" his step-brother's guitar string. He was completely dehydrated by being made to stand in front of a sunny window in over 100 degree weather, without air conditioning in his room, for over a week without water.  His twin brother talked to a news reporter about his brother's tortured death saying that he wanted to help his brother, but he was afraid that he would get in trouble, too.  He wanted to help his brother but he was afraid.  This horror will follow the child for the rest of his life...

I think this is going to be a great book to read.

Overview :

Half-human, half-angel, Meridian Sozu has a dark responsibility.

Sixteen-year-old Meridian has been surrounded by death ever since she can remember. As a child, insects, mice, and salamanders would burrow into her bedclothes and die. At her elementary school, she was blamed for a classmate’s tragic accident. And on her sixteenth birthday, a car crashes in front of her family home—and Meridian’s body explodes in pain.
 
Before she can fully recover, Meridian is told that she’s a danger to her family and hustled off to her great-aunt’s house in Revelation, Colorado. It’s there that she learns that she is a Fenestra—the half-angel, half-human link between the living and the dead. But Meridian and her sworn protector and love, Tens, face great danger from the Aternocti, a band of dark forces who capture vulnerable souls on the brink of death and cause chaos.
From the Hardcover edition.

Oh, boy!  Another YA supernatural novel... But, this time the twist I liked was the fact that Meridian is a good angel/human.  I'm not a fan of the evil, dark angel, soul suckers; etc...   I'm going to try this one for any redeeming qualities and I'll get back to you.

Although insurance investigator DD McGil has always had her choice of lovers, she’s been spectacularly unlucky in love. Now one of DD’s former flames, Hemingway expert David Barnes, claims to have recovered the legendary stories and poems that Hemingway’s first wife lost while on a train to Switzerland in 1922. Barnes plans to auction them off for millions, but controversy rages. Are they truly the lost Hemingway works or are they forgeries? Found? Or stolen? DD’s quest to prove the manuscripts genuine puts her on the trail of a killer. The hunter quickly becomes the hunted when someone tries to stop her—dead.

How could a Hemingway fan such as I am pass over such a promising novel?  I have to read this one.  There are 227 pages...not bad. And, it's the first in a series of mystery novels with DD McGil as the investigator.



Synopsis:

"But what do we really know about other people?" In this international bestselling novel, a young unnamed Sardinian woman explores the life of her grandmother, a romantic, bewitching, eccentric figure, and a memorable literary creation. Her life has been characterized by honor and fierce passion, and above all by an abiding search for perfect love that has spanned much of the twentieth century. Ever in the background of this remarkable woman's story is the stunning Sardinian landscape-the deep blues of the Mediterranean, the rugged mountains of the Sardinian backcountry dotted with charming villages lost in time.

I absolutely adore this little book.  It's only about 100 pages translated from the Italian original and what a stunningly gorgeous book it is.  The descriptions of a grandmother who is slightly insane, but is "good," according to the local priest no matter if she does fall in love with every man who crosses her doorstep, to the husband who is devoted to her and the children and grandchildren who find her a cherished person of unique existance; this novel sings with amazing descriptions and the voice of a mystic author.  Milena Agus has a writer's voice that comes through her words; yes, and it's lyrical and hypnotic. 

I can't say enough good things about this book which I'm going to buy for my own personal library shelves. You have to read this one!  5 stars

What did you get in your Library Loot this past month?

Deborah/TheBookishDame

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NYTimes Writes to YA Publishing: Stop Being So "Girly"

I was beside myself when I saw this article recently on The Mary Sue, a "geek girl" literary blog.   http://www.themarysue.com/   This is a blog I highly recommend, by the way. It's mostly written by and for women interested in syfy, YA, and other genre...writers and publishers, and other literary types...edgy and interesting. 

Please have a look at this article from the NYTimes and leave a comment for us! 

Do you think the writer, Robert Lipsyte, is correct, has a point, or not and why? 

This entire blog entry below is written by Aja Romano on The Mary Sue.

NY Times to YA Publishing: Stop Being So Girly

by Aja Romano | 11:07 am, August 25th

Presumably discontent with having an entertainment industry that is primarily focused on men, the NY Times lashed out at the Young Adult publishing industry Friday for having too many girl books.
Yes, you heard that right. In an article entitled “Boys and Reading: Is There Any Hope?” author Robert Lipsyte speaks about the publishing industry’s desire to “demystify to the overwhelmingly female audience the testosterone code that would get teenage boys reading,” and says that in order to get boys to read, they need to “be approached individually with books about their fears, choices, possibilities and relationships — the kind of reading that will prick their dormant empathy, involve them with fictional characters and lead them into deeper engagement with their own lives. This is what turns boys into readers.”

Because apparently what turns girls into readers is passing around copies of Twilight in between nail-painting sessions at fifth-grade slumber parties. Or something.


Lipsyte goes on to opine vague and unsourced “statistics” that say that boys don’t read, and states that teachers “don’t always know what’s out there for boys,” despite the fact that the vast majority of books taught in public school systems are written by men. Certainly when I tutored students, testosterone-coded writers like Walter Dean Myers and Chris Crutcher topped the list of reading assignments. But it’s not just teachers who are to blame for the gap in boys’ education–the publishing industry has apparently fallen down on the job by producing books targeted at young women. In the meantime, boys “don’t have enough positive male role models for literacy.” Someone alert David Levithan.

Lipsyte insists that boys are somehow shut out of the current boom in YA fiction because the industry is currently focused on writing books for–gasp–young women, a demographic that has historically been frequently overlooked by the publishing industry at large. Lipsyte’s distress comes despite a recent study which found that not only are the vast majority of young adult novels male-centric, but YA books have actually become more male-dominated in the last 100 years, not less. With only 31% of all children’s books published even having main characters that are female, this argument should be completely moot. Alas, Lipsyte’s just getting started.

Lipsyte ignores the undeniable fact that most books contain male characters, and instead lambastes the publishing industry for actively promoting girl stories: “at the 2007 A.L.A. conference, a Harper executive said at least three-­quarters of her target audience were girls, and they wanted to read about mean girls, gossip girls, frenemies and vampires.” Note that 2007 was in the middle of the glut of paranormal romance brought on by the success of Twilight, which most industry insiders agree is now winding down. And given that the publishing industry is notoriously unable to predict what the next big trend in reading will be until it hits, it’s difficult to take this claim from 4 years ago seriously, considering that just in the four years since we’ve seen The Hunger Games, zombies, and the continued success of male writers like John Green and Cory Doctorow–none of which screams “girls only” to anyone with a brain.

Also, let’s remember that “chick lit” as a genre didn’t even exist until Bridget Jones’ Diary alerted the world that there might be room on shelves for stories about modern women dealing with modern issues that didn’t slot neatly into “romance” or “adult literature.” But chick lit, or its more industry-friendly title, “women’s fiction,” also cycled through its period of popularity, the way all breakout genres eventually do. Only one thing has remained consistent, and that is that books about men continue to sell.
Lipsyte has the audacity to whip out the tired and much-used argument that “it’s a cliché but mostly true that while teenage girls will read books about boys, teenage boys will rarely read books with predominately female characters.” Hollywood has been using this line for years to promote the systemic exclusion of female characters from cinematic narratives, and it’s as untrue now as it ever was. The danger of this line of thinking is that it creates a negative feedback loop that allows the industry to continue claiming that men don’t go see movies about women–because the industry won’t make movies about women for them to go see. The truth is that audiences want good stories, regardless of whether they have men or women at the center: or did the huge success of last year’s Alice in Wonderland not drive that point home?

Not for Lipsyte, apparently, who claims that “children’s literature didn’t always bear this overwhelmingly female imprint.” Leaving aside the question of what an “overwhelmingly female imprint” looks like, the truth is that children’s literature, more so than any other publishing genre aside from romance, has historically made room for female authors at times when they would have had to use a male pseudonym to have a writing career. Certainly female authors from Beatrix Potter to Beverly Cleary found a voice in children’s and YA lit long before it became acceptable for women to publish under their own names in other genres. And even so, literary giants like S.E. Hinton and J.K. Rowling were published under gender-nebulous initials, because the stigma against women writing about boys was so strong. Teens to this day still react in surprise when they learn that the author of the gritty, male-centric The Outsiders was a woman.

In an epic moment of point-missing, according to Lipsyte the success of those initial-only authors proves that women can succeed writing about men, after all; without acknowledging that it may instead be evidence to prove that publishing, just like every other industry, is harder to break into if you’re a woman, and twice as hard if you’re a woman who wants to write female characters.
Lipsyte longs for the days when female writers “wrote well about both genders.” (Has he read any books by women lately, we must wonder?) He lists Judy Blume as an example, ignoring the fact that most of her books addressed important isssues that many girls faced but no one talked about: periods, bra sizes, teen pregnancy, and female adolescence are hardly “non-gender-specific.”  Somehow Blume passes Lipsyte’s nebulous de-gendered test, as does S.E. Hinton. He goes on to list Robert Cormier as an example of “what’s currently missing,” without considering that perhaps the reason no one is trying to be the next Robert Cormier is because students are still reading Robert Cormier.

Lipsyte doesn’t say whether, in the middle of this rosy time when the Paul Zindels (and Cynthia Voigts) of the world were writing acceptable books, he ever presented his son with Jerry Spinelli‘s Stargirl, a classic YA whose titular character unites an entire school for a temporary celebration of nonconformity. Granted, Stargirl was arguably one of the first manic pixie dreamgirls, and Lipsyte’s preference for Cormier’s non-redemptive writing means he probably tossed Spinelli’s humanist desert fairytale into the DNW pile. But Stargirl‘s enduring popularity proves that if nothing else, men can write strong female characters, and those books can find a place on the shelves of boys and girls alike. Much more recently, China Mieville‘s Un Lun Dun proved that a respected male sci-fi author can not only cross over into the dreaded all-female young adult category, but can successfully write about female characters saving the world. It’s not that hard, guys.


The Dame's Last Word:

Again,  I'd just love to hear what my readers say about this whole issue of there being too many girly YA novels and not enough boy centered books for this age group. 

When I was a teenager and read:  "Lord of the Flies,"  "The Old Man and the Sea,"  "1984," "Moby Dick," "The Catcher in the Rye," and others; I didn't stop to think they weren't about girls.  I just considered that they were important literature, enjoyable and they had something important to teach me.  Never occurred to me to throw a fit because there weren't enough girls in them!

My boys read alot, along with my daughter because they were all read to as babies, learned to read by the time they were 5, and had an innate love of books.  How could they not with two parents who were bookaholics and had books all over the house in stacks!? 

They were never denied a book or any number of books at the bookstore.  Bookstore trips were a weekly habit in our family...just a habit.  We all had our individual bookcases, and our favorite places to read.  They had books-on-tape before most people even knew those things existed.  We never thought to imply that some were "boy" books and some were "girl" books...they all read the same books.  My sons even listened to "Free To Be You and Me" and my daughter read "The Hardy Boys."  What of it?  Nobody cared if it was a good book!

I think Mr. Lipsyte's missed the boat in his argument.  As I summarized on The Mary Sue:  I think he's got a case of "you lady writers have just gotten too "uppity" and are writing too many books about "girly" girls...taking up too much of YA market and making too much money. You need to step back in your place."  Let us take over now; boys writing books about boys, for the boys, by the boys, for the big publisher boys.  Let's put the money back where it belongs!
I say:  It's great to be on top, Girls!   :]    Seems like our time has come and there's no reason to step aside.

Deborah/TheBookishDame

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Horror/Thriller That Puts You in the "Twilight Zone"~"Dead Bad Things" by Gary McMahon

Published by:  Angry Robot/Osprey

Author's website:  http://www.garymcmahon.com/ 

Release Date Scheduled:  September 27, 2011
Purchase:  Amazon - $7.79 for Kindle

Synopsis :

Thomas Usher, a reluctant psychic, has gone off the radar in London, hiding from the fall-out of a previous case involving a missing young girl and several hanged strippers. Before long, and as if to confirm that he can never truly hide from the dead, Usher starts receiving messages - a clockwork voice on the phone, a Rwandan psychic who hears voices, hellish visions in a derelict riverside warehouse. Usher slowly realises that the answers to these riddles, and perhaps to the questions he has never dared ask about his personal history, will only be revealed if he returns home to Leeds...

Sarah Doherty is a police constable in Leeds. She and her partner - who is also her lover - are drawn into a nightmare when they find the mutilated body of a young boy. Is there some kind of serial killer operating on their patch, or do these grim discoveries point to something even worse - something from Sarah's own past, and involving her emotionally damaged family?

Trevor Dove is a disgraced showman, a flamboyant theatrical medium once exposed as a fraud by Thomas Usher. But the truth is, Dove did once possess a genuine ability to talk with the dead, and when he meets the Pilgrim - a shadowy figure from Thomas Usher's tragic past - he begins to rediscover his gift and unearth secrets that will place his very soul in peril. Driven by a thirst for revenge, he is fated to bring together Usher, Doherty and the Pilgrim in a confrontation that will undermine the fabric of reality.

The Dame Reviews:

Horror fans listen up!  This book is a smash hit.  I'm not ordinarily a reader of such books; and, actually I didn't know what I was getting into when I decided to read "Dead Bad Things."  However, this book captured me from the first page, and off I went on a thrilling ride of horror and suspense unlike any I'd been on for quite some time!  This book reminded me of early Stephen King and Dean Koontz so much that I found myself grinning at the oddest times with nostalgia.  It took me by surprise...difficult to do considering the amount of books I read!

Grim and gripping from the first moments we learn that a man is lamenting over the shallow grave of a tiny boy whom he's killed, and that he's receiving a baby girl from a darkly disguised "angel;" this book never stops driving us to its final conclusion.  Gary McMahon is a horror fiction writer best known in the UK where several of his books have been previously published.  I'm glad we finally are being acquainted with his books here.  I look forward to reading more.

I found McMahon's writing style captivating and descriptive to a point of sharpness.  He made even his supernatural characters believable and horrendous.  They were well imagined and fearful...not too "out of this world," but just to the edge of it and possible enough to be plausible.  This made the story scary and charged with suspense. 

Sarah was an undoubted favorite character for me.  I always love a feisty female who can beat the worst guy at his own game.  She is a fast thinking and tough reacting police detective who walks through her fears as valiantly as any superhero we can remember.  I'd go anywhere scary with Sarah in the lead!  I'd love to hear more of her in the future.

Thomas Usher, the dead-listening/seeing "angel-like" man, who plays a huge part in this novel, is mystery-clouded and we can enjoy uncovering who he actually is and why he's come into the arena of Sarah's life.  I especially loved reading about his search in the clairvoyant area.  So much fun!

Once we meet the dark angels and torturers, it's like reading the best and worst of horror stories.  Greatly interesting, enjoyable and something that makes you want to put your hands over your eyes at the same time.  As a reader of much softer literature, I was reading with "bug eyes," believe me!  This is an adult, sophisticated horror story!

I recommend this book to those who enjoy reading horror/suspense books.  It's not, after all, a Stephen King but it is a good book for a stormy night or two. 

I really enjoyed the book for a change in pace; after all, who hasn't seen a ghost or two--I have; haven't you?  

Coming out in September, it's one to keep an eye out for...
Second in a series about Thomas Usher.

4 stars

Deborah/TheBookishDame

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Prep School for the Psychic Crowd! "Haven" is a fantastic YA novel by Kristi Cook

Publisher:  Simon & Schuster (Simon Pulse)

For:  Teens, YA readers

Pages:  401

Book 1 of a series

From Author, Kristi Cook's Website:

Violet McKenna isn’t a normal girl with normal teenage issues; she has more to contend with than most people could handle. Violet thought she was just crazy when she had a vivid vision of her dad’s murder. Her life started falling apart when her premonition came true. She’s had flashes of other events too–the problem was nobody believed her until she found a new school: Winterhaven.

At Winterhaven, Violet finally feels like she belongs. She quickly finds a close group friends and discovers that they too have psychic ‘gifts’—as do all the students at Winterhaven. But as soon as she feels settled she discovers the most intriguing and alluring boy she has ever met, and things quickly go awry. As the attraction between them grows, intense visions of the boy’s death start to haunt her. In her premonitions, the secret he is unwilling to share begins to reveal itself. And to Violet’s horror, she learns that their destinies are intertwined in a critical–and deadly–way.

“Cook’s first YA novel reads like a blend of the Gemma Doyle trilogy, the Twilight saga, and Lois Duncan’s thrillers, and it will find a wide audience among female fans of gothic novels”
– Booklist

Such An Absolutely Cool Playlist!

If you’ve had a chance to read HAVEN yet, you might be wondering about that iPod that Violet gave Aidan for Christmas–what songs would be on his “favorites” playlist?

 What kind of music would a guy like Aidan like to listen to?
So….I give you AIDAN GRAY’S OFFICIAL PLAYLIST!  Or, “music to read HAVEN by.”  Something like that!  Some songs on his playlist have real meaning for him (for example, “October” by Broken Bells–Aidan’s birthday is in October, and it’s also the month that he first meets Violet.).  Others are on his playlist simply because he likes them.  And others, well…you’ll figure it out if you’ve read the book!  But the songs–and their order–kinda tell a story.
Hope you enjoy it!

Oh, and I’ve listed it at iTunes–so if you follow the link, you can find the entire playlist at iTunes, listen to samples, buy a song or two or even the entire playlist!  Here’s the LINK.

1.  Waiting for the End — Linkin Park
2.  And She Was — Talking Heads
3.  October — Broken Bells
4.  Young Forever — Jay-Z (featuring Mr. Hudson)
5.  In the Aeroplane Over the Sea — Neutral Milk Hotel
6.  Little Lion Man — Mumford & Sons
7.  Should I Stay or Should I Go — The Clash
8.  Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) — Green Day
9.  Bodies — Drowning Pool
10.  Let it Bleed — The Rolling Stones
11.  The Only Exception — Paramore
12.  A Sky for Shoeing Horses Under — WHY?
13  I Wanna Be the One — Fun
14.  Like Dylan in the Movies — Belle and Sebastian
15.  Bittersweet Symphony — The Verve
16.  Better That We Break — Maroon 5

The Dame Gives A Proper Review:

Dear readers of YA fiction, I'm so happy to let you know that "Haven" is great fun to read and relax with!  I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I can recommend it without reservation to both tweens and teens, as well as YAs.  Of course, those of us who like to enjoy a soft read into the realms of the psychic and paranormal will love it, too.

Violet, the darling primary character, is a girl not too full of herself or too involved in her ability to forsee the future through dreams/visions. In fact, her ability scares her and makes her a sort of outcast at school. She's just an ordinary girl; however, being an orphan also leaves her in the extraordinary position of needing friends and someone to care about her.

When her step-mother gives her a choice of boarding schools, Violet is drawn inexplicably to Winterhaven. Arriving at her new school, Violent finds there's something odd about it and the students and faculty...  She's not quite sure she "fits" here, either.  This alone makes her a bit vulnerable, but when she meets Aidan, a gorgeous and mysterious boy in a couple of her classes, she's smitten...so is he.  Thus begins Violet's adjustment to Winterhaven, and its adjustment to her!

Kristi Cook is the perfect writer for this genre.  She carefully balances the fanciful, the dark, mysterious ebbs and flows of the paranormal, and love interests of the many.  Teens and tweens will find her book all they need to set them daydreaming!

Characters are fully drawn with quite thoroughly decided relationships to each other.  Each one has specific "skills," personalities, connections that are well defined, and can stand alone. In that they are interesting in and of themselves, it makes for a wonderful cast for Kristi's second novel in this series.

Aidan will take your breath away.  Ms Cook leaves no stone unturned to make him the vampire of your dreams.  Golden haired, glistening-slivertoned eyes, a hunk if we've ever read of one!  He's sensitive and manly at the same time.  Oh, give me room to fall...I'm falling!!  I'll take one, please...

This is a book that's perfect for a quiet weekend.  Why not this weekend?  Both you and your special girl(s) will love it.
Just don't leave it laying around before you've finished it.

4 stars for a fresh and fun YA novel

*Please see more information and special links at:
Kristi-Cook.com

Deborah/Your Bookish Dame

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National Dog Day Today! Do You Know Where Your Doggie Is?

My DH, Anthony, and our sweetie dog, Clara

Where:  Key West, FL

As you can see, Clara's pretty much a "Daddy's Dog."  She and Anthony have a close relationship.  She tells him what to do and he's good about minding her.  In fact, he's pretty much attentive to her every need.  Every night she lets him know when it's 9:30PM, and it's time for her walk around the neighborhood to look for rabbits.  She's pretty much unrelenting until he gets up from his easy chair, puts down his tv control, hooks her harness up and follows her outside.

Clara has several tags and signs and "words" to let us know what she wants.  If we don't get her messages right the first time we question her, she'll just sit quietly.  If we hit the right word, she'll jump down, twirl around and look at us expectantly.  As I said, she's good at getting what she wants from us.

We've had Clara running our household for about 9 years now.  And, we love her so much! 

Recommendations if you're thinking of getting a Yorkie:

1)  They rule the roost, even if you have other dogs...and no matter how large those dogs are.

2)  They like treats, all day long!

3)  They're loyal and they're protective.

4)  They are hunters by genetics, so they will take after rabbits, squirrels, frogs, lizards, iguanas, and anything else small that moves relatively fast!  So, better be prepared with a harness and a good grip on it.

5)  Always use a harness-type leash.  The neck-type will crush their esophagus and will damage them.

6)  They demand attention at some part of the day, but will sleep quietly next to you if you're reading, blog writing or watching tv...or any other activity.

7)  They're social.  Love everyone who comes in the house, and want to be picked up, or at least recognized and petted...a little.

What's your dog?

Happy National Dog Day!!

Deborah/YourBookishDame

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I'm Parched After Reading~ "The Water Wars" by Cameron Stracher

Published by:  Sourcebooks Fire

Young Adult Fiction

Pages:  240

Book Summary :

Hundreds of millions of people have already died, and, millions more will soon fall--victims of disease, hunger, and war.  The rivers have dried up, the polar caps have melted, and drinkable water is now in the hands of the powerful few.  There are fines for wasting it and prison sentences for exceeding the quotas.

But Kai didn't seem to care about any of this.  He stood in the open road drinking water from a plastic cup, then spilled the remaining drops into the dirt.  He didn't go to school, and he traveled with armed guards.  Kai claimed he knew a secret--something the government was keeping from us...

And then he was gone.  Vanished in the middle of the night.  Was he kidnapped?  Did he flee?  Is he alive or dead?  There are no clues, only questions.  And no one can guess the lengths to which they will go to keep him silent.  We have to find him--and the truth--before it's too late for all of us.

The Bookish Dame's Review:

Cameron Stracher has an important message to give us about the dire need to recognize the probable shortage of water.  Sadly, he was not able to deliver it in his young adult fiction.

"The Water Wars" simply falls short of being a good book for YA's, or even adults interested in YA fiction.  Why?  Because 90% of the book is interior dialog by the narrator and female protagonist, Vera.

And, because the story is so laden with names of environmental and waring factions and government agencies that one becomes lost in which is which.  And, because of the lack of engaging dialog, warmth of character interaction, and development, and introduction of semi-engaging but too splintered "heros," the book fails to keep us involved. 

I understand, as I mentioned above, the importance of Stracher's message, but this is probably not the medium to use to get it across.  Or, perhaps a closer investigation of YA fiction would bring him more in line with what interests and would hold the attention of readers.  I fear with Mr. Stracher's impressive resume and education (Amherst, Harvard Law and Iowa Writers' Workshop...and he's a media lawyer) someone's been too intimidated to be honest about his writing for YA's.

In this case, I have to give this book a 2 stars.  I cannot recommend it.  I had difficulty getting through it, myself, and found it dull.

Deborah/TheBookishDame

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Obama's Reading List~Wonder If Oprah Helped Select?

Random House, Inc., announced today that President Obama's new Summer Reading List is revealed by a leading bookish newspaper out of NYC...guess who!

It seems that Obama is also a buyer from Indie bookshops which makes him a "good guy" in the eyes of many of us who want to see books kept alive and well in this crumbling economic market.  ('though I have to say, I want to keep Amazon and Barnes & Noble and other such larger chains going, as well...we need them!)

One of the books in particular is a huge favorite of mine and was on the Oprah reading list this past year; "Cutting for Stone."  I reviewed it here.  It really is one of the finest novels I've read~about twin boys who are raised in a hospital outpost in Ethiopia, are self-educated in medicine, and become exceptional doctors each in their own specialities.  The book has incredible love stories.  It's a book that reminds me of Isabel Allende's "House of Spirits."

Aside from that, here's a summary of "Cutting for Stone" in case you'd like to pick up the paperback to get inside the President's head this August!  :]

This summary is taken from Barnes & Noble:



Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon. Orphaned by their mother’s death and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution.

Moving from Addis Ababa to New York City and back again, Cutting for Stone is an unforgettable story of love and betrayal, medicine and ordinary miracles—and two brothers whose fates are forever intertwined.

Oh, go on...take a walk on the wild side...read "Cutting for Stone," because you'll really love it!

Deborah/TheBookishDame

PS:  I highly recommend Isabel Allenda's "The House of Spirits," as well.  It's a timeless novel~magical and revolutionary; a women's novel with strong women political role-models.  A very memorable novel with significance in today's world of political struggles for independence...

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L. A. Banks ~ Vampire, Women's & Paranormal Author ~ Rest in Peace

We may be the last to know and to say it, here, but for those who are also on that same list:  our dear author friend Ms Leslie Esdaile Banks passed away on August 3, 2011 after her illness.  See the information below from i90 website:  http://i09.com/  a sy-fy news and incredible literary links stop-over.

R.I.P. L.A. Banks, author of bestselling vampire novels

Leslie Esdaile Banks, who died yesterday, should be an inspiration to writers everywhere — she successfully moved between the genres of fantasy, paranormal romance, crime fiction, African American fiction, and women's fiction, among others. And she also helped bring diversity to the worlds of fantasy and paranormal romance, mostly under the pen-name L.A. Banks.


There's a memorial service in Philadelphia on August 13, and a fundraiser for her medical expenses this Saturday, also in Philadelphia.


There are some great tributes and remembrances about Banks at Tor.com, The Root, and Genreville.


Deborah/TheBookishDame

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Gothic, Tragic, & Gorgeous~Sisters Divided... "Prophecy of Sisters" Trilogy

 First in the trilogy: "Prophecy of the Sisters" begins the story of two sisters who have divergent paths in their souls.  Even before birth...one wants to be born, and the other doesn't.

“This is a brooding, haunting tale of an ancient struggle between living and dead, with two sisters at its heart. It's Gothic, Edwardian, and absolutely un-put-down-able!” —Tamora Pierce, New York Times bestselling author of The Circle of Magic series. 

Second book in the series:  "Guardian of the Gate"  continues the mysterious struggles of the sisters.  I haven't read this one...I'm dying to know what happens!

    Just released!  "Circle of Fire"  the final book in the series of the Prophecy of the Sisters. 

    These gorgeous covers are amazing and the stories are beautifully written to entice and embroil you in the tightly wound spell that's entangled the sisters; one that makes them distrust eachother.  How will they save themselves and come together?



The Dame Ranks This Book:
A+  It's a series/trilogy
A+  It's about young women
A+  It's gothic
A+  It's fantasy and prophecy intense
A+  Gorgeous, collectable cover
A+  Very good reviews on all books so far


A probable good sense buy for your library.  I hope to get all three books.  I love the look of these books, even the binding cover art is beautiful.  And, I always appreciate books I can hand down to my daughter and granddaughter.  Meanwhile, the read will be awesome!


Good reading to you, as well !  Please leave us a comment if you've read any of these books...and if you have a favorite of the sisters.



Deborah/TheBookishDame

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YA Fiction & Reviews Coming This Fall~Other Books, too...

The Dame's reviews in coming months will be mainly focused on YA fiction. I've been reading and loving this genre for such a long time, and haven't had time to devote my blog to reviewing it, because of other commitments.  Now the time has come, and I'm dedicating a large chunk of space for YA's this year!

 Here is a sampling of the books I plan to review for the next couple of months...but not all of them, of course...I have some secret ones to fill in!

 Here's a new one for you!  Bet you haven't heard of this one.

        New in YA fiction...isn't the cover fantastic?

By:  Michelle Harrison

Published by:  Little, Brown, & Co.

Children's Literature

1st in a series

I was so attracted to this book when I first saw it.  The cover just draws your attention, doesn't it.  Very "readable" cover. It's about a little girl named Tanya who sees fairies...evil fairies.  She goes to visit her grandmother and finds that a girl vanished into the woods near her grand's mansion years ago... As Tanya tries to unravel the mystery of the lost girl, she finds herself becoming more entwined in the fairy realm.

Here's the next in the series!  Fun!

Published by:  Little, Brown & Co.,

Young Adult Fiction

The Dame simply couldn't pass this one over.  A dystopian novel about a society that "codes" their people to decide if they live in the "Enclave" or not...

From the cover:  "Those marked with a code will determine the future.  One marred by a scar will unravel the past."

Published by:  St. Martin's Press

Available everywhere now!

I've been waiting such a long time to review this excellent book! Inside cover quote:

"My name is Elizabeth Anne Hawksmith, and my age is three hundred and eighty-four years.  Each new settlement asks for a new journal, and so this Book of Shadows begins..."

This is a sort of historical novel, a time travel, and a love story, of course. 

Audiobook

By:  Stacey Jay

I belong to Audible http://audible.com/ and for a relatively small fee every month I get a great selection of books of DVD quality with excellent narrators.

The books I choose from Audible are generally ones I don't want to take time to read, but that I really would like to read...if you get my drift.  If I review them, I always state that they're audio books "reads." 

"Juliet Immortal" is a sort of retake of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" except it takes place in the present, and it's target is YA fiction.  I previewed the recorded version and loved the narrator's voice.

Audiobook

Narrated by:  Kristine Ryan

Another Audible book I've just ordered.  I've planned to actually read this book, but I have the audio book just for a backup for airports and car trips. 

Published by:  Poisoned Pen

Austrailian Author

Soon to be Televised Series!

I adore the redoubtable Ms Phryne Fisher.  She is sexy, sleek, a flapperish sensation wherever in the world she may be.  She's a sleuth with suitors galore.  And, Kerry Greenwood, her author is a hilarious writer who dares us to put down Phryne and walk away from her other books...It's, frankly, just impossible.  I love these books sooo much.  I want to take the covers and wallpaper my bedroom with them!

Published by:  Harper Collins

Written for:  Children of All Ages

Released:  Before Christmas!

Pre-order on Amazon.com

I am so excited to be getting my copy of this amazing book by Lauren Oliver.  I'm absolutely smashed by the gorgeous, ornate cover.  This pictuare just doesn't do it justice. It's going to be out in time for Christmas shopping.  Very excited to bring you a review before then!

Published by:  Harper Collins

YA Fiction

A book I'm currently reading for review tomorrow.  Lauren Oliver is a writer you just have to read...she's what's happening in YA fiction today.

Book 1 of a series

YA fiction

Can you believe this cover?  Don't you just want to buy it to sit around on your bedside table or cocktail table?  I'm also dying to read it.  Look for my review in the coming 3 months!

Just because I loved "Madame Bovary" and want to know more about her....and I love this cover...and the story sounds so good!

Publisher:  St. Martin's Griffin Press

Release Date:  December 2011

YA Fiction

This one has it all:  mystery, magic, love and the atmosphere of a ghostly New Orleans to-boot.  It's also the first in a series, which just caps it all off for those of us who can't help ourselves when series novels come out.  Intelligently written, I'm looking forward to prereviewing this for my readers!

Oh, for Heaven's sake!  How did Ms Phryne Fisher pop up again on my entry?  :P

And, once again, your Bookish Dame is forced to ask...as the great Evita sang it best...."Oh...Have I said too much?  Well... if I have... then every~ word~ is ~true!"

Thank you, and come back to see me, and follow...please...

Your Bookish Dame/Deborah

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Hell on Wheels! ~ "Fun & Games" by Duane Swierczynski

Publisher:  Mulholland Books

Little,Brown & Co.

Pages:  283

Book Summary :

 
The first of three explosive pulp thrillers arriving back-to-back from cult crime fiction sensation and Marvel Comics scribe Duane Swierczynski.
 
Charlie Hardie, an ex-cop still reeling from the revenge killing of his former partner's entire family, fears one thing above all else: that he'll suffer the same fate.
 
Languishing in self-imposed exile, Hardie has become a glorified house sitter. His latest gig comes replete with an illegally squatting B-movie actress who rants about hit men who specialize in making deaths look like accidents. Unfortunately, it's the real deal. Hardie finds himself squared off against a small army of the most lethal men in the world: The Accident People.
 
It's nothing personal-the girl just happens to be the next name on their list. For Hardie, though, it's intensely personal. He's not about to let more innocent people die. Not on his watch.

About the Author :

Duane Swierczynski is the author of several crime thrillers and also writes the X-Men spinoff CABLE for Marvel Comics and IMMORTAL IRON FIST. His latest novels include EXPIRATION DATE; LEVEL 26, cowritten with CSI creator Anthony E. Zuicker; and SEVERANCE PACKAGE, which has been optioned by Lionsgate films. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and children.

The Bookish Dame Reviews :


Talk about fun and games!  Take a wild ride with Duane Swierczynski (czyn=sin).  If he's driving you're being slammed left and right, high and low and you're scared to death. He writes like a heart attack on wheels, and you'll have to tear yourself away from his book before your ride is over. 


Oh, this is good writing...fast and furious, and peppered with reckless people who riddle the book throughout making you hold your breath while they find a way through impossible situations.  Did this book fire me up?  Yep.  I loved the action.  Duane doesn't let up on us...once engaged he simply takes us for a spin like it's real life and we're going down with his characters.


Speaking of his characters:  Lane, his primary female protagonist, is a feisty, smart and beautiful girl who is nobody's fool.  I loved that about her.  She could easily have been a wimpy movie star mowed over by his other characters, but Duane made her worthy of a respectable battle.  Nice! She was tough and tender, making her a character women can identify with and follow with enjoyment.


Charlie Hardie is a complex character.  Swierczynski keeps referring to his "lizard brain" and I'm not too sure I understand that.  Did he mean that he was a guy who just reacted instead of thinking a situation out?  I suppose that was it but when he had to, he planned and executed along with the best of them.  It seemed to me he was fast thinking and not afraid to act in a tough spot which made the action twice as interesting.


"They" were despicable.  The people out to kill Lane and others were so skillfully drawn that I actually hated the leader and found myself fighting against them in my mind.  This is significant because it shows how involved the reader becomes in Duane's book!  I can't remember being so tied up in knots about a thriller scene such as he describes it.  Not just one, but one after another after another hard-hitting engagement comes at the reader and we're just incapable of putting this book down for hours.


I was happy to know at the end it seemed we weren't going to see the last of Charlie.  I'm now pretty attached to him.  "Fun & Games" is, happily, the first in a series with the newest book "Hell & Gone" being released in October.  


I highly recommend "Fun & Games" because it's a wild ride of excitement and suspense.  Welcome to the world of Charlie Hardie...   Duane Swierczynski is a crime writer extraordinaire!


5 well-deserved stars


Deborah/TheBookishDame



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