Flo & Wendell

Flo & Wendell by William Wegman
4/5 stars
Dial, 2013
32 pages
Children's Book

Source: Received an unsolicited copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Just a quick review as I've been busy and haven't had as much time to read as I'd like.

This randomly arrived in the mail and while I'm definitely a cat girl, the image of these dogs in clothes acting like humans caught my imagination. Even now after completing the book the incongruity makes me chuckle, even more so as I like seeing an older sister boss around her younger sibling (oh those were the days!) even when the younger sibling demonstrates some reluctance.

This book's story is very simple, exploring a sibling relationship between Flo and her little brother Wendell. But obviously it's the artwork that is the draw. As can be seen in the cover, it's a mix of photographs of Wegman's own dogs and beautiful colorful paintings. I wish I had more of an artistic eye to do justice to their loveliness but the colors are the part that really gets me. They seem very rich with Flo's pink sweater probably being my favorite hue featured.

Overall: I don't really know any children to recommend this to but if you appreciate sibling stories/have an artistic bent/have an actual child in your life, this could be a fun book to go through together.

ARC Review: Loud Awake and Lost

by Adele Griffin
3/5 stars
Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2013
289 pages
YA Contemporary
Scheduled to release November 12

Source: Received an ARC from Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review.

I've read quite a few of Griffin's books and have pretty consistently enjoyed them. I just checked and I gave 4/5 stars to the five books I've read and reviewed. From skimming those reviews, I see stories with twists coming partway through, with well-written lines, but not necessarily clicking with the characters. All of these hold true in the case of this book, earning it a lowly 3 out of 5 stars.

One of the best things I would say about this book is that it pretty much answers all the questions posed from the beginning. Ember is emerging from a hospital, eight months after a deadly car accident, ready to return to "normal" but plagued by the loss of six weeks of her memory. She returns to school, to her friendships, to her old stomping grounds but nothing seems to feel right. Until, that is, she meets mysterious artist Kai and she pushes herself to reclaim those six weeks of memory in a devastating episode. I promised that by the conclusion, an explanation is offered. I found myself a bit shocked though I saw a review who considered it patently obvious and bemoaned the length to reach that ending.

I started off with some sympathy for Ember because she's in an awful situation, with her body still physically healing and her mind most probably on its way to full health but not necessarily. But as the book progressed, I rapidly stopped caring about her. I feel so heartless admitting that even though it's only a fictional character but I just didn't. Especially puzzling to me was her preference for Kai over sweet ex-boyfriend Holden. I guess when you don't feel the chemistry, you don't feel it but I never got that relationship in the way I could understand hers with Holden. Reflecting on that, I felt like Holden got more page time (certainly helps in winning a sympathy battle) and actually makes plans and texts Ember. Kai is more free-spirited (that's my nice description) and I hate that-it drives me crazy in real life people and I don't really like reading about it in fictional characters.

The people who ended up really getting my sympathy are her parents. Ember is their only child and they were devastated to almost lose her. Now I don't fault Ember for wanting more independence than her parents want to give her but I could see them trying so hard to be there for her, to love on her, to do whatever they could, only to be rejected and ignored time and again. I agree that they were overprotective but I could see so clearly why they would be.

In Short: This book did not spark for me as previous Griffin offerings have as I found it so dark and gloomy when i guess I was actually craving something lighter. The writing is more on the literary side for those who like that sort of thing.

ARC Review: Princesses Behaving Badly

Princesses Behaving Badly by Linda Rodriguez McRobbie
3/5 stars
Quirk Books, 2013
278 pages
Non-Fiction History
Scheduled to release November 19

Source: Received an e-ARC from the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

I have frequently talked about my love of princesses and fairy tales so I loved the hook for this book, which references real-life princesses and how their lives don't really fit that mold for whatever reason, often because of their excesses and/or insanity.

Something I appreciated was reading about princess outside of Europe; yes, we look at a few princesses from Asia, Africa and even the Americas though most are based in various Europe countries. However the definition of princess and real is very flexible. Several of these women merely styled themselves as princess without the ancestry one would expect and several of the stories are most probably from mythology and not well grounded in fact. I thought they were fascinating nonetheless but go against what the very title of this book promises.

In general, I found the tone of this book very gossipy, which quite frankly works for me as gossip sites are some of my favorite pleasure reading (my fave for the past four or so years is Lainey Gossip). It was disconcerting though as I'm used to such figures being treated with a bit more reverence. But this book relishes in their profligate ways and sexual excesses. It started to feel overwhelming especially as I read this book in about one day. I was personally shocked at some of what was described-a good reminder that it is not just our era where we see unbelievable wealth and reckless spending.

Probably the most interesting tidbit for me was the examination of Juana the Mad, who I thought was a sad byproduct of royalty's tendency toward inbreeding. However this author suggests that she was framed as mad so the men in her life could rule in her stead. I'm embarrassed that I never considered this possibility and merely accepted this story spoonfed to me.

Overall: A rollicking ride through history looking at some overlooked or even forgotten women who made their mark on history.

*A note: I read an e-ARC that was sorely in need of some editing; I assume the finished copy will be corrected because there were some terrible errors. The finished copy should also contain a bibliography, which was sadly missing here as I would like to explore some of these figures through a more scholarly lens.

Find Me

Find Me by Romily Bernard
3.5/5 stars
HarperTeen, 2013
307 pages
YA Contemporary Thriller

Source: Received an ARC through Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review.

This wasn't originally on my radar until I saw some reviews that left me intrigued. I *hate* the main character's name (Wicket, abbreviated to Wick) but I love her hacking prowess and the fact that she is motivated to find a killer by love of her younger sister. I'm always down for a protective older sister (see also Everdeen, Katniss) so I requested this one.

Wick knows she doesn't fit in. How could she with a mother who committed suicide and a father on the run from police charges? Where could she belong? But she does learn she's important when the journal of her former now deceased best friend shows up on her foster family's doorstep with a note saying, "Find me." Her skills as a hacker may make her uniquely qualified to discover the identity of her killer. Though initially Wick resists, the discovery that the man who tormented the best friend in her final months is eying Wick's younger sister Lily motivates her. Can Wick discover the killer and protect her sister?

Honestly I still can't get over the name. I mean, isn't wicket a term used in both cricket and croquet? It's not a name! And then it becomes Wick, which is part of a candle! Her sister's name is Lily (Harry Potter flashback), which is a lovely name and the other characters have names I recognize but Wick is just horrid to me.

Wick as a name is horrid to me, I mean. The person is difficult at times but also quite captivating. I say she's difficult for a few reasons. One is her attempts to investigate this killer, which seemed to veer off-course sometimes. Most notably is via her romance with fellow computer geek Griff. I was not upset that she didn't immediately jump into a romance with him no matter how much he made her weak in the knees; it was perfectly understandable to me that she would be hesitant and not trust his words as hardly anyone has shown her even a scrap of kindness. But at one point, he announces that he can get the IP address and her excitement about this is derailed into flirtation and other stuff before they go back. It made me question her commitment to solving this case.

I was very impressed with myself because I pinpointed the killer almost right away with Wick also thinking it might be him early on before following other potential leads. Then we find out for sure who it is and things get intense. Even though I was anticipating a confrontation with this person, I was not sure exactly how it would play out. Those final pages are filled with tension and were more unpredictable than  As for her other investigations, it was a little choppy. She is still involved with her on the lam father's con operations due to various threats and this sometimes interferes with her other sleuthing but we didn't get much insight in to that area. I also mentioned her lack of logical investigation into the case itself; yes, it was her first of this kind but she's conducted others before and thus I would have assumed she had more skills for laying out a plan than are demonstrated here.

Overall: A predictable mystery that is lifted by compelling personalities and a final confrontation filled with suspense, leading us into a possible sequel that I would certainly be interested in reading.

Other Opinions:
Curling Up With a Good Book
Jen Ryland/YA Romantics
Rather Be Reading
Realm of Fiction

Ramblings and the Week to Come 03NOV13

Ramblings:
It was a pretty good week! As I mentioned, I took Wednesday off and had a fabulously productive day. I watched Zero Dark Thirty which was super intense but really good as well as four hours of the British series "Silk" which took a lot off of my DVR. I also reorganized my closet and because it was so successful, this weekend I tackled my bookshelves and under my bed. It's very much still a work in progress but I'm loving the feeling that I have slightly more open space plus I uncovered three pairs of shoes so it was almost like I went shopping but without spending any money.

Halloween was great fun! I dressed up as Minnie Mouse, which was very easy and super adorable. I already had a black shirt and tights as well as yellow shoes so I just needed to pick up a red and white polka dot skirt and ears. It got a lot of compliments so I was pleased.

Have I mentioned that I'm a planner? Well I've been stressing over what I wanted to give my coworkers for Christmas (12 people within my department plus a few others outside) and I'm really struggling beyond cookies, which I haven't ruled out. Is anyone else planning and have an idea to share?

The Month That Was, October:
I thought October was a pretty good month with 26 books read but it turns out my average rating was only 3.71 after the 3.83 rating of September. The books I would be most likely to recommend are The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas and The Heiresses by Allison Rushby with the caveat that I can see why others wouldn't like them.

The Month That Will Be, November:
My fourth blogoversary is coming up! I'm not planning anything big but since I like to celebrate in style there will be a giveaway; still working on the details. Otherwise just more reviews and continuing to work on War and Peace.

My Obsession:
Finally it's not music related. Instead it's the website Shoes of Prey, where you can design custom shoes according to your own design tastes. Below is a pair I've been working on and hope to purchase. I could not find a pair of tan patent heels I liked and this just might end up being the solution. If you like shoes, you'll have a fun time on this website!

Week to Come: Lots of random goodies this week, across categories and genres-I hope you enjoy the eclectic mix and find something you're interested in :)

Find Me by Romily Bernard
Princesses Behaving Badly by Linda Rodriguez McRobbie
Loud Awake and Lost by Adele Griffin
Glittering Promises by Lisa T Bergren
Flo & Wendell by William Wegman
All God's Children by Anna Schmidt

ARC Review: Rob Delaney

Mother. Wife. Sister. Human. Warrior. Falcon. Yardstick. Turban. Cabbage. by Rob Delaney
4/5 stars
Spiegel & Grau, 2013
208 pages
Adult Memoir Humorous
Scheduled to release November 5

Source: Received an e-ARC from the publisher through Edelweiss.

Earlier this year my friend dragged a group of us to a comedy club. I wasn't much impressed with the opening acts but experienced some good chuckles from the main attraction, being this man Rob Delaney. Later I started following him on Twitter and then requested a copy of his book anticipating some laughs.

I'm pleased to say that I got them in this memoir although my lingering impression is that the book was just too short. I don't have a lot to say though I liked tracing Delaney's journey through alcoholism, injuries, depression, and ultimately recovery; he's lived for sure. I thought I'd share a few lines from the book to give you a taste for his writing style, if you are not familiar with his comedy (although he was voted "Funniest person on Twitter" at the Comedy Central awards so why don't you? ;)

For starters, there are some delightful turns of phrases such as:
"This boy might go on a killing spree one day, so distant is reality from his sad, flailing grasp"
"a beautiful, shimmering red flag"
"where my rented Nissan Altima so passionately kissed a branch office"

I think it's the descriptors "flailing," "shimmering," and "passionately" that really add the punch to these lines. Oh and I'm not giving you any additional context for these either-you will just have to pick up the book for yourself!

But because I'm so sweet, I will share a few longer (hilarious) quotes:
"Cheesecake...Who invented that? Probably Jesus of Nazareth. Or maybe Louis Pasteur. It makes me physically sick to think that Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, yet the name of the inventor of cheesecake isn't tattooed on Dick Cheney's face."
-When polling people at my office, 5 out of 7 people chose apple pie over cheesecake (though one did admit he'd take either), which is just a disgrace if you ask me. How do I work with these people???

"Willful ignorance or resistance of alleged facts has been a big ingredient in any success I've had."
-I actually kind of want to keep this in mind for future endeavors; who needs "reality" anyway?

Overall: I think if you enjoy Mr. Delaney's humor, you will enjoy this book. Check out his twitter to get a feel for his humor; be warned though that it's definitely adult unlike the MG/YA novels I more frequently review here.

War and Peace, Volume IV, Parts One and Two

Hosted by My Friend Amy

Yay-we finished part ten, only two more parts to go before being able to say that we've read one of the most famously challenging books in literature. I was actually talking with my dad about it and it's not so much that the prose is difficult (unlike, say, Henry James or Charles Dickens' crazy long sentences where I forget what happened at the beginning by the time I reach the end) as that the entire book is just so long. It looks intimidating and probably has intimidated a lot of people. This part was particularly manageable being only about 100 pages.

I was surprised by how this volume starts. We ended the previous one with Pierre getting arrested and I assumed we'd pick up back there. But no, Tolstoy makes us wait. Luckily in the interim we get to check in with Princess Marya who is falling for Nikolai Rostov and is having those feelings reciprocated while also bracing for the death of her brother Andrei, former fiance of Rostov's sister Natasha. I always forget Marya and Andrei are so closely related. I liked how Marya's goodness is really recognized here even if it is manifested by an outward beauty.

We do eventually return to Pierre who is being kept prisoner with other civilians but is treated more like an officer because he is a gentleman who can speak French. This time seems to bring him the greatest peace he's ever experienced so I guess it's not too bad? I didn't really know what to think about these moments. Can anyone explain them?

On the boring side, while there aren't many descriptions of actual battles, there are many passages about the passage of time and interpretation of history. It is not directed by great men but rather forces and it is only later that historians ascribe certain motivations and powers to those involved. We get it Tolstoy. Why do you keep repeating these same themes over and over again?