Updates and To-Do List 11SEP11

Last week, I participated in the vintage bookworm's To-Do List Meme; excited to participate again and because I enjoyed it so much, I elaborated a little bit.

9/11:
I think I remembered this in a good way-first I exercised my freedom of worship. Then I went for a nice jog/walk-beautiful day, very peaceful. Then my Eagles beat the Rams, with ample encouragement on my part. I talked with my grandparents on the other side of the country. And my dad made my favorite dinner for the family. We also caught some of the news specials in honor of the day and remembered where we were when we first heard.

Sports:
Mostly good news. Although my beloved Phillies lost, so did their division rivals the Atlanta Braves, which puts our magic number at 6. I am very optimistic about our chances for winning the NL East and cautiously optimistic about winning home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. We shall see.
Other good news would be the Eagles beating the Rams, quite handily! Always good to start the season with a win.  I'll also be talking about the Flyers when hockey season starts so be prepared.

Personal:
Work has been crazy! I have so many little details to take care of this week but it's good and my boss is happy with my work. I'm definitely happy that business is booming as it's preferable to the other option.  Orchestra has been good; I'm especially enjoying the bonding time with my sister as we both play viola and our stand partners. One thing I'm looking forward to this week, besides reading as I've got an amazing looking stack of books-see below, is the new movie Drive starring Ryan Gosling; it's gotten some good reviews and Gosling is supposed to be crazy hot in it.

Last week's list:
I finished almost everything on my list from last week except for writing two reviews, which I plan to finish tonight. Thus this week has (almost) completely new stuff!

To-Do List for this week:
1. Review Circle of Fire and Queens of All the Earth (from last week)
2. Read and review Past Perfect by Leila Sales (I've already read the first two chapters and laughed a lot so I'm excited).
3. Read and review All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevins
4. Post that review on Amazon as it's a Vine book.
5. Read and review Exile by Anne Osterlund.
6. Read and review A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davis
7. Read and review The Poisoned House by Michael Ford.

What I'd like to do too:
8. Read and review Sass and Serendipity by Jennifer Ziegler
9. Locate a copy of and reread Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
10. Download the next five titles I plan to read from Netgalley

So that's my rambling-what's up with you?

Imaginary Girls

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma
Dutton, 2011
237 pages
YA; Magical Realism
3/5 stars

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to read this book because it's about SISTERS! Ruby is 5 1/2 years older than Chloe; she's beautiful, popular, magnetic and everyone knows it. However after the discovery of Chloe's classmate, dead of an overdose, Chloe leaves to live with her father. Until two years later when Ruby travels to bring Chloe home and thereby fix everything.

This book is kind of creepy because while ostensibly a contemporary for much of the book, there always seems to be some magic lurking. Ruby is able to get pretty much anyone in their small town to do pretty much anything for her; they all adore her that much. And she feels no compunction about bending them to their will. In general, she's ruthless, selfish, and mean, except for in her relationship to Chloe. Sharing an alcoholic mother and being the older sister has given Ruby a great emotional stake in Chloe. They are sisters with their own special language and precious memories, with Ruby willing to do ANYTHING for her sister as can be seen in the ending. The desire of an older sister to protect her younger sister is very poignant to me as an older sister who would do a lot to protect her younger sister.

Meanwhile Chloe doesn't have much of a personality as she has spent years living in Ruby's shadow.  She doesn't even think highly of herself because she knows she's not Ruby. And that is what is repeated ad nauseam; that Chloe isn't Ruby, that she doesn't have boys falling over backwards to do her bidding, that she doesn't seem to command the same amount of attention. This caused me to care less about Chloe even as she's the narrator. Like her, my attention was fixated on Ruby. The other characters weren't of much interest especially the loser boy who temporarily occupies some of Chloe's interest-he sounded disgusting with his infrequently dyed hair and reliance on pot.

The other big element to mention is the "magical realism" as I've seen used in other reviews; in some ways this book reminded me of Bleeding Violet for its inventive combination of a contemporary setting with fantastical elements.  I can't speak to much about it because that would mean spoilers but the way the dread comes over you as you puzzle out what happened that dark night that led to one of Chloe's classmates dead and its aftermath was very well-done.

Overall: I enjoyed the sister-sister relationship but Chloe wasn't fleshed out enough for me to really love this book.

Forever

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
Scholastic Press, 2011
388 pages
YA; Paranormal
4/5 stars

Source: Library

SPOILERS FOR PREVIOUS BOOKS

When we left off in Linger, Grace had been turned into a wolf and her love with Sam was seriously threatened by her parents' distaste for Sam. While I had been unsure of Cole and Isabel's narration, given that they hadn't narrated in Shiver, I found that they were very interesting and electrifying, often providing some of the most exciting bits.

Diving in to Forever, it took me some time to become acclimated to Mercy Falls and to what had previously happened. But soon I was back and loving the way everything unfolded. Threads from the earlier books were expanded on: Cole's scientific explorations, Isabel's angry and difficult relationship with her parents, Sam's transformation into a shifting wolf as plotted by Beck, and Grace's fractured relationship with her parents, which was very satisfyingly addressed.  There's also Sam and Grace's relationship-is this forever?  Additionally is the ever-looming specter of a wolf hunt (with helicopters!) led by Isabel's father to for now and forever eradicate the wolves from Mercy Falls.

Despite all of these plots, not much happens in the beginning, which is one of the reasons that I didn't give this book a 5.  Although I could sense that more would be happening, I was impatient for those events. The other reason is the writing. I do love Stiefvater's writing and I think it is of very high-caliber but I sometimes ended up skimming, especially over the poetry that was inserted. One last complaint is the ending; as someone who prefers a definite ending, the ambiguity didn't wholly satisfy me. Others may find it perfect.

Overall: A fine conclusion to the Wolves of Mercy Falls with more of Stiefvater's beguiling writing.

Uncommon Criminals

Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter
Hyperion, 2011
298 pages
YA; Contemporary
4/5 stars

Source: Library

I enjoyed Heist Society so of course I wanted to read this, hoping for more romance with Hale and lots more fun adventures.  After the successful heist in the first book, Kat has largely been working alone recovering stolen Nazi art for the rightful owners. But soon she'll have to assemble her team again for the biggest heist yet. That mission is to steal the famed (and cursed) Cleopatra Emerald, something that has been attempted many a time without success including by Kat's own Uncle Eddie.

I loved when the whole team FINALLY got back together; sure I like Kat, Gabriella, and Hale (also Marcus-sidebar: I just plain love butlers/valets/manservants/etc. and Marcus is no exception because he rocks, always anticipating their needs, quick on his feet, and always supportive) but the story didn't really get going until Simon, Angus, Hamish, and Nick showed up. They all need to be there to give me the fun caper story I want.

However there are also new characters although I'm not sure I can describe the main one without giving away a bit of a spoiler-it's Maggie for those who have read the book. Her conversations with Kat and the way they played with each other was very interesting and added more depth to Kat's character.

Personally I would have liked more Hale because he's super cute, rich, fun to be around, and he's actually a pretty decent guy, except for the whole stealing thing.  I feel like he could use some more depth to his personality but I'm definitely very pro-Hale.

Overall: Really cute, light, and fun; I think if you enjoy Lindsey Leavitt's Princess for Hire books, you'll enjoy this series too (and vice versa).

Cover: This girl makes me think of Dianna Agron from Glee, except brunette of course. I also love the covers-the green of "Uncommon" and her purple shirt.

A Need So Beautiful

A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young
Balzer + Bray, 2011
267 pages
YA; Paranormal
2.5/5 stars

Source: Library

I follow Suzanne Young's blog and I thought the cover for this was very beautiful with its rich golds although I'm not a big fan of a face staring at me.  I didn't know much about the plot going in so I had basically no expectations.

And at first I was enjoying myself. Charlotte seemed like a good person and I was intrigued by her friend Sarah, a brash and fun person. I wasn't really interested in her boyfriend Harlin but wasn't sure how big of a role he would play so I figured I could tolerate him.  Then the paranormal element kicked in. Turns out Charlotte has increasingly been experiencing overpowering feelings she dubs the Need that force her to leave wherever she is and help somebody. She is growing worried over the frequency of these instances, especially as the people around her are worried.

Then we discover that Charlotte is a Forgotten, who sounds sort of like an angel. She is someone who does good in the world before disappearing, leaving everyone's life a bit better but without any memory of her. Needless to say Charlotte is terrified of this fate, especially because it means leaving Harlin. Now I didn't really care for Harlin so her constant fear of losing him annoyed me rather than struck a chord with me. He's a decent guy but he didn't interest me and there's a lot about her feelings about their relationship which bored me rather than touched me.

Additionally Charlotte finds two sources of information about her nature with conflicting viewpoints, one from a long-time friend and one who was instantly suspicious to me yet who Charlotte also trusts; in fact she alternates between who she believes in an annoying fashion.

This book does bring up themes about love and being remembered. I think another reason that I didn't really hit it off with Charlotte is that I don't really want my name to be remembered when I'm dead. I hope to touch people's lives and help them but if they forget my name, I don't care. I did however identify with her desire to want her close family and friends to remember her, which they will not; her presence was already being slowly wiped from their memories. But I kind of feel like it's worth it to have touched them with love and grace during their lifetime.

KIND OF SPOILER: What's up with the ending?! It actually makes me interested in the sequel despite my disinterest in this book. END SPOILER

Overall: I was unable to connect with the characters and, despite the short length, I felt like it dragged.

Compulsion

Compulsion by Heidi Ayarbe
Balzer + Bray, 2011
297 pages
YA; Contemporary
4/5 stars

Source: Library

After reading Ayarbe's powerful Compromised earlier this year, I looked up what else she had written and saw that this book was upcoming. I put it in my to-read list and then requested it from the library. I've only seen two other reviews of this and was excited to read about a boy MC, still rather rare in YA, and OCD, something I've never seen tackled in a book (except for the Monk books).

In this case Jake Martin's compulsion is numbers, ideally prime or else he has to keep counting and calculating until they are prime.  He has a specific routine that has to take just the right length of time or else his whole day would be thrown off. At the start of the book, he is preparing for his third soccer state championship victory, which would be the perfect day with prime number converging and preparing for his future. After that, he'll be normal; he'll be able to help out his family, he'll make more than one friend, he'll be able to hang out with girls, and the cobwebs won't cloud his vision.

It took me a while to get in to this book as I tried to understand Jake's compulsion. Sometimes he added numbers, sometimes he multiplied and that didn't make sense until I realized that this was Jake's compulsion and it didn't matter what I thought. As the book progressed, I had a growing sense of panic and nervousness because I knew that Jake's compulsion would not disappear like he thought and I was attempting to brace myself for something awful. And make no mistake, some awful things do happen but I'm not going to spoil that.

My favorite part of the book was how I was drawn into Jake's compulsion and recognizing that he needed help but being powerless to do anything. This also made me feel uncomfortable and helpless but also happy at how attached I felt to Jake. He was like the brother I've never had and I just wanted to reach through the book and share some of my quirks and get him to some professional help. Because he is a good guy, trapped in a bad situation and I loved him.

Overall: Another powerful read from Ayarbe; just took a while to really get going.

This Girl Is Different

This Girl Is Different by JJ Johnson
Peachtree Publishers, 2011
315 pages
YA; Contemporary
4/5 stars

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Evie has been homeschooled for all of her life but this year will be different. She plans to attend public high school for the first time in her life. However she is shocked by the tyranny of teachers and the apathy of students and soon comes up with plans that spin wildly out of control in her attempts to improve the lives of her fellow students.

I really liked Evie; she was a great, principled, ambitious, well-educated character (each chapter opens with a quote, some rather obscure, and throughout the book Evie offers opinions about most of them).  She's not without her faults but she's young yet and she knows that there is still more to learn. I loved following her attempts to fit in at school, however futile, and her discussions with friends and the adults in her life.

She also has two good friends: Jacinda, head cheerleader who initially bands with Evie to try to improve the school but later turns on her, and Rajas, the cute boy who also helps Evie before betraying her.  He was a pretty good interest until his act of treachery and I don't think he redeemed himself enough by the end.

There's also Evie's family, her mother and uncle, who isn't really present in the book. But her mom is a somewhat flaky woman who's immensely supportive of her daughter and involved in her life-yay for a YA parent who cares!  I also really liked the principal of her school who conversed with Evie almost as an equal as well as the teachers despite their various demerits.

I felt like this was one of the smartest books I've read lately with a lot of thought put into critiques of the American high school system and the approach to education as well as to some of the social issues plaguing kids.  I really loved the writing even when Evie seemed a bit too precocious; happily she amply proves that she is young and human throughout the course of the book.

Overall: Great heroine, fun writing-what's not to like?