New Books!

Light, but happy, new books report ... Made happier by knowing I have two weeks left of work until summer break. Which means a LOT more reading time. Yay!

For Review:

Wings - from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program

Won:

Mermaid - thanks to Passages to the Past!
Signed + also came with some fun swag!

The Jane Austen Handbook

The Jane Austen Handbook
Margaret C. Sullivan
Quirk Books, 2011

When I was asked if I'd like to review this, I jumped at the chance! Not only am I a Janeite in general, but I thought it'd come in rather handy as I participate in the Jane Austen Twitter Project. (Because how can you write a convincing Austen-spinoff if you don't fully understand Regency behaviour? You can't. Thus: Time to be educated!).

As soon as it arrived, I started flipping through and reading pages at random, loving the wealth of knowledge right there at my fingertips. Then I settled down to actually read it straight through. The information is broken up into manageable nuggets and filed under 4 categories: Jane Austen's World; Everyday Activities; Making Love; and Social Gatherings (full 'titles' shortened). These delightfully informative (not to mention entertaining) chapters are interspersed with Austen references, and stand-alone pages of more detailed particulars (like 'entailment' and 'professions'). While the Handbook is primarily oriented towards Regency manners and living, there is a wonderful amount of insight that could (should?) be applied to our own day and age - what if we all were a little more conscious of our decisions? If we made words and experiences count more because they meant more? Something to think about for another post ...

In short, if you adore Jane Austen's world and characters, and would much rather be touring the Lake District or having balls, but aren't quite sure how to fit into that world without appearing painfully out of place? You should give the Jane Austen Handbook a read - it will clear things up considerably! (Including that delightful little tidbit of Mr. Darcy's 10,000 a year - what is he worth in current American money? Oh, just wait and see!) There's also a brief biography of Jane, synopsis of her novels and characters, a glossary (for those tricky words) and additional resources. A Janeite's reference-dream in one fun little package!

Book provided by publisher for review.

The Lonely Hearts Club

The Lonely Hearts Club
Elizabeth Eulberg
Point, 2009

Every now and then, I read a book I wish I'd read when I was younger. This is one of those books. Penny Lane Bloom is a character I can so relate to (even though I'm *ahem* a decade older?). Hers is a story that I recognize as my own - in parts - but also as the story of so many girls working their way through high school/those crazy mid-to-late teen years. Sometimes YA characters feel too 'character-y', and it's hard to imagine them - or their story - in a really-could-happen-omg-I-so-relate-to-that way. Not so with Penny and her friends. These kids are real, their parents are alternately cool and embarrassing. They've got realistic high school drama, and that zest for life and making drastic, dramatic changes that I remember all too well from my own high school years. Plus, it's just a fun read.

Penny has boy problems. As do most of her friends, and probably every girl in the school. Is Penny content to sit back and let "The Man" keep tromping over her slowly-healing heart? Nope, not by a long shot. And thus the "Lonely Hearts Club" is born - to help girls focus on building relationships with each other instead of boys, and to find what makes them happiest. Along the way, the girls discovery the true worth of friendship, and that maybe - just maybe - not all guys are created equal. I found myself chuckling at Penny's struggle to not like Ryan - or any guy. She was so stubbornly determined to maintain her "Just say no to guys (for high school)!" stance that she almost missed out on a lot of fun -- but that's real, it's what girls do. And it made the story that much better, to see her growing through this process.

A fun, light read that's actually got substance (as opposed to light reads that are enjoyable fluff), this is definitely one I will recommend to both the teen girls in my life and to my fellow "older" YA-loving readers.

Book provided by my personal library.

Blog Tour: A Place for Fish

Today's post is part of the "Fins, Wings, and Other Things" blog tour that Peachtree Publishers is sponsoring in honor of Earth Day. Every day between April 11th and Earth Day (April 22nd - Today!), there will be special blog tour posts around the blogsophere. For a collective listing, check out the Peachtree Pub blog!

A Place for Fish
Melissa Stewart & Higgins Bond (illustrator)
Peachtree Publishers, 2011

I'm beginning to think that Peachtree Publishers specializes in beautiful books. Which isn't a bad thing, by any means, but I feel like I'm saying the same thing about them all, and I don't want anyone to think I'm just fan-girling it. These books really are beautiful. And informative, without seeming overly teachy or preachy. As with the other books featured during this blog tour, A Place for Fish is a great teaching tool that doesn't feel too educational. It's enjoyable. And did I mention beautiful? Oh, I did, didn't I. Forgive me, but sometimes truth bears repeating.

A Place for Fish is basically an introduction to fish habitats and the impact people have on them. The text on each page is a simple explanation of "this is what is done and this is what happens" - with very beautiful illustrations to accompany. In addition, on one side or the other, is a 'sidebar' of information about the specific fish and/or environment depicted in the illustration. It's nice, because you can either go through reading just the "story" or you can stop and read the additional information - it's not cluttery or confusing, very reader friendly. One thing I also really loved were the end papers: they're done up with maps showing the range(s) of the fish featured in the book! (I have a bit of a soft spot for maps). Basically, this is another informative, enjoyable, beautiful offering from Peachtree - and I highly recommend it!

Giveaway Alert:
Thanks to the generosity of the great folks at Peachtree Publishers, I am delighted to announce that I am going to be giving you the chance to win a copy not only of this book, but of the other three titles I'm reviewing as part of the blog tour also! That's four wonderful new books you could win! Entering is simple: Check back here, and leave a comment on one of the "Fins, Wings, and Other Things" posts - only comments on blog tour posts count, but you can comment on every one (that means you could get 5 entries total!). On April 30th, I will randomly select a winner, and contact you. So please, leave me an email or some way to get in touch with you! Contest only open to the US. Good luck!

For more blog tour fun, be sure to check out: Abby the Librarian!

Book provided by publisher for review.

The Bride's Farewell

The Bride's Farewell
Meg Rosoff
Viking, 2009

You know how "They" always tell you to not judge a book by its cover? I rarely follow that rule. For better or for worse, a cover will catch my attention and draw me in, often getting me to read a book I know nothing about. (Sometimes the reverse is true, and a cover will deter - or at least delay - me from reading something I end up enjoying). Choosing-by-cover sometimes has me deserting a book because it's just not going anywhere, but other times I discover a story that is so worth the reading. The Bride's Farewell was one of the latter: the cover caught my eye, as I was unpacking a book delivery at the high school, and I kept picking it up and looking at throughout the day. When it was time to go, the book went with me. (The librarian said she thought it was something I'd like when she saw it, so that helped me justify the 'cover love' a little).

I did not have any preconceived ideas going into this reading - basically, I knew it was historical fiction, and started when a girl ran away the wee hours of the morning before she was to marry her childhood sweetheart. (And, of course, that the cover was totally amazing). I was fascinated by the story of Pell Ridley, and her escape from the life she was expected to lead - jumping straight into the great, vast unknown. Pell was not like the other girls, and everyone knew it - except, perhaps, herself. She knew she could not settle down into the quiet, settled existence that should have been hers, but she did not seem to fully understand why. There's a wild freedom to Pell - something restless and wandering that I could recognize and identify with on some levels. So it's the story of Pell's search for freedom and belonging. But it's also a story of love, and family, and searching - not just for where you belong, but for simply searching. It's a short little novel, but it's got some very interesting thoughts and observations. It's not a sunshine-and-roses type of story, but it is one that I enjoyed, probably because it made me think a little, and - while being set so very far away from me - had traces of humanity I could recognize.

Also, an 'added bonus' for me was the prevalence of horses and horsetalk - once upon a time, almost everything I read was a horse story of some form or fashion. And to discover that there was a good deal of horseyness to this story? I had a happy moment of revisiting childhood reading ... Plus, there's talk about Gypsy horses! And I love Gypsy horses! (One day, I dearly hope to have a Gypsy Vanner gelding of my own).

Book provided by my local library.

Blog Tour: Q&A with Wendy Halperin

Today's post is part of the "Fins, Wings, and Other Things" blog tour that Peachtree Publishers is sponsoring in honor of Earth Day. Every day between April 11th and Earth Day (April 22nd), there will be special blog tour posts around the blogsophere. For a collective listing, check out the Peachtree Pub blog!

(Rebecca) Wendy, thanks so much for agreeing to do a Q&A session with me! I absolutely loved your illustrations for "Planting the Wild Garden" and wanted to find out more ...

... The illustrations are so naturalistic, I'm guessing you must be an nature-lover/outdoorsy type? How much do you draw from your own experiences or interests when illustrating something like "Planting the Wild Garden"? 

(Wendy) Typically I do not cartoon my work as I find the natural world so interesting. In order to draw something it helps to understand it. To draw people and animals it helps to understand their skeleton. To draw a bicycle it helps to see the engineering of the chain and 2 circles of different sizes. In drawing seeds it was an experience of looking closely at the plant, where it lives, what the winds are, what the rainfall is and what wildlife is that lives in it's area. The plants are masters of adaptation and I thoroughly enjoyed the research in creating "Planting the Wild Garden". There is a place in England where they have archived seeds from around the world. Seeds are a great place to kick start the WONDER of nature. Once you see a seed you start to wonder how it is designed to travel. It is also amazing to see the amount of seeds a plant makes, as they are quite productive. I love it that some seeds have little pockets of air to make them float down a stream or lake. The coconut is truly amazing seed as it can travel for over 5,000 miles , land on a sandy beach all set with water and food for the new tree to begin. I will be forever changed after illustrating this book as to my own personal curiosity. I found many wonderful books to work on this project and I would like to recommend 2 to those getting interested in seeds:  Karl Blossfeldt by Taschen (black and white photographs of plants) and "Seeds" by Kesseler and Stuppy by Firefly.

Do you have a favorite subject to illustrate? 

I love the human experience and relationships.I enjoy researching different cultures. I like to draw compassion, friendship, people helping each other, children picking up litter and through drawing describe what  "caring"  might look like. I love to draw different definitions of home, school, or the neighborhood  and be a little window to a bigger world so children might think "that's interesting" there are so many different ways to live. Since illustrating "Planting the Wild Garden" I would like to do more work about the natural world. 

I was looking at the prints and images on your website - and a lot of them have the same "layered details" that these illustrations have. They sort of remind me of art quilts. When you start to illustrate a book or page, do you see the finished product in terms of the central image with all the supporting details surrounding it, or does each one just evolve? 

They tend to evolve with editors, authors and art directors all playing a collective part. I like the flexibility of multiple images to tell a bigger story.

What made you decide to go into book illustration? 

Karla DeVito a high school friend called me one day with a book her father-in-law had written, so I got into illustrating quite accidentally. It was  then that my work got in front of a wonderful editor, Richard Jackson and we started working together. I majored in illustration at Pratt Institute so was familiar with illustration. I was painting still lifes and portraits at the time Karla called. 

Would you ever do anything different? 

I paint furniture for a "break" from illustrating.

I also have been helping teachers and children learn to draw our world from bugs to ballerinas to bulldozers. If you visit drawingchildrenintoreading.com you will see the drawing project.It is using drawing to strengthen fine motor skills and develop wonderful handwriting.

I am also starting to work with environmental educators and develop drawing instruction for drawing wildflowers, invasive species, fish, trees, ferns, SEEDS!, mosses, garden plants, etc.We are working together to "DRAW" children outdoors.

I would like to illustrate a book about skeletons , they call it comparative anatomy in the sciences. I find that subject fascinating and my goal would be a deeper understanding of the animals and an enhanced compassion. 

What was your favorite book to read growing up? 

"The Wind in the Willows " I fell in love with those characters.

Who was - or is - your favorite illustrator? 

I like so many for very different reasons. It would be very hard for me to pick one as I would leave so many out.  I particularly like to find old books with illustrators from the early 1900's also. I just picked up an old Raggedy Andy book last weekend, and another book about trucks with beautiful illustrations. 

In the spirit of the blog tour theme "Fins, Wings, and Other Things" - what is your favorite animal? And if you could have any one animal as a pet, what would it be? 

I particularly like chickens as they deserve a pleasant life after all they have done for us. I like to give chickens a pleasant surrounding and freedom. From my experience chickens prefer to sleep in trees and in the morning open their wings and glide to the ground.

Thanks so much for joining me, Wendy!
 

Giveaway Alert:
Thanks to the generosity of the great folks at Peachtree Publishers, I am delighted to announce that I am going to be giving you the chance to win a copy not only of this book, but of the other three titles I'm reviewing as part of the blog tour also! That's four wonderful new books you could win! Entering is simple: Check back here, and leave a comment on one of the "Fins, Wings, and Other Things" posts - only comments on blog tour posts count, but you can comment on every one (that means you could get 5 entries total!). On April 30th, I will randomly select a winner, and contact you. So please, leave me an email or some way to get in touch with you! Contest only open to the US. Good luck!

For more blog tour fun, be sure to check out another of today's stops: There's a Book!

Blog Tour: Planting the Wild Garden

Today's post is part of the "Fins, Wings, and Other Things" blog tour that Peachtree Publishers is sponsoring in honor of Earth Day. Every day between April 11th and Earth Day (April 22nd), there will be special blog tour posts around the blogsophere. For a collective listing, check out the Peachtree Pub blog!

Planting the Wild Garden
Kathryn O. Galbraith & Wendy Anderson Halperin (illustrator)
Peachtree Publishers, 2011

This is one of those books you can look a half-dozen times and find something new each reading. I am a little bit in love with the illustrations, I'm not gonna lie. The text is good too, but the illustrations keep sucking me in and begging me to follow them on a journey. They're in-depth, 'layered' illustrations, reminding me a little of Jan Brett illustrations in that there's the central image on the page, and then so much more going on either along the borders or in the background itself. It's obvious that Wendy Halperin did her homework before illustrating Planting the Wild Garden - the details are incredible. You have seriously, simply, got to see them.

The book itself is a gentle look at the wild garden - the 'garden' of nature, where the wild things 'plant' more wild things and everything grows with carefree abandon. It begins with a farmer and her son planting their 'real' garden, and drifts along to looking at how Nature plants its own seeds for trees or weeds and grasses. Animals help plant seeds in the wild garden, as do people - unknowingly. The text rolls along like a light breeze, drifting and floating - giving a glimpse of the many, many different ways things are planted and grow. It would be a great introduction to a "seeds" unit in an elementary classroom, or just some quality storytime at home. A very pretty book with a little education slipped in for good measure.

Giveaway Alert:
Thanks to the generosity of the great folks at Peachtree Publishers, I am delighted to announce that I am going to be giving you the chance to win a copy not only of this book, but of the other three titles I'm reviewing as part of the blog tour also! That's four wonderful new books you could win! Entering is simple: Check back here, and leave a comment on one of the "Fins, Wings, and Other Things" posts - only comments on blog tour posts count, but you can comment on every one (that means you could get 5 entries total!). On April 30th, I will randomly select a winner, and contact you. So please, leave me an email or some way to get in touch with you! Contest only open to the US. Good luck!

For more blog tour fun, check out today's other stop: Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers!

Book provided by publisher for review. 

New Books!

It was my intention to post a combined listing of my new books yesterday, per my normal Saturday = New Books idea ... Yeah, totally didn't happen. I ended up spending my Saturday resting and watching the storms move by outside and a dose of Jane Austen ((Sense and Sensibility -- I love Edward. That is all.)) instead. So how about a Sunday New Books post? I've got several weeks' worth of books, so let the fun begin!

Bought:

I also bought an exam guide for the Praxis 2 ... ugh.

Won:

Take a Chance on Me thanks to Amused By Books
the other 3, thanks to the British Babes Book Brigade!

For Review:

This Girl is Different - Peachtree Publishers
Galileo - BookSneeze

Blog Tour: Grasslands

Today's post is part of the "Fins, Wings, and Other Things" blog tour that Peachtree Publishers is sponsoring in honor of Earth Day. Every day between April 11th and Earth Day (April 22nd), there will be special blog tour posts around the blogsophere. For a collective listing, check out the Peachtree Pub blog!

About Habitats: Grasslands
Cathryn Sill & John Sill (illustrator)
Peachtree Publishers, 2011

This is a book you can enjoy two ways: Just reading it straight through, "as is" sotospeak, or by reading it through and then making use of the expanded text in the back. Let me explain ...

... This is a beautiful book. The illustrations take up an entire page, and are faced by a white page with a simple line or two of easy-to-read text. The 'story' introduces readers to the different kinds of grasslands that are found around the world, and what a grassland is - how it works, the animals found there. The illustrations match the different statements, and are referred to as "Plate 1," "Plate 2," etc, with a caption briefly stating what kind of grassland and animals are pictured. It's simply beautiful. There is no other word that can describe this arrangement.

And then you turn the last page, and there are miniature versions of every plate/illustration in the book with an expanded definition of both the type of grassland and the animals pictured! How cool is that? The book itself gets you interested, and then it offers you a way to satisfy your emerging curiosity without having to track down more resources! Also, there's a glossary of terms. I am a big fan of the practice of having glossaries added to books - maybe because I'm a word nerd, but hey: vocabulary is awesome.

As with At the Sea Floor Cafe, this would be a great book to gently ease young readers into learning, by catching their attention and whetting their appetite.

Giveaway Alert:
Thanks to the generosity of the great folks at Peachtree Publishers, I am delighted to announce that I am going to be giving you the chance to win a copy not only of this book, but of the other three titles I'm reviewing as part of the blog tour also! That's four wonderful new books you could win! Entering is simple: Check back here, and leave a comment on one of the "Fins, Wings, and Other Things" posts - only comments on blog tour posts count, but you can comment on every one (that means you could get 5 entries total!). On April 30th, I will randomly select a winner, and contact you. So please, leave me an email or some way to get in touch with you! Contest only open to the US. Good luck!

 For more blog tour fun, check out the next stop: Abby the Librarian

Book provided by publisher for review.

The Grimm Legacy

The Grimm Legacy
Polly Shulman
Putnam, 2010

This is one that caught my eye several months ago, but I didn't get a chance to read until I snagged it from the New Books shelf at the high school. The blurb made me think it was going to be an adventure along the lines of The Librarian or Indiana Jones, but with only stuff from Grimm fairy tales. And that was a part of the story, but not all of it. Shulman actually seemed to focus more on the characters and their development throughout the story than on really fleshing out the 'magical' Grimm items. While that probably makes it a better story, I'd still have liked a little more detail -- I mean, come on! It's a library that has stuff. Really, really cool stuff. Like Seven-League Boots and Snow White's Stepmother's mirror and anything you could think of from one of Grimm's fairy tales. (Not to mention all kinds of other things, from history or literature). Call me a geek, but that would be the coolest library job EVER. (And yes, I am a leetle envious of Flynn Carson in The Librarian).

Now that you've got a glimpse of what caught my attention about this book, let me say it is definitely a fun read, even if it's not quite as "geeked out" as I might prefer. The characters are realistic - hanging out in a high school this year has helped me recognize better when high schoolers are portrayed realistically or not in the YA fiction I read. I could definitely see these kids showing up in a high school. Their adventures are a little surreal, but they're supposed to be - and, there's this nifty little thing called 'the willing suspension of disbelief': if you're going to read fiction (and enjoy what you read), you need to be friends with this idea. I would never expect this to happen in real life, but at the same time, The Grimm Legacy reads as if it might actually happen - if, you know, it could happen. The challenges are real, the motives ring true - people aren't perfect, and even the 'good guys' have an oops-moment or two. It's a fun read, a fast read though. I felt like I flew through the book. I'll be interested in seeing if Shulman returns to this idea and writes any more novels about the Repository ... There's so much stuff there to write about!

Book provided by my local library.

Blog Tour: At the Sea Floor Cafe!

Today's post is part of the "Fins, Wings, and Other Things" blog tour that Peachtree Publishers is sponsoring in honor of Earth Day. Every day between now and Earth Day (April 22nd), there will be special blog tour posts around the blogsophere. For a collective listing, check out the Peachtree Pub blog!

At the Sea Floor Cafe!
Leslie Bulion & Leslie Evans (illustrator)
Peachtree Publishers, 2011

Not only is this a fun, quirky title to fit in with the blog tour theme, but April is also National Poetry Month - and this is a collection of poems! Double win! This book is fun, it's whimsical, it's colorful, and it's educational. Yes, educational. It's very science-y, with each poem focusing on one (or two) ocean creatures that may or may not be familiar. It's also a great resource for introducing young readers to different kinds of poetry, since every poem is in a different form. My inner lit-major was 'geeking out' a little, as I recognized some of the styles, but others were new to me - which was even more exciting! At the back of the book is a glossary of the science-y words that may be unfamiliar, as well as a breakdown of all the different poetry forms represented in the book. This is great resource that is a fun way to 'sneak in' learning.

The poems are fun and humorous, and the illustrations are just as fun. It's a pretty book, with a lot of visual elements. I would caution that very young readers (or older - my Mum saw it and picked it up one day, only to say her eyes were confused) may get a distracted or even a little lost in that on each page there is both the poem and other text - sometimes they are separated by a bit of space, other times they run close together due to illustrations or etc. The 'other text' is a brief description or explanation of the sea creature described in the poem, so it's very helpful, it just might be a bit much for some readers. Overall however, the book is simply fun. I feel like I'm using that word a lot, but sometimes there's only one word that really describes something, and in this case, that's the magic word: Fun!

Giveaway Alert:
Thanks to the generosity of the great folks at Peachtree Publishers, I am delighted to announce that I am going to be giving you the chance to win a copy not only of this book, but of the other three titles I'm reviewing as part of the blog tour also! That's four wonderful new books you could win! Entering is simple: Check back here, and leave a comment on one of the "Fins, Wings, and Other Things" posts - only comments on blog tour posts count, but you can comment on every one (that means you could get 5 entries total!). On April 30th, I will randomly select a winner, and contact you. So please, leave me an email or some way to get in touch with you! Contest only open to the US. Good luck!

For more blog tour fun, check out the next stop: Archimedes Notebook

Book provided by publisher for review. 

Hearts Aglow

Hearts Aglow
Tracie Peterson
Bethany House, 2011

I wasn't planning to review this one when I picked it up from the library - it's the second in a series, and I did not review the first one, so I figured I would just "read and enjoy". Once I got into it though (actually only a chapter or two in), I decided this was a book I did need to review on some level. I remember being impressed with the first book in the series - Embers of Love - finding it a slight change from the other Peterson titles I've read in the last year or so. A good change. I'm probably a harder critic of Christian fiction than 'secular' - or maybe just a pickier reader - and I was almost starting to feel like Peterson had sold out and lost the voice that caught me in the beginning. Needless worries! The Striking a Match series is an engrossing story that is actually carrying over with the same set of main characters in both books (so far)! I like! The trilogies she has written before, with the story picking up from another character's point-of-view from novel to novel are interesting, but I get attached to characters and want to follow their story through to the end. So that is a definite perk of this newest series. Plus the characters are fairly real, and the setting is one that offers any number of interesting potential (and adventures).

Since this is the second installment, and I didn't review the first, I won't comment too much on the storyline. You're going to have to take my word on this one, that it's worth picking up and reading from the beginning. I will say, however, that you should be prepared for a heavier read than you might think. Peterson is one of those Christian fiction authors who doesn't shy away from the fact that sometimes bad things happen to good people, and there is always the option of epic failure/mistake in life. It's part of what makes her books more realistic than some others. At the same time, I was not expecting the level of -- realism? exposure? raw human "mistake-hood"? -- that would meet me, early on and throughout Hearts Aglow. I was startled. Surprised. A little amazed that she went there. A little awed that she was able to - it ached my heart to read some of it (and may have turned my stomach a little too), so I can't imagine creating it. And yet - it was somehow right that those ugly elements of humanity were woven into the story. I'm not naive enough to believe the frontiers of history were romantic spreads of barely-tamed wilderness bathed in the warm western light of the setting sun. I know that the History which makes this country so amazing was created by deep cuts and still-healing scars. And I think, maybe-just-maybe, we need to realize this more often. Not in a way that reopens the wounds and revives the hatreds, but in a way that reminds us not to take for granted where we are - where we've come.

I've found myself personally involved with the story of Deborah Vandermark and her family, as well as all the other characters - locals and outsiders alike - who are populating the pages. I've got my favorites I cheer for, and those who I thought were good but now am rooting against. And I am definitely waiting on the third novel to come out later this year, to see what happens next! Care to join me on the ride?

Book provided by my local library.