Book Review Discussion: Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead

Book: Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead
Genre: MG Contemporary
Rating:★★★★★
For: Review
From: Received for free from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Short Synopsis: Bridge is a 7th grader dealing with fairly normal 7th grader things. She has a nice group of friends that have promised to never fight... and yet during this year, some stuff happens that tests this promise in a pretty big way. She also becomes friends with a nice sweet boy named Sherm who has his own problems to deal with, namely the fact that his grandparents who live with him have split up after 50 years. We get insights into his thoughts through letters he writes to his grandpa. Everything is leading up to a head, which happens to be Valentines Day. We get a peek into this day from a narrative that is from a POV from a mysterious character that we don't know until the end. Does that all sound complicated? It's not really. It's pretty awesome.

My Response: I loved it. Awesome handling of things that kids this young shouldn't' have to deal with, but do in this day and age. And awesome handling of it perfectly for kids this age. Does that make sense? Not too over the top and/or in your face, just simply and plainly. I also loved that the author had these two characters be attracted, but not "fall in love" quite yet. Way to young! Save that for later! I love the friendship between the girls and how they actually talked if they had an issue. I loved that there were parents involved. Parents! And... I loved the writing. Gah, there's some amazing authors out there! And PS. I really loved this boy Sherm. Like, a lot.

Bottom Line: As I said in my one sentence review over at Goodreads, if you don't think you're that into middle grade fiction, you should definitely try Rebecca Stead's stuff and you'll find out it's just as awesome and thought provoking and emotion inducing as YA.

Let's Talk About: What IS your feeling about MG books? Do you find them not as deep, as a rule, as other books? Do you get frustrated that they lack romance, for instance? Or other stuff? I want to know... what do you think of MG?

Other Reviews:

GOODBYE STRANGER is another terrific novel from a celebrated author in children's fiction. In Bed with Books

I think this would be a very valuable story for middle graders and could generate some excellent discussions. From Rhapsody in Books

While the characters were young, I could still relate to everything they were going through, and I think you would be hard pressed to find any adult who couldn’t relate this book to things hey have experienced both in adolescence and their adult life. From Ex Libris

Despite the number of voices, the book remains clear and shows in many ways the difficult decisions that come from starting to try to figure out who exactly you are going to be. From Waking Brain Cells

Book Review Discussion: Bone Gap by Laura Ruby

Book: Bone Gap by Laura Ruby
Genre: YA magic realism
Rating:★★★★★
For: fun
From: the library

Short Synopsis: There's always been something a little strange about Finn, a boy who lives with his brother in the small community of Bone Gap. When a friend of theirs, Roza, disappears, it sets things in motion that includes Finn's connection to Petey, and Petey's observation about Finn which in turn leads to Finn thinking about everything totally differently. I know that's vague, but I just really can't give stuff away! The book switches POVs often, mostly between Finn and Roza, sometime Petey and sometimes Finn's brother Sean.

My Response: Gah! I can't even describe this book and do it any kind of justice! It's a very "other worldly" sort of book, lots of strange goings on. Disturbing things. And things that mess with your head.  And yet, it's also very familiar with this small town comfortable feel. As I said, Finn is different and everyone doesn't know what to make of him. And yet Petey, a girl who works with bees, is also very strange and different. So when they get together, everyone thinks is just weird. We as readers think it's awesome. And then they figure out the mystery (well Finn does) of Roza, which is at the heart of the story. The writing is amazing and blew me away. I know there's a lot of deep stuff this book is saying, but I just sat back and enjoyed.

Bottom Line: Read this one guys. Add it to the list. Now.

Let's Talk About: Does it bug you if strange things happen that have pretty much no explanation? Are you one of these readers that can let your imagination just go with it? Or do you need a why? I like to, as I said above, just sit back and go with it. Who cares about the why sometimes, you know?

Other Reviews:

Laura Ruby is amazing, and I’ll be surprised if this doesn’t end up among my favourite reads of the year. From Things Mean A Lot

It is a challenging read, one that puts you on a journey of discovery about all of the characters and about the town itself too. From Waking Brain Cells

With a lyrical, enchanting writing style and eccentric, complex characters that I know will stay with me for a long time, Bone Gap is a unique story I absolutely loved. From Paperback Treasures

This has it all, a hint of magic, with a side of romance topped with suspense. From Alternate Readality

Currently: Feeling Frustrated

Listening: Loving all my "new" music. Here's another example of something new I've discovered (or that Spotify has helped me discover) this week:




Watching: I've watched the first two episodes of Fear the Walking Dead and have pretty much been hooked enough to continue on. In fact I'm sad that I just remembered that there is no new episode tonight. I can't wait for the new real Walking Dead season to start. And I'm also looking forward to that Heroes Reborn thing to start. I have high hopes for it! Also looking forward to a new Survivor with past contestants getting a second chance.

In the meantime, I wanted to catch up on some shows on Netflix. I tried watching a Once Upon a Time episode this past week and yep... it was pretty boring. Something happened to that show. Though it ended in a way that made me want to keep watching. So we'll see.

I also want to revive my quest to watch Buffy shows... and at least get to the Spike episodes. Also, Supernatural. So, there' plenty to watch that's for sure!

Reading: I read an entire book yesterday... Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead. Sheesh, if you think you don't like middle grade books, read one of hers! Review this week. I finished Bone Gap and wow, that one is pretty amazing also. I've started The Girl on the Train and yeah, it's good... but isn't totally blowing me away like I thought it was supposed to. We'll see.

Writing: I've been working on revising still, as always. I feel good about some stuff and terrible about other stuff. Reading such awesome books while trying to write one of my own is a bit disheartening. You'd think it would be inspiring, but eh, no. Not so much. Maybe a little.

Blogging: Tried to get some fun blogging going again. I did one snarky post that got some response! This week will be boring again with lots of review catching up to do. Though reviews get lots of hits, so... it's a weird thing this blogging business!

And please do join us for Bloggiesta fun! That's coming up soon. In fact, I'm going to write the sign up post today. So, come and sign up!

Health Watching: I'm losing this battle right now. I have nothing new to report.

Misc:

• I helped with the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival and Conference this week. Worked a lot more than I normally do. It was fun.
• Toto got asked to Homecoming. Crazy. We need to figure out an answer! Well, I mean HOW to answer.
• I'm freezing in the house today... and just the other day I was dying of heat. I think something definitely changed! YES!
• I bought my domain name to start an aspiring writer website (can't say author website yet!) and am using WordPress and yep. I hate it. I don't get all you people who say you can do whatever you want with WordPress. It's lies... all lies! I can't change colors. Or fonts. Or anything! Everything is tied to a freaking theme. Gah. So frustrated. Maybe during Bloggiesta someone can help me...

These Better Be Good!

Or. . . in which I place my complete trust in the book blogger world.

Yeah, it's not the first time I'm going on blind faith that a book is good. But I do believe it's the first time I've bought a complete series (dang, but they AREN'T complete yet are they?) an entire set (almost) and gone to a book signing for an author that I don't really even know just because everyone else says:

"These books are so good!"

"Oh my gosh, I'm so excited!"

"Twitter, if you give spoilers today, I'm going to kill you!"

"My heart has been ripped out!"

"Oh, so-and-so is SOOOO HOT! No wait, so-and-so is... or... wait... maybe it's so-and-so!!" (How many hot boys are in these books anyway?)

"These books, I can't even, they're just, seriously, you need to read them."

"That Sarah J. Maas, she is so amazing. Does she get emotion right or what?"

And etc.

I'm just saying... they better be really really REALLY good!

And yes, we went to see Sarah J. Maas last night, and joined a complete capacity and very fan-girly crowd. In fact, we got the time wrong and were late, which meant we stood up the whole time she did a Q and A like interview with another author that I had no clue who it was. (Christina Hobbs, who's really Christina Lauren, which is a co-op author thing, which isn't at all confusing or anything)

But she was funny and clever. Though I did roll my eyes when she said, "When I got my start at 16 years old...." Yeah, so she started these books back then. What were the rest of us doing at 16? Well, I mean Christopher what's-his-face can say... "Yeah, well, I started Eragon at FIFTEEN so there!" I suppose. Sigh. I have no hope.

And then she moaned about being nearly 30 one time. I rolled my eyes a little bit again. I think I'm a bit sensitive to these things this particular year. More to come on that later. But seriously people who are just now 30...be happy!

She was nice and sweet when we got our books signed and was actually the first author to ask (that I remember anyway) what Suey stands for. She thought it was adorable and memorable... the nickname, I think, not the real name. I don't know. So anyway, I'll take that.

And yes, I'l read the books, but I'm holding off because we actually have Throne of Glass on tap for our December book club. So stay tuned till then and I'll let you know if you, book blogger world, have been spot on with all the buzz or not!

Toto (who has actually read the first book)
meeting Sarah J. Maas
(We couldn't take a group/posed picture because... they told us not to.
Even though many people broke the rules and did it anyway.
If I'm one thing, I'm a freaking rule follower. )

Our view from the standing position in the back.

And because I'm a freaking rule follower, (see caption above) I have an extra signed copy of this book (Queen of Shadows), which, I think I just might giveaway here. And let's just say, if I hear the virtual sound of crickets like I normally do when I say "giveaway" on this blog.. it won't be doing much to support all y'alls claim that these books are so so good. Know what I'm sayin'? But sit tight, I'm not giving it away yet, I'm just building anticipation here. So stay tuned while I' come up with something good.

TV Review: Poldark Season One

It seems like I heard a vague mention of this show, Poldark,  once somewhere, then forgot all about it. Well, it appears that it started airing on Masterpiece Theater while I was on my trip, so I probably missed the true hubbub. But then caught a whiff of it around and about and decided to see what it was all about.

Well, I actually decided to see what it was all about when I realized that Aidan Turner starred in it. And then when I realized it was a period piece also, that sealed the deal.

It's not yet on Netflix, though I imagine it will be at some point,  so I had to find it other places. All the episodes are on YouTube here, but the quality is pretty bad and I felt like it skipped some stuff. However, I didn't care. I watched it anyway. (This link is to a different channel than what I used. Maybe the skipped stuff is there this time!)

And absolutely loved it.

Its about a guy who has come home to England, the Cornwall area, after fighting in the Revolutionary War. His family thinks he's dead so it's a bit of a surprise when he shows up. And in fact, his fiance is engaged to his cousin and they get married two weeks after he gets home

His dad has died while he's gone and the estate has fallen into very bad neglect. He begins to restore order. This includes getting the copper mine going again. And dealing with the bad guys that want to see him not succeed.

And even though his fiance has married, don't worry because he finds someone! And oh boy! The intensity is perfect!

But it's not just about Ross Poldark, but also all the people in the community, and his cousins and everyone. It's one of those small town relationship, everyone-in-everyone's-business type of stories.

And the scenery is incredible. So beautiful and amazing.

There's laughs, and loves and tragedy and violence and... everything.

And there's Aidan Turner who is absolutely perfect.

So, watch it if you can stand the YouTube thing. If not... keep your eye out for when it comes to Netflix. or when they re-air it before the next season. There will be another season right? Yes, yes, there will!

Here's the trailer:




 Here's a montage of the romantic bits, which is awesome:



Seriously. If you missed this one, catch up! And if you watched, it, what did you think?

Music Stuck in My Head: Mission Impossible

So, it's been a long time and I really feel the need to do a music post. The music I want to highlight today is the theme from Mission Impossible! (Yes, I finally saw the latest move... review to come soon!)

Is there a better movie theme EVER? I mean, there are a lot of awesome movie themes, but this one.. I don't know... it's just genius. You familiar with it, right?

Here's original simple version from the TV show:




Here's the theme as recently highlighted in the new movie during the opening airplane scene:





Here's a DJ'd up Tiesto version:



And here's my most favorite version of all.... crank the bass guitar at the 2:15    mark! I dare you! Man, I love this one so much!



Do you have strong feelings about this particular piece of music? Would you go see the movie just for the music? Do you have a favorite movie/TV show theme that trumps Mission Impossible in your mind? Share!

Book Review Discussion: Mark of the Thief by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Book: Mark of the Thief by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Genre: MG Fantasy
Rating:★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
For: Utah Book Month
From: Bought from Amazon, I think. One loses track of these things.

Short Synopsis: Nic has been a salve just outside of Rome for years. His mom has been sold off and now his only wish is to keep his sister safe and out of the clutches of Sal, their mean old guard. One day, Sal forces Nic to be lowered into a scary cave where they suspect treasures of the gods to be found. Well, Nic does find something and his life is forever changed. Now not only does he have to protect his sister, but all of of the Roman Empire.

My Response: What I loved most about this one is that it took place in Rome! And where was I just hanging out a short month or two ago? How awesome is it that I could totally picture everything? Awesome I tell you! And I've always loved stuff that has to do with ancient Roman gods and their power over the people. Really fascinating stuff. There was some awesome magic power fighting and a cool creature (a griffin) and some bad guys. All great stuff. Being a middle grade, there was only a hint of a romance, which made me crazy. And also, it ends just when you are all revved up for more! Gah!

Bottom Line: Perfect book for fans of Percy Jackson and company.

Let's Talk About: Are you like me were if you've been to a place, and then read a book set in that place, it just makes the reading experience all that much better? That's why we have go everywhere so all the books will be even cooler!

Other Reviews:

MARK OF THE THIEF showcases Nielsen's addictive writing, which has much to entice adults as well as the target child audience. From In Bed With Books

But there was action aplenty, the bonus griffin relationship was a nice touch, and the whole set up promises good things in the next books! From Charlotte's Library

I'm certain that kids are going to love it, and I look forward to the next book. From Jen Robinson's Book Page

I loved how the story combines Roman history with magical elements. From Literary Rambles