My Brother Sam Is Dead

My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

*Part of my "Reviewing Children's Classics" series.

I don't remember reading this one growing up, which is strange because of my love of books and all things history. I now see I didn't miss much, although my perspective might have been different if I had read it when I was 11 instead.

Tim is growing up during the turbulent times prior to and during the American Revolution. He adores his obnoxious big brother, Sam, who is attending Yale and appears to be the smuggest, least likable person in the world. If I had to hear the phrase, "scored a telling point" one more time, I might have thrown the book away. Seriously, dude, you are the world's worst. Anyway, Tim has some serious hero worship going on for his big brother, who decides to drop out of Yale, steal his father's rifle (really, Sam? You are a bad person) and join the revolutionaries. Sam's parents are opposed to this, naturally, as no parent wants their 16-year-old son to join the military during war time. Sam does what he wants, and ultimately we get to the title of the book.

Between Sam running off to enlist and the ending where he dies, a lot of sad, depressing things happen. It's Revolutionary times. Besides the war, you have cholera outbreaks, hunger, and decapitations. Plus you have to endure Sam's girlfriend Betsy Read, who is tied with Sam for "most unlikeable character is a children's book". For a young woman who should have been behaving like an adult, she acted like an obnoxious child.

I'm sure there are better historical fiction books out there about the American Revolution. The only thing that saved this from one-star territory was the authors' notes at the end. I liked how they explained who and what were historically accurate and where they embellished or created things for the book. For the additional interesting information, I added one star. My recommendation? You can skip this one.

View all my reviews

The Thief (The Queen's Thief #1)

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I bought this book based on nothing but a recommendation from a member of a book group I am in. She said, "Hands down, this is my favorite series. Ever." Well, with that kind of recommendation, how could I not? I got about 3/4 of the way through it before I understood why she was raving. It's good. But the beginning is slow, the main characters are, quite frankly, unlikeable, and the plot isn't clear. It's the ending that you need to hang in for. Once I got there, I knew I would be reading book 2. And from what I hear, book 2 is better than book 1.

In the interest of not spoiling too much of the story, I will keep my description brief. Gen is released from prison by the Magus to retrieve an ancient treasure. Gen is a skilled thief, and joins the Magus and his band of merry men on the quest, and with rotting in prison as the alternative, why not? Gen turns out to be as skilled a thief as his reputation states, and begins to earn a small bit of respect from the Magus by the end. Obstacles and treachery are at every turn, and it's a pretty good read if you enjoy YA fantasy worlds.

View all my reviews

Graduation Day (The Testing #3)

Graduation Day by Joelle Charbonneau
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The final installment of The Testing series left me a little let-down. We wrap up the conspiracies, double-crosses, triple-crosses, and rebellions we found in Independent Study, and get a small glimpse of the new future. I can't quite put my finger on why I'm disappointed, though. There was a lot of telling us what Cia was doing, her gathering things for her magical bag of holding, and thinking through her plans. But action? Not a ton until the end.

And Tomas? After the build up in book one about their love, we left it behind in books 2 and 3. He was barely a footnote in either book. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't looking for heartfelt declarations of love or constant mooning, but Cia struck me a robotic at times. I swear, she took a page out of Katniss's book and took it to a new level. I liked Tomas, and wanted more page time with him.

Overall, I still recommend the series, and I did like the ending. It felt true to character. But I expected a bit more from what could have been a dramatic conclusion. I would love to read a novella 10 years in the future letting us know how the rebuilding is going and what has happened with each character. Joelle, are you listening?

View all my reviews

Across the Universe (Across the Universe #1)

Across the Universe by Beth Revis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I came across this book while browsing my local library's site, and it just happened to be available. I went into it knowing nothing about the book at all, and ended up pleasantly surprised.

We open with Amy, a 17-year-old daughter of a scientist and a top military official who are all being cryogenically frozen to be transported to a new planet 300 light years away. Despite her hesitations, she chooses to go with her parents, and they are all placed on Godspeed for launch to the new world. The Earth is dying, and the essential personnel aboard are to help populate and develop life on the new planet.

Elder is next in line to lead the people of Godspeed. Unaware of the cryo people being transported in the bottom levels of the ship, he only becomes aware when someone thaws Amy's pod years before it was time. Amy and Elder are thrown together to find the answers they are both searching for, and being the only two of the same age group, also fall in love.

There was a little left to be desired on the world building aspects, but overall it was an entertaining start to the series. I will be reading book 2.

View all my reviews

Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files #8)

Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Harry's back, newly (and reluctantly) promoted to his role of warden for Chicago. Lots of fun in this one! Set mainly at a horror convention (Splatter Con! haha), we are re-introduced to Molly, Michael Carpenter's all grown up daughter, and she has a big girl crush on Harry. Harry, my favorite white knight in a leather duster, is having none of it. But you know what he wants to have? Murphy, in a big, big way. Yes, my favorite star-crossed lovers may never happen, but at least Harry is taking baby steps in the right direction. Murphy, open your damn eyes, please. Harry is amazing.

My least favorite character, Charity, plays a big role in this one. I'm not saying I like her, but at long last I understand part of her deep-seeded loathing for Harry. Misplaced, mostly, but understandable. All of my favorites are here: Ebenezer, Mac, Mouse, Thomas, Bob and Michael. Michael, in his typical fashion, is the ultimately the savior. Damn, I love him.

We get unexpected allies in the Summer Court and Mab and her Winter Court cronies make another appearance. It's all fun, and as usual, Harry can't catch a break without help from the people around him. Possibly my favorite book of the series so far.

View all my reviews

Dead Man's Folly

Dead Man's Folly by Agatha Christie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

More of my favorite eggheaded Belgian detective! Love the setup for this one. Hercule Poirot's old friend, mystery novelist Ariadne Oliver, is coordinating a murder mystery party at an estate. She suspects she is being manipulated to set up the mystery for a real murder, and calls in her pal Poirot to thwart the killer.

This is classic Christie at her best--twists and turns, and just when you think you know who the killer is, she throws you another curve ball. All is resolved by the satisfying ending. Give it a read.

View all my reviews

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Prime numbers are what is left when you have taken all the patterns away. I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them.”

Weird confession. I like prime numbers. They make sense to me. I'm a tiny bit like Christopher, and I think that's why I love this book so much.

What's it all about? It's an interesting perspective into the mind of a boy who is autistic, intelligent in many ways, but still immature to the ways of the world.

Journey with Christopher as he solves the mystery of his neighbor's dog. Travel with him as he strikes out on his own to discover what happened to Wellington, and why. Like me, you might be surprised by the ending. Christopher doesn't necessarily get the answers he wants, but instead gets a lesson in life.

I really enjoyed the different narrator voice from Christopher. I didn't find it gimmicky like some readers, instead I found it to be a delightful journey. Check it out for yourself and see what you think.

View all my reviews

Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain

Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain by Portia de Rossi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love to play armchair therapist. Books about addiction and recovery are a personal favorite of mine. It's fascinating to hear what drives others to the decisions they make, and to try to figure out what caused it all. In Portia de Rossi's case, it seems to be a destructive cocktail of her father dying at an early age, her drive for acceptance through modeling and acting, and hiding the fact that she is a lesbian, with a side dish of her feeling her mother wanted her to be perfect, pretty, and straight. Whether this is actually true or just what she heard internally, we can't really be sure, but she seems to have worked through most of it. I found myself wanting to sit her down and tell her that who she is will be enough, and to just enjoy life.

I first discovered Portia de Rossi on Arrested Development, one of my all-time favorite shows. I was never a fan of Ally McBeal so I had never watched her on it, and had only heard with half an ear about her struggles with her weight in the tabloids. To me, she will always be Lindsey Bluth. It was interesting to read about her descent into the depths of her eating disorder and how she finally came to terms with being who she really is, although hopefully she understands that's a journey that never ends, and she will be in recovery for the rest of her life. A well-written account of the struggles with an eating disorder. WARNING: some of her stories may trigger behaviors if you have struggled with ED in the past, so be careful.

View all my reviews

The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For those of you living in a cave without access to internet or television, The Fault in Our Stars is about 2 teenagers living with and dying of cancer. It's sad. Not sad enough to make me cry, shockingly, because I love to cry at sad books and movies. Out of Africa makes me sob hard enough to throw myself on the couch wailing. But I digress.

If you don't know the story, I refuse to spoil it for you. Just read it. It's pretty good. And I have read the criticisms that Hazel and Augustus don't talk or act like typical teenagers. It's because they aren't. They are dying, they are a little bit hipster, and they have been forced to look their own mortality in the eye and deal with it. I can't imagine what that would feel like at 16, and I would bet neither can you. Their witty banter and interesting conversations are what kept me from the eye rolling, honestly. The part that bugged me most was her father. Please stop crying about everything around your daughter. Man up, dude. She's the one dying. It struck me as incredibly selfish.

TL:DR. Cancer sucks, and this book is sad.

View all my reviews

Some Enchanted Evening (Lost Princesses #1)

Some Enchanted Evening by Christina Dodd
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The first book in a trilogy. Fairly enjoyable; I might read the others.

Clarice is a princess without a country. She is exile with her little sister, hiding from those intent on taking her country and removing her grandmother from power. She is the second sister of three, and travels around peddling beauty products to young ladies throughout the UK. Undercover (so to speak), she calls herself a princess but doesn't say where she is from, which seems strange to me, but I will let it go. Classic historical romance hero Robert not only ferrets out who she really is, but also falls madly, deeply in love with her. Nothing new with the storyline from other novels of the type, but I did find it an amusing way to pass the afternoon.

What saved it for me was the last chapter and the epilogue. It took it from "meh" to "maybe I will read the other two." What can I say, I'm a sucker for "happily ever after."

View all my reviews