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Brooklyn Story by Suzanne Corso is the story of Samantha, a young girl growing up in Brooklyn in the late 1970s, desperate to escape across the bridge into what she knows will be a better life. But then, at 15, she meets Tony, a local Brooklyn Boy with ties to the local mob.

I was intrigued by the idea of this book, but unsure what to expect. The book mirrors experiences in the authors own life — growing up in Brooklyn and living through an abusive relationship. The last book I read that took inspiration from the authors personal life was probably my worst read thus far in 2010, so I was a little worried about this story. I must say, I was very pleasantly surprised by how this story turned out.

The issues that Samantha is dealing with during this story — poverty, crime, drug abuse, abusive relationships etc — are something I have never had any experience with. My childhood is split between small town Western Washington and rural Conservative Southern Idaho. I don't know of anything that's farther removed from the life described here in the Italian section of Brooklyn. There were times when I felt the narrative to be overly wordy and detailed, but it enabled me to experience some small part of what life must have been like for Samantha. Although it never felt quite real to me, it was obviously real to Samantha.

I also really enjoyed the lyrics from popular songs that Samantha felt spoke to her at one time or another. I love old music and was pleased by how many of the songs I recognized and like.

My one major complaint with this story is the narrative voice. The story begins with 19 year old Samantha walking into a court room where Tony is waiting to be sentenced. We are then taken back with her to the summer she was 15 when she met Tony and the story is told from there, until the final chapters when she is again 19 and discussing the end of this stage in her life. But, I never felt like the narrative could have been written by a 19 year old. I'm still pretty close to 19 myself, and this is not how we talk. Samantha spends the entire book focused on and dedicated to her writing, so it makes sense that it would be more mature than the average 19 year old, but I still felt more like I was reading the writing of someone closer to 30. Which is fine, because I am, but it never felt quite... right.

And then there is Samantha herself. She is a pretty strong character with a firm sense for her goals, but I was completely amazed at how incredibly naive she was. I understand that she was 15, and very inexperienced with boys, but I couldn't believe how much she willfully misunderstood. It amazed me the power we have to rationalize and justify almost any action. It's a little scary how easy Samantha found herself sucked into an abusive and scary situation, willing to explain and will away nearly everything Tony was doing to her. The was the author writes makes it seem like these abusive and unhealthy relationships are the norm in Brooklyn, and this saddens me more than I can possibly say. No one deserves to be treated like garbage.

Overall, this is a story I think is worth reading. Samantha is a strong character who knows what she wants and really does work hard to attain that. There were a few times when I didn't feel like her character was totally consistent, but she's also 15 and exploring new things for the first time. I was also a little confused by Tony's behavior. Without trying to give spoilers away, it sometimes seemed like what he said and what he did were completely unconnected, like violently claiming her as a possession, but allowing her to remove him from her life.

Regardless of any complaints I had with the story or writing (which were not enough to diminish my enjoyment of the story), I'm impressed with Ms. Corso for writing this story. Given the parallels between her own life, I imagine it must have been really hard. I watched a short video of her talking about her book, and she said she wrote it so that women could take away from it the knowledge that it is always possible to leave, always possible to get yourself out of a bad situation. She hopes that women who find themselves in this kind of trouble take heart and comfort in knowing there is more out there for them, and that I think is an amazing thing to give to a woman. Here's to hoping that it works.

*Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner is the fourth book in The Queen's Thief series. If you missed them before, here are my reviews for the previous books, The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia. I believe I mention that the books just keep getting better and better as the series progresses, because Eugenides is just totally hardcore like that, and I love watching his mind work.

Although Eugenides is in this book, he is no longer our main character. This is, instead, the story of Sophos, the heir to the throne of Sounis. He goes missing sometime during either Queen or King, and this is the story of what happened after his disappearance.

I enjoyed this one, really, I did. It's just that, I don't like Sophos the same way I like Eugenides. He's a great person, and interesting to read about, he just doesn't have the same appeal that Gen does. Part of that is because I expect a certain something out of these books, largely because of how Gen's mind works, and that was missing from this book. And, because the book is told by Sophos, we see a different side of Gen. Not that he's changed any, but the attitude of the viewer is different, which means I didn't much care for the Gen we see in this book, and that made me very sad.

Although I missed Gen, I did really like watching Sophos grow and develop as a person, and as a ruler. When we first meet him in Thief, and at the beginning of this story he is almost completely lacking in confidence, and he's a little bit awkward. But after being kidnapped, and sold into slavery, he finds himself and begins to grow and change into a strong character, who will eventually make a very strong king of Sounis.

The political intrigue was even more layered in this book than in the previous books, because you are dealing with the intrigue in Gen's palace, Sounis in general, and among the Souni Barons who kidnapped Sophos in the first place, not to mention those pesky foreigners that keep popping up. I thought it was handled very well. The resolution gave me shivers, which can only mean good things for a book like this.

Although I do prefer Gen as the main or focal character, there is no denying that this is still an excellent addition to the series. Turner is a great writer, able to craft a brilliant story and really draw the reader in. I recommend giving the series a chance if you haven't already. I know there's a 5th novel planned for the series, and, as much as I love Sophos, I really hope Turner takes us back to Gen.

*Disclaimer: I received this book through Around the World Tours.

When I first started hearing about The Duff: Designated Ugly Fat Friend by Kody Keplinger, I wasn't sure I'd like it. I wasn't sure it was the type of book I'd enjoy, so I kind of pushed it to the back of my mind. But, I kept hearing more and more about it, and everything I was hearing was positive, so when I had the chance to read it, I decided I'd give it a try. Big smile.:)

Reading the description of the book, a girl who gets into an enemies-with-benefits relationship to escape her problems, and then falls for him sounded like the high school version of a really cheesy romance novel, which I don't read. But The Duff has so much more than that to offer. It's about growing up, good friends, and accepting who you are.

Keplinger is a talented writer. Her characters are authentic and their reactions were always believable. Reading Bianca's thoughts totally brought me back to high school. When I would roll my eyes at her 'oh so witty banter' I had to stop and cringe because I've been there, thinking I'm so smart until an hour later when I think about how dumb I really sounded. (or listening to my little brother use the same arguments on my parents and thinking, wow... did I really sound that dumb?!)

I think the character I liked the most was Wesley. Not because he was the most likable character in the story, or anything, but because I actually liked him by the end. He is one of the reasons I was sort of avoiding the book. I didn't think I would ever like him, and when I started the book it reinforced that idea. He's a bit of a pig with a vastly over inflated sense of his own importance. But, as Bianca got to know him and started to realize that maybe he is a human being with a heart after all, I started to like him. He's got his own set of troubles, and while they don't excuse his bad behavior, it definitely makes his actions more understandable.

Bianca was also a wonderful character. She's more than a little cynical, but she's also fiercely loyal and protective of those she loves. She's a strong character made stronger by the fact that she doesn't really know how to handle everything that is currently happening to her. She does spend a little too much time trying to just run away from the problems, but we've all been there. I loved her realization toward the end of the book, and the message that 'duff' is a relative term and that everyone goes through the same self esteem issues at one point or another.

The only part of the book that I can genuinely say I didn't much care for was toward the end with Wuthering Heights. It just felt like a little bit too much, and I felt myself rolling my eyes throughout that whole section. The only thing that redeemed that passage for me was that Bianca herself acknowledged that she was being a little bit ridiculous.

Overall, it's a light, fun read with a surprising amount of depth and a cast of wonderfully drawn, very real characters.

A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner is the fourth book in The Queen's Thief series. If you missed them before, here are my reviews for the previous books, The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia. I believe I mention that the books just keep getting better and better as the series progresses, because Eugenides is just totally hardcore like that, and I love watching his mind work.

Although Eugenides is in this book, he is no longer our main character. This is, instead, the story of Sophos, the heir to the throne of Sounis. He goes missing sometime during either Queen or King, and this is the story of what happened after his disappearance.

I enjoyed this one, really, I did. It's just that, I don't like Sophos the same way I like Eugenides. He's a great person, and interesting to read about, he just doesn't have the same appeal that Gen does. Part of that is because I expect a certain something out of these books, largely because of how Gen's mind works, and that was missing from this book. And, because the book is told by Sophos, we see a different side of Gen. Not that he's changed any, but the attitude of the viewer is different, which means I didn't much care for the Gen we see in this book, and that made me very sad.

Although I missed Gen, I did really like watching Sophos grow and develop as a person, and as a ruler. When we first meet him in Thief, and at the beginning of this story he is almost completely lacking in confidence, and he's a little bit awkward. But after being kidnapped, and sold into slavery, he finds himself and begins to grow and change into a strong character, who will eventually make a very strong king of Sounis.

The political intrigue was even more layered in this book than in the previous books, because you are dealing with the intrigue in Gen's palace, Sounis in general, and among the Souni Barons who kidnapped Sophos in the first place, not to mention those pesky foreigners that keep popping up. I thought it was handled very well. The resolution gave me shivers, which can only mean good things for a book like this.

Although I do prefer Gen as the main or focal character, there is no denying that this is still an excellent addition to the series. Turner is a great writer, able to craft a brilliant story and really draw the reader in. I recommend giving the series a chance if you haven't already. I know there's a 5th novel planned for the series, and, as much as I love Sophos, I really hope Turner takes us back to Gen.

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George is a retelling of the old Nordic fairy tale, East of the Sun, West of the Moon. It is an adventurous fairy tale, full of epic quests, enchanted animals, trolls, and true love.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much I absolutely and utterly loved this book. Jessica Day George has written a fairy tale that stays true to the heart of the original but is completely her own. The rich and vivid details that she has added to her story — why the Lass does not have a name, why the polar bear chose her, why her family was willing to let her go — are captivating, stunning, and feel oh so very, very right. The details given and the story told in this book fit so completely and so well, I can't imagine the story any other way.

I have read or come across other retellings and versions of this story, and I do like them. But none of them fill me and awe me quite as this one did. This wasn't the first or the last retelling I came into contact with, but it is, by far, the one that I remember best and the one that made the most impact on me.

The Lass is strong character. She is confident in her abilities, and she is driven and motivated by her heart, and a strong desire to protect those that she loves. She was also a very real character to me. She is not always perfect. There are times when she is scared or angry or overly curious, and there are consequences for her mistakes that she must live with an accept. But rather than allowing these things to pull her down or stop her, she learns to work around them, through them, or with them and she refuses to give up.

The people that the Lass meets on her travels are also incredibly well fleshed out. It is clearly obvious that Jessica knew and understood her characters because all of them are individuals. I understand and can identify specific characteristics and traits in characters that are only seen for two or three pages. I find it impossible to talk about characters without also mentioned the Lass's brother, Hans Peter. He left home when the Lass was very small to seek his fortune and when he returned, he was a very different man. He refused to speak about his travels, but it is clear that they have damaged him. You can feel the depression and when the bear comes to take the Lass away, you can feel the despair and anguish Hans Peter feels at the idea of his youngest sister being carried off. The bear himself is another amazing character, one who is there often enough for you to get a sense of who he is, but still remains a mystery.

I believe that this book is writing at it's finest. When you read about the Lass walking across the frozen wasteland, or riding the arctic North wind, you shiver and cuddle up under a blanket because you can feel the intense chill and cold seeping from the pages. Your feet ache with hers as she trudges along, searching for her lost love, and you can sense the loss, longing and determination of the Lass as she marches on her way.

To hear more from Jessica herself about why she retold this fairy tale, and what it means to her, check out this guest post over at The Book Rat and this interview that went up yesterday as part of Fairy Tale Fortnight! Do yourself a favor. Pick this book up NOW! I'm even making it easy for you. The link to that interview also contains a giveaway, where you can win a copy of this book. So really... What are you waiting for?!

I know this post is a few days late, (been crazy busy) but I wanted to celebrate America's Independence Day with a review of a childhood favorite set during the Revolutionary War, because without that war, and the brave people who fought it, we wouldn't have an Independence Day.

Time Enough for Drums by Ann Rinaldi is the one of three reasons I decided in 8th grade that it was okay to read and enjoy more than murder mysteries. (Robin McKinley is reason one and two but more on that later.) Because this book is one that I credit with vastly expanding my literary horizons, I'm going to tell you that this book is basically amazing. However, I understand and recognize that if I were to read this for the first time now, I imagine my rating would be more along the lines of pretty awesome. Thus, the dual tag.

Time Enough for Drums is enchanting. Jemima, (Jem) our heroine, is a strong, well crafted character. Although she is young, she has strong convictions, intense loyalties and a vast capacity for love and other emotions. When war breaks out between the colonies and the British, Jem knows which side she'll be rooting for. Her and her family and strong patriots who believe in what the colonists Americans are fighting for. Imagine the outrage when headstrong 15 year old Jem is forced to suffer through tutoring sessions with that horrid Tory John Reid. Although John has been a friend of the family for some time, Jem is none too fond of him. He is a strict tutor who demands respect and compliance and tells her what to do. Plus, he's a Tory.

I'll admit, this book is fairly predictable. It isn't terribly hard to figure out some of the major plot points, but in this story, that almost seems irrelevant. It doesn't matter that the storyline flows in a relatively straight and predictable manner, because Jem has such a hard time walking along it and that is where we find the great elements of this novel. There are also enough offshoots and unexpected moments that the story never feels trite or contrived. It is in large part due to those small side routes that we are able to see a true change in Jem from the spoiled and stubborn young 15 year old girl who will abandon her lessons at the drop of a hat (or the whinny of her horse) into a responsible, mature and determined young woman. War changes people. It changes some for the better, while bringing out the worst in others. Jem is one of the strong ones, truly changed for the positive and I consider myself lucky that I was able to watch her grow and learn what it means to be an adult.

Jem finds herself in many tough situations that really challenge her thinking, and force her to evaluate who she is, what she wants from life and what she is willing to sacrifice in order to achieve it. Some of the decisions Jem is forced to make are incredibly hard and have the potential to be seriously detrimental to the people she loves and cares for. These decisions were handled in an honest and realistic manner that made Jemima's character all the more real.

I also believe Rinaldi did a wonderful job contrasting the colonists with the British without turning the British or the British sympathizers into villains or stock characters. They were people too standing up for what they believed in, and trying to act as they found best. Rinaldi is also a master at knowing just how much information to include. She added just enough of the history within the story that I learned something but I never felt overwhelmed by all the details shoved into every single crack and crevice in the story. It always makes for awkward reading when you come away with the feeling that the author just had to show off how much research they did. This tends to bog the book down heavily and really disrupt the flow of the story. There was none of that in this book. Rinaldi transports the reader back in time, allowing us to experience life along with Jemima. There were moments after reading this book (every time) where I halfway expected to walk out of my house into the cobblestone streets in my petticoats and bonnet to fetch fresh fruits from the market. And I was almost always disappointed when I realize I'm a few hundred years late. (And then I remember indoor plumbing and tic-tacs and I'm happy again.)

Time Enough for Drums is a story that I connect with on several levels. I love Jemima's strong patriotism, her desire to do what she believes to be right and her fierce devotion to those she loves. I respect the choices that characters make when they are fighting to preserve what is most dear to them. And yes, there's also that part of my that just loves the happy ending.

One of the most amazing scenes in this book is when Jemima stands at the bottom of the Courthouse steps listening to community members read the Declaration of Independence. Although she doesn't stay for the entire reading (sigh... what a bummer) the emotions of the nameless characters experiencing it with her seep from the pages. You can feel the excitement and the energy is almost tangible. Perhaps it is because our Independence Day just passed, but at this moment, if I were able to visit one day or one event in history, I would choose to attend one of the readings of the Declaration of Independence. It is such an important and decisive moment in American history. It means so much to me personally, but I can't even begin to imagine how much more it meant to the people it was written for. They felt the bonds of tyranny and this document was the first blow to those chains. How powerful would it have been to have listened to those words read for the first time, and truly begun to believe that you could be free.

Although it is not the most complex story I've read about the revolutionary war, nor the most intense, it is one that has stayed with me over the years because of the emotions it invokes. It leaves me with a strong feeling of love and support for my country. (As well as the strong desire to hug my sister and tell her how much I love her.)

There are so many books in the Once Upon a Time series and it's been so long since I've read many of them, that I just wanted to take a minute to give you a brief paragraph or so of my thoughts on each of the books in the series I consider my favorites. I'm going to give you a few tidbits here and there of parts of these stories that really stood out to me.

I've made no secret of the fact that The Twelve Dancing Princesses is my favorite of all fairy tales. It has been since I was a little girl. So, I was especially excited to read Suzanne Weyn's retelling, The Night Dance. I love that this retelling ties in Arthurian Legends with the tale of the 12 princesses. That connection really made the story stand out to me and gave it much more strength that it would otherwise have had.

I watched a stage production of Motzart's opera The Magic Flute, and it was stunning. I loved the music, the story and the costumes were beyond beautiful. (This link here will show you the costume design for the show I saw.) The retelling, Sunlight and Shadow by Cameron Dokey was beautiful. It is faithful to the spirit of the original while still bringing it's own pieces to the story. It is a retelling that honors the original while still adding much that is new.

I had never read a novelized version of The Frog Prince before I read Suzanne Weyn's Water Song. I was initially a little bit worried, because how are you supposed to build a romance between a girl and a frog and make me believe their story. Weyn's decision to have our 'frog' be an injured American soldier (during WWI) who feels more at home on water than on land (he grew up in the Bayou) was brilliant.

Cameron Dokey's version of Sleeping Beauty, Beauty Sleep is one of my favorites because I love Princess Aurore. She's a strong character who doesn't let her circumstances get the better of her. Unable to do traditionally princessy things, because they all require needles, she instead becomes very close to the people of her kingdom, and is willing to sacrifice whatever it takes to protect them. She is one of the strongest internal female leads in the series and I love her. The magic in this one, and the way the curse functions also fascinates me.

Tracy Lynn's only addition to the series, Snow (Snow White) is one of my favorites because it is completely unlike any other retelling of any fairy tale I've read. Rather than obsessively checking her magic mirror, the evil queen here is a bit of a mad, evil scientist. She is so desperate for eternal youth and beauty, and the ability to thwart or overcome death that she performs unnatural experiments on people and animals, searching for the answer and the path it puts her on is very nearly deadly for our heroine.

Cameron Dokey's version of Rapunzel is also a favorite because of it's uniqueness, and because it makes the witch a slightly more sympathetic character. In Golden, after the witch catches them in her garden, she makes the wife promise to give up her child if she cannot love her at first site. Recklessly the beautiful woman agrees and when she gives birth, she cannot find it in her heart to love her bald child. And so, the witch takes her, names her Rapunzel and loves and raises her with all the love she has to give. It isn't until nearer to the end of the story when we meet the character traditionally known as Rapunzel, locked in the tower with beautiful golden hair and the combining of these two lives is magical.

So there you have it. The books in the series that, as of right now, I claim as my favorites. There were many more I could have listed, many more I could have shared short snippets of why I loved them, but I don't want to overwhelm you, and it's not much of a favorites list if I include every title! I did include a list of books below that were almost, but not quite favorite enough to be included on this list. Have you read any of the Once Upon a Time series? Which books are your favorites?

Honorable mentions: Midnight Pearls (The Little Mermaid); Winter's Child (The Snow Queen); The World Above (Jack and the Beanstalk); The Storyteller's Daughter (The Arabian Nights tales); and Wild Orchid (Mulan)

* Disclaimer: I received this book as part of One ARC Tours.

Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin was a great read. For the most part, Avery was a great character. My heart broke for her as she tried to accept and understand the senseless and brutal murder of her parents. For most of the book, I felt that Avery was a strong character, and someone I could have been friends with in high school. The only time I didn't particularly love Avery was when she was swooning over Ben. Don't get me wrong, I really liked Ben. I actually thought he was a good love interest, and a great addition to the story, and I liked almost all the scenes where they were actually together. However, it got a little old listening to Avery having the same thoughts about Ben over and over.

I also loved the descriptions of the forest. I have always loved trees and the woods. When I was younger, and playing those imagination games, I used to pretend that I was being chased through a thickly wooded area by someone just faster than me. But, my unknown pursuer was also bigger and less agile than I was, and kept running into the trees and brambles that I so nimbly avoided. Oddly enough, this was never a scary game, it was always one that left me feeling empowered and free. (Don't ask my why... I'm sharing potentially embarrassing childhood information here, give me a break!) Reading about the forest in this book brought all those great memories back. It makes me want to look around for some wooded areas to run through, preparing myself for that inevitable day when being able to run through the forest will be what saves my life. It isn't often that a description in a book brings back such vivid memories for me.

I've also always loved fairy tales, and although they were very subtle, I loved the slight elements of Little Red Riding Hood this book contained. The fairy tale elements aren't overt or anything, are in fact subtle enough I could very well be imagining them, but either way, I feel like it added a lot to the story. I won't share them, other than a young girl going through the woods to live with her grandmother because it is fun to look for them on your own, and several of the connections I noted are spoilers. I had such a great time reading this book and watching everything unfold that I wouldn't want to ruin that for anyone.

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly is a vivid and captivating book filled with feeling. If you haven't yet read anything by Donnelly, I seriously think you are missing out, and I strongly recommend you fix that. Now.

Revolution is the story of Andi, an intelligent, talented girl who should have her whole future ahead of her. She's always been smart, has done well in school and is a gifted musician — able to play guitar and write her own music. But, her younger brother died in an accident about a year ago and Andi blames herself. Overwhelmed by grief and guilt, Andi loses focus on everything but her music. Her mom is immobilized by grief, scarcely able to function, and her dad, who has never been around much, retreats even further.

When her father forces her to accompany him to Paris, as a way to rescue her slipping grades, Andi is angry and can think of nothing more than getting back to New York. But then she discovers a journal, hidden in a guitar case that might date back to the French Revolution, and her world changes.

I was blown away by this book. The writing is intense and powerful, and Andi's pain practically screamed from the pages. Her depression and detachment from life was so real, and so perfectly portrayed that I found myself experiencing everything right along with her. But even more than just experiencing it with her, Andi was so well written, and so real a character to me that I found myself knowing how Andi would feel or react to a situation as it happened, before we, as readers, were given her reaction. I knew her. I don't think I've ever felt such a strong connection to a character before, but it was thrilling.

The only thing that really reaches Andi is her music and this is where she goes when life becomes too much for her, often playing her guitar until her fingers bleed. She is constantly listening to music, both classical and contemporary and she lets that heal the outward hurt. Nothing can touch that empty place inside her, but she seems content to let that fester, although that 'contentment' might be more a side effect of the anti-depressants she eats like candy than anything real on her part.

It was powerful watching Andi struggle between life and death, both metaphorically and realistically. There is more than one aborted suicide attempt, and they start right at the beginning of the story. She isn't sure if she wants to die, but she also isn't sure she wants to continue living.

Her experiences in Paris help to open her eyes to life, and help her to understand that although her grief will always be a part of her, it does not have to completely define her. Both the journal she discovers of a young girl living through the French Revolution, and Virgil, a boy she met while joining a local band for a few songs help to bring Andi back from the depression she's been drowning in.

I liked the sections with the journal. It was well written and engaging, but Alexandrine was never a real person for me the way she was for Andi, and the way Andi was for me. I don't mean to be derogatory toward them at all, because they are an essential part of the story, and still beautifully written. But, they were always sections of a journal, fascinating, but removed from me. I doubt I would have paid as much attention to this if my connection to Andi hadn't been so strong.

Virgil was wonderful. Although he doesn't have a lot of actual face time throughout the story, he is in no way a minor character, but neither is he the focus of the story, which was nice. (I'm a little bored with the books right now that seem to be all about the romance, even when other points should be more important. Virgil was great and I enjoyed watching their relationship develop. It was pretty realistic. They met, and are attracted to each other. Andi does think about him a lot over the next few days, but isn't obsessed, and doesn't believe herself to be in love. He's just on her mind, because it's a new-almost relationship.

This book was almost perfect. The only reason I'm not calling this book Basically Amazing is because of climax. It's the part of the summary that reads, "on a midnight journey through the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present."
Take from that what you will/what you can. I won't spoil it for you. I had my thoughts on what that might mean when I picked up the book, and was a little disappointed to realize which of my theories was correct. It didn't work quite as well for me as the rest of the story.

However, Andi is one of the strongest characters I've ever come across, and this is most definitely a book I'm going to have on my 'keep forever' shelf. It deserves to be read again and again, because I imagine there will be new things waiting for me every time.

*UPDATE — This is one of those books that refuses to let go of a person. So... I'm updating my previous rating from Loved it, but to BASICALLY AMAZING!:) Seriously — GO READ THIS BOOK!!

*Disclaimer: I received this book through Around the World Tours.

I haven't participated in this meme before, hosted at The Broke and the Bookish, but I read several blogs that do it fairly regularly. And, when I saw this weeks topic, I felt like I had to take part. I get really attached to well written fictional characters, and I cry more while reading books than I'd like to admit. So, here's my top ten (and I'm trying very hard to avoid any spoilers, so some of my comments will seem vague or strange. Apologies in advance, but no spoilers.:) (Other than the fact that each book is, for one reason or another, sad enough to make me cry.)

1. Where the Red Fern Grows: For anyone who knows me, Duh. If you don't, and you read my blog with any kind of regularity, you'll know soon. It's my favorite book of all time, I've read it over 50 times (I stopped counting a few years ago) and I sob every time I read it. (My review)

2. My Sister's Keeper: I scared my roommate with this one. I was sobbing when I finished. She came in to talk to me, and I'm sobbing on my bed. She didn't know I was reading and got all concerned, until I told her my book made me cry, and then she just gave me a bit of a weird look. I still can't talk about the ending in detail without tearing up...

3. The Hunger Games Trilogy: Obviously people are going to die. Look at the synopsis! You know going into this story, that most of the characters will end up dead. And then, you go ahead and love them anyway, and then can't believe when they really die! Sigh... (My review)

4. Harry Potter asst.: After so many books, you start to love these people, and when they are no longer there, I cry.

5. If I Stay: Have you read what this book is about? I cried. The whole time. I cried when her family and friends talked to her in the hospital, and I cried when she would remember certain memories happy times with her family. I had tears streaming down my face for the whole story. (My review)

6. The Forest of Hands and Teeth: Seriously? It's a book about zombies. People are going to die, and that's sad. (My review)

7. Walk Two Moons: Because Sal is such a great, strong character and the story is so full of hope and then I cried.

8. A Thousand Splendid Suns: Because the sad scene is twofold — one part full of love and life, and the next full of anger, hatred and injustice. My heart breaks.

9. Pack Up Your Troubles: A Collection of Verse: This book of poetry is not inherently sad. But, it was my grandfather's favorite book, and he used to quote poems from it all the time, and several of the poems were read by my father at his funeral. I got this book the Christmas after he died, and I teared up every time I touched it, or came across one of his favorites.

10. The Book Thief: Even though our narrator, Death, likes to give awful spoilers, I spent the whole book hoping he was wrong. And when he wasn't, I cried.

The Voice that Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights by Russell Freedman is an in depth look at the life and career of Marian Anderson, and what impact her career had on the 1960s Civil Rights movement.

Before picking this book up, I didn't really know who Marian Anderson was. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't have told you who she was. When I think of the Civil Rights movement, I think of the main people associated with that — the ones you learn about in school — Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and the Montgomery, AL bus boycotters, the lunch counter sit in crew and Malcom X. I'd never thought much about performers and the impact they might have.

Marian Anderson was a young black woman who loved to sing. She sang in her church choir, and after a series of sacrifices made by both her and the members of her community and congregation, she was able to begin a successful singing career in the time when very few people who weren't ethnically Caucasian had a chance. Her abilities as a vocalist and her wide international fame made it possible for her to take a stance on equal rights and have people listen.

As her fame grew, she refused to sing for segregated audiences, and when Constitution Hall, owned by the Daughter's of the American Revolution in Washington D.C. refused her the chance to preform because she was black, she and her good friend, Elanor Roosevelt (the first lady) staged a free concert on the steps of The Lincoln Memorial.

She was an incredible woman, who didn't apologize to anyone for who or what she was. She had a firm sense of self, and a strong character. Reading this book, I was amazed at the impact she had on moving the Civil Rights Movement forward.

This isn't the first Freedman biography I've read, and I have to say that I like his style. It's easily accessible for younger kids, but contains enough information that they are a great starting place for adults as well. He uses a lot of photos to illustrate his points, and they really help to bring the subject of the biography (or photobiography) alive.

I read this book because it won the 2005 Newbery Honor Award, but it's a great book to read if you are interested in her life, classical singers, or the impact of some of the lesser known, but still influential, members of the Civil Rights Movement.

This clip is a video of Marian Anderson singing Ave Maria in German.

When I first saw Ash by Malinda Lo start popping up about a year or so ago, I was really excited, because I love fairy tale retellings. While what we view as the traditional Cinderella isn't my favorite of fairy tales, it definitely has a lot of room for improvement with the retelling. Cinderella is one of the most notoriously weak heroines in Disney fairy tale, so authors on the retell have a lot of room to make their heroine strong.

Then, I found out it was a GLBT retelling of Cinderella — She doesn't end up with the prince at all! I was doubly intrigued, but also wary. You see, I have this habit when it comes to reading, and that is, I read what I know. All throughout jr. high, my mom would cajole and tempt me into other genres, because all, and I mean all, I read were murder mysteries. Then, as I mentioned in a past post my friend literally bribed me to read a few fantasy novels (gasp... !) and then a YA historical fiction, all in desperate attempts to help me branch out what I read.

I was not familiar at all with the GLBT genre, so I was nervous about this one, because it was outside my norm. (Cowardly, I know...) But, I got a hold of a copy and I read the book. And for the most part, I was pleasantly surprised.

I really liked that Ash has some gumption. She tries to fight back when her step-mother comes down hard on her. She runs away from home to be close to the grave of her mother. She doesn't just sit there and willingly take the abuse, but she does start to learn that there is a time and place to fight back that makes life a little less painful.

I also really enjoyed the writing itself. The descriptions were vivid and beautiful, and I found myself wanting to be involved in certain aspects of the world Ash inhabited. The initial stories surrounding the faeries were beautiful and enchanting. I found Ash's fantasies involving the Fey to be a little disturbing, but understandable in relation to her character.

The only real problem I had with this book was the relationships between characters. I felt that we were denied the ability to watch the relationships between characters grow. We see a lot of personal growth in Ash. But I felt that too many of her personal relationships were glossed over and brushed passed.

She is pretty heavily involved with a member of the Fey, who are notoriously possessive, demanding, unforgiving and unwilling to release their... prey before they are ready. But, when she starts changing what she wants from life, we get a great big black screen of mystery surrounding what happened that made Mr. Fairy man not kill/keep her.

And, the entire purpose behind this book is Ash falling in love with the King's female huntress. But, I didn't see any of that. I know that Ash went on horseback rides with Kaisa, and I know they find a lot to talk about. But, I only know that because Lo tells me it's so. Most of those scenes, which are crucial and essential to building a connection between our two heroines are missing. All those scenes run something to the effect of — Kaisa rode up to our house and we rode together. End. The characters can have a relationship completely off screen, but you can't really expect me to believe it when I don't get to see any of it. I felt like it was more of a, Trust me, they are in love, even if you didn't see it happen.

The author even glosses over relationship building scenes with the step-family! There are moments of tenderness with one of the step-sisters that is completely glossed over. It happens and then nothing changes as a result. Nothing. I felt like it was unnecessary, and just one more thing Lo didn't quite follow through on.

Don't get me wrong here. I did enjoy this book. It just felt a little bit like Lo made her main female character fall in love with another girl to make a statement. And that's fine. I'm totally okay with you using your book to make statements. You are the writer, you go and do your thang. But, I do have a problem with writers who use their books to make statements and have that ultimately damage the integrity and quality of the book overall. The character development was really good. The relationship development and follow through was... not.

It's a good first book, not great but good, and I'm definitely interested in reading the prequel, Huntress, which comes out this year.

(And really, how gorgeous are each of these covers?!)

Today's interview is with Zoë Marriott, author of The Swan Kingdom (read Ashley's review) , Daughter of the Flames (which Ashley also loved) and the upcoming Shadows on the Moon (which both Misty and Ashley are eagerly awaiting). Zoë has known that she wanted to be a writer since she was finished reading her first book; The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton. She thinks she was about eight, but she decided on being a writer and hasn't changed her mind since then. And boy, are we glad that she didn't! Help us welcome Zoë to the blog today!!

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The Swan Kingdom is my favorite retelling of The Six Swans/The Wild Swans that I have come across. You talk about what inspired you to write this one down in your guest post. I loved what you did with the story to make it your own, but your interpretation of the ending to this story is largely responsible for how much I love this book. Without spoiling anything, can you talk about that? Can you share where or how that idea came to you?

So hard not to spoil!! Argh! Okay... well... basically, in the original version of the story, I didn't think the heroine really got a very happy ending. Or enough credit! She's clearly an extraordinarily brave and strong young woman, loyal the her brothers to the end despite all the suffering she's gone through — but she gets stuck with this prince who pretty much *kidnapped* her, and then was going to burn her because he thought she was a witch? That's true love for you, right? And she never gets justice for the wrong done to her family by her stepmother, or any closure, or even to see the land of her birth again! I suppose a few hundred years ago women weren't supposed to care about thing like that, but I was sure that for someone like her, the fate of the people she had left behind much have weighed on her mind very heavily. And then, it also made sense to me that in order to reverse such a powerful curse on her brothers through almost nothing but willpower and knitting, she must have had some fairly strong magical power of her own! So I wanted to try and bring those elements into the resolution of the story and bring everything full circle.

Did you have the changes you brought to the story in mind before you started writing, or were these things that came to you after?

Wow, that's a good question! I think some of them were always there, because they grew from the questions I had about the story — the questions that made me want to retell it. I mean, for example: just who was the mother of these royal children? In fairytales the real mother nearly always gets erased in the first line and replaced by a wicked plot-point. But it seemed to me that, particularly in The Wild Swans, where the father is pretty much a non-entity and yet the children are remarkable, that the mysterious, dead mother must have been remarkable too. So I always new that in my version the mother and particularly her death would be significant and happen 'on-screen' as it were.
In other cases, the changes to the story were due to things that happened to be marinading in my brain at the time. When I was working on the first draft of the story I was watching a BBC documentary series about British pre-history in which there was a lot of information about the hunter-gatherers who built all our long barrows and stone circles. The experts talked about ancestor worship, and about the way that cave art seemed to show animal and human spirts all together, as part of nature. But then as people started to farm and develop agriculture and a more sedentary life, the idea of ownership and kingdoms appeared, and there was a massive shift in the way people lived. Did the hunter-gatherers disappear? Or were they absorbed into the farmer population? So those ideas worked their way into the book, and gave me an interesting and, I think, unique magical system and backstory for the Kingdom.
Is there a fairy tale that you just need to retell, but are waiting to retell, or holding off for now? What are some of the other fairy tales you've considered retelling? Are there any fairy tales that you absolutely do not want to retell?
Sooo many! I've always wanted to retell Beauty and the Beast, but I'm horribly intimidated by Robin McKinley's legacy. I mean, how is anyone supposed to live up to THAT? And there are a lot of less famous stories, for example, from Japanese mythology, that I have ideas about. The one I've never really been interested in is Sleeping Beauty — there's so little for the princess to do, and the idea of falling conveniently in love with your saviour bugs me. But I'd never say never. I always hated Cinderella too, until she started whacking me on the back of the head with a pick-axe demanding I tell her story properly!
You've also written a non-fairy tale story, Daughter of the Flames. How does the writing and the research differ between the two genres? Which do you prefer writing? Do you prefer creating a completely new story and creating the world to fit the story, or taking an existing story at making it your own?

This isn't a very interesting answer, but I can't really put my finger on any significant differences in the process between writing an original fantasy and a fairytale relling. Possibly because I don't stick very closely to the specific events of my fairytale frameworks (as you may have noticed!) which means I still need to come up with my own plot, my own characters, my own emotional conflicts and arcs. Probably more importantly, I don't really think that writing a fairytale retelling is a get-out-of-jail card when it comes to setting. It's easy to slip into that non-specific, Eurocentric, Tolkien-esque world we all know so well. But that is a thin, bland sort place where I don't have much fun as a writer. Creating the world of Shadows on the Moon, for instance, required as much (actually, far more!) thought and research than the world of Daughter of the Flames.
Your most recent book, Shadows on the Moon comes out this July, and I'm crazy excited for it. It's a Cinderella story, but she is most assuredly not your typical Cinderella. You mention why you wrote her this way in your guest post, and I am dying to read about it. There are many fairy tales with rather weak heroines. Are there any other stories that you would like to retell to give the heroines a chance to be strong?
Actually, I think the female characters in fairytales tend to get a bit of a bad rep, overall. In a lot of original folk stories, young woman are cunning, resourceful, brave and loyal. Often men are the weak ones who need to be rescued. Look at Janet in Tam Lin, Kai and Gerda in the Snow Queen, the heroine of East of the Sun and West of the Moon, all those clever young witches and woodcutter's daughters! And the powerful, fearsome baddies are often women too. The problem, I think, is that the Victorians didn't approve of all these bold, adventuring women, and they cut their parts down and sometimes out entirely, in order to make fairytales 'fit' for their children. Not many years later, Disney carried on this process by producing a great many films in which being sweet, obedient and passive (and supernaturally attractive to forest animals) were the heroine's only traits. Later films, like Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid, did allow the heroines to have SOME personality — but their number one desire was nearly always to escape from their fathers so they could find true love, and their princes were the ones with the claws/swords.
It's really only very lately that we're seeing books and films that give women back their original, strong roles (Tangled, for example!) and I'm very happy to be a part of that process.
Silly/Random Questions:
~Rapunzel is named after lettuce; what odd thing would you be named after if you were in a fairy tale?

Pencils, probably. I always have one on me somewhere! Princess Pen... now, why does that sound familiar?:)
~ Using that name, give us a line from your life as a fairy tale: "Princess Pen cracked open her stepmother's ribcage and cut out the woman's horribly blackened, twisted, yet still-beating heart; she then replaced it with an artificial one which she had grown within a local farmer's pig, and closed up the incision."
[Misty likes Princess Pen already... ]
~Best fairy tale villain and why? The wicked fairy from Sleeping Beauty's christening. She's really the only interesting character in the thing!
~Favorite tale from childhood? Favorite tale as an adult? Least favorites? Childhood favourite was definitely The Wild Swans, and I have to be boring and say it STILL is. Least favourite used to be Cinderella — now Sleeping Beauty.
~If you could be any fairy tale character, or live through any fairy tale "happening," who/what would it be? I wouldn't. Are you crazy? Those stories are full of utter loonies, and even Princess Pen isn't mightier than the sword.
~Would you rather: - — eat magic beans or golden eggs? Golden eggs. With a little smoked salmon, on toast points. Maybe they would finally allow me to get a tan. - — style 50ft long hair or polish 100 pairs of glass slippers? My hair is actually waist-length right now, and I'm about to have it cut off from sheer annoyance, so I'd have to go with the slippers! - — have a fairy godmother or a Prince Charming? Fairy godmother — and once you've read Shadows on the Moon, you will know why! [Ashley says — SO mean to tease us this way when you already know how badly I want to read it! :) ] Fill-in-the-Gaps, story 1: Three Wishes
The strange little man had offered Princess Pen three wishes. But what to wish for? The obvious answer was world peace , but that would never do, for obvious reasons. Princess Pen wasn't naive enough to think that people would ever stop fighting for long. And unlimited money for stem cell research was out of the question, since Princess Pen's wicked stepmother had outlawed it.

The Princess squandered the first two wishes on aiding earthquakes sufferers and cooling down some nuclear reactors, and really needed to make the 3rd one count. There was only one thing to do: he/she would ask her genetically enhanced pig, Francis.

So early in the morning, the Princess set off for her lab where the porcine Francine lived. It was no easy task getting there; Princess Pen went through three security searches and a full body CT scan, and nearly lost hope of ever reaching Francis and making her final wish before she had to go off and do her rounds at Mount Eraser Hospital. Her stepmother's security measures were really getting out of hand.

But in all good time, Princess Pen reached the door of the one person who could help. With great trepidation, (for Francis could be somewhat cranky in the mornings if he hadn't had his coffee) Pen knocked and waited. Finallly, Francis opened the door with one handsomely trimmed trotter and peered out. “Yes?” he said.

Pen launched into the story of the little old man and his three wishes, but Francis merely held up a hand and said “It’s simple, really. I’m surprised you wasted your time coming all the way out here — you must wish for your wicked stepmother to agree to heart surgery so you can change her blackened, wizened heart for one which is generous and free of bigotry and unreasoning fear.”

Pen was baffled. Wish for something so simple? Not magic League-Boots to travel the world, or a wheel to spin flax into gold so that she could set up an inoculation project in the slums? However, it wasn't long before Pen realized that if her government was run by someone who actually had a working heart all the other things might one day be possible. So the Princess did the only thing she could, and wished for her stepmother to finally heed her pleas to accept a new heart.

Whether it was the right choice, the world will never know, but for Princess Pen it meant freedom from a great deal of unnecessary red tape in the long run, and the increased well being of everyone within the kingdom. And with all of the wishes gone, Pen lived busily ever after.
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Thanks for stopping by Zoë!! We're so glad to have you!
Hope you guys liked the guest post. If you want to fill in one of the stories for yourself, see this post.
And make sure to head over to our awesome guest post from Zoë, and enter to win our prize pack of Zoë's books!

Being Jamie Baker by Kelly Oram was a lot of fun to read. It's the story of a girl with comic book-like super powers struggling to deal with life and high school.

I absolutely love super heroes, and super hero movies/stories. I've seen all the Batman, Spiderman, X-Men etc movies they've been producing lately (although I've never gotten into Superman. Shrugs.) so when I saw this book, I knew I had to read it. I love the superhero idea (not to be confused with paranormal. There's definitely a difference) but you don't really see a lot of actual superheros in books lately.

Being Jamie Baker was a fun book with a really fun story, but it was also well written, well planned and very non-gimmicky. Although I was pretty excited for the book, I was a little worried that it was going to be one stereotype after another, but that isn't what this book was at all.

Jamie was completely normal a year ago, but a tragic car accident killed her boyfriend and left her with superpowers. Her natural senses (taste, touch, smell, hearing, and sight) are enhanced, she is super-fast and super-strong, and she is electrically charged. The electrical charge isn't really a problem until her emotions get out of control, and then lights start flickering or exploding, and heaven help anyone who's actually touching her. She's got a bit of a temper, and her temper is a scary thing to witness (unless you are just reading the book, and then it is absolutely awesomeness). The accident has also left her with a massive case of survivors guilt, and a huge fear of getting close to anyone, because she can't control her powers. She doesn't want to hurt anyone, and she can't risk anyone finding out her secret.

Jamie is a perfect character. Although she is completely hard core and just made of awesomeness, she is also a pretty typical teenage girl, who wants all things a normal teenage girl wants, but she feels like her superpowers make most of those things completely impossible, which is especially hard for her, because she used to have all of those things. So, when her parents move her from their small town Illinois home to Sacramento, Jamie becomes the Ice Queen. She isolates herself, both for her sake and theirs, and even if she isn't happy, at least she is content.

Well, that wouldn't make for much of a story, so enter Ryan Miller. He's honest, good looking, kind and incredibly sure of himself. His is the kiss that starts our Jamie's story, and he is the one who begins to get to know the real Jamie. He starts talking to her, and she keeps trying to brush him off. But, he's hot, she likes him, and no matter what she says to him, he's still interested. I really liked Ryan. He was perfect for Jamie. She needed someone completely sure of himself to break down the walls protecting her, because anyone else would have been discouraged long before getting to meet the real Jamie.

Although our main character happens to have the potential to become the world's greatest super hero, it's primarily a story about growing up and learning who you are and how to trust. I thought it was brilliantly done. Jamie learns about growing up at the same time she learns about her powers, and how to control and manage them.

The only thing that I would change about this book is something I can't share in detail, because it spoils something major, is the reaction both Jamie and Becky share to a semi-shared event. I know this doesn't make any sense if you haven't read the book, but you'll get it once you do. Although I understand their reaction, and the way they tried to handle things, I don't agree with how that was played out. (If you really want to know what I mean and don't mind huge spoilers, or know what I mean and want to add your thoughts, send me an email!)

Aside from that one concern, I loved this book. I enjoyed reading it, and read through it in one sitting. This was Oram's debut novel, which means there's a lot to look forward to in the future. This book is completely able to stand alone (and as far as I know is intended that way) and I am a little tired of the constant stream of series and sequels, but I must say, I would definitely read another story about Jamie. She's a girl I'd love to spend more time with!

*Disclaimer: I received this book through Star Book Tours.

I cannot possibly talk about books that have impacted me or bring about strong memories without talking about The Babysitter's Club series by Ann M. Martin. There are over a hundred books in the regular series, along with The Babysitter's Club Mysteries, Little Sister, Super Specials, and Special Character Additions. It all started with Kristy's Great Idea. Why not give parents one place where they can find several babysitters all at once?! And voila! That BSC was born. The original characters were Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia and Stacey. Over time, other characters came and went, including Dawn, Abby, Mallory, Jessi, and Mary Anne's boyfriend, Logan.

Claudia was always my favorite character, probably because she ate junk food all the time and she loved to read. Although, I must say I find it interesting that she read Nancy Drew nonstop, and I didn't pick up a Nancy Drew book until long after my obsession with all things Babysitter's Club ended. I feel like I should have been just in love with Nancy Drew as Claudia. But, I digress.

When I was 9 and 10, we lived just around the corner from the public library, and my mom decided that, because I didn't have to cross any streets, (and because I begged and begged and begged) she would allow me to walk to the library on my own, as long as I promised not to go anywhere else, and to come straight home after getting my books. This is probably one of the few times I didn't try to push my limits, and just accepted the rules my mom gave me. Going to the library was important enough to me that I didn't even try to disobey or take advantage of the privilege. And, being the awesome mom that she is, and understanding just how much I loved needed to read, she also told me that I was allowed to check out as many books as I could carry home, as long as I consistently returned them without losing any, or aquiring late fees. And let me tell you, I definitely took advantage of that!

One of my first experiences on a computer was using my libraries online catalog to find more BSC books to place on hold. When I was 9, I memorized my 17 digit library card number because I entered the information into the computer system so many times. And once, when I forgot my card, I asked the librarian is I could just tell her my card number. I don't think she believed me, until I spouted it off. And she was quite impressed. All the librarians also recognized me by name, face, and choice of books. They'd see me approach the desk, and pull down my stack of 7-12 BSC books before I even got to the front. Pretty impressive for a 9 year old, I'd say.

Given that I was completely obsessed with the babysitter's club. I wanted to start my own club, and even made plans with my best friend to start one when we turned 12, because that's how old my mom said I had to be before I could start babysitting other people's kids. I also used to purchase anything Babysitters Club related in those Scholastic book orders that came through the school. My mom told me once that there would come a day when I wasn't going to want to read these books anymore, and asked if I'd like to save my money. I'm pretty sure I thought she was blasphemous. I almost cried the day I realized she was right. There came a few times over the years when I almost sold the books, or gave them away, but for one reason or another, I always ended up holding onto them, and now I'm incredibly grateful that I did. I'd also like to fill in some of the gaps on my shelf, especially of the earlier books.

I love that the books I've held onto have stories for me, and you can obviously tell which ones were my favorites. For years, even after I no longer loved the books in the same way, they were my go to books (along with Where the Red Fern Grows) anytime I didn't know what to read next. All of them are a little roughed up, but there are some that have very definite wear and tear to them because I read them to pieces. Each of those stories has such powerful memory triggers for me. Like in Stacey's Emergency. Stacey is diabetic, and in one book she ignores the rules, and ends up getting really sick. I think she ends up in the hospital over it. My favorite aunt growing up (we share the same birthday, so she was my favorite.:) ) is also diabetic and I spent weeks after reading that book terrified that something would go wrong.

All of these characters were so alive for me. I sincerely loved them, and always wanted for things to work out for these girls. I can't wait to hear what you all remember about this great group of girls (with one guy). Please, comment away!!

If you would be interested in guest blogging with a Memory Monday idea of your own, please in my blog for more information and fill out the form. I'd love to have you!

I'd Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman is a creepy story. Not creepy where you're afraid of the things that go bump in the night, but the type of creepy that makes you look over your shoulder when you're walking alone, and the creepy that makes you look twice at everyone you pass, because you really have no idea what they're hiding.

Elizabeth was kidnapped when she was 15 years old and held captive for 39 days by Walter. All of his other victims were killed within hours of being taken, and no one knows why he lets her live, not even Elizabeth. 22 years later, Elizabeth — now Eliza — is happily married with two young children. While the events of that summer have changed her, she refuses to let them define her.

Then, she opens a letter one day from Walter, writing via a third party from death row and her world shifts again. The letter brings back all the painful memories Eliza has pushed away and threatens to disrupt the foundations of her life. Eliza decides to write a letter in return, and as a result, a shaky channel of communication opens up between the two, and each participant has their own motivation for doing so.

The idea behind this novel is brilliant. Having a death row inmate, right around the corner from his execution date seek out his only surviving victim is wonderfully scary. Even though the idea behind this novel is fabulous, the really shining point of this story are the characters. Each character is so well crafted, and so well voiced that I really feel like they could be real people. When Eliza would speak, especially in the beginning of the novel, I got the sense that although the words were clear, they were somehow stifled — On the surface, everything is fine but underneath, there are currents we can't even begin to guess at.

Barbara, Walter's anti-death penalty advocate was a character who elicited strong reactions from me. Every time her name appeared on the page, my skin would crawl. I did not like her, at all. I though she was sneaky, underhanded, pretentious, self-serving and a little bit malicious. Case in point — Barbara locates Eliza's address for Walter, mails that first letter. Next, she calls Eliza's home to speak to her and then she actually shows up at her house, without any kind of warning. She has to understand, even the tiniest bit, how hard it is for Eliza to have been contacted by Walter. But, she doesn't care. She has something that she wants, and she will approach Eliza until she gets it. Perhaps I'm being overly harsh toward her, and I do understand some of what she's doing. But, if I were Eliza, I would have called the prison and lodged a formal complaint about Walter contacting me, and then told Barbara if she came near me again I'd contact the police and take out a restraining order. But, that would make for a pretty dull book...

The other characters were also wonderfully written with their good traits, bad traits and those quirks that make them real. Any of these characters could be people that you know, which are the best kind of characters, especially when reading a thriller. There were also a few unanswered questions, and pieces left hanging. Nothing major was left unanswered, but just like in real life, not all the pieces always fit into the box, waiting to be neatly tied and wrapped with a bow.

Lippman's writing is wonderful. Spot on. I will definitely be picking up more books by Lippman in the near future. This book reminded me why I loved reading murder mysteries and thrillers all through high school, and makes me want to go back and read more.

*Disclaimer: I received this book through Crazy Book Tours.

Today's Memory Monday post is going to be another author spotlight. I have so many Memory Monday ideas, that it's hard to narrow it down, and decide what books or authors to talk about. Last week, while deciding which topic to write about, a friend on Twitter asked for some book recommendations, and in the large list I supplied her with, I included a link to Sharon Creech's twitter account, telling my friend to read her books. And guess what. Sharon Creech replied to me. She's commented back to me on Twitter before, but every single time it happens I get butterflies in the pit of my stomach because, guys, she's Sharon Creech!

I recognize that many of you will not understand the significance of this to me yet, so let me explain. Sharon Creech was a monumental author figure in my childhood. I don't remember how I got a copy of her book, but I read Walk Two Moons in elementary school, and I was completely blown away by the amazing story and characters Creech created. Salamanca Tree Hiddle completely captured my heart and I felt filled up with her story. I was compelled to turn the pages in a way I don't think I had ever experienced before.

When I finished reading this book, I was completely in love. It completely filled me and I knew that I would never be the same. I needed everyone to read this amazingly wonderful book, and I wanted to tell everyone about it. I loved it so much that I asked my teacher if it would be okay if I did an additional book report on it. Yes, I was, and am, that much of a nerd. I made a shoe box diorama of a significant scene (similar to the one on the cover, but mine was more detailed) and wrote a report about it, that the teacher had displayed for me in the library.

I quickly inhaled Bloomability, Chasing Redbird, Absolutely Normal Chaos, and The Wanderer. Each story brought something new to my newfound wonder at character relationships, life stories and writing. Each book opened a new part of my eyes and I was thrilled at the wonderful world Creech could create for her characters. Bloomability is one of the original boarding school books folks. Long before out heroines were running around their boarding schools seeking out paranormal not-quite-bad-guys-but-definitely-not-good-guys, Domenica had to leave her gloriously eccentric family to attend boarding school in Switzerland.

I read these 5 books when I was younger, and then imagine my shock and joy when I, now almost 20 realized that Sharon Creech had written more books beyond these 5 glorious reads. So, I made a point to find and read them all. And, I think that I have. Or, very nearly.

Sharon Creech was one of the absolutely essential writers from my childhood. Bloomability was my first reading experience in a foreign country, and man did I want to visit the Alps. (Still do). Walk Two Moons makes me want to take a road trip, and part of it takes place in Boise, Idaho. I lived in Washington when I read this book, but all of my dad's family is from Idaho. So, I felt a strong connection to Sal and her grandparents as they traveled to what I considered to be my *other* state. Chasing Redbird is about a girl striking out on her own over the summer, tackling a huge project by herself, and needing it to be that way. I've always loved doing projects by myself, and I get irrationally annoyed when other people try to help me, which Zinnia felt as well. Also, as an awesomely cool connection, Zinnia was best friends with Sal before her dad made them move. She misses her, and mentions her. It's been a few years since I read these books that were so important to me growing up, and this post has reminded me that I have missed them. It's definitely time for a reread soon.

I don't know how else to tell you how important Sharon Creech was to me growing up. Her books rank right up there on the favorites shelf with Billy and his dogs in Where the Red Fern Grows which, if you've been around a while (or click that link) you know at least part of what that means to me. Even today, Sharon Creech goes on the auto-read list for me. If she wrote a book about dirt, I would read it and I would be delighted with how wonderful Sharon Creech managed to make dirt sound.

And guys. She talked to me on Twitter. An icon from my childhood thanked me for recommending her books. I screamed a little.

If you would like to be a Memory Monday guest blogger, I'm always looking for more volunteers. I would love to hear about what books or authors influenced your childhood and left strong memories! If you are interested, in my blog for more information, or send me an email!

The Princess Trio by Mette Ivie Harrison begins with The Princess and the Hound, continues with The Princess and the Bear , and then finishes with The Princess and the Snowbird . The series takes one main story arc and follows it between three very different women.

The trilogy takes place in a kingdom rich with magic. The aur-magic, also referred to as animal magic is a powerful force throughout the kingdom, and it is what keeps everything in harmony. It is magic born from the link between animals and humans. The aur-magic is within all animals and it used to be in many people. It is the magic of life, the original and true magic. Those who possessed the aur-magic were respected and it was looked upon as a blessing. But as time passed, people began, as they always do, to fear that which they did not understand. Those with the animal magic slowly fell out of favor until an event involving a wild man full of the magic, his army of animals and the transfiguration of their king from man into bear eliminated all positive feelings toward the magic. The world in which each of these stories takes place is not a good place to find yourself a wielder of the aur-magic, for those who are possess it are burned immediately upon discovery. There is no trial, there are no chances. To possess it means death. If this were not bad enough, there is another magic that begins to emerge in these stories, and that is the tehr-magic, a corruption of the original that destroys and kills instead of healing and giving life and the aur-magic is meant to do.

Each of the three books explores a different aspect of the aur-magic, it's reception among the people and the emergence of the darker tehr-magic. If the tehr-magic is allowed to spread too far, it will destroy all aur-magic, which effectively destroys the animals. Each princess has her own struggles within the story, each has her own demons to deal with. Describing their individual circumstances is impossible without spoiling much of the mystery around these three stories, so I won't offer details, but each is unique and each gives them a special advantage in their fight to save the aur-magic and those who carry it.

I will be honest and say that I didn't love the first book in the series. I liked it, but it didn't connect with me the way novels like this generally do. I remember finishing the book and being unable to find anything actually wrong with the book. Mette Ivie Harrison is a very talented writer. Her descriptions and world building are astounding and detailed without ever being overwhelming. And her characters — well, in my opinion this is where her strength as a writer lies. Because I believed in them. I believed in their actions, their motivations, their pasts and their futures. The story also intrigued me and held my attention for the entire duration of the book. So, without being able to pinpoint exactly what, something was missing for me. But, I liked it enough to read the second book when it became available, and this one, The Princess and the Bear is my favorite of the three.

The main couple in this story are my favorite. Of the three main character couples, these two are the couple I most believed in, the one I was rooting the hardest for, and the one I most wished to see again. I find that my preference for main characters is identical to my preference for story order. The second book is my favorite in the series, although the third is a very close second with the first in the series being my least favorite.

None of these are bad books, and all are worth reading, but they don't fall onto my favorites shelf. I think the Harrison is a strong writer, gifted at telling stories and creating believable worlds, even when they area full of magic. I think what is missing in these stories for me is the emotion. I don't feel along with her characters that way I do in other stories and that lessens how much I enjoy books over all. I also never felt the urgency one expects to feel when reading a story about an impending war and a dark magic that can alter every aspect of our existence. It was almost as if I were watching the events unfold over a filter rather than allowing me a closer glimpse of the events.

On a sidenote, this series does have some of the most beautiful cover images. I think that all three of them are stunning, although, once again, The Princess and the Bear is my favorite. (The Princess and the Hound comes in second this time though, rather than third). Misty reviewed The Princess and the Hound earlier in the event, which I have linked here. If you have read this, I would love to hear your thoughts! What do you think of Harrison's Princess trio?

I don't remember how I discovered Lois Duncan, but I remember reading her books. A large part of my jr. high years revolve around her books. I read them all. Every single book I could get my hands on. And some of them completely blew my mind. Let me share.

One of my most favorite Duncan books is Daughters of Eve. It starts out with young girls growing into feminism to rise again the town full of complete chauvenistic pigs in which they live, and quickly degenerates into a dangerous, out of control, vendetta pushed and encouraged by the slightly deranged and very bitter advisor who planted the seeds of feminism in the first place. Let me tell you, reading this took me from, "Yes!! Feminists rock!" to "Wow! That is some crazy-a** s**t". Freaky. Seriously gives me chills, even now.
Gallows Hill is also creepy but a huge favorite. A small town in Missouri is the reincarnation of Salem Village during the witch trials and new-girl Sarah doesn't know what she's getting herself into.

Ransom is about 5 high school students who are kidnapped by their substitute bus driver and taken to a remote cabin in the mountains. This book convinced me that I needed to be prepared and knowledgable about how to react in the event of an abduction, because, you know, they are going to steal my bus. And, it made me want to learn to read in French. Again, definitely a favorite.

Another favorite of mine was The Third Eye which is about a young girl who begins to have psychic flashes, helping her find missing children.
Killing Mr. Griffin, which was one of my first experiences reading about a sociopath and They Never Came Home explores that concept a little bit also (although not quite as well).

I decided that I needed to learn to play tennis because a strong backhand comes in seriously handy for our main character in Don't Look Behind You as their family is on the run from a contracted hit man, Down a Dark Hall is one of the (I assume) original magical/supernatural boarding school books, and Locked in Time makes me happy that I will always be growing older, even if sometimes we think it sucks.
There were some of her books that weren't my favorites, and some of those that I have only read once. But, most of them were books that I read over and over again. They were deliciously creepy without being gross or full of the cheap thrillish horror, like R.L. Stine was (although, seriously — I loved him in grade school. He will be the subject of an upcoming post!) I don't know how good these books would be if I were reading them for the first time now that I'm older. I have a feeling that I'd be more likely to notice inconsistencies and some of the stories might have a harder time convincing me to suspend my disbelief, but they were absolutely perfect for me in jr. high, and I love them still. I want to own most, if not all of Duncan's books eventually, because I have so many fond memories of reading these books, and think they'd still be fun to revisit sometime down the road.
Do any of you remember reading Lois Duncan?
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WARNING: I think this review contains some mild spoilers. The main spoilerish thing I give away is something I had mostly figured out from the synopsis, but if you don't like anything to be spoiled, you might want to wait.

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton could have been a great read. I mean, really. The heroine is a (supposedly) normal girl, who fights evil demon reaper things in another dimension, and happens to be the only being on the planet capable of wielding angelfire. How cool is that?! The synopsis of the book sounded good, so I was quite excited to read the book. Every once in a while I like to go for those kick butt heroines who definitely do not need the love interest to save the day. He's just there to look pretty.;) (ahem...) But really. I get a little tired of the supposedly strong female constantly in need of rescue by a conveniently placed attractive male. I get that often people do need help in dangerous situations, but the 'damsel in distress' routine is getting a little old.

So, when I got the chance to read about Ellie, who sounds totally and completely hard core, I was really excited. So, I think you can imagine my disappointment when the first and second time these reapers show up, Ellie freezes/has no idea what to do when (bum ba ba ba!!) Will 'appears' to the rescue. He touches her head, a light flashes and suddenly Ellie just knows she can take this thing. Bam. I was a little bummed, but was willing to go with it, because it's a reincarnation thing, and she's spent the last 17 years thinking she's completely normal. Okay, fine. But, she never really changes. Will always needs to be there in order for Ellie to remember that she not only knows how to walk, but she can also will flaming swords to appear from no where.

Which actually reminds me of my second complaint with the story... While sometimes the writing worked well, others the words and phrases chosen were trite and clichéd. Like Ellie having swords 'appear out of thin air.' That's the only example I wrote down, but it happened frequently. I found myself rolling my eyes a little too often.

But, even with those two complaints I was really enjoying the story, and I was able to overlook them (besides the occasional (esq.) eye roll. I understood that Ellie needed to grow into her abilities. Just because her past lives have been doing this for thousands of years doesn't mean that a 17 year old isn't going to be a little weirded out. So fine. I enjoyed watching Ellie learn about herself too. There were moments when she would learn how to harness a particular power or ability and it was awesome being inside her head, because she was so excited about it.

I also liked that Will wasn't love at first site for Ellie, even though he has been a part of her past lives. She feels a weird tingle of recognition, that she brushes off because she knows she wouldn't have forgotten a boy that hot and that's pretty much it. He talks to her, she thinks he's totally hot, but a little weird and she continues to skirt around him, deciding whether he's nuts or not. It's only later, after she's been around him a bit more and has spent more time getting to know him (again) that she realizes she's in love with him. Which, I was more than okay with. Love at first site just doesn't really work for me...

I did have mixed feeling about Will. He has the potential to be a really great character, and there was a lot I liked about him. I actually liked most things about him, but he has the tendency to play the martyr... A lot, which got old really fast.

I enjoyed Moulton's idea of the Grim dimension, and the reapers that live within, feasting off human souls. Although there were a few flaws, I mostly enjoyed the characters, especially because I watched them grow over the course of the novel, and Moulton left them a lot of room to grow in the later books.

But, and this is THE big but, I didn't like the book, because I disagree strongly with some major parts of Moulton's logic, reasoning, and angelic philosophies... First, there is the idea that the reapers snatch your soul to build the armies of evil. But, I'm a believer in agency and choice, not fate. And, I have a really hard time believing that just because you had the bad luck to be mauled by the soul snatcher that you are now destined to march alongside the devil in a battle against heaven. If we are talking about what sends you to heaven or hell, I'm going to have to go with personal choices every single time. I don't believe that a truly good person who has done all they can to follow what they believe to be right is going to go warring against heaven just because a reaper snatched their soul.

I also really did not like the major reveal at the end of the book. We kind of start to get an idea of who Ellie really is, and why she is actually able to do what she does. But, I don't buy it. At all. I won't tell you why, because that is a major Major spoiler, far bigger than anything I've let slip thus far. But, suffice it say, unless Moulton means something totally different from what happened at the end of the book — I do not like it. And, if you aren't a fan of the deus ex machina endings, you are probably not going to like this one either.

I don't mean to sound harsh in this review, although I have a feeling it's going to come across that way, because for most of the book, I was enjoying myself. I was able to overlook the things that bothered me about the story, and just enjoy it for what it was. It wasn't until the very end of the book that I just really couldn't enjoy it anymore.

This is a book that had a lot of potential, but just didn't manage to do it for me.

* Disclaimer: I received this book through Star Book Tours.