Reading Through the Classics: A Room of One's Own

TITLE: A Room of One's Own
AUTHOR: Virginia Woolf
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Essays
PUBLISHED: 1928
PREMISE: Essays written by Virginia Woolf based on a series of lectures she gave about female writers and fiction.
MY THOUGHTS: One of the many holes in my education was that we had never read Virginia Woolf. I thought I'd finally rectify that this year with one of her short ones: A Room of One's Own. Mostly because it was short and it was an essay. I've been getting into essays lately and I figured it would be a good introduction to her writing style.
While I don't know if this is like her other books yet, I do know this was definitely an interesting read. Some of the thoughts in it are a tad dated, because it was written back in the twenties. But I can't help but draw parallels between this and the current on-going discussion among the book/fandom community at large about the need for more diversity. All Woolf is basically saying in this is that female writers should be given the same opportunities as male writers. That's literally all the discussion about representation and plea for more diversity is. It's sad to me that it's been over eighty years since this essay and we're STILL having these conversations.
I will say a lot of this wanders. Woolf does some metaphorical things that...I don't particularly get, I'll be honest. I don't know if that's me or her writing. But this does what essays should do: gets her point across and makes you think. She takes a bit to get the point. But she does get there. And it is sadly still a very relavant point.
WHO SHOULD READ: Virginia Woolf fans, essay fans, feminists

Book Review: A Criminal Magic

TITLE: A Criminal Magic
AUTHOR: Lee Kelly
PUBLISHED: February 2016
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Historical Fantasy
PREMISE: In the 1920s, magic is outlawed in the US, but that doesn't stop people from using it...
MY REVIEW: I actually enjoyed this book quite a bit. Judging from the mixed reviews, I'm one of the few people that did. C'est la vie. But I do understand why it might not have clicked for some people. It is very slow. The romance is also...not the best. But it also didn't turn out happily ever after either, which I think would have been ten times worse then the insta-love so I'm actually kind of okay with it.
What makes this book for me, was the world building and character studies. The world building in this is great. The author recently announced this has been optioned for a possible TV series, and I totally see why. It would make for a great visual spectacle and I can see it doing well as a mini-series. I also adore this author's writing.
This is just one of those books that is not going to be for everyone. I say it's definitely worth a check out at the library to see if it's for you. I do hope the TV series happens(and that they don't white-wash it, but it's Hollywood so....).
WHO SHOULD READ: Night Circus fans, historical fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five taverns

Book Review: The Rose Society

TITLE: The Rose Society
Book 2 in the Young Elites series
AUTHOR: Marie Lu
PUBLISHED: October 2015
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: Adelina and her sister go on the search for other Elites while things brew in their kingdom...
MY REVIEW: Much as I adore fantasy trilogies, a lot of them tend to go predictable routes. YA fantasy trilogies are no exception. This trilogy however...surprised me. In a good way. The author took this in directions I was not expecting and this trilogy is so much better for it.
Because as much as I liked The Young Elites....I thought it was predictable. It had a lot of things I was used to seeing in YA, so I was looking forward to the second book, but not expecting much. I really should have known better. Lu surprised me with the Legend Trilogy and how that ended. She did the same here with this second book.
I will warn, the first half of this is slow. But then the second part happens and the payoff is great. I cannot wait for the third book. Authors, THIS is how you do good twists.
WHO SHOULD READ: those that read the first book, Legend Trilogy fans, Red Queen Trilogy fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five jaw drops

Book Review: Mosquitoland

TITLE: Mosquitoland
AUTHOR: David Arnold
PUBLISHED: March 2015
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Realistic Fiction, Drama
PREMISE: A girl goes on a bus trip to get home to her sick mother and meets a variety of characters along the way.
MY REVIEW: Here's the thing about this book: I like the intent of it, more then I like the actual book. The intent of it is a great idea. I love road trip type of stories. You get to see lots of varieties of people in them usually, and this book definitely had a variety of characters. There even was a heartfelt story to it.
It's just...a lot of it was farfetched and I don't think the author handled certain aspects well. Like so many things happened in this book that I've NEVER seen happen on Greyhound trips and I live in the Midwest, so I've taken quite a few bus trips. Most of them are boring and people usually keep to themselves. There are also some things in it that made me raise my eyebrow a lot and side-eye the author as well, I could also tell a lot of the time, that some of the main characters' opinions weren't hers, but the authors. Considering a lot of those opinions included some pretty judgmental things, I wasn't wild about that.
The story does wrap up okay, and the writing is decent. But ultimately...it's just okay. The book felt more like a middle-grade book then a YA book and a large part of that was amateurish writing. Decent writing, but I could still tell this was a first book.
WHO SHOULD READ: John Green fans, realistic fiction fans, fans of road trip stories
MY RATING: Three out of Five greyhound buses

Looking Ahead: May 2016 Books On My Radar

Here are all the books in May that I plan on reading at some point or another:

May 1rst:

Lois Lane Book 2: Double Down by Gwenda Bond

More Lois Lane! Woohoo!







May 3rd:

Traitor Angels by Anne Blankman

The summary on this makes me wary, but I wound up loving Blankman's other series, Prisoner of Night and Fog, so I'm hoping this one is another pleasant surprise.

The May Queen Murders by Sarah Jude

Me and my paranormal tendencies strike again.









Trials of Apollo Book 1: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

I'm sure everyone and their mother knows about this book. I probably don't need to explain why I'm looking forward to this one.

If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo

I've heard many good things about this one and I'm just so happy more books with trans characters are finally starting to get written in YA.






May 10th:

Everland by Wendy Spinale

Peter Pan retelling. I'm a sucker for these.







May 15th:

Perfect Liars by Kimberly Reid

This one sounds like a bit like the AKA books by Robin Benway. If it's half as enjoyable as that, it should be fun.






May 17th:

Roses and Rot by Kat Howard

Adult gothic looking book that was blurbed by Neil Gaiman so I have to give it a look.

Devil and the Bluebird by Jennifer Mason-Black

Tale dealing with the devil at the crossroads? Sign me up.

The Crown's Game Book 1 by Evelyn Skye

This one has been getting lots of buzz on the YAsphere. I was going to read it regardless because it's historical fantasy and that's my jam.

Places No One Knows  by Brenna Yovanoff

I adore Yovanoff's books. They deserve more love. This one looks just as imaginative as her other books.

Summer Days and Summer Nights by various authors (edited by Stephanie Perkins

Anthology of love stories set during summertime. I've heard good things about the winter collection that I also still need to read.







May 24rth:

Stranje House Book 2: Exile For Dreamers by Kathleen Baldwin

The first Stranje House book was good silly fun. I expect more of the same from the second.

Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee

Historical fiction novel about a girl from Chinatown dealing with the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

The Cage Book 2: The Hunt by Megan Shephard

The Cage was a quiet release last year, and like Shephard's other series, The Madman's Daughter, this series deserves more love.

Fifth Wave Book 3: The Last Star by Rick Yancey

I really liked The Fifth Wave when it came out (I've yet to bother with the movie). The second book was a bit of a sloth though. So I'm wary about this third book, but I'm in it this far, I might as well finish.





May 31rst:

The Inside of Out by Jenn Marie Thorne

Another promising looking LGBTQA book.

Book Review: Girl With a Pearl Earring

TITLE: Girl With a Pearl Earring
AUTHOR: Tracy Chevalier
PUBLISHED: 1999
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Historical Fiction
PREMISE: A historical fiction imagining of who the girl in Girl With a Pearl Earring was and her life.
MY REVIEW: My interest in this book mostly comes from the fact that I adore art history. Also, this painting is beautiful and I find the whole practice of thinking about the lives of the models in art pieces interesting. But, just because it's interesting...doesn't always mean it'll make an interesting book. Unfortunately, that's the case here, because this book was frankly dull.
The historical detail is top-notch. The author also creates very vivid settings. The story is also quite believable for all that it's made up. But it's just very slow. Vermeer doesn't factor in very much and I personally didn't care for the relationship between him and Griet. It does give interesting insight to the artist but that's about it. Story-wise...this isn't particularly mind blowing.
It's a clever idea. I just don't think it's spectacular. Having seen the movie, this is one of the few cases where it makes a better movie then it does a book. At least with the movie you get pretty costumes and sets to distract you from the fact that the story is very very slow. It's a short book. It's actually less then two hundred and fifty pages. But those two hundred and fifty pages felt like they were crawling by and that's...not a good thing. I only recommend this if you are a big art history nerd. Because if you aren't, the chances are very good that you'll be bored.
WHO SHOULD READ: Historical Fiction fans, art history fans
MY RATING: Three out of Five yawns

Book Review: A Study in Charlotte

TITLE: A Study in Charlotte
Book 1 in the Charlotte Holmes series
AUTHOR: Brittany Cavallaro
PUBLISHED: March 1rst, 2016
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Mystery
PREMISE: In modern times, the ancestors of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson meet up in a boarding school and must clear their names of murder.
MY REVIEW: I confess, I wasn't expecting much from this book. While I was excited about the idea of a gender-flipped Sherlock Holmes, I was also wary because I read a previous YA book, Lock and Mori that tried to gender-flip Moriarty and...it didn't go well.
But this book did everything Lock and Mori didn't do and it's all the better for it. First, it's not a total retelling. These are ancestors of Holmes and Watson in a world where Holmes and Watson were real. So the characters are not forced to be in the roles of Holmes and Watson. They get to be themselves. It also does not force a romance just because now one of them is a girl. But it also does not ignore the fact that Charlotte is female, so she faces a lot of crap that Sherlock Holmes never faced.
It's also not just a redo of A Study in Scarlet so there are new plot elements and you're actually surprised by the way some things go down. The way the author weaves in details from the original series (that I'm reading through this year, so it's pretty fresh in my mind) is pretty clever. The writing is average, and the pacing could use work, but as a whole, this was a solid debut. The author made it work and I look forward to spending more time with Charlotte.
WHO SHOULD READ: Sherlock Holmes fans, retelling fans, mystery fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five boarding school mysteries needing solving

Book Review: A Gathering of Shadows

TITLE: A Gathering of Shadows
Book 2 in the Shades of Magic series
AUTHOR: V. E. Schwab
PUBLISHED: February 2016
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: In the lands of multiple Londons, a magical tournament is being held. It draws Kell and Lila back into each other's paths...
MY REVIEW: I'm so happy that V. E. Schwab has gotten her due lately. I loved The Archived series and Vicious and now with this series, I think it's safe to say that she's here to stay. This installment in the Shades of Magic, shows why.
It's an excellent sequel. True, it tends to drag somewhat in the middle, as all sequels tend to do. But the payoff at the end is worth it. It does further character development, as well as world building, as all good sequels should do. You may have heard of the cliff hanger at the end, and...I don't think it's as bad as people say, but it's still a pretty big one. I am now pining for the third book like whoa. Almost as much as I'm pining for the third Archived book which has been promised, but no release date as of yet. ;sigh;
But in the meantime Schwab has This Savage Song coming out in July, so that's something to tide us over until the next book comes at least. If you read A Darker Shade of Magic and loved it, absolutely pick this up.
WHO SHOULD READ: Those that have read A Darker Shade of Magic, fans of dark fantasy
MY RATING: Four out of Five magical Londons

Book Review: Salt to the Sea

TITLE: Salt to the Sea
AUTHOR: Ruta Sepetys
PUBLISHED: February 2016
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Historical Fiction
PREMISE: In 1945 four teenagers struggle to survive while fleeing the Soviets during WWII.
MY REVIEW: Every time I read one of Ruta Sepetys' new books, I'm reminded that I really really need to read Between Shades of Gray still. I can't believe I still haven't gotten to it yet, because I've loved all the books she's written since such as Out of The Easy and now this one.
This is a multiple point of view book, but it's a well done multiple point of view. It talks about a little known incident during WWII, Which is one of the things I kind of adore about Sepetys. She writes about the not very well known parts of history. It's sort of refreshing and makes these books more interesting. There was a bit of insta-love stuff in this that I didn't particularly care for and found very unnecessary, but other then that, I pretty much adored this book.
If you want well written historical fiction about a little known event in WWII, absolutely pick this up.
WHO SHOULD READ: Ruta Sepetys fans, historical fiction fans, fans of The Book Thief
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five ships

Book Review: Half-Resurrection Blues

TITLE: Half-Resurrection Blues
Book 1 in the Bone Street Rumba series
AUTHOR: Daniel Jose Older
CATEGORY: Adult
PUBLISHED: January 2015
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Zombies
PREMISE: Carlos is an inbetweener who works for a council. He thinks he's the only one of his kind, until he runs into others like himself...
MY REVIEW: I picked this up mostly because I had read the author's other new book, Shadowshaper, and liked it a lot. This one...I did not like as much. First, it just kept reminding me of the Dresden Files too much. Which, there are worse series to be compared too, but it had more of Dresden Files' bad points. Namely, poorly done female characters. Considering the other book this author did had a great female character, this was rather surprising and disappointing.
But, it also has some of Dresden Files' good points as well. The noir feel is great, the world is interesting. A little confusing at times, because the author just drops you into the middle of it all so you have to work out the details for yourself sometimes, but it is interesting. But it's also repetitive and formulaic at times as well. But Older's writing style is also unique and he does a great job of giving you a complete picture of things.
This one was honestly a bit of a mixed bag. The good did out weigh the bad though. So for a first novel, it wasn't that bad. This definitely is an interesting series to keep an eye on if you're into the paranormal detective genre.
WHO SHOULD READ: Dresden Files fans, zombie fans, urban fantasy/noir fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five zombie detectives