Book Review Quickies: The Wedding Bees, The Radleys, Lowcountry Boil

Title: The Wedding Bees 
Author: Sarah-Kate Lynch
Source: Librarything Early Reviewers

I was previously unfamiliar with Lynch's work; now that I have read this one, I know that I want to read more. This book was delightful, fun, and enjoyable. I enjoyed the bee trivia that would pop up, as well as the cast of characters. They were all very vivid, with quirky issues that made them utterly likable. The main character Sugar, is a positive, upbeat beekeeper, who charms not only her bees but everyone she meets. She is keeping a secret though, that is slowly revealed bit by bit. It is not as dark as you might imagine though, and at the end of the book, everything is happy happy hunky-dory. Which was exactly how I wanted this book to end. Happy endings all around.

Title: The Radleys
Author: Matt Haig
Source: My own copy

This book was so fun!! I was reminded of the Addams Family, or of a vampiric version of the Cleaver family, complete with white picket fence and respectability. Peter and Helen Radley live with their two children in suburbia, and only Peter and Helen know the truth of what they are: abstaining vampires. Unfortunately, their subterfuge backfires, and their carefully laid out life begins to blow up around them. At the beginning of this book, it seems everyone is yearning for something they don't have; by the end, they all find out what it is that they really want.

I really enjoyed this take on vampires, and I also enjoyed all the author name dropping.

Title: Lowcountry Boil
Author: Susan M. Boyer
Source: Nadia at A Bookish Way of Life

This book was a pleasant surprise! I am a HUGE fan of books set in the south, and when Nadia mailed this book to me, I was very excited. Unfortunately, it took me longer to get to than I anticipated, but I finally read it, and enjoyed it!  Pure southern charm wrapped in a mystery, this book is for anyone looking for a relaxing, escapist read. I read it during the brief spring we had last week, and it was perfect! It would also be a perfect beach read too. The main character Liz, is a private investigator, who is smart, savvy, and brave. She is a great depiction of a strong woman character, who doesn't take no for an answer or let the men in her life boss her around. She does what she wants when she wants. It ended on a bit of a romantic cliffhanger, and I need to know what happens next! I will be looking for the second book in the series very soon!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, that is guaranteed to add to your reading list. 

Read Last Week:

  

The Radleys by Matt Haig: I loved this book; it was so fun! Review Tuesday. 

The Wedding Bees by Sarah-Kate Lynch: This was a pleasant read as well. I enjoyed it. Review Wednesday.

Reading This Week:

I think I am reading just one book this week- it is looking like it is going to be a very busy one. 

  

The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman: I am excited to read this, I love Hoffman!!  

Posted Last Week:

Book Review: Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

Book Review: The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Book to Movie: My Cast Picks for The Hollows Series

The Undead Pool Author Signing

Book Review: Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

Title: Year of Wonders
Author: Geraldine Brooks
Source: Library, but I am buying a copy

Goodreads Summary:

When an infected bolt of cloth carries plague from London to an isolated village, a housemaid named Anna Frith emerges as an unlikely heroine and healer. Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition. As death reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of her community and the lure of illicit love. As she struggles to survive and grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus mirabilis, a "year of wonders."

Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged hill country of England, Year of Wonders is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history. Written with stunning emotional intelligence and introducing "an inspiring heroine" (The Wall Street Journal), Brooks blends love and learning, loss and renewal into a spellbinding and unforgettable read.


My Thoughts:

I loved this book. I know it sounds super weird to say you love a book that involves the plague, but I do. My Uncle Mike told me to read it a year ago; I finally got to it the other week, and I wish that I wouldn’t have waited as long as I did! This particular era in history is one I enjoy reading about.

Year of Wonders begins with the smell of rotting apples.  Anna, the main character, is so sick of the smell of apples; before, it was a good memory, making cider and pie, but later, after the plague, the smell was reminiscent of death. Apparently the plague smells like apples, which is a fact I will never forget.  

Anna Frith is a very young widow, being only 18, with two young sons in the time before the plague. Her husband had perished in a mining accident, leaving her with her flock of sheep and fond memories. Then one day, a dashing tailor named George Vicars sweeps into town, and knocks on Anna’s door, looking for a room to rent. He moves in, and Anna and her family become enamored with him.

The happiness doesn’t last however, as an infected bolt of cloth from London finds its way into George’s hands and onto the backs of many residents of Eyam. Even after George dies a victim of the bubonic plague, people still visit Anna’s cottage, wanting the dresses he sewed for them. It doesn’t take long for the illness to spread through the small, remote village.

This sickness is incomprehensible. There is no understanding of germs , or what causes something like the Black Death. As the more and more people fall prey to the plague, the citizens turn to the church and to the good vicar Mompellion and his wife, Elinor. Is God punishing them? Is God testing them? Vicar Mompellion sways the villagers to take an oath, to close the village borders and to remain isolated until the plague was gone, to prevent the spread of it. A nearby Earl agreed to deliver supplies to the village, so that they would not run out of important items.  But doubt still lingered as to why they suffered.  Superstition takes over, and some of the villagers come to their own conclusions, making a horrible situation worse and igniting near chaos. 

Just imagine living in a 17^th century village, isolated from the rest of the world, while one by one your neighbors and friends drop dead from a disease you don’t understand. What would you do? How would you react? And why do some people survive, and how are some people immune?

The village of Eyam is real. Year of Wonders is based on the true account of what happened there in 1665. I did some more reading on the plague and on Eyam after I finished this book, and was amazed at some of the things I read, especially on plague survivors and genetics. You can find a few articles here and here that I found particularly interesting. 

I picked this book for my book club choice this month. I am excited to hear what everyone thinks about it!

Book Review: The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Title: The Headless Cupid
Author: Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Source: My library
Challenge: Newbery Reading Challenge


Goodreads Summary:

When the four Stanley children meet Amanda, their new stepsister, they’re amazed to learn that she studies witchcraft. It’s not long before Amanda promises to give witchcraft lessons to David, Jamie, and the twins. But that’s when unusual things start happening in their old house. David suspects Amanda of causing mischief, until the children learn that the house really was haunted long ago. Legend has it that a ghost cut the head off of a wooden cupid on the stairway. Has the ghost returned to strike again?

Reading Level: Ages 8 and up


My Thoughts:

The other day at work, I was going through the ALA list of Newbery Award winners and honorees, and checking to see if I had them in our library. I made a list of the ones that we didn't have that I wanted to order, and I also made a list of the books we had that just needed a newer copy. The Headless Cupid was a book that we did not have, and when I read the summary, I was intrigued!

 Life is never quite the same again for eleven-year-old David after the arrival of his new stepsister, a student of the occult.

A student of the occult? Say what? I went ahead and ordered it, and when it came in, I took it home to read, and found that I really liked it. I wish I would have read it when I was younger, because it was exactly what I enjoyed reading even then.

David is a sweet kid, who at 11 is shouldering a lot of responsibility, and takes care of his three younger siblings quite a bit. Their mother is deceased, and his father is recently remarried. His stepmom is around, but is usually preoccupied with her work. Then one day his stepmother's daughter Amanda arrives, complete with a pet crow.

I think that the students at my school will enjoy this book, even though this book is older than me! It is scary without being too scary, and although Amanda seems like a questionable character, she is just a kid going through some tough stuff, and dealing with it the best she can. Her life is out of control, and she is looking for a way to gain some control back. I believe that Amanda and David are characters that students today can still relate to, and will enjoy the spooky mystery aspects as well.

Book to Movie: My picks for the Hollows series

Last Tuesday, after meeting Kim Harrison and glorying in all things the Hollows, Mary and I began a discussion about who we would cast if the series were to be made into a movie. This discussion continued with my husband, who has also read the series. We had some major differences of opinion between the three of us! This is just the main gang too, not the entire series of characters.

Let's start with Jenks..

Clicking on photos will take you to original photo. Some sites may be graphic as I am finding them on Tumblr.

We all pretty much agreed that adorable Ryan Kwanten could easily play Jenks.

Ivy

Maggie Q

Trent Kalamack

Chris Pine

Algaliarept

Robert Downey Jr.

or

Tom Hiddleston

Newt

Tilda Swinton

Ceri 

Malin Ackerman

And finally Rachel...

Bryce Dallas Howard

The Undead Pool: Author Signing with Kim Harrison

Authors are my rock stars. I am not a celebrity stalker or a girl who hangs around waiting for a guy in a band (although some of my very good friends are), but writers? They are a different story.  I will wait hours in a crowded room so that I can stand in a long line, just to have an author sign my copy of their book.

Last year, my friend Mary and I went to the book launch and author signing of Ever After by Kim Harrison, and we had such a blast that when I saw that Harrison was going to be at Nicola’s Books again this year for the launch of The Undead Pool, I made our reservations immediately. 

Nicola’s Books is a cute little bookstore in Ann Arbor, sandwiched between a place that sells bagels, and a small branch of the Ann Arbor library, and is one of those bookstores that true bibliophile’s fall in love with just upon entering. Books cover every available surface, and you could spend hours happily browsing the shelves.

Mary and I arrived to the store at what we thought was the decently early time of 5:00 pm. The event started at 7, so we figured two hours was good. We were almost right; we were able to get a pretty good spot, but the seats directly in front were already taken, by people who had arrived as early as 2 pm! We were able to grab two seats in a front row; they were just off to the side, which was ok. We claimed our chairs, and then took turns going to the counter to claim our reserved copies and line ticket for the signing. 

I went first, checking out the shelves of books, and then on up to the big counter that dominates the front area of the store. The guy working actually remembered me from last year, but unfortunately after looking for my reserved book, he told me that there must have been some flukey mistake, because they didn’t have one put aside for me or for Mary. Thankfully, they had many extra copies of the book, so I was still able to buy one. He also handed me the next line ticket on the pile, which put us in place 66.Whatever, we all make mistakes right? It didn't matter too much to me, I was just happy to be there.

After Mary claimed her book, we spent the next hour waiting and talking to the people around us. I of course could not remain seated in a bookstore surrounded by books, so I browsed and shopped a little more. I found 800 or so more books I wanted to buy, but since that is not in my budget, I stuck to buying just one more and a notebook. And then, since I am sucker for the stuff that sits on counters near the registers, I added a few pins as well.

Just as Harrison was due to step out from behind closed doors, the bookstore guy came over to me and Mary. He asked me for my line ticket, and while I was digging around for it, unorganized as ever, he told me I was probably going to want to trade with him. I looked up as he ceremoniously flipped over the piece of paper in his hand – showing a line ticket for the first spot in line! It was our previously lost ticket, and he had found it! Yay!!! We had just moved 65 places up in line.

Not long after, Harrison made her entrance. She read all of us an excerpt from the book, and then opened the floor for questions. I was going to ask her if she hated tomatoes, but someone beat me to it. After this, it was time to line up. Like a giant nerd, I practically ran to the front of the line, books in hand, and then nervously stood in front of Harrison while she signed my books. I had wanted to talk to her about Al, my favorite character, and I felt worked up to talking. I very robotically and weirdly told her that I liked the evolution of Al throughout the books. Harrison answered me though, saying she never expected him to become the character he became. I wanted to say something about him charming his way into the story, but words failed me and I didn't.

Mary asked her to sign a get well card for a friend.

After we were finished, Mary and I scurried out of the store, excited like little kids, reading our book inscriptions. Starving, we headed to the nearby city of Ypsilanti and Aubree’s, where we had wine and devoured the deliciousness of their pizza, before hitting the snowy road to head home.

We are already looking forward to next year, which will be bittersweet, as the next book in the series is also the last. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, that is guaranteed to add to your reading list. 

Read Last Week:

I am going to try to find a balance between school and blogging this week. We are getting rid of television this week, so I am sure I will find more time to do things!

  

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks:  I loved this book!!! I loved it so much that I picked it as my book club choice for March. Review Thursday.

The Undead Pool by Kim Harrison: I went to the book launch and book signing last Tuesday and had a blast! I will post about it on Tuesday. And this book!!!! OMG!! Has anyone read it? If you want to talk to me about it, email me! I am excited to talk about it with someone!

The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder: I read this as part of the Newbery Challenge I am participating in. It was pretty good! Review Wednesday.

Reading This Week:

  

The Radleys by Matt Haig: I started this last week, and I really liked what I read so far!

Belle Cora by Phillip Margulies: I am so excited to read this book!