Finished: A Crown of Embers

Crown of Embers by Rae Carson

<----- First of all, I wish this was the cover to the book I read. However, apparently this is the UK edition. The US of A edition is white-washed, with a very pale, Caucasian looking lady in the gem on the cover. The woman on this cover looks like Elisa.

Elisa is a queen that carries a living Godstone. The Godstone speaks to her and helps her channel "magic." However, in this sequel, Elisa learns that not all is as she imagined or as she learned from study and scripture. The Godstone is more mysterious than anyone knows and the "will of God" is even more difficult to understand than Elisa imagined.

I enjoyed the book very much. I love that Elisa is strong and smart. I love that she's solid and not willowy or wispy. She's a strong, solid girl growing into an amazing woman. She doesn't shy away from the tough choices in life. She's pretty cool.

I don't want to spoil things for any readers, but there were nice little surprises in the story, including a gay character and an interesting "enemy" Invierno. I wish, however, that American publishers weren't afraid to show Elisa as she is: she's dark of skin, eyes and hair. All of her people are. It's nice to enter a world of magic that isn't full of white people, even if American publishers try to trick readers into thinking that's the case by changing the cover.

Anyway, this book is recommended... but you really do have to read the first book (Girl of Fire and Thorns) to understand quite a bit of what happens. So read the first and pick up this one, too. Check out the American covers if you live in America and see if you agree. The cover above is WAY better. :)

BTW... the third book in the series, The Bitter Kingdom, is coming out in August, 2013.

Currently reading.... 3 Books!

Yep. I'm reading 3 books right now. I'm totally reading only for sheer escapist pleasure and I'm reading what strikes my fancy at the moment.

Right now:

Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie. This is a book where I know exactly what's going to happen. That's why I'm reading it. I want to see the uppity social neo-Puritan in the story fall on his butt. I want to see the girl and the guy fall in love despite their obvious differences and to be able to let go of their baggage. I want the nice girl in the town to find her dreams. I will get what I want and I will vicariously enjoy their triumph and ups and downs. Escapist non-literature at its best.

Castle Corona by Sharon Creech. Again, I'm pretty sure I know what's going to happen, but the journey is fun to go along with. This is a simple story with interesting little undertones.

Crown of Embers by Rae Carson. Just started this one... a sequel to the really cool book, A Girl of Fire and Thorns. I liked Fire and Thorns so much because the protagonist, Elisa, isn't a girl that needs saving. She is mentally strong, smart and not thin or pretty. An usual heroine in today's world indeed!

Finished: "The Fault in Our Stars"

I can't even begin to say how wonderful this book is.

I could actually write an entire thesis on the awesomeness of this book, the symbolism, the resonant metaphors and many themes explored in the pages of this story about kids who are in love and who happen to have cancer. I could even then go on to write fan fiction to speculate about the continued futures of the characters I met listening to the audio recording.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green is truly beautiful. There is nothing that isn't in the book for a reason. Even more exciting for me is that I have always wanted to find a book that had a character that I truly understood and felt a kinship to, and I did in Hazel Grace.

I've never been seriously ill, but I don't need to be to understand Hazel. I feel like John Green wrote Hazel as a character who feels so real and as a person who seems so cool and wonderful that I wish I'd known her when I was a teen. I wish I could have had a friend like her. I wish I could have met someone like Augustus. I wish I could know Isaac. But, as Hazel and Gus say, "The universe is not a wish-granting factory."

John Green made me remember that looking at the world and noticing the things around is so important. So much depends on us being able to notice the patterns of shadows cast by trees in the springtime. It is so essential that the taste of something rare be recognized and celebrated. The small, the insignificant, the overlooked is so important because it is a part of our small infinity of time. Hazel sees this. Hazel reminds me to look again to not forget to look and appreciate and be glad.

This book was not schmaltzy, overdone, melodramatic or weepy. It twisted and turned and surprised me. It's made me think about the story within a story, An Imperial Affliction, and I think I know how that fictional novel ends. I'd love to tell Hazel, but I suspect she figured it out, too.

This story makes me think how authors like John Green are so privileged to have characters like Hazel and Gus living inside of them. If Hazel and Gus are creations of Mr. Green and are a part of who he is, I think that he must be a truly amazing and very interesting person. His thoughts and ideas seem so engaging and I wonder if all of us have characters inside of us. What would happen if we brought them to life? What would they say about us?

PS: This audiobook won the 2013 Odyssey Award.

Audiobook: The Fault in Our Stars

Okay.. this story about a girl with terminal cancer and a boy she meets who has lost his leg to cancer is, so far, simply hilarious. I'm enjoying Hazel's narration of her life and about the day she meets Augustus at a youth cancer support group so much that I actually laughed out loud in my car where I'm listening to the recording. The voice actress is simply excellent and the story is so good so far that I can't even begin to start with the awesomeness. I mean, I ordered awesome and got a side of awesome to go with it.

Can't wait to hear more! I'm currently on chapter 3. Get this audiobook now!

What's Left of Me

**NOTE: I've released this writing for the El Paso Public Library to use in their blogs.**

What’s Left of Me by Kat Zhang

Because of the Hunger Games, Science Fiction, and especially books about Dystopias are very popular right now. Some of the new dystopian novels feel like “read-alikes.” They’re very similar to one another. But What’s Left of Me is so unique and so interesting that it’s certainly a “must read.”

What’s Left of Me takes place in an alternate universe. It’s the United States, but it’s not as we know it. The US was once at war with the rest of the world and now it is a very isolationist country with no contact with other countries. This is interesting, but it’s not the most interesting thing about What’s Left of Me. In this alternate world, you see, everyone is born with two souls.

It’s normal to be born with two souls, each of which is named separately and has their own personality. It’s expected that at around the age of five or so, however, that one personality will become dominant and the other will naturally fade away. This is called “settling” and those who settle are normal while those who do not are considered mentally ill and potentially dangerous. No one knows what happens to the other soul that disappears. It often feels in the story that while it’s considered normal to settle, it’s also very sad that it happens, too.

The main characters are Addie and Eva who share a body. Addie is the dominant soul and Eva was supposed to fade away—but she didn’t. The book is narrated by Eva who watches the world out of Addie’s eyes, conscious, alive, but unable to control anything in the world around her. Eva and Addie have convinced most of the world that Eva is gone. The two soul sisters talk to each other, share dreams, occasionally bicker and always help one another.

Addie and Eva’s secret is revealed by a schoolmate who has also secretly not settled. She has both of her personalities and so does her brother. They get Addie and Eva involved in helping Eva gain more control of their body and her future. As Eva grows stronger, both she and Addie are put into more and more danger.

While many aspects of What’s Left of Me may seem initially confusing, Zhang explains and describes the world in the book well enough that the reader can identify and understand everything. The struggle for identity and fighting the loss of self is a theme that we can all identify with. The characters are likeable and realistic.

This book is the first part in a series, but there isn’t a cliff-hanger at the end. If you’re looking for some new Sci-Fi with a distinctive twist, this book is for you. 

Check out the downloadable eBook at the El Paso Public Library.

Currently reading: What's Left of Me

What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

This story seems to be set in an alternate universe where people are born with two selves or personalities and at around five or so, one personality has become dominant and drives the other out. They call this "settling" and it's considered normal. However, Addie, the main character never settled... her second soul sister, Eva, is inside of them, watching, unable to move or speak except to Addie.

Addie and Eva work together to try to live a "normal" one-souled life. If anyone found out that they hadn't settled, they would be revealed as "hybrids" and taken away to a mental institution or worse. Addie and Eva's life is turned upside-down when they meet Hallie and her brother Devon. There's something unusual about the two of them, too...

What's Left of Me is a very interesting story that explores a lot of cool ideas. Many of the characters wonder what happens to the other soul that "goes away" when a person settles. Some of them miss the recessive soul. We learn about how America is a closed society in this alternate universe and the rest of the world live their lives as hybrids. Americans are horrified by these hybrids outside their borders and see a life lived split between souls as something terrifying and disruptive.

Addie and Eva embark on a scary journey... I'm about half-way through so far, but I'm enjoying it. The story is narrated by Eva, who the "recessive" soul. She can't control her and Addie's body on her own and she watches the world through Addie's eyes. Addie is the only person who can hear Eva's voice. They work together, Eva reminding Addie to remember things through the day or studying when Addie can't concentrate.

I'm looking forward to reading more!

Just read: Gravediggers, Mountain of Bones

I've just finished Gravediggers: Mountain of Bones by Christopher Krovatin.

This book is a little bit scary, but also, it's really a lot about mystery. Three 6th graders, Kendra, Ian and PJ (all of who don't like each other too much anymore)  end up getting lost in a very bad neck of the woods. As they penetrate the forest and get more and more lost, they are drawn into a world that turns their expectations upside down, brings them closer together (whether they want to be or not!) and is really rather spooky. I don't want to give too much away because a lot of the fun in reading this story was finding out just what the heck was going on! The mystery part of what's happening and why it's happening is very interesting and the resolution of the mystery isn't a let-down at all: instead, I'm very satisfied and even more intrigued.

Some of the writing felt a little uneven to me at times where I found myself losing my sense of "suspended disbelief" that we all need to have while reading fiction. But it wasn't jarring enough to mar the whole of the story. I am looking forward to the sequel and learning more about the cool magical world that Krovatin created.

I think this book is a good recommended read for anyone who enjoyed Delaney's Last Apprentice series and since its recced by R.L. Stine, I think Goosebumps fans might like it, too.

Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian -- Finished!

I finally finished The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.

My reactions are many! The art in conjunction with the text really work and I think help keep the story balanced between sadness and humor. I wonder if this was Alexie's experience growing up--I'd like to find out more.

Basically, as Junior, the main character lives through his freshman year in the white school (22 miles off the Rez), he experiences tragedy, joy, and changes the lives of the people around him.

The story is about finding hope and those who are unable to move--both physically and emotionally. The story is powerful, but accessible to readers on many levels. Like I said, the pictures work great with the text and I think that without them, the story wouldn't have been as bittersweet or as humorous. We really see into Junior's mind through them. The words, though, are just as powerful. The images that Alexie creates of Junior climbing the tallest tree, playing basketball and more are unforgettable. The characters are all interesting.

I'd recommend this to anyone in high school and above--I know there's a lot of controversy about one of the drawings (Jesus farting), but Junior draws it during a time where he has just lost many close people in his life and he's mad at God and trying to understand death. It's not really a big part of the book. If you're easily offended... don't read the book. There's references to boners and you'll find out that Indians like to "talk dirty."

Currently Reading: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

I have always wanted to read this book--there's so much controversy surrounding it, yet when you open the book, it reminds me so much of Diary of Wimpy Kid or Dear Dumb Diary. The illustrations are humorous, silly and child-like in the same manner of these two stories. However, the issues that the main character faces (like having only 1 day to have ten(!) teeth pulled or only one kind of glasses to choose from--ugly ones) on the "rez" aren't funny at all.

I'm only on the first 2 chapters and I've been really slow reading novels recently. I think it's because I have a lot on my mind.

So... more about the book later, but so far, I'm liking it.