The Monsters of Templeton

The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff

From Goodreads:
On the very morning Willie Upton slinks home to Templeton, New York (after a calamitous affair with her archeology professor), the 50-foot-long body of a monster floats from the depths of the town's lake. This unsettling coincidence sets the stage for one of the most original debut novels since The Time Traveler's Wife. With a clue to the mysterious identity of her father in hand, Willie turns her research skills to unearthing the secrets of the town in letters and pictures (which, "reproduced" in the book along with increasingly complete family trees, lend an air of historical authenticity). Lauren Groff's endearingly feisty characters imbue the story with enough intrigue to keep readers up long past bedtime, and reading groups will find much to discuss in its themes of "monsters," both in our towns and our families.

From Me:
The Monsters of Templeton is chock full of information and characters, and while I sometimes got lost in all of it, it was worth the effort of wading through it.

The historical flashbacks in this story really appealed to me. I particularly appreciated the interectedness of the characters from the past with their modern day contemporaries. In my opinion, the 'monsters' in this story are the sins of the Templetonians (lust, greed, etc., etc.) that passes through the generations, not the sad and lovely monster from the lake.

Like many of the books that I've read lately, I found myself preferring the supporting characters rather than the main character. In this case, I really didn't think that Willie had many redeeming qualities. She was pretty terrible to the people who were trying to love her or be her friend (though they all seemed to grow more attractive to her as she began to see their goodness). I liked her better by the end of the book, but it took a while for me to feel that way.

My only issue with this book was the awkwardness with which Groff incorporated certain paranormal elements. The book, for the most part, reads like straight literature, in which a few of the otherworldly elements - the lake monster and the household ghost - didn't seem out of place. But there were other bits that seemed too over the top for the rest of the text. The overall tone of the book wasn't one of magical realism - to make it work better, the story either needed more of the magical elements or less of them.

Overall, a very enjoyable book. It's also a great choice for a bookclub - plenty to discuss.  (*****)

Jane Bites Back (Jane Bites, #1) by Michael Thomas Ford

Jane Bites Back (Jane Bites, #1) by Michael Thomas Ford

From Goodreads:
Two hundred years after her death, Jane Austen is still surrounded by the literature she loves—but now it's because she's the owner of Flyleaf Books in a sleepy college town in Upstate New York. Every day she watches her novels fly off the shelves—along with dozens of unauthorized sequels, spin-offs, and adaptations. Jane may be undead, but her books have taken on a life of their own.

To make matters worse, the manuscript she finished just before being turned into a vampire has been rejected by publishers—116 times. Jane longs to let the world know who she is, but when a sudden twist of fate thrusts her back into the spotlight, she must hide her real identity—and fend off a dark man from her past while juggling two modern suitors. Will the inimitable Jane Austen be able to keep her cool in this comedy of manners, or will she show everyone what a woman with a sharp wit and an even sharper set of fangs can do?

From me:
Jane Austen is undead and well and ticked off that people are making money off her books with all their silly spinoffs, sequels, and inspired-bys and she doesn't see a single royalty. She's been trying to get another book published for a century or two, and finally sees some success. In the mean time, there's trouble afoot, and other vampires may be involved.

If you read this book expecting non-stop hilarity and/or action, then you will likely be disappointed. And frankly, Jane didn't "bite back" to my satisfaction. However, Michael Thomas Ford did a surprisingly adept job at writing in Jane's voice. I found vampire-Jane believable; despite the necessity to bite, she fits the social mold I'd imagine her in during the 21st century.

Magic Bleeds

Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels #4) by Ilona Andrews

From Goodreads:
Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for the magic. When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it rose.

Kate Daniels works for the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, officially as a liaison with the mercenary guild. Unofficially, she cleans up the paranormal problems no one else wants to handle—especially if they involve Atlanta’s shapeshifting community.

When she’s called in to investigate a fight at the Steel Horse, a bar midway between the territories of the shapeshifters and the necromancers, Kate quickly discovers there’s a new player in town. One who’s been around for thousands of years—and rode to war at the side of Kate’s father.

This foe may be too much even for Kate and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, to handle. Because this time, Kate will be taking on family…

From me:
Kate Daniels has had to battle many evils while her past has slowly been revealed in the first three installments in this series, and this time the Big Bad is family. Despite the fact that she'd been trained to keep everyone at a distance, to not form attachments that will weaken her resolve or become a target to her enemies, she has created a family for herself. And now they are in danger.

While there is plenty of blood and gore in the Kate Daniels series, this book finally gets around to a bit of the romance that was hinted at in the earlier books and it was also a major step in the over-arching story's progression. While I've enjoyed all of the books in this series, these story advancements were very satisfying. 

A good read for action and urban fantasy fans and those not afraid of a little blood and guts. (*****)

Book Review: Glimmerglass

It's been so long since I've blogged! My abject apologies! But I've managed to read many books in the meantime, so let's commence the reviews!

Glimmerglass
By Jenna Black
(*****)
From Goodreads:
Dana Hathaway doesn’t know it yet, but she’s in big trouble. When her alcoholic mom shows up at her voice recital drunk, Dana decides she’s had it with being her mother’s keeper, so she packs her bags and heads to stay with her mysterious father in Avalon: the only place on Earth where the regular, everyday world and the magical world of Faerie intersect. But from the moment Dana sets foot in Avalon, everything goes wrong, for it turns out she isn't just an ordinary teenage girl—she's a Faeriewalker, a rare individual who can travel between both worlds, and who can bring magic into the human world and technology into Faerie.

Soon, she finds herself tangled up in a cutthroat game of Fae politics. Someone's trying to kill her, and everyone wants something from her, even her newfound friends and family. Suddenly, life with her alcoholic mom doesn't sound half bad, and Dana would do anything to escape Avalon and get back home. Too bad both her friends and her enemies alike are determined not to let her go . . .

From me:
Dana is a half-fae/half-human girl who finds out her heritage makes her special in a supernatural way and a target for people who want to exploit or eliminate her.

While a lot of bad stuff happens to poor Dana, she's a bit too whiney for my taste. Some of minor characters show great potential, and with the introductions and initial plot set-up out of the way, future stories could be more interesting, too. That is, if Dana can suck it up in later books.

New books!

Hello my lovelies! Long time, no blog. I've been swamped with tons of homework, but now the summer reading shall commence!

Half Priced Books had a major, super-duper clearance sale at our fairgrounds this weekend. All the local HPB's got all their clearance books together and brought them in all their glorious wordy goodness to one magical place! All books under 3 dollars! And I got 11! for $11! Soooo happy! Here's what I got:

All-American Girl, by Meg Cabot
The Cinderella Deal, by Jennifer Crusie
The Winter Rose, by Jennifer Donnelly (for after I get my hands on The Tea Rose)
The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Book of Lost Things, by John Connolly
Cheating at Solitaire, by Ally Carter
The Amber Room, by Steve Berry
People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks
The Printer's Devil, by Paul Bajoria
Fingersmith, by Sarah Waters
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke

Quot libros, quom breve tempus.

It's Monday: What are you reading? (7)

It's Monday: What are you reading? is a weekly meme from BookJourney.

I read:

Tempest Rising (Jane True #1) by Nicole Peeler (*****)
Jane True is a young woman who lives in a small northeastern coastal town. Something from her past has lead the other townsfolk to treat her terribly, and she lives her life trying to avoid the worst of them and swimming in her personal cove. After discovering a body during one of her swims, Jane is tossed into a world of magic and mystical creatures.

On the plus side for this book, the author was kind enough to provide clever pronunciation tips for some of the names and creatures she describes in the book. Jane's feelings are identifiable and make sense in most of the situations she's in. There's a fairly detailed action scene and plenty of suspense. Tempest Rising is also a page-turner and a quick read.

On the other hand, I did have a few issues with the story. First off, this book definitely fits into the romance framework (2 or 3 explicit sex scenes plus several more vague references and 'fade-to-black' moments), but Jane and her new vampire beau, Ryu, seemed to be running of to do the dirty at fairly inappropriate times. They discover a new clue, or have a run in with a friend or foe, or find a dead body, which, in other mysteries, may lead to further investigations, here just leads to sex. The author was also very boob-focused - to the point where I started to wonder what Freud would say about it. Finally, the first part of the book felt very disconnected from the second part - first you hear about all the crap Jane has had to deal with, her not fitting in, people being mean, then she heads off to the magical compound and most of that seems to be forgotten. Also, it takes *forever* for the author to tell the reader about Jane's past, even though she leaves tidbits all over the place before the big reveal.

This was a good, but not great, read. I was tempted by the cover art, but it may have been more interesting than the actual text. I'm not sure if I'll read the follow up - we'll have to see.

Hex Hall (Hex Hall #1) by Rachel Hawkins (*****)
Sophie is sent to a reform school for magic users after a spell-gone-terribly-wrong. There she makes friends and enemies and learns some Big Things about herself and her family.

A good book, but I think I may have read too many magic-boarding-school books. Hex Hall has some interesting and unique tidbits, but overall it fits the same vein as many other YA books.


Currently Reading:

The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff
Jane Bites Back by Michael Thomas Ford

To Read:  See photo from last Monday. The stacks haven't diminished much.

Waiting on Wednesday: Maybe This Time

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights future releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Maybe This Time
By Jennifer Crusie
Publication date: August 31, 2010

From Amazon:
Andie Miller is ready to move on in life. She wants to marry her fiance and leave behind everything in her past, especially her ex-husband, North Archer. But when Andie tries to gain closure with him, he asks one final favor of her before they go their separate ways forever. A very distant cousin of his has died and left North as the guardian of two orphans who have driven out three nannies already, and things are getting worse. He needs a very special person to take care of the situation and he knows Andie can handle anything…

When Andie meets the two children she quickly realizes things are much worse than she feared. The place is a mess, the children, Carter and Alice, aren’t your average delinquents, and the creepy old house where they live is being run by the worst housekeeper since Mrs. Danvers. What’s worse, Andie’s fiance thinks this is all a plan by North to get Andie back, and he may be right. Andie’s dreams have been haunted by North since she arrived at the old house. And that’s not the only haunting...

What follows is a hilarious adventure in exorcism, including a self-doubting parapsychologist, an annoyed medium, her Tarot-card reading mother, an avenging ex-mother-in-law, and, of course, her jealous fiance. And just when she thinks things couldn’t get more complicated, North shows up on the doorstep making her wonder if maybe this time things could be different between them.

If Andie can just get rid of all the guests and ghosts, she’s pretty sure she can save the kids, and herself, from the past. But fate might just have another thing in mind…

From me: I love just about anything from Jennifer Crusie. While I haven't read everything she's written, what I have read always makes me laugh. I've read a lot of books over the years, and her book Agnes and the Hitman, co-authored with Bob Mayer, is one of my Top 10, so I'm looking forward to her new book.

It's Monday: What are you reading? (6)

It's Monday: What are you reading? is a weekly meme from BookJourney.

I read:

The Spellman Files (The Spellman's #1) by Lisa Lutz

The Spellman's give a new definition to 'disfunctional family.' The Spellmans are PI's, and their three children are raised in the business. David, the eldest, is perfect in every way. Isabel, the youngest for a good while and then suddenly a middle child, was in every way opposite of her perfect brother and made great efforts to be so. Rae, the youngest is surprisingly adept at the family business; she's also addicted to sugar and negotiation.

The Spellman family spends as much time invading each other's privacy as they do investigating for their clients. This leads to many problems for Isabel when she makes an attempt at a normal life.

While extremely sporadic in form, jumping around in the timeline, it somehow still works - and is the better for it. It also made me very thankful for my family. For while reading about the Spellman's is great fun, being a part of that family wouldn't be. Recommended. (*****)

Currently Reading:

The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff
I read this book a few years ago and really enjoyed it (though I can't really remember much of it now). I'm reading it now for a book group, and I'm looking forward to delving back into it. Hopefully I'll have an awesome and inspiring review of this one for you soon.

To Read:
My to-read pile is getting out of hand. Luckily my summer class is almost over so I'll hopefully be able to get around to all of these!

List o' Links

I know I haven't been posting much lately other than my "It's Monday: What are you reading?" and "Waiting on Wednesday" posts, but school and homework have kept me mighty busy. That and I just had my high school 10 year reunion, which was a lot of fun, but still weirds me out. I don't feel old enough to have had one of those yet.

Anyway, here are a few links I've found recently and wanted to share...

Entertainment Weekly shares the 15 Perfect Pop-Culture Pairs. Props for including my favorites - Lorelai and Rory Gilmore. My personal runners-up include Chuck and Morgan (or John Casey and his Crown Vic), Howard and Rajesh, and Shawn Spencer and Burton Guster.

Check out an article from the guardian.co.uk about Literature's Great Sister Acts. My favorite sister act is the Haynes Sisters, and while this is a film duo and not literature, if you don't know who they are, we can't be friends. From literature, apart from all of the Austen girls, I'm partial to Sarah Addison Allen's sisters in Garden Spells. 

I love the books and the movies are craptastic, but this is seriously getting out of hand.

Finally, the LA Times presents Summer Reading: 60 Titles. This is one of the few 'recommended' lists that has interested me. The titles here are more than schmaltzy chic lit or literary-snootery - it includes everything from YA to soap opera vampires to poetry. There's something here for everyone.

So, what do you think? Who are your favorite pop culture duos or literary sisters? What makes the perfect summer read for you?

Waiting on Wednesday: Only the Good Spy Young (Gallagher Girls #4)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights future releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Only the Good Spy Young (Gallagher Girls #4)
By Ally Carter
Publication Date: June 29, 2010

From Goodreads:
When Cammie Morgan enrolled at the Gallagher Academy, she knew she was preparing for the dangerous life of a spy. What she didn’t know was that the serious, real-life danger would start during her junior year of high school. But that’s exactly what happened two months ago when she faced off against an ancient terrorist organization dead set on kidnapping her.

Now the danger follows her everywhere and even Cammie “The Chameleon” can’t hide. When a terrifying encounter in London reveals that one of her most-trusted allies is actually a rogue double-agent Cammie no longer knows if she can trust her classmates, her teachers—or even her own heart.

In this fourth installment of the New York Times best-selling series, the Gallagher Girls must hack, spy, steal, and lie their way to the truth as they go searching for answers, recognizing that the key to Cammie’s future may lie deep in the past....

From me:
If you've been reading this blog for the last few weeks, you'll know that Ally Carter is one of my new favorites. I love the GG series and I'm super excited to get my hands on this one! Though I'm really concerned about this "trusted ally" being a double agent - I really hope it's not who I think it is...