Sunday, September 12, 2010

Keeper - Kathi Appelt

Keeper 
Keeper
By Kathi Appelt

How do I express how much I adored this book and what was it that I loved so much? Was it the fittingly named four-legged friend BD (Best Dog)? Possible, but that was made even better by the other dog Too (Best Dog Too). Maybe it was the Seagull, Captain, who considered BD his best friend.

All of those things were wonderful but I think what really set this book apart were the mermaids. I mean who doesn’t love mermaids? Keeper sure does, especially since she has mermaid blood running through her veins. You see Keeper’s mother is a mermaid and on this special night, after a day that was supposed to be extremely special and turned out to disastrous, Keeper is going to find her mermaid mother because she really needs advice.

This sweet, delightful book captured me right away. Parts of it reminded me of a magical Island of the Blue Dolphins. The characters were so charming (especially the non-human ones), I wanted to be right there with them…even if some stupid crabs did ruin what was supposed to be a very special day.

I am going to pick up another copy of Keeper to send to my niece and I can’t wait to hear her thoughts on it.

**Source: ARC for review from publisher.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Not the post I was expecting to write

I was planning on telling you about the sweetest most cutest book I read recently but I had a really bad day today and am so grumpy that I would probably ruin the post so instead I am just going to tell quickly about the first time I have REALLY missed my cable.

On my drive home today my mom told me that breaking news cut into the Friends rerun she was watching because there was a fire in San Bruno.  At the time they thought it might be a plane crash (it is only a could miles from San Francisco Airport) but as I was talking to her they discovered it was actually a gas leak.  Many of you have probably already heard about it because it is all over the news by now but it killed me that I couldn't just turn on the TV and see what was going on.  Luckily the internet was already on it.  It is quite incredible:


Photos from The New York Times

My thoughts are going out to San Bruno, including some of my family members.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games)

Mockingjay
by Suzanne Collins

So pretty much all I can think to say right now is "Umm holy crap!"  I am still processing the how everything went down but that was NOT the book I was expecting!  I was most surprised by the general tone of the book because although the first 2 were obviously not all chipper (what with all the killing) Mockingjay had such a dreary blah sort tone that had me feeling hopeless...for the book.

Now don't get me wrong, I closed the book feeling like overall I enjoyed it but it just wasn't up to the Hunger Games standards that I was hoping for.  I read it all today, planning my rereads of the first 2 around my day-off and I don't want to say that I wasted my day but I definitely could have put it down and gone to work and to sleep which was NOT the case with Hunger Games and Catching Fire.

I didn't have many expectations of the book except that it would be amazing but I found that when I read through I did end up disappointed with certain twists and turns in the story.  I will say that the page before chapter 25 (if you read it you know what I am talking about) had be crying until the book ended but surprisingly the last pages of the book didn't make me teary and it just felt...again blah.  I didn't feel like it fit with the rest of the story.  Like I said, I did enjoy it but I was glad to jump onto some of my favorite blogs and see that I wasn't the only one left with feelings of disappointment.  If you haven't read it don't let this stop you but just prepare yourself and don't go into the final book of the Hunger Games with unrealistic expectations.  I still have hope that maybe some time will allow me to enjoy it if I dive to read it again.


**Source: I bought this book with my own sweet loot.