Kimberly's Review of 'Touch of Power"

Kimberly's Review of 'Touch of Power' by Maria V. Snyder

Book: Touch of Power
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Reason I read it: Because it’s by Maria V. Snyder

I’ve been waiting what feels like forever to read this. I will pick up any of Maria’s books. I’ve read all of her books and short stories and enjoyed them immensely. I waited for the release date of this book, counting down the days until I could walk into Barnes and Noble and pick it up. Finally December 20th came, I went to Barnes and Noble and… no book. I was told by a bookseller that they wouldn’t be carrying it! I was shocked. They had always carried her books.

So what was I to do? They said they’d “try” and order it for me. That didn’t sound very promising…

Then there was Amazon. I have prime membership. Free two day shipping. I might as well do that… But then I’d still
have to wait several days.

*sigh*

Finally I put aside my “I want to read it so I’ll just download and read it instantly” mentality and waited. I ended up ordering it from the UK (I liked the cover art better).

Only to go back to Barnes and Noble two days later, ask a different employee about the book on a whim and… lo and behold, they had a huge stock of them.

(I’m doing my best not to harbor any hard feeli ngs against the first employee I talked to.) Maybe it was her first day. Or at least, that’s what I’m hoping.

As for the book? It was every bit as good as I expected and was better than I could have hoped for. Avry is a fantastic heroine. Tough as nails, but not so tough that she has no heart. Let me tell you a bit about this story.

“Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan absorbs their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Fifteen Realms, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos. Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for h er capture. Their leader, an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own, is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince—leader of a campaign against her people. As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for. Because the price of peace may well be her life….” (From Amazon.com)

Maria has an incredible ability when it comes to world building and developing her characters. Two pages in and you’re hooked. You love the main character and you’re hungry to learn more about this world they live in.

She also has a wonderful sense of humor. Wit is prevalent throughout the book. Action, romance, humor, and fantasy are mixed wonderfully to creat e a fantastic story.

There was something else I liked about Avry… She’s different that a lot of female protagonists in a unique way. Most heroines are described as being very small and petite. Or they’re blond. Or they have some other characteristic that gives them the ‘perfect’ image. Avry on the other hand, is described as being 5’8, has dark hair and has green eyes. I don’t really care what the heroines in the books I read look like, but Avry was a refreshing change from the norm. Plus… I’m 5’8, have dark hair and green eyes. I couldn’t help but like her a bit more. ; )

The story will draw you in, you will fall in love with every one of the characters. The banter between the main characters is hilarious, it’s heartwarming and fun to see the various relationships develop.

As usual with Maria’s books, there is romance. But Avry doesn’t spend her time worrying about her feelings and whether she has a boyfriend or not. She stands on her own. Maria adds just enough romance to keep things interesting, without letting it overtake the plot.

If you are a fan of fantasy, like strong heroines, or are just looking for a good read, I highly recommend you pick this one up. You won’t regret it!

5+ Stars!

Julia reviews Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Title/Author: Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Publisher/Year Published:January 2012 by Feiwel & Friends
How I got this book: From my local library
Why I read this book: Short answer: The cover
Rating: 5 stars

I am going to do something different with the Goodreads summary for Cinder. I am going to bold all of the things that made me want to read this book. Here we go.

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

So Humans and Androids? Already sounds interesting right? Yes. We would be right. The intermingling of humans and machines, and human machines is awesome and unique. The machines are integrated into society just like watching a cool updated Jetsons. The futuristic piece of this novel is very well done!

New Beijing? So this is set in the East somewhere. I LOVE Asian type books. Unfortunately this isn't maximized to it's full potential, but the mentions of the culture are there if you look. They use chopsticks, the celebrations are decorated in red and gold, things like that. But outside of the Chinese honorifics and these side things, it could very well be set in America. What's next?

Gifted mechanic cyborg Cinder? Yes please! I love that she is, well, useful for lack of a better term. She takes control of her own destiny despite obstacles in her path. She is a very strong lead and the serious highlight of the story.

Step-sister's illness. So I see this and I read that while it is a Cinderella retelling, Meyer also makes it her own. And it really succeeds at this. Meyer takes a fairy tale that we know from either the original story or the Disney movie and seamlessly interweaves the plot points into an awesome retelling.

Intergalactic struggle huh? Spcae?! LUNAR PEOPLE! Well yup. There is an evil moon people and a fun story-line surrounding that. This and the post-apocalyptic atmospheric make it a wonderful SciFi dystopian.

Forbidden attraction. Yay, a love story! Yay, not a love triangle! I love myself some forbidden attraction.

Outside of all of that, the story was very fulfilling. A little more world building would have been cool, but there are three other books in the series. Kai's character is starting off okay, but I look forward to reading more about him and watching him develop further. Cinder however is awesome and probably one of my favorite heroines that I have read in a while. The twist, if that is what is was suppose to be, is really predictable as is the story if you are at all familiar with Cinderella, but I don't think that is a bad thing.

It is a GREAT start to a new series that I know I will be devouring as they come out! If you like fairy tales, dystopians, scifi or YA, check this out!

And the cover? Totally cool.

Tahleen's Top Ten Books That Would Make Great Book Club Picks

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!
Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.


For future Top Ten Tuesday topics through February, check them out here!


Hi everyone! This week's topic is great book club picks. I hope you agree with me that these would spark some great discussion, even if you don't particularly like the books themselves. Sometimes that sparks the best discussion, don't you think?


1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Come on, you know I am all about YA. This books has lots of appeal for adults as well as teens, and there is definitely a lot to talk about here.


2. A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris. This is one that is less known, but I think extremely well written and full of stuff to talk about. It's told from 3 perspectives, 3 generations of women, all coming together in the end. I really liked this one and I want other people to know about it, too.


3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Yeah, I know, I know. Everyone's already read it. But think about how you can all talk about why it's so popular, or even if it deserves all the buzz! Also, it was written by a woman who had a black maid, so there's that bit to talk about too. There's a lot that probably can be uncovered in a second read-through or discussion.


4. Anything by John Green. There is so much to his writing, with literary allusions and philosophy and ways he connects the past to the present. Love it.


5. A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I actually read this for my book club, and there was a lot to talk about. Especially when you put yourself in that position, thinking about how you would react if that ever happened. (You'll find out what I'm talking about when you read it.)


6. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. A good non-fiction book to add to the mix. Skloot makes science accessible and tells the story of one of the most overlooked women in the history of science. It's fascinating and personal and very exposed all at the same time. Makes you really think about medical ethics.


7. Maus by Art Spiegelman. If you haven't read this graphic novel, you should. Spiegelman is a master at this art. There is so much to talk about in this two-part memoir, I can't even begin to talk about it all.


8. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. I had to. You guys KNOW me by now. He is my hero. Also, this book is hilarious and full of an enormous amount of interesting facts. This is due for a reread.


9. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg. I just really liked this book and think it has a lot you could talk about.


10. Sunshine by Robin McKinley. This book is the very best vampire book ever. In my opinion. SO much going on, and you will want to eat all sorts of baked goods/try your hand at baking while reading this. Plus, vampires are not sparkly in this one. They want to kill you. Most of the time.


Those are my picks! Tell us yours. Link up below!

Natanya Reviews Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

Title/Author: Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

Publisher/Year: Little Brown & Co, 2004

Where I got it: Library on ebook

Why I read it: I’ve heard Sedaris is good, and this was the only one of his books available at the library when I needed a book to read

Summary (from Goodreads):

David Sedaris returns to his deliriously twisted domain: hilarious childhood dramas infused with melancholy; the gulf of misunderstanding that exists between people of different nations or members of the same family; and the poignant divide between one's best hopes and most common deeds. The family characters his readers love are all here, as well as the unique terrain they inhabit, strewn with comic landmines. 'The Rooster' is back, and getting married in the funniest wedding ever described. David attends a slumber party and gets the upper hand in a unique version of strip poker. 'Rubber or plastic?' The strangest questions can tear people apart. A skinny guy from Spain, wearing a bishop's hat and accompanied by six to eight men, invades your house and pretends to kick you. Is this any way to spend Christmas? With this new book, Sedaris's prose reaches breathtaking new heights and marks off a territory that is unmistakably his own. Read it and weep tears of humane laughter.

The word “hilarious” in the above summary combined with my previous knowledge of David Sedaris led me to believe that this book would be very funny. Perhaps I just don’t understand Sedaris’ style of humor, but while I was often somewhat amused, I found very little of this book “hilarious,” which is odd since I’ve read reviews of this book saying it is quite funny. But for me, many of the stories were interesting, but not at all laugh-out-loud funny. In fact, most often they were just plain disturbing, and many also didn’t seem believable. Maybe some of the problem is that I read this as my first Sedaris book instead of Me Think Pretty One Day or When You Are Engulfed in Flames, but I don’t know.

Again, however, I’m not saying that the stories weren’t interesting. They were. Sedaris is a great storyteller, and I enjoyed hearing about his siblings and getting to compare how they were as kids and adults. In fact, stories about the siblings were considerably more interesting to read about than the stories just about Sedaris, who, quite frankly, is a bit of an obnoxious douchebag. Sedaris jumps around in time a lot in this book, which both makes it interesting and kind of confusing – there are stories where he appears to be in his 20s, and others where he’s in his 40s, but it was hard for me to develop a timeline of when things happened once he got beyond stories about his childhood, so many of the stories ended up blending together.

Overall, this was the kind of book that I would recommend not reading all at once, and instead reading one or two stories at a time over a few weeks. I think I would have liked it more had I done that, when instead I got sick of it about 4/5 of the way through and stopped reading (and then my Kindle loan from the library expired, and it doesn’t seem worth it to renew). I’m not yet ready to write off Sedaris altogether, but I don’t know if I’ll ever finish this particular book.

3 stars

Daisy's Review of Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Title/Author: Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky #1) by Veronica Rossi
Publisher/Date published: HarperCollins, January 3rd 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "Aria is a teenager in the enclosed city of Reverie. Like all Dwellers, she spends her time with friends in virtual environments, called Realms, accessed through an eyepiece called a Smarteye. Aria enjoys the Realms and the easy life in Reverie. When she is forced out of the pod for a crime she did not commit, she believes her death is imminent. The outside world is known as The Death Shop, with danger in every direction.
As an Outsider, Perry has always known hunger, vicious predators, and violent energy storms from the swirling electrified atmosphere called the Aether. A bit of an outcast even among his hunting tribe, Perry withstands these daily tests with his exceptional abilities, as he is gifted with powerful senses that enable him to scent danger, food and even human emotions.
They come together reluctantly, for Aria must depend on Perry, whom she considers a barbarian, to help her get back to Reverie, while Perry needs Aria to help unravel the mystery of his beloved nephew’s abduction by the Dwellers. Together they embark on a journey challenged as much by their prejudices as by encounters with cannibals and wolves. But to their surprise, Aria and Perry forge an unlikely love - one that will forever change the fate of all who live UNDER THE NEVER SKY."

So people have been going "OMG! THE NEVER SKY!" for a couple of months now. The summary left me with a big questionmark over my head, but don't let that deter you, this book is le awesome! This book was the book that after 5 books ranging from meh to really enjoyed it, got me LOVING it.

It took some time to get used to the society and we are pretty much thrown right into the action as it starts with Aria being caught in a fire and getting thrown out of Reverie. But slowly I got to know Aria and Perry and Roar and all the other characters that make this book into the wonderfulness that it was.

I absolutely LOVED Perry! And Roar! Don't get me wrong, I also loved Aria, but Perry and Roar just stole my heart. The boys are amazing and I loved how Perry struggled with his abilities and with Aria and his loyalty to his family... I felt everything right along with him and I love it when that happens! Perry had lots of amazing Perry-moments (and you guys, the moment on the tower with Aria!!), I hope you all discover them as well!

The Aether in the sky is fascinating and I'm very much hoping we'll learn more about it, like how it came into being, if it causes other things than we've already seen. But most of all I'll be reading the next book because I want to find out what happens next! And to get my Perry-fix, cause that boy ran off with my heart!

I'm happy to say this book didn't end with a cliffhanger, like so many books in series seem to do these days. So instead of making me go WHAT? NO!!! it left me with a smile on my face and an intense desire to have the next book ASAP!

My rating: 5+ stars

Top Ten Historical Fiction Books That Jamie Loved

Check out how Top Ten Tuesday works & the future schedule of topics HERE.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic is a freebie...meaning YOU pick whatever topic your heart desires! Did you miss a topic you wanted to participate in or have a really specific topic that will probably never be a general Top Ten Tuesday topic? This week is for YOU!

I decided to go with a list of the best adult historical fiction books or young adult historical fiction books that paint the picture of an era so well that I really want to visit it or read everything (fiction and non-fiction) that I can about it.

1. Vixen/Ingenue by Jillian Larkin: I've always had this obsession with flappers and the 1920's in general and this one is so great. I can picture the smokey lounges, hear the jazz playing, fear the pinstriped, gun toting pimps and envy the beautiful flappers and their amazing outfits. If you like Young Adult historical fiction and the 1920s, give this series a try!

2. Between Shades Of Gray by Ruta Septys: If I could only recommend one historical fiction books, it'd be this one. No matter what your reading preferences are, I think you'll find this book haunting and will open your eyes to one of history's most horrible injustices during Stalin's reign. I have recommended this book to so many of my friends and have found even my friends who are non-YA readers like it!

3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusack: Oh my goodness. Talk about a book making you sob all through the night. THIS ONE. It's set during WW2 in Germany and is heartbreaking and so powerful. And it's narrated by DEATH...which is one of the most memorable POVS I've EVER come across. This book is on my top five favorite books ever list.

4.  Memoirs of A Geisha by Arthur Golden: I had been so wary about this one when I read it a few years ago. It was one of those books that I saw everybody and their MOM reading in airports or parks or in line at the grocery store. It was so hyped. But for good reason! I found myself easily immersed into the world of the geishas in Japan. The scenes were vivid, the story was interesting and I couldn't put it down. I even bought a non-fiction book about geishas! YAY learning.

5. Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum: Clearly I have a fascination with books set in WW2 but I really did love this book so much! I loved the mother-daughter storyline and the writing was wonderful! My heart broke for Anna in this book and it portrayed perfectly what a mother's love would allow her to do for her child.

6. A Long, Long Time Ago And Essentially True by Brigid Pasulka: Oh surprise surprise. This book is also set during WW2 in Poland. This book was a GEM! I had accepted a pitch on a whim and ended up LOVING it. Beautiful writing & complex characters. Definitely recommend if you like adult historical fiction set in WW2.

7. Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson: I don't typically read much Middle grade fiction but I love Laurie Halse Anderson and I really love the American Revolution. It fascinated me in school, I always read books set during that time as a child/tween and I geek out when my history buff stepdad takes to trips to battlefields. (He actually reenacts Washington's Crossing on the Delaware river here in PA on Christmas morning). This book will undoubtedly be a classic middle grade novel and I can see children really loving this in schools. The characters are relatable and the story is perfectly paced.

8. Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen: I LOVED this book. LOVED. It was so gritty and interesting and during and era that I find fascinating. And plus...a huge part of the setting is the circus! I thought the movie was pretty good but GO READ THE BOOK.

9. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara: I read this one for school and I really recall liking it. I've always loved learning about the Civil War era and this was one required reading assignment I didn't mind.

10. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer: I always see it labeled as Historical Fiction but it's an epistolary novel that has correspondences from the present but also the past as the main character is learning about this island of Guernsey during WW2. The title threw me off on this one and never really intrigued me but I saw a few rave reviews and HAD to read it! So glad I did!


Tell me some of your favorite historical fiction books!!

Kelly's Review of "Year of Wonders" by Geraldine Brooks

Title: Year of Wonders

Author: Geraldine Brooks

Published: Penguin, 2001

Book reviewers I trust had ranted about this book for a long time, and I figured I should check it out. Heck, it's #19 on the Best Historical Fiction list on goodreads. It's historical fiction, about the plague, and set in England, what's not for me to like?

The book is about a young woman named Anna living in a small village in England, that through unfortunate events, is diseased with plague in 1666. As death reaches into every household, the lives and relationships of the villagers are changed forever, leading to extreme actions and disastrous endings. Sound pretty epic to me.

That being said...I really wanted to like this book. The overall plot is an interesting and novel idea...but it was just written to be too boring for me. Even when exciting and unexpected things do happen, it was written in a very bland way. It was one of those "Wait, did something happen? Oh, someone died in a horrific way? How did I miss that?" moments . OK, this sounds a little seedy, but I was also expecting it to be more graphic and...well, gross. Based on some reviews I read, I was expecting to have to carry a trashcan around with me to throw up in. Yeah, that didn't happen. The Plague was anything but simple or skimpy on details, why make the book like that?

Even with the not so great writing, I still would have given it a higher rating if it hadn't been for the ending. Out of nowhere it turned into some sort of 21st century Hollywood movie with action, sex, and scandal...but not in a good way. It was almost as if the author was getting bored with her own story, and to save it, scribbled down some strange climax at the last moment. It was so out of place and almost unnecessary.

It was still a decent book, just a little disappointing. 2 stars.


[Note: this review is over two years old, I pulled it out of the archives of my personal blog. Looking at the goodreads list, I see it is now #31! Apparently people agree with me.]