Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai

Hà has only known Saigon.  The sights and smells of the markets, her own papaya tree.  This is her home but the Vietnam War is encroaching upon her life quickly.  It’s already taken her father away to fight and it has come for her home.  Despite reservations of leaving, not knowing how their father will find them, Hà’s family is forced to escape the North Vietnamese army.  They board a ship, not knowing where their future lies.  Cramped on a stalled ship after several days at sea they are rescued and the refugees are taken to the US.  Hà’s family is sent to live in Alabama a strange world with no papaya tree  Hà can call her own.  Together, Hà’s family become accustomed to their new life, learning the language, the customs, religion, all while enduring the teasing and distrust from their new neighbors, but never forgetting who they are or where they came from.

The cover alone is enough to make someone stop and pick this book up.  Add a well written verse, that is beautiful, at times heartbreaking, and you almost have a perfect book that you will never forget.  With just a few carefully selected words, Thanhha Lai makes you feel what Hà feels, which means keep the tissues close.  But she will also make you smile.

I can’t imagine what it was really like evacuating Saigon during that time.  I’ve only known moving across the country but to a new state with a shared language and coworkers who I had previously met.  To leave in a rush of panic and confusion with no idea what will become of you; it takes a brave person to experience all that and all throughout this book I kept wondering if I could be as brave and resourceful as Hà and her family.  I really hope so if such a situation ever arises and I admire anyone who has had to bravely leave their home not knowing what the future will be.

Hà is wonderful.  She’s a very real little girl with hopes and dreams.  You feel her frustration as she attends school in the United States, as well as her triumph when she outwits a bully.  She’s defiant and refuses to let the fact she’s the youngest or a girl let anything stop her.  She is also very brave.  With very little complaint she endured the hardships her family faced when they evacuated Saigon and then suffered the cramped living spaces of the ship they escaped on with little food, space or privacy.  She is someone to be admired and I think all little girls should read her story.

Night Watch by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #29)

Commander Sam Vimes is about to be a father.  But he has been forbidden from his wife’s side.  What’s a good copper to do besides wear a hole in the carpet pacing?  Catch bad guys!  And Carcer, known murderer, bad guy extraordinaire, has been spotted and the Watch has him surrounded.  Joining the hunt is the best thing Sam can think of to keep him occupied.  But a harrowing encounter with Carcer atop the Unseen University Library during a freak magical storm sends Vimes and Carcer back in time.  Their presence alone disrupts the thread of time but when Carcer murders John Keel, the man who mentored a young Sam Vimes, the older Vimes must assume Keel’s identity and mentor himself if he is to be the Sam Vimes that he is.  Even if time has been disrupted certain events must take place: teaching a young Sam how to be a copper, being the face of a revolution and grabbing hold of Carcer to bring him to justice and back to the timeline they belong in.  If Sam fails, the life he knows, will never be or have been.

Oh time travel what a tangled web you weave and Pratchett handles it wonderfully though there were moments that confused me but I think that’s just the nature of time travel and this is Discworld after all.  Night Watch is also quite dark and gritty, and I’m often surprised by this at times because the humor and fantasy elements are hilarious and outrageous.  Pratchett doesn’t shy away from violence and the truth and motivations behind the mob mentality, rebellions and class warfare.  There’s also plenty of light moments and comedy.  I don’t know how Pratchett is able to balance everything out but he does.  There are moments that make you cringe, nod your head in agreement, stifle a laugh; his books are very engaging.

I really loved seeing the younger versions of Sam, Colon, Nobby and Vetineri.  A skinny, street urchin, pickpocket Nobby is the cutest, filthiest thing ever and Vetineri is just as sly and smart as an assasin just as he will be a sly, two-steps-ahead-of-you patrician.  And of course, Sam is Sam, always the copper, always determined to do what is right and he has become one of my favorite characters, not just from Discworld, but also from the fantasy genre altogether.

Every Day by David Levithan

Every Day by David Levithan is about A.  A wakes up in a different teenager’s body every day.  A is not sure why it happens, A just knows it does and there is nothing A can do about it.  So A lives the life of that particular teenager for a day, trying not to disrupt their routine.  That is until A ends up in the body of Justin and A meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon.  Forgetting the rules, A will do whatever is possible to be with Rhiannon, even if it means exposing A’s unusual ability.

I’m not really sure what prompted me to read Every Day by David Levithan.  The cover didn’t really speak to me and I’ve been wary of young adult books for a while until I read Railsea.  Maybe because I enjoyed Railsea so much that I was willing to give YA another chance.  Whatever the reason, I requested it from Net Galley and decided to give it a try 4th of July morning.  I ended up getting sucked into it and spending 3 hours reading in bed.  While I still like Railsea better I did enjoy Every Day very much.

A having no gender was hard to relate with at first and I couldn’t help but feel that A was male because in the beginning of Every Day, we meet A in Justin’s body.  Over time, though, as the story developed and I got to experience A living a day in the life of different teenagers, it became easier to see A as this non-gender consciousness who is still a person, who can feel and love and was just as comfortable in female bodies.  It was interesting to read over time how comfortably A was able to occupy male and female bodies without being troubled with how to behave in their bodies.

The romance between A and Rhiannon was not really my favorite part which were the experiences in the bodies.  The writing is simple enough to breeze through this but it leaves an impression as each experience is described, such as A’s experience as an overweight boy and the effort of carrying so much weight around, the young immigrant girl who worked all day cleaning houses to the point of exhaustion and there was also a young girl who was so depressed I was moved to tears.  Just the description of what it feels like to hate living in your own body; that disconnect between the body and mind that even A was affected by it is just heartbreaking and gives you just the smallest peak at what it's like to experience such depression.  

Then there was Zara and her girlfriend.  The two of them together was just so beautiful and uplifting.  I just loved their hidden romance, which was so tender and their friendship side that they showed to the world was filled with understanding and respect.  They were not ashamed of their feelings and even Zara’s mom, though never saying out loud that she knew about them, expressed in her own way how she was completely accepting and supportive.  It was a very refreshing read and my favorite part.

Though I didn’t care much for the romance, it did help drive another interesting part of the story, such as A using the body of one teenage boy who ends up believing he was possessed after the experience and is determined to find out what happened to him and why.  This storyline, along with the other experiences really made Every Day very interesting and one I would likely read again.  Also, as far as I know, this is a standalone, but the way it ends leaves it open for the imagination but also leaves a little something for a sequel.  If a sequel does happen, I will be reading it to find out what happens to A.

* Every Day by David Levithan will be available on August 28th, 2012.

A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle

Twelve year old Mary O’Hara is having a rough time.  Her best friend has just moved away and her beloved granny is in the hospital.  One day Mary meets a mysterious woman named Tansey who claims to be the ghost of Granny’s mother and she needs to pass on a message to her daughter.  Mary does not doubt this claim and with the help of her mother, Scarlett, they help Tansey to deliver her message to her daughter with an impromptu road trip to the past that strengthens the bond between these ladies, mothers and daughters.


This was such a delightful book to read.  Mary is clever and very cheeky, despite her protestations that she is not being cheeky at times.  She has a very healthy relationship with her mother and grandmother and the three of them together were some of my favorite parts, despite most of their visits taking place in a hospital.  But you feel the love and respect they have for each other.  It's so refreshing to read their story without any resentment or past family dramas (which there are none, thank goodness) creeping in to overshadow their time together.


I also really like Mary’s musings regarding her changing relationship with her older brothers feeling she doesn’t really know them anymore.  I could relate in a way.  Growing up, my sister and I spent a lot of time with our cousins, three brothers, and we were all close in age and got along fairly well.  But as we became teenagers we drifted and started doing our own thing.  I could also relate to Mary and her minor annoyances with her mother.  It’s something that happens to all of us as we grow and begin to become our own person but they get along well and love and support each other.  The dialog between the two of them is fun and charming.


But this book was not just about Mary.  It was also about her mother, Scarlett, and Scarlett’s mother, Emer, and Emer’s mother, Tansey, the ghost.  Four generations of ladies who spend an evening together reminiscing and providing comfort for each other.  It's also about change, growing up, life and death.  This was a quick read but it definitely packed an emotional punch.  I found myself crying at the end and it made me want to hug my daughter, mom, and grandmother.  Don't let the possibility of tears scare you away.  This is still a book I would love to read again and highly recommend.

Bunheads by Sophie Flack

Bunheads by Sophie Flack is the story of Hannah Ward, a nineteen-year-old dancer with the Manhatten Ballet company.  Hannah is a corp member but dreams of becoming a principal dancer.  Dancing is all Hannah has ever wanted to do; It’s all she’s ever dreamed about her whole life.  Then she meets Jacob, the cute musician who helps her see there’s more to the world than just ballet.  Competition is fierce at the Manhattan Ballet and this is what Hannah has always wanted... or is it?


First, let’s take a moment to admire that book cover.  It’s definitely one of my favorites and one I can’t stop looking at.  As a little girl I always wanted to take ballet.  I went through a phase of checking out every Satin Slippers book from our local library.  I love ballet: the music, the pointe shoes, the precision, the gracefulness... but this life was not to be for me and that’s alright.  There’s books such as Satin Slippers and Bunheads, as well as movies like Center Stage to get a peek at what it’s like to be a dancer in this world.


I really enjoyed Bunheads.  I loved getting this brief glimpse into the love, dedication and frustration a dancer feels.  Sophie Flack is a former dancer so all the details are there to make the backstage drama come to life.  The friendship/rivalry amongst the female dancers was very interesting too.  That was my favorite part of this book; that it did mostly focus on the female dancers friendship.  There was a love triangle with two men vying for Hannah’s attention.  Usually I’m not for love triangles but they were not the main force driving Hannah.  Dance was and eventually whether she would continue to pursue her dream as a principal dancer, so the love triangle wasn’t too big of a deal for me.


I feel like Sophie Flack could of delved deeper into what drove Hannah to be so devoted to dance and why she began to question that devotion.  But this is Flack’s first novel so I won’t criticize it too much.  Overall I enjoyed it as a quick read and its insight into ballet.  I’m looking forward to more from Sophie Flack and I hope she continues to tell us more stories within the dance world.

Black Is The New White by Paul Mooney

I don’t know why it happened this way but for some reason I bookended the reading of Black Is The New White by Paul Mooney with two YA books.  I had just gone from Redshirts by John Scalzi to Every Day by David Levithan, and I found myself at a reading standstill where I was not quite sure what book I wanted to read next.  I ended up skimming through the list of books on my reader and seeing Black Is The New White made me pause.  I remembered how the last non-fiction book I read was a refreshing break from fiction so I went ahead and started reading.  I’m glad I did.  Black Is The New White was just what I needed.  It was a good, heavy dose of reality after reading a book about secondary characters looking to control their own fates from the narrative and a consciousness that hijacks a different teenage body every day.  All very fantastical stories that I discovered after reading them that I needed something to reground myself.


Paul Mooney is a writer, actor, comedian who has worked on or appeared on several TV shows and movies such as Sanford and Son, Good Times, Chapelle Show, The Buddy Holly Story and Bamboozled.  He was also very good friends with the late Richard Pryor and it’s in Black Is The New White where we get a really good look into their friendship as well as Paul Mooney’s experience in Hollywood.


The insight into his friendship with Richard Pryor is very interesting and candid.  He doesn’t hide or make excuses for Richard’s drug problems and speaks openly about them.  But he also doesn’t let you forget how talented Richard was and the mark he left as a great comedian.  I think the hardest part for me was reading about Richard’s battle with MS.  My mom was diagnosed with MS and there were lots of late night ambulance calls when my mom’s legs would go numb and she couldn’t walk and she would spend weeks in a rehabilitation hospital to recover only to have to go through the entire process again six months later.  Even though my mom hadn’t deteriorated to the point Richard had it’s still incredibly hard to watch someone you love suffer when they can’t get their body to respond the way they want it to.   Reading about Richard Pryor and Paul’s thoughts brought back a lot of painful memories and I understood how hard it was for Mooney to see his friend go through such a debilitating disease.


What I found fascinating was seeing the different aspects of the entertainment industry on the West Coast in Black Is The New White, while around the same time as John Lithgow’s book, Drama: An Actor’s Education over on the East Coast.  Both books roughly cover the same time period and they both offer an interesting look into TV, movies, comedy clubs and theater.  But Paul’s experience is extremely frustrating to read about, to know how many doors were shut in his face because of the color of his skin.  It’s inspiring that despite his struggles he persevered and didn’t change who he is as a person in order to make certain people more comfortable.


If you’re easily offended or don’t like to made uncomfortable when someone points out what’s wrong with our society or makes fun of it, this may not be the book for you.  For me, I really enjoyed Paul Mooney’s honesty and thank him for it.

Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise Part 2

Usually this would include a video review with Venessa but she wasn’t in the mood to participate.  She did however read The Promise Part 2.  Twice.  And so have I.  That's how much we love this series.


Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise Part 2 picks up immediately after Part 1.  Now that Fire Lord Zuko is reluctant to force the relocation of the Fire Nation colonists from Yu Dao, Aang and Katara travel to Ba Sing Se hoping for a peaceful resolution between the Earth King and the young Fire Lord, taking a bit of a detour when they visit Aang’s fan club.  Sokka decides to join Toph at her metalbending school and finds she has her hands full with a firebending master coming back to reclaim the building that had once been his before the Harmony Restoration Movement and which Toph has been using for her metalbending school.  Sokka, hoping for a calm resolution, suggests Toph’s metalbending students face the firebending master’s students.  The problem is, Toph’s students have not mastered metalbending.  In fact, they haven’t even been able to bend metal at all!  And while Zuko’s under a lot of pressure by both Fire Nation citizens and his promise to the Earth Kingdom, his relationship with Mai has been neglected and she stands up for herself in a very surprising way.


In Part 2 we get to spend more time with Aang and we see a bit of Zuko too but we’re mostly following Toph’s story.  I think Aang got short changed again.  I was hoping to see more of him and how he’s developed but mostly what you get is fan girls squeeing over him which was already done in Book 1 Episode 4 The Warriors of Kyoshi.  This time he is much more mature about the situation but I feel like we’ve been there done that, so let’s move on please.  Things get more interesting once he and Katara meet with the Earth King but that is brief, yet troubling, and I hope to see more of Aang the Avatar in Part 3.


This was, like I said, Toph’s story and I really enjoyed it.  She’s still herself, calling her student’s lily livers and yelling at them.  We learn that after her experience teaching Aang earthbending she found she loves teaching.  She believes in her students and it eventually inspires them to want to succeed.  Toph is full of confidence and self assuredness, the very opposite of her students; three individuals who have never been challenged before and have never had anyone expect anything from them.  Seeing the start of Toph's metalbending school is very interesting.  For her to go from just three students to the Republic City police force with a well earned statue that stands in front of the building in her honor is a treat.  I also really liked the moments between Sokka and Toph.  You see a deep friendship and respect for each other.  There are also some really great exchanges and comic moments as they conspire to trick her students into bending metal.

The end to Part 2 has a very unexpected twist near the end.  Zuko’s girlfriend Mai is not happy with the way he has been hiding things from her and she makes a very bold decision that leaves him reeling but to find unexpected comfort from Suki.  I don’t have any problem with this and I can't wait to see where this leads to in Part 3.  It’s still a very surprising turn of events though.


It ends with the Earth King feeling like Zuko has broken his promise and insists that all Fire Nation colonists leave the Earth Kingdom for good.  Or else...  Does this mean another war is brewing?  Will Avatar Aang be able to keep the peace?  I don’t know and we have to wait until September to find out!

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

Captain Sam Vimes of the Night Watch is a drunk.  There is a dragon loose in his city.  Why is there a dragon?  They’ve been extinct for ages.  But some overly ambitious Elucidated Brethren have summoned it and it’s wrecking havoc on poor Ankh-Morpork and Sam will not have it!  So that means Sam is going to have to sober up, his men will have to find their courage to stop it.  And with luck - quite a bit of luck, actually - perhaps they can manage to not get killed along the way.


Back when I read Snuff I became a fan of Sam Vimes.  I met him at a point in his life where he’d already achieved so much, he is a husband, a father and Commander of the City Watch, having gained a few more titles along the way.  I’d always wanted to see what he was like before that and I got my opportunity to do so in Guards! Guards!  This Sam is so very different yet he is the Sam I met in Snuff.  In Guards! Guards! we meet Sam for the first time, drunk and mumbling to himself in the gutters.  He is just a captain of the Night Watch, with only two men under his command.  Not much is expected of them and they actually prefer it that way.  But Sam will not stand by to let a dragon destroy his city.  When he came to his senses and knew he would have to do something about it I couldn't help but feel proud of him; that was the Sam I got to know in Snuff.


I also got to meet Lady Sybil Ramkin, Sam’s future wife (I am not considering this a spoiler since I already wrote about her in my Snuff review), an eccentric heiress who is an expert on swamp dragons, the very small brethren of the very large dragon causing chaos.  She also plays a big part helping Sam and the Night Watch towards a future or being more than just mall security.  It’s also nice to see the beginnings of their romance.  They’re so cute!


The Patrician is back too and this book just made me like that guy even more.  I also got to meet some new people: Colon, Nobby, Carrot, the Librarian and Errol, the swamp dragon.  I’m not sure if Errol makes much of an appearance in other books but I had to talk about him because he plays an important part in the fight against the dragon menace.  We learn from Lady Sybil that swamp dragons will often re-work their plumbing, sometimes with messy results, but Errol manages a way to re-work his plumbing that made me do a double take before realizing that what I read was what I read.  It’s so delightfully hilarious and silly (and gross).  Colon and Nobby are the grizzled veterans; grizzled veterans in the way that they know where all the good watering holes are at.  The Night Watch takes on Carrot, a human raised by Dwarves (visions of Elf can not be helped with this scenario).  Carrot is very naive and the conversations he has with Colon and Nobby are great when they try to explain how the non-Dwarf world really works.  And there’s the Librarian, a wizard-turned-orangutan after a spell gone awry, who does not concern himself much with the goings on of humans but when someone dares steals a book from his library he is dead set to find it, even if he must communicate by charades.


A great cast of quirky, unique characters... check!  Excellent and witty dialogue... check!  A laugh out loud storyline... and check!  I’m sensing a pattern with these books and I’m liking it.  So far, the 3 out of 3 I’ve read have been fantastic.  I have not been disappointed and once again I’m looking forward to more!

Railsea by China Miéville

I’ve been blogging for almost a year now.  As a blogger, I visit a lot of other blogs and I’ve been seeing China Miéville’s name mentioned here and there on the ones I visit but I’d never read anything that he’d written yet.  I knew I would have to at some point.  Then I happened upon Railsea, his latest, on Netgalley and thought why not jump in with his new young adult novel.  I’m so very glad I did!

Railsea is the story of the blood stained boy, Shamus Yes ap Soorap.  Sham witnesses his first moldywarpe hunt.  It’s thrilling, exciting and exhausting.  The captain of the moldywarpe train, the Medes, however, is after a much bigger prize than the moldywarpes they usually hunt.  It’s her philosophy; the giant, tan colored moldywarpe that took her arm long ago.  As Sham spends more time on the railsea, he believes there has to be more than just being a doctor’s assistant and hunting moldywarpes.  A chance encounter with a wrecked train and a discovery of mysterious images pointing to a way out of the railsea, Sham finds his own philosophy.  But as he investigates further he soon finds himself hunted by pirates, scavengers and the local navy.  They all want to know what Sham does about these mysteries images.  It could lead to treasure, riches or it could change the world that they know.

The first part sets up life on the railsea, what it’s like for Sham on his first moldywarpe hunt.  You get a real sense of what life is like on the rails; the sights, the smells and the danger.  It’s such an unusual dystopian, fantasy adventure.  Sham lives in a world ruled by the rails.  It’s just endless railroad tracks that zig zag everywhere, where the ground underneath the rails are filled with mutated rodents of unusual size.  Then we get to the discovery of the mysterious images which his captain tells him to ignore but he doesn’t.  This leads to Sham poking his nose where it doesn’t belong and which eventually sets off a series of events that turn the end into a full blown action adventure.  And there’s the secret revelation which has an ending that reminded me of The Planet of the Apes movie.  Not as epic, but it’s surprising and very interesting.

I really liked the style of the storytelling.  It reminded me of when I read Snow Crash. We’re in this new world and we’re not given a checklist of how this world works.  Details are revealed a little at a time, whether in the course of travelling the railsea or small teasers that occur between chapters.  It feels like if I were to ask for a timeline of events that led to this railsea future, China Miéville would provide me with one that was very detailed with names and dates; that’s how real the world building felt to me.  This is something I didn’t get with the other dystopian fictions I’ve read; that feeling that this could really be our future.

Sham is a very believable character.  He is not perfect and he makes realistic mistakes.  He's a typical teenager who ignores good advice, who wants to explore, who wants something bigger and better but when he gets it, it’s not what he thought it would be.  I found it very easy to connect with him and understood his curiosity and admire him for being so determined.

I really enjoyed Railsea and recommend it highly.  It’s one of those books I’d love to have on my shelf because I know I’ll be visiting Sham and the railsea again.

Storytime With Venessa: The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester

Piper McCloud can fly!  But not everyone in Lowland County is as excited  about that as Piper is.  After causing a sensation with a fantastic display of her abilities, Piper is approached by Dr. Letitia Hellion, who runs I.N.S.A.N.E, an institute for children with extraordinary abilities like Piper.  Piper doesn't want to leave her ma and pa, but believes this is for the best.  She will be with other kids just like her, she might even be able to make friends!  Piper settles in at her new school but it takes time to learn the rules and put up with the light hazing from the other students.  But as Piper gets to know the other children, adapts to the rigorous schedule, it doesn't seem so bad.  In fact, she's starting to enjoy it, especially now that she's making friends.  But there is something sinister going on and Piper discovers they are not safe at I.N.S.A.N.E.


The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester is another great book Venessa and I read together.  As usual we have a video review with Venessa and my thoughts will follow.  V was a little impatient (she's been into MythBusters lately and we've been watching it on Netflix) so the video is not too long.  

My thoughts: I really like this book.  Piper is such a wonderful, strong and determined young lady.  She's kind but is not a push over.  I really liked the way her relationship with Conrad, the local genius at I.N.S.A.N.E., developed.  They were enemies but when Piper learned the truth about him, they banded together and became great friends.

There are some pretty harsh moments in this book. Some physical and emotional torture happens.  It's intense, but when I think about it, it's nothing different then what I've seen on Avatar: The Last Airbender.  I think it helps to generate conversation with your kids about people and their motives and most importantly, being true to yourself no matter what.

This book is very easy to read aloud but there's a lot of emotion going on and there were a couple of times where I was tearing up.  That don't help when you're reading aloud!  My one critique are the abilities of the children.  They are the usual flying, telekinesis, weather manipulation, etc. that you've seen in X-Men.  BUT, it's still a really enjoyable book because there are some very moving and surprising moments, such as the real motives of Dr. Hellion and that the children are not the only ones with amazing powers.  The end is left slightly open for a possible sequel.  I haven't read if there will be one or not but it ends in a way where you can let your imagination do the rest if there isn't, which I think is great.  

"Oh, and do take his wig, will you? We tried putting it in a cupboard, but it got out."

Stop the world.


I’d like to get off so I can climb aboard the giant flat disc, that sits on the back of four elephants, that stand upon a giant turtle floating through space, because Discworld seems to be where all the fun is at.  This was my second adventure with Terry Pratchett’s Discworld and this time I got to spend more time in Ankh-Morpork and I loved every minute of it.


In Going Postal by Terry Pratchett, con man Moist von Lipwig, is sentenced and “hanged” for his crimes.  But Lord Vetineri has other plans in mind for Moist, such as turning him into the new Postmaster!  Not a very prestigious profession for a con man but it’s better than being dead.


The Ankh-Morpork postal service has been out of commission for years and it’s backlogged with letters clogging the old building.  Moist has to contend with avalanches of old, undelivered mail bursting through doors, postal workers who “follow regulations” other than actually delivering the mail, the coaches are being run as a private business and the mail is actually speaking to Moist, asking to be delivered!  And all of the Postmasters before Moist have died under mysterious circumstances.  But Moist sees this as an opportunity to put his skills to work.  What does he have to lose?  He’s already “died” once.  Oh and he’s also up against The Grand Trunk, a company that runs the clacks that has been run down by the greed and corruption of its board members.


The clacks are a network of tall towers place at intervals (or on rooftops within the city limits of Ankh-Morpork) that send messages back and forth through a special code communicated through shutters and blinking lights.  Similar to the fire signals in The Return of the King, the semaphore line and the telegraph system.  They are the only means of communication since the breakdown of the postal service.  When Moist threatens the operators of The Grand Trunk when he actually starts delivery letters, things get very interesting.  There are plots to sabotage the other.  There is witty banter with veiled threats and a challenge issued that Moist has no hope of winning.


Moist is a fun character.  He is totally without honor and has no problem admitting it or even using his skills as a con man to make things work to his advantage.  But it’s all to help the struggling postal service regain its prominence.  He is charming and smart and it’s easy to forgive him for his “dishonorable ways”.


I was able to get to know Lord Vetineri, the Patrician and ruler of Ankh-Morpork.  I was introduced to him in Snuff but only briefly.  In Going Postal I got to see him in his full glory and I love this guy.  He is smart, ruthless and his battle of wits with Moist and the chairman of The Grand Trunk, Reacher Gilt, were the best parts of this book.  He is the ultimate puppet master!


This book, or rather, this world, from what I've seen so far, is just full of unique, oddball characters that you grow to love.  Terry Pratchett writes some great dialog too.  This is one of the handful of books that had me laugh out loud.  And maybe the only book that had me laughing out loud more than once.  It’s all Moist and his antics and the things he gets away with.  I think I’m just going to look upon this book dreamily as I wait for the weekend when I can go snap up more from Loud Voice Books who posted a pic of a pile of Discworld books they just got in.  I just hope there’s still some left when I get there!  But I will restrain myself from reading the entire series all at once.  There is a lot more to read out there but from my two positive experiences I’d like to keep these around as palate cleansers for those not-so-great reads that pop up now and again.  Basically, this was me after I finished reading Going Postal:

Storytime With Venessa: Avatar The Last Airbender – The Promise Part 1

It’s time for another episode of Storytime With Venessa! In this installment, Venessa and I will share our thoughts on Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Promise Part 1, which takes place a year after the events of the cartoon series.


The Hundred Year War is over.  To bring balance back to the world and to make things right with the Earth Kindgom, Fire Lord Zuko, along with Avatar Aang, are overseeing the removal of all Fire Nation colonies that settled in the Earth Kingdom during the war.  It's not an easy task.  Citizens of the Fire Nation are being asked to leave their homes, their livelihoods behind.  Many have never set foot in the Fire Nation before.  The new Fire Lord must balance out his commitment to do what is right for both the Earth Kingdom and his own people.


Below is Venessa expressing her thoughts and I will follow up with mine.

Take it away, Venessa!

   

My thoughts: I really like where they are going with this. I see hints of what is to come that sets up events for The Legend Of Korra. Even with the fun, teenage antics, there is a very serious side to this tale. It's the end of The Hundred Year War and it's dealing with reconstruction and how to handle the Fire Nation colonies that settled and developed deep roots in the Earth Kingdom. We also have a new Fire Lord who wants to do what is right but is still inexperienced when making decisions that will affect an entire nation.  It's some pretty heavy stuff for these young people to deal with.


I think my only critique is that we don't see how much Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph have really grown.  It has only been a year and we do know that Aang and Katara have been helping to relocate Fire Nation citizens.  But we don't really get to see how the war has affected or changed them.  I'm hoping we will get to see this in Parts 2 and 3.  We do get to see how it has affected Zuko and the pressure he is under as the new Fire Lord.  Zuko has been known to wrestle with what he knows is right and what is expected of him.  Now we get to see it under a whole new set of circumstances.  It's all still very engaging and entertaining and keeps you wanting more.  The artwork is great, the characters look just like they do from the cartoon but just different enough to show that some time has passed.  There is also the comedy balanced out with the depth that I've come to expect from this series.  I'm really looking forward to seeing what's next in Part 2.

The fateful magic flames await deep in the belly of the beast...

“Long ago, as the Firelings’ Story Stones tell, Belcher, then a blundering sky-creature, put his foot right through the sky and went falling into a sea of his own brine.  Deep in Belcher’s belly inner fires still kindled, and to appease his rumbling appetite hapless victims had occasionally to be sacrificed down what was called the Long Slip.  This had not happened for some time, but when Belcher again developed a bellyache and gave voice to his discomfort with cantankerous grumblings and growling, the Firelings began to whisper among themselves that the time had come for another victim to be sent the way of the Long Slip…”

The Firelings by Carol Kenall is a book I was on the hunt for but my sister kindly sent me a copy, along with two other Kendall books for Christmas.  I really enjoyed reading all three books and can see why my sister loves them too.  I have to say, ending with The Firelings was the best way to finish up this mini Kendall marathon read.  It is definitely the best of the three for me.  Each book just got better and better as I read.  The Firelings is really special though.  It really dug deeper emotionally than The Gammage Cup or The Whisper Of Glocken did.

The Firelings is also unique from the other two Kendall books because the enemy is not another group of people; its nature in the form of the volcano the Firelings call Belcher, and themselves.  I usually like to write my own summaries, but the one above perfectly captures what to expect from this book, without revealing too much and gives you an example of Kendall’s style of writing.  There is a lot going on in 252 pages and it’s done well.  We have a younger generation of Firelings, who don’t remember much from the last time a morsel was fed to Belcher, but they are determined that it will not happen again and work together to see that it doesn’t.  There are those of the older generation too, who will not be bullied and stand up to those who insist they sacrifice someone else to Belcher.

There are some very good twists and revelations that have you gripping the book tight.  I want to talk about some of the situations and the characters but I feel I will end up giving too much away and I think this book is better enjoyed not knowing anything else going in so you feel the surprise and excitement when you start to figure things out on your own.  And these characters are not slow to catch on either.  They are smart and brave, which just adds to the enjoyment of this book.  Another plus - and this will be the only slightly spoiler-ish bit I’ll add - is that nobody is paired up at the end.  You only get a sense of deep admiration these characters have for each other after everything that has happened and it’s just refreshing and wonderful.

I’d also like to point out the great cover art on my copy.  I really love the detail in it from the individual stones that make up the path, the green lichen on the rocks and the swirling purples, blues and orange used for the volcano and sky.  Having such lovely cover art to accompany an enjoyable book made this reading experience one of the best I’ve had so far this year.

Hear no evil, speak no evil, but the dead man must see the face of evil

I received a free Kindle copy (sorry, it's no longer free unless you have Amazon Prime) of this and read on my phone.  Not the most ideal reading experience, but slightly better than trying to read from a computer screen for me.  I ended up reading it because I had some time on my hands before my daughter’s softball game began.  So you know what that means… playing on the smart phone!  I decided to read something on the Kindle app so I look smart at least because my go-to games are usually Reversi, Spelling Sea or Army Sniper.  I don’t know if that’s anything to use to profile my personality that would disturb anyone, but I didn’t want to take any chances.  And I’d already checked FB and my email (I’m extremely thorough with my social networking).  But instead of jumping into The Three Musketeers, I went with THE DEAD MAN: FACE OF EVIL by Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin.

It starts out with a man, who dotes on his one and only daughter.  They are on a family ski trip.  His daughter, playing in the snow, happens to dig up the body of Matthew Cahill, who was lost and presumed dead in an avalanche three months earlier.  At least, he should have been...

The beginning, though not at all very interesting, was still written well enough to keep my interest to see what would happen next, especially after the little girl dug up the body.  I thought there was going to be some kind of murder mystery to be solved (I had not read any summaries for this story) so when the story jumped back in time to when Matthew was alive and well, that was when it really grabbed my attention because I thought I’d get to see who perhaps murdered him and buried him in the snow and why.  But when it started talking about the avalanche I started to give this the side eye.  Really?  An avalanche?  Come on, there has to be more!

There was.

Matthew Cahill is a simple (but not in the Simple Jack-simple kind of way), hard working, all around good guy.  He lost his wife to cancer and about a year later his coworker, Rachel, wants him to get over it so she can get into his pants.  She even cancels a room for a ski trip together so they have to share the same hotel room!  She’s a real winner!  But she does really care for him as you’ll learn.  They are out skiing and there’s the avalanche.  Rachel is able to get away from it but Matthew is not so lucky.  His body is dug up three months later and taken to the morgue.  It’s there that we discover that Matthew is not dead; he is alive!  When he comes to, all he wants is to just move on with his life, now that he has this second chance.  But there is something different about Matthew and he tries to ignore it.  He’s starting to see some people as they truly are, and it’s really really gross.  I mean, really, really gross.  He doesn’t want anything to do with it (and I don’t blame him because it is really, really gross), but it’s too late and now he’s out to discover what it all means.

There is nothing fancy with the writing.  It’s just plain, straight forward storytelling.  It actually reminded me of a one hour TV show, something like Supernatural, with its pacing and format.  This shouldn’t be a surprise after reading the bios of the authors who have both written for TV shows in the past.  Nothing for Supernatural, so they might want to get on that.  And I did imagine Jensen Ackles, who plays Dean Winchester, as Matthew Cahill, so there you go.

Yes, you, so don’t give me that look.  Just deal with it.

When I rated this on Goodreads, I would have given it 4 stars but I knocked it down.  There was a certain line that annoyed me.  Most readers may not be bothered by it, but it bothered me because it was similar to something that happened in The Difference Engine, which made me stop reading that book.  Overall, I did enjoy it.  It kept my interest and I’m curious enough to want to know what happens next in part 2, Ring Of Knives.  But be warned, there are some really, really gross parts so you might not want to eat while reading.

Or maybe wait 20 minutes after you do.

The Whisper Of Glocken by Carol Kendall

Hear the whisper, whisper, whisper,

That lost and far off whisper,

And remember, member, member,

The whisper of Glocken’s bell…

In this sequel to The Gammage Cup, The Whisper Of Glocken by Carol Kendall, returns us to the Land Between the Mountains where the small ones, known as the Minnipins, live.  The Watercress River is flooding and has already destroyed two villages.  To prevent the entire valley from flooding, five new reluctant heroes set out to discover the cause of the flooding and unblock the river if they can.

Our new brave Minnipins, hail from the village of Water Gap; Gam Lutie, the wise, village elder who is too concerned with her family treasure; Silky, a somewhat whiney, yet caring lass; Glocken, the town bell ringer and dreamer; Scumble, the fish presser and Crustabread, the wandering loner.  When they are taken in by the citizens of Slipper-On-The-Water, they are mistakenly tasked by the old heroes from The Gammage Cup to discover what is blocking the river.

This time the five new heroes must venture out of the valley, and there they discover new friends, a harsh desert and new threats that are much more formidable than the Mushrooms, who the Minnipins faced in The Gammage Cup.  I have to say, I liked this one a lot more.  I like that these new heroes had to step out of the comfort of their valley.  Their strength and wits are tested right away when they lose some of their supplies.  Water quickly becomes scarce and they must fight to survive as they encounter the harsh elements and some desert creatures that are not all that nice.  They have their moments when they become frustrated with each other, but they still look out for each other and do not give up.  And their adventures in the desert do not end there when they come upon the Hulks, giant-like men, who promise to help the Minnipins but who are not all that trustworthy.

In this book I liked Crustabread who reminded me a lot of Mingy from The Gammage Cup.  Crustabread keeps to himself and rarely speaks.  But when he does, he chooses his words carefully and makes a whole lot of sense and is very wise and strong, despite what others may have thought of him, having always kept to himself in their small village.  He’s the one who always kept a cool head, made decisions quickly and watched out for the others.  Think of him as the Daryl Dixon of the Minnipin world.

Except Crustabread didn't have a cool crossbow

But each character has their moment to shine and you grow to care for all of them, even if they start out annoying, like Glocken did.  Oh lord, did that boy test my patience at first.  When he finally met his heroes face to face, after all his dreaming and building them up to be perfect and without fault in his mind, he was very disappointed and really rude.  But eventually he changed and grew on me.

This time I only had one minor issue regarding the collateral damage near the end.  I won’t get into it, it will give too much of the story away and I would like others to experience it themselves.  It’s a very well written story, it kept me on the edge of my seat and I was pretty happy with the way the story was wrapped up.  At the beginning of each chapter are cute poems and maxims and there are some nice illustrations peppered throughout, which adds to the character of the book.  If you get the chance to read it I think you'll enjoy it.

Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed

Adoulla Makhslood, ghul hunter, the last of his kind, is enjoying a relaxing morning with his tea, when he is approached by the dervish, Raseed, his apprentice and a young boy, Faisal, the nephew of an old flame of Adoulla’s. Faisal witnessed the death of his parents who were attacked by ghuls and Adoulla’s old flame, Miri, has asked for his help to track down the ghuls responsible. As Adoulla and Raseed leave the confines of the city of Dhamsawaat, they cross paths with Zamia, a tribeswoman who has the gift of taking on the shape of a lioness. She is after the same ghuls who have killed her father and her tribe. Together, along with the help of the alchemist Litaz and her husband Dawoud, they must find the person responsible for these heinous ghul attacks while avoiding a power struggle between the ruling Khalif and the hero-of-the-people thief known as the Falcon Prince.

I have to admit I didn’t really give this book my full attention as I should have. Lately I’ve been watching some Dark Shadows, and then I rewatched The Walking Dead to lead up to the season finale. Also, my husband has been watching Supernatural. Do you know how hard it is not to pay attention to that show while you’re trying to read?! It’s all yelling, shooting, scary music that you have to look to see what the heck is going on, then you cover your face with your book because it’s gross then you peek over the top to see what happens next! Anyways, even if I didn’t give this book the attention it deserved I really enjoyed it and I'd like to read more adventures. According to Goodreads, it’s #1 of The Crescent Moon Kingdoms and I’m hoping that means there will be more because there is great world building and characters in this book.

There’s political intrigue as we see people choosing to side with the Falcon Prince or the Khalif, even amongst Adoulla and his apprentice. There’s magic, both good and evil, with its limits and rules that are unique. The action is quick and exciting, which you get to see from different points of view that would seem like it would be repetitive but it's not. There is a hint of romance but it didn’t dominate the story and there are relationships that are not wrapped up neatly in the end. There’s also great dialogue and character interaction that feels natural. Adoulla and his friends Litaz and Dawould have known each other for years and you get a sense of that and it’s very believable. It also has young, headstrong characters balanced out with older and wiser characters. They have all made mistakes and learn from them, they are not perfect yet that’s what makes each of these characters very interesting.

This story is also full of descriptions of the sights and smells that fully immerse you into this world. You really get a sense of the Crescent Moon Kingdoms, without revealing too much. There’s a lot there to be explored. It definitely leaves the story open for more adventures to be told and I’m totally on board to read more.

Storytime With Venessa: Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies

Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies by Andrea Beaty is about twins, Joules and Kevin, who have been sent to Camp Whatsitooya while their parents attend the annual SPAM convention. All is normal at camp until strange happenings begin to occur: missing candy, camp counselors acting strangely, large amounts of marshmallow fluff ordered and served to the campers. It’s up to Joules and Kevin, along with Nelson, a fellow camper, to figure out what is happening and try to save the other campers and the world from the Fluffs!

While I participated in the Science Fiction Experience, I thought it would be fun to find a book I could read to Venessa that fit in as well. Here is Venessa talking about how much she liked the book and I’ll follow with my opinion.

(Disclaimer: Things get a bit… out of hand. And we are in no way Detroit Tigers fans. Oakland A's all the way! (though we do not approve of the Manny Ramirez signing but anyways...) Venessa’s softball team is called the Tigers. This is her first year playing so she’s pretty excited.)

Alright, enough from me, here’s Venessa!

Additional thoughts about this book from a parent’s point of view: I purposely chose this book because 1) it was one of the few sci-fi books I was able to track down (not that my search was that intense) for children her age 2) the silly title seemed like something that would amuse Venessa and 3) the story included a female character.

A lot of the sci-fi children’s books I did find did not include any female characters in the summaries. I was very disappointed! I wanted my daughter to know that it’s not only the boys who can have all the fun adventures. I really like Joules in this book. She’s right there, on equal ground, ready to save the other campers, along with her brother, and was ready to fight the Fluffs!

This was a fun book to read aloud. There were some tongue tied moments but there’s some fun interaction in this book with short comic panels and charts. There are parts that really make you chuckle. It’s a book that’s best experienced with a young one where you can build up the suspense and use silly voices to entertain them as you read.

These Fuzzy Wuzzies are no bears and these Fuzzy Wuzzies have lots of hair!

Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi is about a stereotypical large corporation that exploits planets for its natural resources. Jack Holloway, a disbarred lawyer, now a contractor for the ZaraCorp, is mining a claim on the planet Zara XXIII. He’s been in some trouble not just as a lawyer, but as a contractor as well, accused of letting his dog set off explosives. But his luck is about to change when he discovers a sunstone seam (the diamonds of the future, that the ZaraCorp has a monopoly on already). In a paperwork snafu, he’s entitled to a share that will make him very wealthy. But his discovery of a sentient race on Zara XXIII puts that in jeopardy.

Think of this as a Law & Order/Erin Brockovich of the future. There are a lot of courtroom antics which I found surprising for a Sci-Fi book. But it was still engaging and I found I couldn’t put this book down.

Jack Holloway is an interesting character. He is selfish and rude but there is an honorable streak in him. Being a lawyer in the past, he can manipulate the system to get what he wants. It’s often hurt people in the past but he’s learned his lesson and you can’t help but root for him when he stands up for himself and the fuzzys.

You will also fall in love with the fuzzys, the sentient creatures discovered on Zara XXIII. My favorite parts of the book was their interaction with Jack and his dog; the way they just made themselves at home, making sandwiches, taking over Jack’s bed.

The dialogue in this book is great too. It flows easily, sounds natural, it’s interesting and funny. It felt like it could easily transfer to screen. Another big plus are the names. You can actually pronounce them out loud and not feel silly!

The courtroom scenes had me biting my nails wondering what Jack was up to and what would happen to the fuzzys. Overall the book was paced nicely. It didn’t have a lot of action but the character interactions, plot and dialogue made this a real page turner.

Consider the plasmoids …

“Ancient living machines that after millennia of stillness suddenly begin to move under their own power, for reasons that remain a mystery to men. Holati Tate discovered them – then disappeared. Trigger Argee was his closest associate – she means to find him. She’s brilliant, beautiful, and skilled in every known martial art. She’s worth plenty – dead or alive – to more than one faction in this obscure battle. And she’s beginning to have a chilling notion that the long-vanished Masters of the Old Galaxy were wise when they exiled the plasmoids to the most distant and isolated world they knew…”

It was a combination of the book cover and this summary on the back of the book that prompted me to pick it up at The Book Shelf. It even generated some funny looks from a couple of coworkers. Mission: Accomplished! Because, yes, it’s as cheesy, campy and pulpy as it sounds and looks and I love this book for it!

Legacy by James H. Schmitz was very James Bond-ish with it’s over the top and at times confusing storyline. It’s the dynamic between Trigger Argee and Major Quillan that made me think of James Bond (the Sean Connery years of course). These two have major chemistry and it’s obvious they are attracted to each other. But of course Major Quillan will say things and it’s very rakish and he’s full of himself and Trigger has to put him in his place, sound offended and when he kisses her she ends up swooning. Normally, I don’t care about this but these two make it work and it’s just… hot! (I can’t believe I just wrote that! But it’s not like I have any credibility to worry about so, there you go.)

Seriously, something is wrong with me though. First I’m all, “Look at me, I’m a big girl, swooning is so last season”, then I call out Asimov for his awkward attempt at playfulness between a married couple, now, here I am, getting all swoony over a book that had plenty of awkward moments (and a VERY awkward ogling scene)! But, in my defense, if you imagined Cupid as Major Quillan, well…

Hello, Nurse!

Trigger. Trigger, Trigger, Trigger. You have an awesome name! She did get knocked out one too many times, which bothered me a lot when it happened to Katniss in Mockingjay. But not so much in Legacy. Maybe because I like Trigger a lot more than Katniss. However, this book is lucky it was written in 1962 because I would not stand for someone calling my “doll” all the time! And the “Argee Lilt”! *SIGH* Trigger took it like a champ and got her zingers in. I think I’m going to have to use “ape” now in honor of Trigger whenever a man says something… man-ish (which will be all the time!). But she’s tough, will kick your ass if you try to lie to her and she saved the day!

I don’t know what else to say about this book. It’s got action, there's a mystery to be solved and for being crude at times I couldn’t put it down. I look at it, shake my head and laugh. Should I be ashamed? Nope. In fact, this is definitely a book I’ll be rereading in the future!

And look! It’s available for free on Project Guteberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21510

Don’t you dare try to reboot this Hollywood

Unfortunately, my only exposure to Starship Troopers had been the movie. Not a good first impression. But, as usually happens, you hear that the movie is nothing like the book. I’d been hearing this for years but never bothered to find out for myself. Then the Science Fiction Experience came along. I knew my first non-group read book would have to be Starship Troopers for the Sci-Fi Experience.

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein is the story of Johnnie Rico. We watch him grow from wide eyed student who defies his parents to join the Mobile Infantry, to become a seasoned officer during the Bug War.

I have a thing with stories about military men, watching them rise through the ranks (Aubrey/Maturin books, the Sharpe series, Horatio Hornblower). I love reading the development of a scared young man turning into - not a killing machine - but a confident, capable officer, who is respected by his peers. When done right it’s fascinating to read.

This book reminded me a lot of Full Metal Jacket. It’s got all the interesting boot camp adventures (minus the homicide/suicide) with the war time experience. I don’t know if it’s much of a spoiler but I’ll put the alert here just in case [SPOILER ALERT] but since the story is in the first person POV, Johnnie Rico does survive to the end of the book. It reminded me of the end of another military movie, The Big Red One (watch this movie, it's good!), how it was dedicated to the survivors. In a way, it felt like that's what this book was doing as well.

The only thing I had an issue with was a snippet of a review on the book cover saying the book had these "elegantly drawn battle scenes". Was I reading the same book as them? There were a couple but they were not that long. The one at the end, while exciting, I found a bit confusing trying to wrap my head around who was where and where did some of these platoon sergeants come from. Plus, it didn't last very long. I love my battles (don't even get me started on A Clash of Kings) but I was fine that there were not these long drawn out battles. There was enough going on following Johnnie on his journey to make this a good read.

And why was this book so controversial? Was it the idea it presented that a citizen could not vote until they served in the military? Was it because some felt it glorified war and the military?

I can see taking issue with the voting thing. I think I contribute enough to society that I have earned the right to vote. But I didn't think it glorified war or the military. I think what it did do was shine a spotlight on the sacrifices and hard work the men and women of the military go through. It showed a spoiled rich kid who was determined to make his own way, who didn't quit despite the rough boot camp experience and making some mistakes. He stuck with his decision and had pride in what he was doing; nothing wrong with that and one of the reasons why I like Johnnie Rico.

In the end, this book made me hate the movie even more so than I did before I read it. So, no, Hollywood, you do not have permission to reboot this to try and make it up to me. But if you must, promise to use the model set before you by movies such as Batman Begins, X-Men: First Class and Star Trek. This book deserves so much more.