Perfect Scoundrels

Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter

Kat's got a new job with an intriguing new client-- Marcus. Hazel Hale has died and left the control of Hale Industries to Hale with her lawyer as the trustee. It doesn't pass the smell test to Marcus, so he hires Kat to find the real will. But whomever changed the will knows the truth about Hale and Kat and isn't afraid to use it against them. Kat's a little too close to this one. She's conning a conner, and the consequences are personal.

Guys, you know how much I love Ally Carter. Lots of action, lots of twists, lots of romantic tension and great supporting characters. This third installment in the Heist Society series does not disappoint.

I liked how the con was a change of pace, and how much more of the family got involved. I liked Kat's complicated feelings when she notices how her uncles are aging and what a central role she and her gang are starting to take. I like that she's not really at peace with it, even at the end of the book. I also really like the examination of the fact that Hale is part of Kat's world, but he's not. There's a whole side to him that she doesn't know and she isn't sure she likes it. I really appreciate and enjoy the way Carter can have her characters grapple with some big issues, and not always find solutions to them, without it taking away from the action and adventure.

There's a reason she's one of my favorites and this book just further solidifies that.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Nonfiction Monday: Haunted Histories

Haunted Histories: Creepy Castles, Dark Dungeons, and Powerful Palaces by JH Everett, illustrated by Marilyn Scott-Waters.

I'm taking a break from the covering the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction longlist to bring you something else that I just read.

Virgil is a ghostorian-- a historian with a magic time-travel device that allows him to go to any place in any time and talk to ghosts to get a good sense of what really happened there.

He uses these powers to take us to many castles around the world to show how hard (and disgusting) life really was, especially for the many people who WEREN'T royalty, but still lived there.

In a lot of ways, this is very similar to the You Wouldn't Want to Be... series, but for a slightly older audience. The content isn't that older, but the trim size and presentation will make it appeal to readers who might dismiss the You Wouldn't Want to Be... books as looking too young.

It's a fun look at the dark and gritty side of castle life, focusing on why castles tended to exist in the first place-- fortresses to protect and defend during war time. It also spends a lot of time on dungeons and torture.

I'm not sure on the who "ghostorian" angle-- it wasn't played up a lot and so when it did happen, I was like "wait, what? OH YEAH! THAT!" I think they could have done A LOT more with that bit. Or cut it entirely.

I do really like that it covered castles outside of Europe. I also really liked the "funny" castles. Hellbrunn Water palace was a designed by the Prince Archbishop, and was a way for him to play a million water-based practical jokes on visitors.

It's not a book you'll quote in a research paper, but it is a fun book that may inspire you to pick up some more on the topic.

Today's Nonfiction Monday is over at Shelf-Employed.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

52 Reasons to Hate my Father

52 Reasons to Hate My Father Jessica Brody

Lexington Larrabee has just crashed her $500,000 custom-built Mercedes into a convenience store. She's a spoiled brat and her father decides that if she wants that $25mil trust fund, it's time she got a job. He picks 52 different minimum wage jobs and she has to work each one for a week.

Of course, Daddy can't be bothered to see if she does them-- that's what he has Luke the intern for. Just like Bruce the lawyer and Caroline the PR head tell her all the family news. And the gardener and butler and nannies are the ones who actually raised her.

Lexi has heard her father say that he loves her 4 times-- all on TV, and none actually to her. She may be a spoiled brat that the tabloids love, but she's also deeply lonely and it's very easy to see why she's so troubled.

Overall the book is just really well done-- it's a funny and quick read, but Lexi's character development is paced just right-- it doesn't happen overnight and it's fun to see what jobs she really takes to, once she gets her head in the game. It's easy to feel sorry for Lexi, but you don't want to actually like her, but after awhile, it's really hard not to.

A very fun read.

More importantly, I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately. Part of it is committee work and committee recovery. Part of it is parenting a toddler. Part of that is addicting video games. But a large part is just lost mojo. I mean, with the exception of the toddler, none of the other factors are exactly new. But this weekend, I finished reading 2 books. And then I read 2 more cover-to-cover. That used to be fairly standard for a weekend. Will the mojo come back? I think/hope so. If it does though, this book deserves a lot of the credit.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

The Rumpelstiltskin Problem

The Rumpelstiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande Velde

A few years ago, the blogosphere was excited about, and in love with, Vande Velde's Cloaked in Red, a book thta poked all the holes in the story of Little Red Riding Hood and then filled them in and new and interesting ways. It's a fantastic book.

Imagine my surprise and delight when I was in the stacks and discovered that Cloaked in Red was not the first time she had done this! The Rumpelstiltskin Problem came out in 2001 and takes a good, hard look at the many, many holes in this story.

1. Why the #%$! would the miller tell the king his daughter could spin straw into gold?
2. Why did the king believe him? If she really could, wouldn't the miller and his daughter be super rich?
3. If Rumplestiltskin could spin straw into gold, why would he accept a simple gold ring as payment for creating a lot more gold than that?
4. Why would the miller's daughter agree to marry a guy who kept threatening to behead her?
5. If someone is guessing your name, why are you dancing around a campfire singing it loudly?


Vande Velde has many possible explanations-- a troll who just wants to eat a baby. A father and king who've had a little too much to drink. An ugly, bitter woman who is lonelier than anything. A queen who just wants the king to notice their daughter...

Short, fun, and thought-provoking, you'll never look at the story of Rumplestiltskin again.

I do, however, wish they had kept the paperback cover. It's a little young, but must more appealing.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Nonfiction Monday: Temple Grandin

It's Nonfiction Monday! I'm still highlighting the books that made this year's YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults vetted nominations list.


Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World Sy Montgomery

Temple's father wanted to institutionalize her, but her mother stood up for her and tried to find her all the help she could. Growing up with autism is rarely, if ever, easy, but when Temple did it (born in 1947), it didn't even had a name yet. But Temple found a way to get what she needed and managed to turn her love of cows into a career that has completely changed the way we handle livestock, especially cows.

Montgomery's biography does a wonderful job at explaining how Temple's mind works, really giving readers a sense of what it's like to be in her head. She also does a great job of explaining Temple's work and why it's important.

It's a fascinating book, written in a very engaging style. I think Temple's story of how she changed life for cows and how cows behave would be interesting on its own, but with the story of how her brain works and the obstacles that has put in her path it adds an extra level.

Today's Nonfiction Monday roundup is over at Wrapped in Foil. Check it out!

Book Provided by... the publisher, for awards consideration

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Nonfiction Monday: Amazing Harry Kellar

The Amazing Harry Kellar: Great American Magician by Gail Jarrow.

I'm covering all the books on the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults list of vetted nominations. Here' the next one!

Harry Kellar was amazingly famous in his time, one of the world's first superstars, but outside of magic circles, he's almost entirely unknown today.

The large, heavily illustrated format of this book may want you to put it with the picture books, and younger kids will enjoy it, but I think teens will love it. It's heavily illustrated with Kellar's advertising posters. Kellar was a master at PR, and the posters don't have the same effect if they're reproduced on a smaller size.

In addition to telling Kellar's life and career, Jarrow excels at explaining why magic and spiritualism were so popular at the turn of the 19th century. She also breaks the magician's code and tells us how many of his illusions and tricks worked.

It's a fun and fascinating book, with a really cool design that will appeal to a really wide range of readers. I think it will be avoided because of its size, but take a second look, and you won't be disappointed.

Today's Nonfiction Monday Roundup is over at Abby the Librarian. Check it out!


Book Provided by... the publisher, for awards consideration.

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Cinders and Sapphires

Cinders & Sapphires by Leila Rasheed.

Bookshelves of Doom described this one as The Luxe meets Downton Abbey. As both are things I adore, how could I say no?

It's 1910. After many years in India, the Averlys are back at Somerton, but whispers of the scandal that caused Lord Westlake his job have followed them. Ada is a beautiful and bookish, and longs to be allowed to attend Oxford, but must marry well to save the estate. On the boat back to England, a brief encounter with a super-hott Indian boy (on his way to Oxford) leaves her breathless. But, once back at Somerton, there's a new stepmother, a cruel stepsister, and Rose. Rose was a childhood friend, the daughter of the housekeeper. Lord Westlake as taken a keen interest in her and elevates her to Lady's Maid, but the servants don't like it and she gets advice from all the wrong corners. Fancy dresses! Scheming servants! A boy she loves that her father would never approve of vs. a good match with a good guy who will let her follow her dreams...

I wanted to like this more than I did. I needed more from Charlotte to make her more than just an evil step-sister. The narrative sometimes goes to other characters (mostly Rose and the stepbrother Sebastian) but mostly sticks to Ada. A little less Ada and more of the other characters (would *love* to get some of Ravi's point of view) would have rounded it out a little more. Ada and Ravi are super insta-love, which bugged me. I liked the relationship as it grew, but I wasn't entirely sure what attracted them to each other in the first place, especially given their very different stations. The foreshadowing and clues about the BIG SURPRISE at the end were also pretty heavy--something that would have worked better if the entire story were a little more fleshed out. I just wanted more. All that said, it was still a fun read. I liked many of the characters and want to know more, especially about the minor ones. It's definitely the first in a series, with some very ominous things left hanging, so be on the lookout for book 2.

ARC Provided by... the publisher, at ALA.

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Dust Girl

Dust Girl: The American Fairy Trilogy Book 1 Sarah Zettel

Callie has always known she was half-black. That's why her mother made sure to keep her out the sun, so she could pass as white--something crucial for survival in their small Kansas town in the 1920s and 30s. Callie's mother holds out hope that Callie's father will return, but some things are weird.

Why doesn't her father return and why is her mother so certain he will? Her father was a pianist and his piano is still there, why won't Callie's mother let her play it?

And then... Callie does play it. And the biggest dust storm yet comes and takes her mother away. And that's when the fairies find Callie, because Callie's not just half-black, she's half-fairy, and her father's refusal to marry a princess of the Seelie court in honor of Callie's mother makes Callie (a) a princess of the Unseelie court and heir to the throne (b) a target (c) a pawn in a political game that she doesn't understand at all.

I picked this up because of Leila's review at Kirkus. She doesn't oversell it. It's a great read and a great adventure. I loved the distinctly Modern American takes of the Seelie and Unseelie courts and the role race plays. The setting is wonderful and I love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love the role that music, especially Dust Bowl era folk and blues, plays in this story. Not sure I'll EVER hear "Midnight Special" the same way again (and that's a good thing.)

Zettel is an adult author and this is her first book for teens. It doesn't show. It doesn't fall into the usual traps of dumbing down/didactic/talking down to the reader that many books written by adult authors who want to jump on the YA bandwagon tend to fall into.

I'm very excited about Golden Girl, the second book which comes out in June. I AM NOT EXCITED BY THAT COVER. I don't 100% agree with Leila's take about the whitewash on the cover of Dust Girl (except the hair). But Golden Girl looks like a whitewash to me.


Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Nonfiction Monday: The Long List: Face Book

I return to Nonfiction Monday!

As you may remember, I was a member of the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction this year. In December we announced our short list and last week we announced our winner (Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin.

BUT. In addition to the winner and the finalists, the committee also publishes a "long list" of vetted nominations. This year's long list is shorter than previous years-- that's because previously, the long list was official nominations, this year it's vetted, so the committee voted to see if we wanted to say a book was excellent or not. While this change makes for a shorter list, I'm personally very happy about it because I think it makes for a much STRONGER list. Before the list was "here are the books the committee seriously looked at." Now the list is "here are the books the committee seriously looked at that didn't make the top 5, but were still damn good."

So, for the next weeks, I'll be highlighting the titles on the long list, because while they didn't make the top 5 books of the year, they are still damn good.

Chuck Close: Face Book Chuck Close.

At first glance, this book looks a little young for an award geared 12+, but once you delve into it, you'll see that there's a lot here for older readers, too.

Close is a painter who only does portraits and self-portraits. While his style has changed over the years, he's mostly known for his works that are made up of small geometric shapes and colors that, when you step back, make a face. He said he got the idea from crochet, and how you can crochet up all these little motifs and then when you sew them together, BAM! blanket! Even more amazing for a guy who only does portraits, is that he suffers from a condition called face-blindness.

In addition to face blindness, he's in a wheelchair and can't hold a paint brush, due to a collapsed artery in his late 40s. He paints with a brush strapped to his arm and has giant canvases on a system that lifts and lowers them so he can reach.

The book itself is a series of questions and answers from a class visit to his studio (and this is where it skews young-- the class was in elementary school.) BUT, despite this, Close's journey and struggles with dyslexia as a child and a close examination of his many techniques and how he overcomes his current physical limitations so they don't limit him, will hold interest for a large age range.

Also, it's crammed full of images of Close's work with close-up details so readers can really see how the techniques are done and how they fit together. A super-fun part is a series of self-portraits cut into thirds, so readers can flip between and create new combinations (like those books where you get different strips for the heads, middles, and feet and can make crazy combos).

Today's Nonfiction Monday roundup is over at Apples with Many Seeds.

Book Provided by... the publisher, for award consideration.

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.