Weekly Geeks

Everything changes. Weekly Geeks is ending after this week. I didn't always participate and always wished I did it more regularly, but it was a fun meme.

It was started by Dewey, an energetic book blogger who passed away in 2008. She had hinted to health problems and pain on her blog a few times, but I don't think any of us realized how serious it was or even if they were related. One day there was a post from her husband telling us that she was gone. But she left her mark. Weekly Geeks lived for 3 more years until participation has slowed to the point where it's now ending. But Dewey's biannual 24-hour Read-a-Thon is still going strong. She was big on connecting bloggers to other bloggers and I think she'd be happy that 3 years later, she's still succeeding in getting us all to play together.

And now, one of my favorite weekly geek memes, which has been repeated a few times, is when I post my list of unreviewed books, and you ask me questions about those books, so it's easier for me to write my review. They're in order I read them. It does not include books I've already written preliminary reviews for (so, that's huge Cybils backlog from 2009 isn't included.) It may make you feel better about your reviewing backlog to note that my backlog starts way back in April 2007. Oiy vey. I obviously need your help.

2007:


Midnight at the Dragon Cafe Judy Fong Bates
Name Me Nobody Lois-Ann Yamanaka
Chicks with Sticks: (Knit Two Together) Elizabeth Lenhard







2008:

The Murder Of Bindy Mackenzie Jaclyn Moriarty
The Spell Book Of Listen Taylor Jacyln Moriarty
Shopgirl Steve Martin
An Order of Amelie, Hold the Fries Nina Schindler
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds Pual Zindel
Feeling Sorry for Celia Jaclyn Moriarty
The Year Of Secret Assignments Jaclyn Moriarty
Toning The Sweep Angela Johnson
Nothing But The Truth Avi
Cathy's Book: If Found Call 650-266-8233 Sean Stewart, Jordan Weisman
Shooter Walter Dean Myers
Middle School Is Worse Than Meatloaf: A Year Told Through Stuff Jennifer Holm
The Winning Element (The Specialists) Shannon Greenland
Native Tongue (The Specialists) Shannon Greenland

2009:

Born Too Short: The Confessions of an Eighth-Grade Basket Case Dan Elish
A Girl, a Boy, and a Monster Cat Gail Gauthier
A Girl, A Boy, and Three Robbers Gail Gauthier
Ballet Shoes Noel Streatfeild
Winter's Child (Once Upon a Time) Cameron Dokey
Snow (Once Upon a Time) Tracy Lynn
Midnight Pearls (Once Upon a Time) Debbie Viguie

2010:

The London Eye Mystery Siobhan Down
The Nine Pound Hammer (The Clockwork Dark, Book 1) John Claude Bemis
Wild Things Clay Carmichael
The Shrouding Woman Loretta Ellsworth
Ransom My Heart Meg Cabot and Mia Thermopolis
The Birthday Ball Lois Lowry
Posh and Prejudice (Diary of a Chav) Grace Dent
A Whole Nother Story Dr. Cuthbert Soup
Only the Good Spy Young (Gallagher Girls) Ally Carter
Zombies vs. Unicorns Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

The Unsinkable Walker Bean Aaron Renier
The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker (Strangely Beautiful) Leanna Renee Hieber
Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, Book 3) Suzanne Collins
Bad Kitty Gets a Bath Nick Bruel
e Squared: A Novel Matt Beaumont
Fables Vol. 14: Witches Bill Willingham
Free-Range Kids, How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry) Lenore Skenazy
A Hat Full of Sky: The Continuing Adventures of Tiffany Aching and the Wee Free Men Terry Prachett

2011:

Shades of Grey: A Novel Jasper Fforde
Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee Robert van Gulik (translator)
Paul Is Undead Alan Goldsher
Stink and the Incredible Super-Galactic Jawbreaker (Book #2) Megan McDonald
Sideways Stories from Wayside School Louis Sachar
The Popularity Papers: Book Two: The Long-Distance Dispatch Between Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang Amy Ignatow
Wolf Mark Joseph Bruchac
Lost and Found: Three by Shaun Tan Shaun Tan
Hush Eishes Chayil
Twilight of Avalon: A Novel of Trystan & Isolde Anna Elliot
Queen of Babble Meg Cabot
One of Our Thursdays Is Missing: A Novel Jasper Fforde
Jack of Fables Vol. 8: The Fulminate Blade Bill Willingham
Fury of the Phoenix Cindy Pon



So, any books you want me to review first? Any burning questions? ASK AWAY!

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.

Smart Dog

A review that originally ran in The Edge of the Forest:

Smart Dog by Vivian Vande Velde (Magic Carpet Books: October 2007, reissue)

Amy doesn’t have many friends, and is the easy target of the mean girl Kaitlyn. One day, walking to school, trying to time it so she arrives late enough to not make herself stand out and early enough so she’s not late, she meets a dog. This dog doesn’t do the normal doggy things, but instead asks very politely for help. A talking dog? It turns out that Sherlock is a science experiment from the local university and he escaped the lab to avoid having his brain dissected.

All Amy has to do is convince her parents to let her keep Sherlock and to keep him away from the graduate students who are trying to bring him back to the lab. However, with Sherlock’s helpful advice (plus the advantages of having an adorable dog) Amy is able to find the inner strength to make some friends and stand up to Kaitlyn once and for all.

Kaitlyn is the perfect mean girl, and their teacher, Sister Mary Grace is not the stereotypical nun, but rather the perfect balance of discipline and fun.

Smart Dog is honest and funny, veering into slapstick in areas. Middle grade girls will respond to the mean-girl drama and animal lovers are sure to fall for the lovable Sherlock.

Book Provided by... The Edge of the Forest, for review

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.

Booking Through Thursday

Today's Booking Through Thursday is a must answer, even if there's only one minute left in Thursday (at least in my time zone)

Sometimes I feel like the only person I know who finds reading history fascinating. It’s so full of amazing-yet-true stories of people driven to the edge and how they reacted to it. I keep telling friends that a good history book (as opposed to some of those textbooks in school that are all lists and dates) does everything a good novel does–it grips you with real characters doing amazing things.

Am I REALLY the only person who feels this way? When is the last time you read a history book? Historical biography? You know, something that took place in the past but was REAL.

Regular readers know that I love history. It's the second largest section on my bookshelves (After fiction.) I even majored in it instead of literature. I think one of the reasons why I love studying history over literature is because history is all about the story, the who, what, where, when, and why. It isn't about the metaphor or craft which are things I enjoy analyzing, but not as much as character and plot. History is all character and plot.

So to answer the question, when was the last time I read a history book? Yesterday.

The last two books I've read were history. One, A Girl Named Faithful Plum: The True Story of a Dancer from China and How She Achieved Her Dream will be reviewed in an upcoming issue of School Library Journal. It's a biography of a ballet dancer in post-Cultural Revolution, pre-Tian'anmen China and her experiences at the Beijing Dance Academy. The other, Firestorm at Peshtigo: A Town, Its People, and the Deadliest Fire in American History is about the Peshtigo fire, a largely forgotten tragedy. I reviewed it yesterday.

My book I'm currently lusting after is history-- To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918. WWI, dissent, and England? YES PLEASE!

History is gripping and beautiful. Heartbreaking and inspiring. It is the story of us as humanity. Sometimes I marvel at the fact we survived it all, but we're still here, just making even more history.



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.

Last Little Blue Envelope

The Last Little Blue Envelope Maureen Johnson

It's the Christmas after Ginny returned from Europe. She and Keith are still in a weird transatlantic thing. Maybe. She hasn't heard from him lately. Then Ginny gets a message from someone who has the envelope that got stolen at the end of 13 Little Blue Envelopes, so she's off to England to surprise Keith and finish the journey she began last summer. But, Oliver has other plans. He won't give Ginny the envelope. He's memorized it and if she wants it, he gets to come with her and they'll sell the artwork as soon as they get back and he gets half the cash. Keith won't let Ginny travel alone with such a f***wad and so he's in, too. With Ellis, his new girlfriend.

I'm conflicted about this book. I loved seeing Europe in winter and revisiting some of the places Ginny had gone the previous summer. It has a lot of the same feel of adventure and travelogue of the first book. BUT. The romantic subplot is just SO WRONG AND HORRIBLE that it completely ruined the book for me. There's more on my Spoiler blog, because I have to talk about the very end, so it's spoilery, and full of adult language and no astricks.

ARC Provided by... publisher at ALA

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Firestorm at Peshtigo

Firestorm at Peshtigo: A Town, Its People, and the Deadliest Fire in American History Denise Guss and William Lutz

On October 8, 1871, Peshtigo, WI burned down. A combination of drought, wide spread and intense forest fires, and a storm system that most likely spawned an F5 tornado combined to create a firestorm that the armed forces would study in WWII to plan the firebombings of Dresden and Tokyo.

There was a tornado of fire, 1000 feet high and 5 miles wide. Sand was turned to glass. A billion tress in Wisconsin's virgin forest were gone--a forest so thick and dense you couldn't walk through it in a straight line, with trees 180 feet tall and so thick two people couldn't hold hands around them. Embers and shrapnel from exploding trees set fire to boats docked 7 miles offshore. The peat bogs smoked for a year afterwards.

Peshtigo had 2000 known residents. 1800 died. Many others outside of Peshtigo, on both sides of the Bay of Greeny Bay died for an estimated death count of 2500. It's hard to say-- no one knew how many people were in the area. Lumberjacks and railway crews mean a transient population. Immigrants arrived on a regular basis, including a boatload the day before. Plus, the fire burned so hot that all that was left of many of the dead was a pile of ashes that then blew away in the storm.

It's the deadliest fire in US history and one of the deadliest natural disasters. (Galveston's the worst, Johnstown or Peshtigo are second and third. Using the numbers that Gess and Lutz put forth, Pestigo was more deadly than the Johnstown Flood.)

Despite all this, have you ever heard of it?

I'm guessing you haven't, and I know why--it took place on the same night as the Great Chicago Fire. We learned about it in school, mainly because we were closer to Peshtigo (about 50 miles north of Green Bay) than Chicago. Even in school though, it was taught alongside Chicago, more of a "by the way, the same night Peshtigo burned down and did a lot more damage and killed a lot more people." I always thought it was coincidence that both fires happened at the same night.

No. Fires had been raging in the upper midwest for months. A prairie fire that swept from the Dakotas, across Minnesota, hit the Wisconsin woods where it met with fires already burning. Coupled with a severe weather pattern on the 8th and large portions of the upper midwest burned on October 8th. Not just in Chicago and NE Wisconsin, but large chunks of Michigan, too.

And when morning dawned, help was hard to come by. The telegraph lines had burned and when they could get their pleas to Green Bay, Milwaukee, Madison, they had already dispatched any supplies they had on hand to Chicago.

This is an excellent social history of Peshtigo before, during, and after the fire. It focuses mainly on the people and the town. It briefly mentions the Michigan fires, but doesn't really talk about them. It does talk about the Chicago fire. I could have used a little more "big picture" to see how much burned that night.

My only other complaint is the way they use "Green Bay" is confusing. Green Bay refers to two things-- the city and the actual bay in Lake Michigan that the city (and Peshtigo) are on. In the Green Bay area, we tend to say Green Bay for the city and the more clear, if a bit redundant "Bay of Green Bay" for the body of water. The book doesn't distinguish between the two and sometimes I thought they were talking about town when they were talking about the bay and vice versa.

Where the book really comes alive is in the prose. Gess and Lutz are both known for their fiction writing and they bring that imagery to this book, so we get passages like this:

Most firest are containable, controllable; few ever reach dangerous proportions. In a firestorm, size is not as important as intensity, unpredictability, and the kaleidoscopic effects produced from such extremes of heat and movement. A firestorm's operatic voice displays incredible range, from the barely audible soft cackle to the roar. Its choreography is multipatterned; it slinks, streams, shoots, vibrates, marches, pitches, bursts, stalks, and rolls forward, upward, backward, and in circles. Because it is blind and deaf, it cannot be trusted to make distinctions, will not see of hear the pain of children, the cries of women, the shouts of men. A firestorm knows no empathy, only hunger--and never thirst. Wind is the invisible bully at its ack, whipping flames into a frenzy of lusty gorging. It must eat and cannot get enough and the more food it consumes the hotter and more passionate it becomes. It cannot contain itself and blows its volatile, noxious breath sky-high in whirring convection columns as the cold air rushes in at its feet, pumping its overheated, bloated belly full of hot air upward. Sand will feed it, bark, kerosene, hay, sawdust, clothes, coal, leaves, wooden buildings, trees, flesh. Anything combustible will do. Staying alive is all that matters for a firestorm.

You can feel the smoke burn your lungs reading this book. I highly recommend it as an excellent introduction to a forgotten tragedy.

Book Provided by... my local library

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History Just Keeps Repeating

I'm currently reading a fascinating book on the Peshtigo Fire that I hope to review on Monday.

But I came across a quotation that I wanted to share:

On this questions of fuel, we are to calculate by ages of the Earth, and not by the life of man. Fuel will be required so long as man shall inherit the Earth, for his comfort and for existence. Without fuel, humanity would cease to exist. Viewed in this light, the deposits laid up during uncounted periods of time... in the shape of coal, petroleum and peat, and which man is now drawing out and using for fuel or wasting, must be exhausted.--Increase Lapham

It's still a relevant statement. But it was written in 1867 and he was talking mainly about the deforestation of Wisconsin's virgin forests.

Also, as a side note, about 6 months ago, I read several baby naming books (my favorite being Bring Back Beatrice!) and I learned that old-fashioned names, or "colonial graveyard names" are currently very in. Names like Abigail, Emma, Charlotte, etc. So I really, really hope we're about to see a slew of little boys named Increase.

Book Provided by... my local library for the one on the fire. Bring Back Beatrice was sent for review by the publisher. It's not what I review on this blog, so I didn't, but their timing was perfect as I was trying to name a baby, so I did read it and used it and loved it, so I wanted to give it a shout-out.

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.

Exit A

A book I read in 2007:

Exit A: A Novel Anthony Swofford

Amazon description:
Seventeen-year-old Severin Boxx, an earnest, muscular high-school-football star, lives on an American air force base on the outskirts of Tokyo. Severin is mad for Virginia Kindwall, the base general's daughter, who is a hafu -- half American and half Japanese. Beautiful, smart, and utterly defiant of her father, Virginia has become a petty criminal in the Japanese underground.

Severin is soon caught up in Virginia's world, and together they drift through the mad neon landscape outside the walls of the base, near the busy Haijima rail station, a place of movement, anonymity, and sudden disappearance. Exit A is one of its many shadowy doorways. Severin and Virginia fall into trouble way over their heads and are soon subjected to the enormous, unforgiving tensions between America and Japan. Years later, Severin and Virginia remain lost to each other, until an emotionally frayed, thirty- something Severin embarks on a quest to find Virginia -- and the part of himself taken from him when his boyhood abruptly ended.

Darkly irreverent, frankly erotic, at once suspenseful and emotionally overwhelming, Swofford's Exit A builds inexorably toward a climax as it audaciously plumbs the legacies of war, the wish for redemption, and the danger of love..........

I adored the first half of this book-- the part were Severin and Virginia are in high school. I loved the descriptions of base life and the town/base interactions and the general and cultural tensions between the Americans and Japanese.

But then when it fast-forwards to them as adults, it lost me. It took a weird turn about North Koreans kidnapping Japanese kids and I didn't understand why Severin and Virginia grew into the adults they grew into. The ending was also really weak.

It was all the more disappointing because the first half of the novel was so very, very good.

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.

Booking Through Thursday

This week's question is:

You’ve just had a long, hard, exhausting day, and all you want to do is curl up with something light, fun, easy, fluffy, distracting, and entertaining.
What book do you pick up?

Meg Cabot. I self medicate with Meg Cabot books all the time.

In fact, here's my proven cure for a pick-me-up after a long, awful day.*

1. While driving home, put on the Glee soundtrack and sing along really, really loudly.
2. Come home, give puppy kisses.
3. Turn on dance music like Lady Gaga,Robyn, or Madonna.
4. Dance around the kitchen while mixing a cocktail.
5. Turn on chill music likeAdele, She and Him, or Belle and Sebastian
6. Read Meg Cabot and drink cocktail.



You'll notice Kung-fu Princess (Biblio Baby's new nickname) doesn't play a role in this. That's because this dates back from before she was around.
Book Provided by...

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.

Toby Wheeler: 8th Grade Bench Warmer

This review (or an edited version of it) originally ran in The Edge of the Forest/

Toby Wheeler: Eighth Grade Benchwarmer by Thatcher Heldring (Delacorte Press, August 2007)

Toby is just your average gym-rat, playing basketball down at the rec center whenever he gets a chance. When the junior high’s new basketball coach sees him play, he invites Toby to join the team. Toby’s never been one for the organized play of the school team, but maybe joining the team will help repair his friendship with JJ, the team’s star. Toby and JJ used to be best friends, but this summer JJ’s been growing distant and leaving Toby further and further behind.

Joining the team only creates more problems than it solves. Toby’s regulated to the bench and his attitude isn’t winning him any points with JJ, who continues to drift away. Toby’s budding relationship with the coach’s daughter Megan just creates further tension.

There’s also an odd subplot that pits Toby’s dad (who works for the lumber company) against his mother (an environmental activist).

Toby’s relationship with JJ is one we don’t see enough of in tween literature. Toby’s first person narration captures the confusion of changing friendship while still believably sounding like an eighth grade boy. Also, the budding relationship with Megan is handled in such a way to still be a “boy book.”

Overall, it’s a done, yet still heart-warming sports story about a guy learning the meaning of teamwork, a coach remembering how to play for the love of the game instead of winning, and a really killer basket right at the buzzer. A good bet for sports stories fans in the 10-14 age range.

Book Provided by...

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.

Overbite

Overbite Meg Cabot

it's been 6 months since the action at the end of Insatiable. Meena and Alairic are just collegues. Lucien has completely disappeared. Meena's on to a theory that Lucien can still be good but Lucien has found the Minetta stream under Manhattan and is drawing evil power from it. He's been too weak, but he feels it's time to full embrace his title of Prince of Darkness. Meena's can't deal with all of that right now though, because a rising star new priest has arrived from South America and the politics and policies of the Palatine Guard are about to explode in a major way.

I didn't enjoy this one as much as Insatiable-- not as much sexual tension (which Cabot tends to do really well) and not as much of Meena using her gift of death prediction, or as much of the supporting cast. It's also just a lot shorter--it focused mainly on one plot and I missed some of the side stuff that could have been fleshed out more. THAT SAID, I still really did like it. It was a nice end to the story (I don't think there will be anymore) and I liked the working in of the Minetta Stream (a real thing!) and the book of days. It just all seemed a bit... rushed. I almost wish that she would have stretched the story out more, added some more major battles and made it a trilogy.

Book Provided by... my wallet

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.

Your Daily Dose of WTF?

Today's Daily Does of WTF is big enough to last a lifetime.

So... remember Republic, MO? Where they banned Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel and Twenty Boy Summer? Where Speak was accused of being soft-core porn? (But luckily the Vonnegut Memorial Library is sending Republic students copies of Slaughterhouse Five.

Well... in 2009 a female middle school student accused a fellow student of rape. The school district made her write a letter of apology to the guy who raped her. Made her hand-deliver it, and then kicked her out for the rest of the year.

The next year, when she returned, her mother asked for special protection. Nope. She still had to take classes with the guy who raped her. So he raped her again. In the school library. And plead guilty to the charges, so was CONVICTED OF THE CRIME.

Let me repeat that-- HE ADMITTED HE RAPED HER. HE IS A CONVICTED RAPIST FOR THIS CRIME.

So, the girl sues the school. The school says the lawsuit if "frivolous".

I just... what? I mean, really, WHAT THE FUCK?

Honestly, the DA should be looking at criminal charges against the school district.

Hat tip to Pam for pointing this out to me.

Jezebel article about all this.
Springfield News-Leader article about this.
News-Leader article about the book banning.


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.

SLJ Nonfiction Round-Up

Because this is a record of everything I read, occasionally I link to reviews I write elsewhere. Here's a list of recent nonfiction reviews I've written for School Library Journal.

The New Cultural Atlas of China ed. Tom Cooke

From my review:
...tends to treat the more than 2000 years of the history of imperial China as one political, economic, and cultural monolith...The strongest feature of this atlas is the collection of maps... Unfortunately, even these are problematic, as maps of the "modern People's Republic of China" are woefully out of date. Hong Kong and Macau (returned to China in 1997 and 1999, respectively) are shown as European possessions, and Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan are labeled as belonging to the USSR

Other notes-- Awesome for the maps, but the text isn't helpful. Only for people who know what bits to ignore.

The Chinese Cultural Revolution (Milestones in Modern World History) Louise Chipley Slavicek

From my review:
Slavicek clearly explains this complex and confusing time for readers with little to no background in modern Chinese history, covering the social, economic, and political aspects of the era. The book is at its best when explaining Mao's political maneuvering. Numerous pull-out boxes provide context about and excerpts from primary sources.

Other notes-- a really excellent introduction to a very confusing time period. Unlike most introductory books about the Cultural Revolution, it clearly explains everything to a novice without simplifying a very complex time without simplifying it to the point of no longer being entirely accurate.

Multicultural Programs for Tweens and Teens ed. Linda B. Alexander and Nahyun Kwon

From my review:
They outline several programs that librarians can use with their patrons to introduce different cultures. Each entry lists objectives, target age ranges, costs, activities, and a reading list. Within these parameters, there is a wide range of programs and quality.

Other notes: This is a collection of student projects. Some work really well in a real library, some are great in theory, some only work for inspiration, and some should just be ignored.

Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire (World History (Lucent)) Don Nardo

From my review:
Using new scholarship, Nardo paints a more nuanced and sophisticated picture of a man who united several nomadic clans and then went on to found history’s largest empire...Several detailed examples are given of Genghis Khan’s bravery, ingenuity, and compassion, drawing readers in and showing more depth to the man than they may be used to.

Other notes: For the type of book this is (series book usually used for reports) it had a surprisingly large amount of browsability and reader appeal.

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (Landmarks of the American Mosaic) John Soennichsen

From my review:
Short chapters are clearly organized and well sourced. Nearly half the text is back matter, including biographies of key figures, several primary-source documents, and an annotated bibliography. The methodical analysis of the events leading up to the passage of the Exclusion Act helps students discover how the passage of such a law could happen.

Other notes:
So many primary sources in the back matter, it made my nerdy heart giddy with joy.

Books and ARCs provided by... School Library Journal for review for their publication

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.

Sunday Salon: Monstrumologist

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey was a ALA Printz honor book when it came out in 2010 and was a finalist for the NCTE/ALAN Amelia Elizabeth Walden award. It was named a Booklist Editor's choice and won numerous state awards.

The sequel, The Curse of the Wendigo was named an ALA Best Books for Young Adults, a Booklist Editor's Choice, and a Kirkus Best Children's Book.

The third and final book, The Isle of Blood comes out this fall and then there are no more. Which would be fine, if it were a trilogy, but it's not. Simon and Schuster just isn't happy with the sales. I can't talk much about the book because I haven't read it yet, but this is a series we've held up time and again as what quality literature that teens will enjoy looks like. But apparently quality lit with reader appeal isn't what we want.

I'm not going to fault Simon and Schuster. They're a business and have to go where the money is. So... let's save the series by putting the money there. If you have $10, but a copy. If you have $20, but two copies and give one away. If you have $30, give two copies away, or all three. You get the idea. If you don't have any money, check it out from the library. (How many times a book is checked out lets us gauge popularity. It tells us if we need more copies, if we should replace worn-out copies, or if it's just taking up limited shelf-space.) But it goes beyond that. Book blog readers are book pushers. Some of us are librarians, teachers, book sellers or other people who are professional book pushers. But those of you who read book blogs just because you like books, I bet you're book pushers among your friends. I bet your family and friends turn to you for recommendations and ideas. So, try pushing this one and let's see what happens.

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.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics

Special Topics in Calamity Physics Marisha Pessl

From Goodreads:

Marisha Pessl's mesmerizing debut has critics raving and heralds the arrival of a vibrant new voice in American fiction. At the center of this "cracking good read" is clever, deadpan Blue van Meer, who has a head full of literary, philosophical, scientific, and cinematic knowledge. But she could use some friends. Upon entering the elite St. Gallway school, she finds some - a clique of eccentrics known as the Bluebloods. One drowning and one hanging later, Blue finds herself puzzling out a byzantine murder mystery. Nabokov meets Donna Tartt (then invites the rest of the Western Canon to the party) in this novel - with "visual aids" drawn by the author - that has won over readers of all ages.

My comments:

Ugh. I know that everyone loved this book but... ugh. I will say I really got into the last 100 pages, but the 300 pages that it took to get there weren't worth it. It was boring and overworked. I kept reading, waiting for it to get better, because so many people loved it so much... what was I missing?

Seriously, what did I miss? Because I really dislike it.

I never understand Blue. I never understood why she wanted to be friends with the Bluebloods (although I like Coleen from Catching Ray's theory on this, and not just because of the Buffy/Angel references). Also, we were told over and over and over again how smart she was, but we never saw it. She didn't seem that smart at all. And the "visual aids" didn't add anything to the text and weren't that great. They looked like portraits I would draw. And I don't draw well.

Overall the story didn't do anything for me and the structure was pretentious and gimicky and didn't add anything.

Blargh.

But, I did get some questions about it:

Bybee asks:
People seem to either love or hate the Pessl novel. Which side do you fall on, or is your view more moderate? Why?

Severe dislike. See above. I think I'm more angry about the time and energy wasted on reading it than actual hate towards the book.

Bibliolatrist asks:
I'm curious about Special Topics in Calamity Physics, about which I've read a lot of varying reviews. Some people hated it, others loved it. Where did you fall and why?

See above.

Book Zombie asks:
What I would like to know is whether you considered reading or re-reading the books she lists as her chapter titles? I know that many book groups have suggested this for furthering the enjoyment of the book, what are your opinions?

Reading or re-reading the chapter title books would be a good idea, just because they're good books. Being familiar with them will let you pick up some of Blue's references and asides but it's not worth it. And if a book is fresh in your mind, hearing Blue harp on about it might make her more annoying than usual.



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.

Weekly Geeks

Lots of questions this week about books and school:

What's your favorite bookish school memory?

I love love love the way my elementary school did its reading rewards program (Right to Read). You had to give so many book reports and then you got a certificate. And then you did more and you got a white ribbon. Then a red one. Then a blue one. Then a HUGE pink one. (The colors might be off, and I can't remember if there were 4 or 5 ribbons total, except I'm sure about that huge pink one. It was the final reward and HUGE. Well, the old skool ones were. I think it wasn't as awesome when I finally got mine.) The thing is, the school kept all of them until you left the school or graduated. You started in 1st grade and if you read enough to get the pink ribbon, you were in 6th grade by the time it happened. All the classrooms had their Right to Read stuff displayed, usually in the hallway, so when you walked through the school, you could see what was coming next. Every few months the principal or someone came to hand out Right to Read rewards. In addition to the certificate/ribbon, you got some trinkets and THE BEST PART OF ALL-- The free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut.

As a kid, I loved the goal of that huge pink ribbon and all that yummy yummy pizza.

As an adult, I love that the program lasted all 6 years and continued on and built throughout your school years.


Did your teacher read aloud to you? Do you remember what book it was?

Some did. I remember Mrs. Wisneski read us Where the Red Fern Grows. Someone also read us Hatchet.

Do you remember what books you checked out at the school library?

In junior and senior high, I only used the school library for research. But I remember getting a lot of Shel Silverstein poetry from my elementary school library.

What was one of the first book reports you did for school?

Hop on Pop

Do you have a favorite book or author that you first heard about from a teacher or school project?

My favorite author is Mo Yan, who I first discovered when I was assigned Red Sorghum: A Novel of China in college. High school English classes are where I discovered Steinbeck, Vonnegut, and Fitzgerald. That's also where I discovered one of my favorite books of all time, As I Lay Dying.

Do you have a not-so-pleasant bookish memory from your school days?

Lord of the Flies. Let's just leave it at that.


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Pretty pretty book covers

I couldn't help myself. I've been admiring this for months and it's available for pre-order, so I went ahead and bought it. Does it matter that it will be my 4th copy of the book? No, not at all!


It's so pretty! I like that they're embossing and adding other texture to the cover to better mimic the original embroidery.

While purchasing, I also saw this new cover for a classic:



Now, in my mind, Quentin Blake should be Dahl's only illustrator, but, but, but... this is very cool.

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Ten Things I Hate About Me

Ten Things I Hate About Me Randa Abdel-Fattah

Jamilah's dyed her hair blonde, wears colored contact lenses, and goes by Jamie at school. It's easier that way, if no one knows who she really is. Her school is full of racists and passing makes her life nicer--people see her instead of a Muslim stereotype. But she likes her Lebanese culture. She likes playing her darabuka drums in her band at Madrassa. Sadly, in hiding her heritage, she's hidden everything about herself. She thinks that people see the real her, but they see a girl with no self-esteem, a pushover.

I loved Jamilah's struggle with herself, her family, her friends at school and her friends at madrassa. I also really loved her family-- her activist sister, her slacker brother, her awesome aunt, and her father who is trying so hard to do the best he can as a single parent. (I especially loved her sister.)

It's a great book about self-acceptance against the odds. While I loved the look into Lebanese-Australian culture, I think Jamilah's struggles with defining and presenting herself are universal teen struggles.

Book Provided by... my wallet

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Looking Hard? or Hardly Looking?

So remember te WSJ article that started with the mother at the Barnes and Noble in Bethesda, completely unable to find anything suitable for her 13-year-old? Because it was all too dark and YA lit is a monolithic genre (instead of an age range with many genres) is sending horrible messages to our kids and making them depressed? And then suggested that we read Ship Breaker because apparently that one's light and cheery? (Did they miss the whole drunk and drugged murderous father? And the exploited children? And EVERYTHING ELSE in that book?)

Anyway, I went to the Barnes and Noble here in Arlingon, just on the other side of DC to see how dark and scary their YA section is!

SO HARD to find non-depressing, non-dark books for 13-year-old girls. SO HARD!

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.