The Revolution of Sabine

The Revolution of Sabine by Beth Ain was stunning. Not only is the cover beautiful, but the writing is beautiful and engaging as well. Though this book is shorter and smaller, the content within packs a powerful punch.

Sabine Durand is the daughter of one of the upper aristocratic families in Paris (though her mother tries just a little too hard to be "cool"). Sabine is 16 and so fittingly, only ever thinks of wearing pretty dresses and attending parties, hoping that her mother will eventually stop making a fool of herself. When her mother throws a party for the upper class of Paris welcoming Benjamin Franklin to their shining city, Sabine begins to realize that there may be more to life than pretty ball gowns, being born into money, and marrying the man her parents have set for her.

After radical thoughts begin to stir in Sabine's mind, she winds up following Michael, her long lost childhood friend, to a salon where she meets Franklin. With their heated discussion of politics, Sabine learns to think for herself and contemplates getting out of her predetermined status quo. But what will her parents say when they find out that she has rekindled her "dangerous" relationship with the rakish Michael? And what will happen to Sabine's fiance, once he's realized that Sabine does not intend to be a doting wife? (Well, if you read the book, you'll find out!)

A fun historical fiction read that left me wanting more. This is definitely a little gem of a book.

Authors live among us? Who knew?

So I just met Carol Lynch Williams! She came into the library and asked for help with her daughter's holds, and as I was checking items out to her, I realized that she is THE Carol Lynch Williams. I told her that I haven't read any of her books (yet), but that I can't wait for The Chosen One to come out. The only thing I forgot to tell her was that I HAVE read one of her books: My Angelica, which was very funny and entertaining. She told me that I had just made her day by recognizing her, and that she was going to write about me in her journal. The only problem is is that she's probably going to spell my name with an "a" and not a "y". Sad. But, who knew that I would make someone's journal entry today? AND, who knew that there were authors all around us? *Sheila, I already knew about you!*

Catching Fire

So I actually read Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins a couple weeks ago, but have been so busy lately that I haven't had time to blog about it, or anything that I've been reading lately. And yes, I got to read it before it even hit the bookstores. I was super pumped to read this book because if you didn't know it's the sequel to The Hunger Games (which you should go out and buy ASAP!), and who wouldn't be excited to read the sequel to a book that freaking blows your mind? I'm sad to say though that Catching Fire was disappointing for me- there I've said it. I can't believe that I said it, but it sucked compared to Hunger Games. I know you can't really compare the two, but this was definitely a letdown. And here's why:

1. Katniss is being her stupid self and trying to "decide" whether she likes Gale as just a friend or considers him MORE than a friend- though she SPECIFICALLY said in Hunger Games that she's NEVER thought of Gale as more than a friend and that she considers him like a BROTHER (see page 10 if you don't believe me). And I quote:
"There's never been anything romantic between Gale and me...You can tell by the way the girls whisper about him when he walks by in school that they want him. It makes me jealous but not for the reason people would think. Good hunting partners are hard to find."
*Take that Lyndi!*

2. Katniss is trying to decide whether she actually likes Peeta or not- more so than what she pretends at for the public. Seriously- make up your mind! If she doesn't take him soon, I will!

3. The story's great and I can see how it would be captivating, but it doesn't move as well as The Hunger Games- it took me roughly 2/3 or the book or so to get into the story, and even then the pages didn't pull me in. The storyline was great and I can see how others thought it was good, but I just couldn't get sucked in. And it didn't help that Katniss kept whining about whether she loved Gale or whether she loved Peeta, blah blah blah. Stop being indecisive!

Those were my main grievances with the novel- you can definitely tell that this book was more of a setup for the third, which may have been why it bombed. It was definitely an intermediary book that had to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time and make connections between the first and third books. Hopefully when I read it again I can get over Katniss' angst and whining and get wrapped up in the story. I hope? Please?