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?

North of Beautiful

So I read 142 pages of this book, and I still couldn't get into it. It may have been the whiny main character, or the un-engaging writing style, but I'm only sorry that I didn't stop reading it earlier. North of Beautiful is about Terra, a high school junior who just wants to get out of her small town and get to college as fast as she can. The main reason for this is because of her large purple port-wine birthmark on one side of her face; the other being that her dad is a total jerk to her and her mom. Terra is nothing short of paranoid about her birthmark, and freaks out if she doesn't have her layers of makeup on to reduce her "stain". Basically this tells the story of Terra and how she copes with being ugly (her words, not mine- though other than her birth mark she's virtually perfect) enough to step outside of her house every morning. The premise of the story had promise but was seriously poorly executed. I found myself struggling to go on after a couple pages, which astounds me that I read 142. Maybe I'm just a saint?

The Luxe

The Luxe by Anna Godbersen: it's good- trust me. Just read it. Though the plot is somewhat predictable and none of the characters seem to be all that likeable, I LOVE this book. I can't wait to read the second one because it's just that good. Godbersen did a FANTASTIC job writing this story and for her first try, she was highly successful.

The Luxe has been called the Gossip Girl series of it's time: it deals with New York Manhattan socialites during the 1899 turn of the century, equipped with all the drama and husband-grabbing as any novel faced with competitive high-society "friends". The book opens with the death of Elizabeth Holland, the brightest society girl of the bunch, and proceeds to go back in time to tell of how Elizabeth came to be dead. We quickly find out that Elizabeth is the perfect product of her society (except for the trysts that she has with the stableboy), that her best friend Penelope Hayes may have had her hand in Elizabeth's death, and that Henry Schoonmaker, Elizabeth's betrothed, may have been having an affair with Elizabeth's sister Diana. Obviously this book is not lacking in plot. This is definitely a fun "romp" through Manhattan's society that I'm sure is still thriving and just as interesting now as it was over 100 years ago.

Though the story took me a couple pages to get into due to the overload of names and people, I quickly found myself being sucked into the story. The funny thing about the book is that even though the different storylines are engaging and you want to keep reading through all forms of distraction, all the characters are unlikable. What I mean is that they ARE likable, but there's still a level of disgust and apathy that you end up feeling for each character- it's weird really and hard to explain. To get what I'm talking about you just have to read it. Although I feel somewhat apathetic towards the characters, The Luxe is one of the better books that I've read recently, and find myself thinking about often. I have the sequel, Rumors checked out, and I can't wait to finish what I'm reading and read it. I hope it's as good as the first.

Book Buying Obsession for July

From used book stores:
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging- Louise Rennison
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire- J.K. Rowling

From the bookstore:
Briar Rose- Jane Yolen
Filthy Shakespeare: Shakespeare's Most Outrageous Sexual Puns- Pauline Kiernan
Book of a Thousand Days- Shannon Hale
Slugs- David Greenberg
Nurse Matilda- Christianna Brand
Ever- Gail Carson Levine
Cyrano- Geraldine McCaughrean
British Artists: Thomas Gainsborough
Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Breakfast and Brunch

From DI:
Shabanu- Suzanne Fisher Staples
The Time Travelers Volume 1- Caroline B. Cooney
Sorcery and Cecelia or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot- Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
My Angelica- Carol Lynch Williams
A String in the Harp- Nancy Bond
Their Eyes Were Watching God- Zora Neale Hurston
13 Little Blue Envelopes- Maureen Johnson
The French Chef Cookbook- Julia Child
Homeless Birds- Gloria Whelan
A Tale of Two Cities- Charles Dickens (the cover was just so pretty that I had to buy it)
Or Give me Death- Ann Rinaldi
The Royal Diaries- Isabel: Jewel of Castilla- Carolyn Meyer (I think I already own this, but I bought it just to be on the safe side)
A Treasury of Royal Scandals- Michael Farquhar
Songs on Bronze: The Greek Myths Made Real- Nigel Spivey
Looking for Mary- Beverly Donofrio
The Romance of Tristan and Iseult- Joseph Bedier
Olive's Ocean- Kevin Henkes
Wolf by the Ears- Ann Rinaldi
Mine Eyes Have Seen- Ann Rinaldi
Medieval and Tudor Drama- edited by John Gassner
Beast- Donna Jo Napoli
The Handmaid's Tale- Margaret Atwood

From library book sales:
Mara Daughter of the Nile- Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Timeless Love- Judith O'Brien

It seriously worries me that each month this list keeps getting bigger. Maybe it will wean off by the time school gets going?

Book Buying Obsession for June

From used book stores:
Twisted- Laurie Halse Anderson
A Song for Summer- Eva Ibbotson
The Study of Language- George Yule
Linguistics at Work- Dallin D. Oaks

From D.I.
A Far Side Collection: Last Chapter and Worse- Gary Larson
These is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine- Nancy E. Turner
Firebirds Rising: an anthology of original science fiction and fantasy- edited by Sharyn November
Eyewitness Travel Guides: Italy
The Princess Tales: Cinderellis and the Glass Hill- Gail Carson Levine
Out of the Dust- Karen Hesse
Dubliners- James Joyce
Kit's Wilderness- David Almond
The Chocolate War- Robert Cormier
Selected Poems- Czeslaw Milosz
Nickel and Dimed: On (not) getting by in America- Barbara Ehrenreich
Five Quarters of the Orange- Joanne Harris

From various book stores:
The Giant Jam Sandwhich- John Vernon Lord and Janet Burroway
When We Were VeryYoung- A.A. Milne
Travels with a Medieval Queen: the Journey of a Sicilian Princess- Mary Taylor Smith
Four Queens: The Provencal Sisters who Ruled Europe- Nancy Goldstone

If I keep buying books at this rate, I truly will have the library from Beauty and the Beast, which is of course what I want.