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review; what katy did
What Katy Did (At School & Next) by Susan M. Coolidge Katy Carr has ideas of her own — most of which get her into trouble. Most of the first book in the trilogy is about Katy’s response to an accident that leaves her (temporarily) paralysed. The second covers a year at boarding school, and the third follows Katy to Europe, where she spends a year assisting a family travelling there. Review:
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review; inferno
Inferno by Dan Brown In the heart of Italy, Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon is drawn into a harrowing world centered on one of history’s most enduring and mysterious literary masterpieces – Dante’s Inferno. Against this backdrop, Langdon battles a chilling adversary and grapples with an ingenious riddle that pulls him into a landscape of classic art, secret passageways, and futuristic science. Drawing from Dante’s dark epic poem, Langdon races to find answers and decide whom to trust… before the world is irrevocably altered. Review:
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top ten; characters to revisit
I’ve been book blogging long enough to have seen Top Ten posts on the various blogs I have subscribed to. I have not been blogging long enough to have participated. Until today. The Broke and the Bookish have compiled a VERY INTERESTING list of prompts for Top Ten Tuesdays. Many times, I find myself pausing and thinking – hey, I could have done this. I have ideas for what I would have written! – but then I never get around to actually writing the thing because procrastination is an old friend of mine. This time, though, this time I had to try. Or – okay, do or do not, there…
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diversity can start with you
I recently read a blog post posing the question “Does Diversity Sell?” to readers. It is a question I have stopped asking myself, largely because I acknowledge the fact that I am biased. I know for a fact that I want diversity to sell, so I am obviously going to say yes, it does. Because I feel like it should, and I want to fight for it. But that is not how the real world works. A small group of people, or one reader, is not going to make a difference. Yes, we are a voice, and it doesn’t mean we give up – we keep speaking up and encouraging…
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review; lark ascending
Lark Ascending by Meagan Spooner Lark thought returning home to face her city was the hardest thing she’d ever do. She was wrong. No longer the girl who ran for her life, Lark’s ready for the Institute. She never dreamed she’d find a rebellion, a Renewable, and those she used to love embroiled in the fight of their lives. She’s mastered her magic, but she still doesn’t know if she can master the darkness stirring inside her. Nothing is simple anymore, and finding her place in this war—and discovering the terrible secrets behind her ruined world—might cost her everything she has left. Review:
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review; vision in white
Vision In White by Nora Roberts Wedding photographer Mackensie “Mac” Elliot is most at home behind the camera, but her focus is shattered moments before an important wedding rehearsal when she bumps into the bride-to-be’s brother…an encounter that has them both seeing stars. A stable, safe English teacher, Carter Maguire is definitely not Mac’s type. But a casual fling might be just what she needs to take her mind off bridezillas. Of course, casual flings can turn into something more when you least expect it. And Mac will have to turn to her three best friends-and business partners-to see her way to her own happy ending. Review:
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blind date with a book
Every time I see photos online of brown paper wrapped books with vague descriptions, I tell myself that if I ever come across a shop that’s selling books in that way, I’m going to pick one up. I honestly thought the likelihood of that happening would be zero. But for the first time ever, I did in fact come across a shelf of these books in a small bookstore in Sydney. Obviously, I stopped and tried to figure out what the books were based on the descriptions. To my amusement, my husband and I both noticed the one book that appealed to me – and he talked me into buying…
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review; shatter me
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color. The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are…
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review; star gazing
Star Gazing by Linda Gillard Blind since birth, widowed in her twenties, now lonely in her forties, Marianne Fraser lives in Edinburgh in elegant, angry anonymity with her sister, Louisa, a successful novelist. Marianne’s passionate nature finds solace and expression in music, a love she finds she shares with Keir, a man she encounters on her doorstep one winter’s night. Keir makes no concession to her condition. He is abrupt to the point of rudeness, yet oddly kind. But can Marianne trust her feelings for this reclusive stranger who wants to take a blind woman to his island home on Skye, to “show” her the stars? Review:
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#bookswormsarebadass
Mary over at Books And Cookies on tumblr made a post that I thought was pretty cool and thought provoking. She was asking booklrs about the most badass bookworm things they had done. Some talked about managing to get authors to do book signings, or befriending them. Others talked about making book fandom related craftwork. I put together a shortlist of things that I am proud of, as a bookworm. They might not necessarily be the most “badass” things a bookworm could do, but they definitely qualify as an extreme example of bookworms. Presenting, in no particular order, my list of “badass” bookworm things I have done. Reading my cousins’…