Puss Reboots: A Book Review a Day

Review: The Runaway Mummy

webmaster@pussreboots.pair.com (Sarah Sammis) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:51:00 PST

The Runaway Mummy is another Margaret Wise Brown parody by Michael Rex. This time he's taking a jab at The Runaway Bunny which you might recall is the story of a small bunny being suffocated by his over protective, obsessive mother. The bunny does everything in its power to escape. Can you tell, I'm not a fan the original?

Now I like mummies and I like parodies. So this book was a win for me at the get-go. The runaway mummy turns himself into all sorts of gruesome things to scare off his mother but she just keeps one-upping him.

For children who are fans of monsters, this book is sure to be a hit. It's not too scary but has plenty to fuel their active imaginations.

Five stars.

Review: Life After Joe

webmaster@pussreboots.pair.com (Sarah Sammis) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:58:00 PST

Life After Joe by Harper Fox is a debut romance about Matt trying to put his life together after Joe leaves him for a woman. Matt, apparently too blinded by his love for Joe didn't know about the girlfriend on the side even though everyone else did. In the midst of his emotional break down, he meets Aaron but he might not be ready to try loving someone new.

In writing the summery, I still want to like the book but I could never get into Matt's head to understand him or care for him as a lead character. I don't mind broken or self destructive characters but Matt doesn't take things far enough even with all his late night pub crawls.

What's supposed to be heart break and vulnerability comes off as shallowness, with a smattering of teen angst. The teen angst isn't appropriate or endearing for an adult character.

I received a review copy from NetGalley.

Two stars.

Review: Finders Keepers

webmaster@pussreboots.pair.com (Sarah Sammis) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:50:00 PST

In 1978 a little radio play debuted on BBC Radio 4 that went onto be a series of books, a television series and a movie. I'm talking about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. It paved the way for the modern day science fiction comedy. It's also the story I thought of most while reading Finders Keepers by Russ Colchamiro.

Jason Medley just wants to get to Rome and decide where to backpack to next except he has about has much common sense as my cat. Theo Barnes is a bloke in New Zealand who likes sex, drugs and rock and roll but he's starting to experience things that he can't blame on any of them. Newlyweds Donald and Danielle are using Earth as their personal competition creating new and usual life forms (like dinosaurs) to one up each other.

Things come to a head for everyone involved when Danielle and Donald lose their cargo, a jar of universal DNA. It's now frozen in a glacier and they have to figure out what to do before its missed in the next inventory.

The chapters are short and the jumps between characters and locations frequent. While I enjoyed the set up, I would have preferred to spent more time with each character before rocketing across the globe to another one. It takes quite a few of these small chapters for the individual plots to gel.

Three stars.

Review: A Tinfoil Sky

webmaster@pussreboots.pair.com (Sarah Sammis) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:56:00 PST

Cyndi Sand-Eveland says she was inspired to write A Tinfoil Sky when she met a homeless girl and her father in Eugene Oregon. It was a brief exchange of spare change but it was enough to spark her novel about Mel and her mother facing homelessness while escaping an abusive boyfriend and not being allowed to come home.

Mel and her mother end up sleeping in their car, parked under a bridge until it's eventually towed. By then Mel has started to get to know a few people in her mother's home town. That gives her a small thread of support when her mother is arrested. Mel is ordered by the court to live with her grandmother, the very one who refused to open the door when they had first arrived.

Mel's life with her grandmother brings into question whether or not family is always the best decision. Her grandmother's bitterness is deep rooted in painful memories. As Mel counts down the days until she's reunited with her mother, she unravels some of the mysteries of her own life and her grandmother's bad mood.

Although the book deals with some tough issues: abuse, broken families, homelessness and drug use, Mel remains a positive character and the book has a hopeful ending.

Read via NetGalley

Five stars

Review: Clementine and the Family Meeting

webmaster@pussreboots.pair.com (Sarah Sammis) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:10:00 PST

In Clementine and the Family Meeting by Sarah Pennypacker is the fifth of the Clementine series. Clementine's life is about to change and it all begins with the dreaded family meeting.

At school Clementine has to contend with her missing lab rat (number 18) and her lab partners' unrealistic expectations of what can be accomplished with such short notice. Clementine, like Horrible Harry, has a soft spot for living creatures. She's more distraught over the well being of missing eighteen than on what the rat's absence will do for her grade.

At home, Clementine has a family meeting looming. She's been extra good and can't figure what she could have possibly done to warrant a meeting. I felt bad for her as she fretted over the unknown.

The problems at school and the problems at home are thematically tied. While Clementine isn't happy with the family news, she does come to accept it. She also sees it as an opportunity to find the missing eighteen by rethinking the rat's disappearance.

I recommend the book to fans of the series, kids who are ready to move on from the Junie B. Jones books, and children who are faced with being big brothers or sisters in the near future.

Read via NetGalley

Four stars

Review: Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes

webmaster@pussreboots.pair.com (Sarah Sammis) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:06:00 PST

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier is a debut middle grade fantasy about a blind thief who goes on an extraordinary journey and frees a kingdom. Along the way Peter picks up some magical items and an unusual traveling companion.

Peter's life began in a basket on the ocean where he was blinded by crows. He though is an adaptable survivor. By the time of his quest he has spent a decade living on the streets, stealing to survive.

As Peter is blind and the adventure is shared through his point of view, there is very little in the way of visual description. Most everything in the world is built through descriptions smell, touch and sound.

There are three basic parts to Peter's adventure: his life before the quest, setting out on the quest and the rescue. The initial set up and the journey itself are quick paced and excellent. The rescue, though, loses the pacing and feels padded. There just seemed to be about twice the detail compared to the sparser, more tightly written sections.

Read via NetGalley

Four stars.

Review: What Are You Reading: February 06, 2012

webmaster@pussreboots.pair.com (Sarah Sammis) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:49:00 PST

My daughter's home work now includes a section where she has to read to me. So my picture book numbers are back up to where they were last year. She and I read four picture books in the last couple of days.

I read a graphic novel — memoir, really, but in the form of a graphic novel — Huntington, West Virginia "On the Fly" by Harvey Pekar. I also read volume 16 of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle.

That brings my total of short books up to six. The remaining six were full length novels, one of which was an audio book. Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson

As predicted I did finish Dying for Chocolate by Diane Mott Davidson. I am totally, completely, utterly sucked into that series. I adore the audio books. I'm taking a break, though from it, and am listening instead to.

This week I will finish Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins. It is as fun a read as Hex Hall. I even got my husband into reading the series.

What about you?

Finished:

Clarice Bean, Guess Who's Babysitting? by Lauren Child (library book)
Dying for Chocolate (audio) by Diane Mott Davidson (library book)
The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong (library book)
Huntington, West Virginia "On the Fly" by Harvey Pekar (library book)
A Letter to Amy by Ezra Jack Keats (library book)
Monoculture by F.S. Michaels (review copy)
My Creature Teacher by Laura Leuck (library book)
Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems (library book)
Rez Life by David Treuer (review copy)
Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean (library book)
Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE: Vol. 16 by CLAMP (library book)
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo (personal collection)

Currently Reading:

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami (personal collection)
Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins (library book)
Fairy Bad Day by Amanda Ashby (personal collection)
The Googlization of Everything (And Why We Should Worry) by Siva Vaidhyanathan (personal collection)
Robopocalypse (audio) by Daniel H. Wilson (library book)
The Technologists by Matthew Pearl (review copy)
Withering Tights by Louise Rennison (library book)

Reviews Posted:

Cara Mia by Denise Verrico (review copy)
Fullmetal Alchemist 15 by Hiromu Arakawa (library book)
The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade (library book)
Havana Real by Yoani Sanchez (review copy)
Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler (review copy)
Immortal by Gene Doucette (review copy)
The Stainless Steel Rat Returns by Harry Harrison (library book)

What Are You Reading

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Review: The Stainless Steel Rat Returns

webmaster@pussreboots.pair.com (Sarah Sammis) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:49:00 PST

While some teenage girls swoon over Mr. Darcy, Edward, Jacob or any of the other YA literary hunks, I swooned over James Bolivar diGriz, aka the Stainless Steel Rat. OK, I'll admit it, I still swoon over him, even with his jealous ex-assassin wife, Angela. Shhh... don't tell her.

It's been twelve years since the last installment, and given given the fact that Harry Harrison started writing them in 1961, I was content with having read what I had. But them, woohoo!, a tenth book, The Stainless Steel Rat Returns.

The last couple of books involve the diGriz twins and like Ramses in the Amelia Peabody books by Elizabeth Peters, they get in the way of the humor and hijinks. This time though, Jim and Angie are on their own, on a ship hurdling through space and trying to find their way home.

The book is really more like a series of connected short stories, each one being an adventure on a different planet and the broke ship ("working" somewhat like Zaphod's ship in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams) being the connecting device.

So there's lots of sarcasm, lots of shenanigans, lots of scamming, some heroics, lots of drinking, some esperanto, some fowl language, lots of costume changes and all the other stuff that makes me weak in the knees. Yeah... I loved the book.

Five stars.

Review: Havana Real

webmaster@pussreboots.pair.com (Sarah Sammis) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:26:00 PST

Havana Real by Yoani Sanchez is a collection of her posts from Generation Y, a blog she maintains through the help of friends in Spain. Cuba is none to keen on allowing internet access, especially blog access, so maintaining a blog under these conditions takes a certain amount of creativity and a hell of a lot of gumption.

The Melville House book presents Sanchez's blog posts in chronological order and they are left to stand for themselves. Sanchez outlines how things work, or more often than not, don't work in her neighborhood, and in Cuba as a whole. There are a number of entries devoted to keeping the apartment building working, including the cranky elevator which hasn't seen proper maintenance in years. There are some universal posts about being a parent.

What's missing, though, is editorial comment. The blog is well written but it is still a blog. Printing a blog in book format doesn't automatically make it a book. Some extra commentary to bring in the big picture, either as side bars or footnotes, would have make this an extraordinary book. As it stands, it's a collection of blog posts made under usual circumstances, that taken out of that context, read not all that different from any other blog.

Read via NetGalley

Three stars

Review: The Ghost and the Goth

webmaster@pussreboots.pair.com (Sarah Sammis) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:49:00 PST

The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade brings together Will, a troubled teen who is pestered by the dead and Alona, the high school homecoming queen and recently deceased after she was struck down by a school bus.

Told in alternating points of view, Alona and Will both get their chances to weigh in on the situation. Kade's creates convincing voices for each character which makes both more sympathetic than they otherwise would be if seen only through a third person point of view.

Although they don't initially like each other, they need each other. Will can't get a moment of peace because of the ghosts always swarming him. Alona, can't figure out why she's stuck haunting the school. She also wants to clear her name and convince everyone that she didn't commit suicide.

The relationship that grows between Will and Alona reminds me fondly of Holly and Vince in You Had Me at Halo by Amanda Ashby except that they don't share a body.

Four stars.

Book Blogger Hop: February, 2012

webmaster@pussreboots.pair.com (Sarah Sammis) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:19:00 PST

It's only been a week since I last posted, so there's not much change to report. I've been to the library twice, so I've picked up more hold books. With getting up before dawn to walk, I'm often too tired to read before bed. I need to adjust my schedule to make time to read.

Books I've finished in the last month or so include:

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong
The Golden Gate by Vikram Seth
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Ex-wishlist books I am currently reading:

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
Fairy Bad Day by Amanda Ashby
Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean
Robopocalypse (audio) by Daniel H. Wilson Robopocalypse

Ex-wishlist books on hand to start soon:

Angelology by Danielle Trussoni
An Anglo-American Alliance: A Serio-comic Romance and Forecast of the Future by Gregory Casparian
Bellwether by Connie Willis
Bigger than a Bread Box by Laurel Snyder
The Book of Tomorrow by Cecilia Ahem
The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri
Carmelo by Sandra Cisneros
The Child Thief by Brom
f2m by Hazel Edwards
Frankie Pickle and the Mathematical Menace by Eric Wight
The Glorious Adventures of the Sunshine Queen by Geraldine McCaughrean
Lady Susan by Jane Austen
A Letter to Amy by Ezra Jack Keats
The Metropolis Case by Matthew Gallaway
The Odyssey by Gareth Hinds
Outside In by Maria V. Snyder
The Pinhoe Egg by Diana Wynn Jones
Polly and the Pirates Volume 1 by Ted Naifeh
A Red Herring without Mustard by Alan Bradley
The Return of Sherlock Holmes and His Last Bow by Arthur Conan Doyle
Serenity: Those Left Behind by Joss Whedon
The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher
Way Station by Clifford D. Simak
Withering Tights by Louise Rennison

My wishlist is down to 999, a drop in 3 books.

Book Blogger Hop

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Review: Immortal

webmaster@pussreboots.pair.com (Sarah Sammis) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:51:00 PST

Immortal by Gene Doucette is about a dude named Adam (who may or may not be that Adam). He's seen nations rise and fall and endless numbers of friends grow old and die. He wants to lay low, stay out of trouble and maybe have a few drinks and do some drugs. There's just one problem, a price has been put on his head and now he's a wanted man.

Adam first realizes he's wanted when his current roommates are murdered. He's fingered for their deaths and has to scramble. As he's trying to sort out what happened he becomes aware of a new-to-him group who are interested in his immortality.

In a book where immortality is possible but not probable, there are also other supernatural creatures like pixies and vampires. Fortunately Adam's story doesn't get lost in a menagerie of creatures as happens to so many of these books.

With an immortal character, there are quite a few flashbacks. They come and go as Adam is reminded of something. I found some of these asides problematic for the overall pacing of the modern day mystery. I really just wanted to focus on the here and now of Adam's problems.

Review copy received by the author.

Three stars.

Review: Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 15

webmaster@pussreboots.pair.com (Sarah Sammis) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:08:00 PST

Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 15 by Hiromu Arakawa draws on lengthy interviews with world war two vets to tell an issue long flashback about the Ishbalan war.

The story is told through a conversation between Hawkeye and Ed as she cleans her weapon. She tells of how she came to be in the military, how she and the rest of Mustang's squad were brought together and the brutality expected of the State Alchemists against the Ishbalans.

If I were teaching a history of modern warfare class, I would include Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 15 along with more traditional texts. It captures the emotional toll so well.

Five stars.

Puss Reboots: A Book Review a Day

Review: The Runaway Mummy

Other posts and reviews:

Review: Life After Joe

Other posts and reviews:

Review: Finders Keepers

Other posts and reviews:

Review: A Tinfoil Sky

Other posts and reviews:

Review: Clementine and the Family Meeting

Other posts and reviews:

Review: Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes

Other posts and reviews:

Review: What Are You Reading: February 06, 2012

Finished:

Currently Reading:

Reviews Posted:

Review: The Stainless Steel Rat Returns

Other posts and reviews:

Review: Havana Real

Other posts and reviews:

Review: The Ghost and the Goth

Other posts and reviews:

Book Blogger Hop: February, 2012

Review: Immortal

Other posts and reviews:

Review: Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 15

Other posts and reviews: