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Showing posts from July, 2008

The New Girl

Meg Cabot’s second installment in her middle-grade level series Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls is just as fun, sweet, and reminiscent of my own fourth grade experience as the first one. Not that it’s a retread, of course. Not in the slightest. Since Allie, her parents, and her little brothers have made the BIG MOVE, that was such a huge part of the plot of the first book, Moving Day , now it’s time for her first day at her new school as (say it with me now) The New Girl . Thankfully I never had to deal with that dilemma as a fourth grader – but even more thankfully, I didn’t have a big, scary girl in my class tell me she was going to beat me up after class like Allie does. My childhood was mostly peaceful. Sadly, poor Allie’s isn’t. Not to mention that things aren’t looking so peachy for getting her promised kitten. Once again (remember how I mentioned the “satisfaction guaranteed” sticker in an earlier review?) Meg Cabot’s book whisks the reader away to pure entertainment – even if i

The Space Between Us

Have you ever read a bestselling or highly acclaimed book (usually written for adults, since YAs are usually so woefully underappreciated) and just not got it? You know - it's depressing, disturbing, or just plain boring? Well, The Space Between Us is NOT one of those! I'll admit that I went into it thinking it was... I've been burned before by so-called "Women's Literature", but Thrity Umrigar's bold, yet gentle, foray was a force to reckoned with. I simply could not dislike it. Taking place in modern day India, the setting is unique and intriguing but anyone who has read as many books as I have knows that beautiful or different settings do not make a book interesting in the slightest. It's like a person looking great on the exterior, but what's on the inside? The characters are the heart and soul of a book. And The Space Between Us lavishes the reader with honest, flawed, empathetic characters that pull at your heart strings while still making

Sweet and Vicious

I received this book, Claudia Gabel's third installment of the In or Out series, from an awesome contest site, teensreadtoo.com. Honestly, though, I would recommend others to start from the beginning of the series rather than to jump right into the third book like I did. Which I usually don't do. But, ya know, I wasn't gonna go buy the others JUST because I won the third. I can't help but feel that this book (and the others in the series) have suffered from Bad Cover Syndrome. This is just a personal opinion, and nothing against the girls on the cover or the people who designed it - but it just looks marketed way too young. Even though the two main characters are 14, they seem much older - and I wouldn't classify it anywhere near a Babysitter's Club book, which is what the cover kind of made me think of. Okay - besides the cover now. Shy Marnie and social-climbing Nola used to be best friends, but after some wild and hurtful accusations, that is all in the pas

Relapse

Oops. Why no new book review? Well, I've suffered a bibliophile relapse. I tried to fight it. I was unsuccessful. I'm rereading. Yep. And I'm not rereading something I can post on here as I usually would (shame on me!) - because I already have reviewed it on here. Seriously. I just read it. That's right. I'm rereading The Summoning . It's that good. And I guess the release date has been moved up. Buy it now! Here's a link to the bibliophile's ultimate dealer (at least the bibliophile who really needs the extra savings, like me), directly to this frakktastic book: http://www.amazon.com/Summoning-Darkest-Powers-Book/dp/0061662690/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214956135&sr=1-1 I promise to quickly finish it up, and return to my duties. It might be a review of Ann Brashares' adult novel The Last Summer (of You & Me) . It might not. I'm fickle that way. Anyway, keep the faith! I WILL post again soon!