Bibliophile Support Group

Another throwback review this week! This one was posted originally in July 2009 and is still one of my favorites! Here ya go: Eyes Like Stars in the first book by Lisa Mantchev in the Theatre Illuminata trilogy. Bertie lives on a stage. Her friends are fairies from A Midsummer Night’s Dream . Her crush is Nate, a pirate from The Little Mermaid . And her childhood friend and now frenemie is Ariel, a hunky spirit from The Tempest . That’s right. On the stage Bertie lives on, all those characters from all those plays? They’re alive and bursting with drama. And not just the characters from Shakespeare. Every single play that has ever been written is represented in The Book. The Book that makes all of this possible. The Book that creates the magic. But Bertie isn’t one of these characters; the theatre has taken her in, with a rather murky explanation as to why. It is her home. The only place she knows. However, Bertie isn’t the most gracious of guests. She can’t seem...

The Lost Track of Time is a debut middle grade novel by Paige Britt. With her mind full of ideas and bursting with imagination, Penelope has aspirations of being a writer. Yet her mother’s plans for her are quite different – and every minute of Penelope’s days are scheduled and planned, leaving no time for her dreaming since she must use time to be “productive.” But when the unexpected happens – a hole in her schedule lasting an entire day! – Penelope somehow falls into it. Suddenly she is in a wonderful place called the Realm of Possibility that is being destroyed by the Clockworkers, led by the villain Chronos. Thrust into a position where her imagination is desperately needed, Penelope begins an adventure like no other – looking to find the Great Moodler, the one person that can save the Realm of Possibility and answer her many, many questions. The Lost Track of Time was a charming, intelligent, warm novel of brilliant wordplay! Anyone who is familiar with my reading ha...

The School for Good and Evil is a middle grade fantasy novel by Soman Chainani. And oh my gosh it is sooooooooooooo good!!!!!! In the village of Gavaldon, it has become an accepted truth that once every four years two children are kidnapped – only to appear in mysteriously delivered fairytale books later on. Their faces are clearly seen in the illustrations – some the heroes, some the villains. Of course, many an adult has tried to resist such a ridiculous idea. Yet it is difficult to deny that it seems these children are being taken to be featured in new fairytales. Sophie, the most beautiful girl in Gavaldon, is ready when the next four-year mark comes. She is prepared to be a princess, marry a prince and continue to wear as much as pink as she can. Her best friend, Agatha, isn’t too thrilled at the idea though. Not only does she think the idea of being whisked away to a fairytale is ridiculous – she doesn’t want to lose Sophie. With her off putting, antisocial personality...

Shades of Grey is a dystopian satire novel by Jasper Fforde. In a world where color perception determines the hierarchy of a Colortocracy society, what you can see is everything. That’s why Eddie Russet is trying to secure a marriage into the powerful Oxblood family to combine his better-than-average Red perception to their aristocratic name – yet those plans are upended when he and his father are sent to the fringe town East Carmine. Manners, rules and accepted mores in the Chromatacia seem a bit more lax in East Carmine – dangerously so. Beyond the normal fear of lethal swans and lightening, the sneaky Yellows seem sneakier than ever, the deMauve’s are angling to marry their horrid Violet to Eddie and he’s finding himself fascinated by a Grey named Jane. Riskiest of all is the knowledge Eddie begins to gather in East Carmine – truths behind the ordered, peaceful, rule-abiding Colortocracy that shed light on its deceptions… And it’s that innate inquisitiveness that could le...

Coraline is a middle grade contemporary fantasy by Neil Gaiman. Perhaps you’ve already read Coraline . Perhaps you are wondering, “How on earth could a self-proclaimed bibliophile have not yet read this modern classic?” Perhaps I am wondering the same thing. Yet this is an issue that has been rectified! In Coraline’s new flat there is a door that when opened reveals nothing but a wall of bricks. Yet being the young adventurer she is, Coraline tries it again another day and instead finds it is an entrance to another house – a house just like hers but better. Instead of always working and being very busy, these new versions of her parents want to spend time with her and want her to stay with them on this side of the door. Coraline, though, wonders why. There appears to be something sinister and secretive beneath the improved surface of this mirror house – and Coraline will have to use her wits and her nerve to save herself. I can’t say my summary of the premise of Cora...

Stardust is an adult fairytale by Neil Gaiman. When the beautiful, unattainable Victoria states that the only thing Tristran Thorne could do to win her hand would be to bring her the star they watched falling from the sky – Tristran is determined to do it. However, this means venturing beyond the relative normalcy of their village Wall and slipping into the unexplored, magical faerie land outside it. Past the ancient wall that has guarded their town from the oddities and dangers of the enchanted realm, Tristran must keep his head as adventures and perils meet him that he could never have imagined… Stardust was my first Neil Gaiman book! I’ve heard of Neil Gaiman forever – and being a lover of quirky, clever books I thought it was about time I tried him out. I have to say – Stardust was a bloody, unique, adventurous adult fairytale that was quite interesting and very good. I wouldn’t say it was as FANTASTIC as I expected – but that could be partially because of my high exp...

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making is a middle grade fantasy for all ages by Catherynnne M. Valente. Twelve-year-old September has gotten rather tired of the sameness of each day – washing the same dishes, sleeping on the same pillow, etc. That is why she leaps at the chance to go to Fairyland when the Green Wind and his flying leopard extend an invitation. Adventure at last! Yet Fairyland is in turmoil – things are not as they once were now that the evil Marquess is ruling after the suspicious disappearance of the beloved Queen Mallow. With the help of a dragon-like creature who has memorized A-through-L of the encyclopedia and a blue boy who is almost, but not quite, human – September will try to restore Fairyland back to its former glory. Days after finishing The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making I am still thinking about it! The prose and plot is astonishingly rich in its cleverness, inventiveness and beaut...

House of Many Ways is a middle grade/YA fantasy novel by Diana Wynne Jones and the sequel, of sorts, to Howl’s Moving Castle and Castle in the Air . Due to this, I recommend reading the books in order to get the full, fun effect. When Charmain’s great-uncle, the royal wizard of their land, becomes mysteriously ill and is carried off by elves to be tended to, Charmain is volunteered by her wealthy aunt to look after his house in his absence. To Charmain this is an opportunity to read nonstop without pesky, bothersome parents about to disturb her – but she soon discovers that time to read at this unique house may be tougher to come by than she expected. A humble, ordinary dwelling on the outside, Charmain’s great-uncle’s residence is a wonder from the inside – with the ability to bend space and time. There’s also a clingy, stray dog in residence that may or may not be magical and an inconvenient arrival of a clumsy wizard’s apprentice. To top all of this off, Charmain becomes...

The Last Dragonslayer is the first book in Jasper Fforde’s YA fantasy series The Chronicles of Kazam . And it’s awesome. Soon-to-be-sixteen Jennifer Strange is acting manager of Kazam Mystical Arts Management – an employment agency for magicians – since the true owner disappeared, literally. Keeping a handle on a bunch of childish, bickering wizards may not sound like many folks cup of tea, but Jennifer enjoys it. It’s far better than living at the foundling orphanage – and she’s good at it. But magic is fading and the modern technologies of life have led people to prefer drain cleaner to spells. Plus, the regulations placed on magic carpets have made using them as taxis impossible. When a mass-vision predicts the death of the last dragon in the world at the hands of the last dragonslayer, politics, business and greed become the order of the day as people begin streaming toward the boundary of the Dragonlands – eager to stake some new land as soon as the dragon is dead. Th...

The Phantom Tollbooth is a classic children’s/middle-grade fantasy novel by Norton Juster. How have I never heard of this book until recently??? All I can say is THANK YOU to a bookish bud that told me about the GEM!!! Have YOU heard of The Phantom Tollbooth ? Have YOU read it? Milo finds little interest in any place he’s at when he’s there or anything he’s doing when he’s doing it. When Milo finds a tollbooth in his room one day, he decides to go ahead and drive through it in his little electric car – if only because he’s got nothing better to do and this is certainly something different. For once, though, where he ends up doesn’t have him thinking about leaving. Milo finds himself in a world that’s very different from his own – meeting the residents of the Doldrums, being at a market of words at Dictionopolis, taking a look over Point of View, jumping to the Island of Conclusions – and much, much more. As he embarks on an adventure for the ages – involving a daring r...

The Cracks in the Kingdom is a YA contemporary fantasy and the second novel in the Colors of Madeline books by Jaclyn Moriarty. These books are just too fantastic to muddle up by reading out of order! Definitely read A Corner of White first and only proceed with this review if you have already done so! Understood? At the conclusion of A Corner of White we found out that in the Kingdom of Cello dimwitted teenage Princess Ko might not actually be as dimwitted as she’s led everyone to believe – that instead she’s been pretending the rest of the royal family hadn’t disappeared without a trace a year ago and has been running the government all by herself, secretly, in the meantime. Outwardly running a Royal Youth Alliance as a cheerful publicity stunt, Princess Ko has roped Elliot into her scheme to find her family – and her strong belief that they were taken to the World. Though Elliot really just wants to look for his own missing father, he’s essentially forced to help Princ...

When Did You See Her Last? is the second middle-grade amusing mystery novel in Lemony Snicket’s All the Wrong Questions series. If you haven’t read Who Could That Be at This Hour? the second book may be confusing to you, as it does have follow-up and a continued storyline. So I’d recommend reading the books in order! Nearly thirteen years old and graduated from an enigmatic school, Lemony Snicket finds himself still in the nearly empty town of Stain’d-by-the-Sea and still apprenticed to the crazy-haired S. Theodora. When a request comes in to investigate the disappearance of a young, brilliant chemist named Cleo Knight who also happens to be the daughter of the wealthy family of Ink Inc. fortune, Lemony and S. Theodora are on the case. But sightings of Cleo taking off in a taxi and advising she was off to join the circus have come in, and S. Theodora calls it a closed case. Yet Lemony is most definitely not certain of that. After all, there is the issue of Cleo’s expensive...

Who Could That Be at This Hour? is the first book in Lemony Snicket’s All the Wrong Questions series, a middle grade mystery humor story. Are you a fan of A Series of Unfortunate Events ? If your answer was no – what’s wrong with you?! Ah, just kidding! Though, seriously, I don’t understand that – but we’re all different. Anywho, I personally love A Series of Unfortunate Events and look forward to reading those ridiculous, ingenious books again and again when I have all the time in the world. If that ever happens. So, when I found out that “Lemony Snicket” was writing a new series about his mysterious younger years – well how could I not be ecstatic? Here we find newly graduated from an enigmatic, clearly out-of-the-ordinary type of school, thirteen-year-old Lemony becoming an apprentice to an agent involved in an organization that is also enigmatic. Hopeful that by picking the lowest-ranking agent on the list he’ll be able to pursue his own secretive designs in the ...

A Corner of White is a YA contemporary mashed with fantasy by Jaclyn Moriarty, it’s also the first book in The Colors of Madeline trilogy. Since leaving their ritzy life behind for Cambridge, Madeline and her mother have barely gotten by with a single sewing machine and beans nearly every night. Sometimes Madeline really wonders why she ran away from that life. So do her friends. Truly, it’s all very mysterious and pretty hard to believe. Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Cello, Elliot has returned home to Bonfire in The Farms after yet another unsuccessful search for his father – who disappeared after an attack by a third-level Purple that left his uncle dead a year and a half ago. Not everyone believes that’s what happened though. There are rumors that his father wasn’t taken at all, but may have murdered his own brother and ran off with the high-school physics teacher. Elliot refuses to believe this. Then, one day, Madeline and Elliot begin to correspond – there’s a lit...

File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents is a middle-grade comical mystery novel by Lemony Snicket, and around book 2.5 of the All the Wrong Questions series. Personally, I strongly recommend you read this series in order – first Who Could That Be At This Hour? and then When Did You See Her Last? I have read (and loved) them. Due to my weird reading and blog schedule, though, the actual reviews aren’t posting until June. Stay tuned! Anywho, in the midst of young apprentice Lemony Snicket’s time in the mostly abandoned Stain’d-by-the-Sea and his larger, overarching mystery (which we shall not get into now, so as not to spoil all you lovely bibliophiles), File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents covers his smaller, but no less tantalizing mysteries. Here we dive into the details of ghostly hauntings, neighborhood kidnappings, potentially rhyming vandals, and missing food – and more! Oh, Lemony Snicket, how I love thee!!! File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents is humorous and wonderfull...

Shadow Hand is the sixth book in the fantasy series Tales of Goldstone Wood by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. As I’ve said numerous times before while reviewing this series, it’s definitely a good idea to read these books in order. Though the time periods jump around a little, it’ll help to keep things more clear – which I’ve struggled with, as the books have not come to me in order. So, you’ll want to first read Heartless , then Veiled Rose , Moonblood (review to come in July), Starflower , Dragonwitch and finally Shadow Hand . The below review will have some slight spoilers from earlier books, so tread carefully! After Lionheart, Prince of the Southlands, was dispossessed and banished, Lady Daylily is now betrothed to his cousin Foxbrush, who has taken his place in the kingdom. Lady Daylily had come to love Lionheart – a love that never seemed to be returned – and now a life with Foxbrush seems to foretell a life just like him – awkward and reclusive. On the day of Lady Daylily’s...

Timeless is the fifth and final novel in Gail Carriger’s adult, comedic, steampunk, supernatural series The Parasol Protectorate set in an alternate Victorian age. You have to know that I *strongly* recommend reading The Parasol Protectorate in order!! I mean, ARE YOU CRAZY?! The spoilers will, well, spoil too much squeal-worthy goodness!! So, if you haven’t read Soulless , Changeless , Blameless and Heartless – READ NO FURTHER . If you have, proceed… Over the last couple years Lord and Lady Maccon and Lord Akeldama have settled into an out-of-the-ordinary sort of household harmony. For Alexia this means keeping a hawk’s eye on a toddler that turns supernatural haphazardly and suddenly becomes stronger and faster than she. Oh, joy. Not to mention assimilating werewolves into London’s High Society and hiding the fact that she and her husband are living in a vampire’s second best closet. But Alexia likes to keep life interesting. Then a summons comes from the world’s olde...

Heartless is the fourth novel in the hilarious, supernatural, alternate Victorian England steampunk adult series The Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger. All month long I’ve been posting reviews of this awesome series – and yet again I strongly recommend that you read the books IN ORDER and WITHOUT SPOILERS , which means if you haven’t read books 1 – 3, you really should not read my review of Heartless. It’s all too much fun to ruin surprises! OKAY?! When a ghost, barely holding on to her sanity, expresses that the Queen’s life may be being threatened amidst much illogical prattle, Alexia, soulless preternatural, is on the case. She, along with her hulking werewolf husband Lord Maccon, attempt to follow the trail to disrupt the designs against the Queen – and Alexia finds that it leads to some revelations of her beloved’s shadowy past. Meanwhile, Alexia finds herself dealing with a sister that suddenly has an interest in the suffragette movement, Madame Lefoux’s increasi...

Blameless is the third book in the adult, steampunk, comedic supernatural series The Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger. Have you read Soulless and Changeless ? If not – LOOK AWAY! Close this window, seriously! I do not want to be the cause of your spoilers. Or read those reviews, instead. Only continue reading my review of Blameless if you’ve read up to this point in the series. GOT IT? Last warning… Alexia, Lady Maccon, has returned home to her dreadful family. Everyone is astir, and then when the gossip comes out – as to why she is no longer living at Woolsey with her husband and his werewolf pack… well, it’s the scandal of the London season. Having little experience defending herself when she is actually innocent, Alexia finds herself both numbed by her husband’s rejection and also terribly angry. How dare he?!? Of course, it may indeed be a fact that there is no known werewolf-sired pregnancy – as werewolves are technically dead – in all of their genealogy. C...

Changeless is the second book in Gail Carriger’s alternate-Victorian, steampunk, comedic adult paranormal series The Parasol Protectorate . If you haven’t read book one, Soulless , I recommend reading my review from last Friday and getting on that stat!!! There will be inadvertent, unavoidable spoilers of the first book if you continue reading – so please stop now unless you have read the delightful first book. Got it? Final warning… SERIOUSLY . Now as Lady Woolsey, Alexia Maccon finds herself the Alpha female of a werewolf pack. She has resigned herself to the fact that this is met with many tribulations, such as an inordinate amount of nudity due to werewolves changing to human form, etc. An English lady of delicate sensibilities should not have to surrounded by such improper supernatural realities. Yet Alexia always was made of sturdier stuff. Her new life also means occasionally being awakened by her brash werewolf husband. Such as this morning when he is angrily yel...