Archive for October, 2009
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Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
Happy Sunday! We are having a lovely fall weekend in Southern California that actually feels like fall- cool and crisp with a light wind. The weather put me in such a fall mood that I made a big batch of pumpkin bread yesterday and curled up with my book all [...]
On Comments and Commenting, Part 2
Submitted by Book Nut
This has been on my mind ever since Mother Reader asked me (along with Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect, Mary Lee at A Year of Reading, and Jennifer at BiblioFile) to be on a panel for the KidlitCon, and then asked “How can I get people to comment on my blog? [...]
Ice
Submitted by Book Nut
by Sarah Beth Durst
ages: 12+
First sentence: “Once upon a time, the North Wind said to the Polar Bear King, ‘Steal me a daughter, and when she grows, she will be your bride.’”
Review copy sent to me by the publisher at the author’s request.
Cassie has spent her life knowing two things: polar [...]
The Summer I Turned Pretty
Submitted by Book Nut
by Jenny Han
ages: 12+
First sentence: “We’d been driving for about seven thousand years.”
Belly lives for summers. Summers are when she is most alive, most at home, most in her element. Summers are when magic happens. Summers spent at the beach house, with her mother, older brother Steven, her mother’s best friend Susannah [...]
An Argument for Bias: An Open Letter to the FTC
Submitted by Book Nut
To Richard Cleland, Federal Trade Commission:
As I’m sure you’re aware, a lot of book bloggers have reacted strongly to the inclusion of book blogging in the “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” which have recently been released by the FTC. They, like me, are wondering how it will [...]
Library Loot #39
Submitted by Book Nut
Hi, my name’s Melissa.
(Hi, Melissa.)
I’m here because I’m a book addict. I love them. I love the feel of them in my hands, the weight, the smell. But I really love the stories. I can’t get enough of the stories. And when I’m wandering around the bookstore or the library or the [...]
Day 2….Jane Austen Week……Persuasion
Submitted by The Thin Red Line
Persuasion one of the Collected Works of Jane Austen by Jane Austen is my favorite of her novels. It was one of her “later” novels and shows both a realistic view of romance and at the proper points features the lush romantic prose she wrote so well. Plus it offers [...]
It’s Jane Austen Week…Starting off with Lady Susan….a Lesser Known Work
Submitted by The Thin Red Line
This is going to be a week where I take time to showcase my favorite author, Jane Austen. The book I’m featuring all week is the same one, The Collected Works of Jane Austen,by Jane Austen. Which is a collection of all of her novels, though doesn’t include her letters, [...]
Review: Goldengrove by Francine Prose
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
Goldengrove by Francine Prose is a tender examination of a young girl’s grief over the loss of her beloved older sister, Margaret.
Margaret is a dreamer, a lover of old movies, a poet and singer. Nico and Margaret are sisters and co-conspirators, finding ways for Margaret and her boyfriend Aaron to [...]
Kids and Cash
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
Got any money?
I do not want to raise spoiled brats. I want my kids to understand the value of a buck.
But in the area in which we live, this is tricky. Rampant consumerism is the norm. My daughter’s best friend has a flat screen tv in his bedroom, a laptop, [...]
A Civil Contract
Submitted by Book Nut
by Georgette Heyer
ages: adult
First sentence: “The library at Fontley Priory, like most of the principal apartments in the sprawling building, looked to the south-east, commanding a prospect of informal gardens and a plantation of poplars, which acted as a wind-break and screened from view the monotony of the fen beyond.”
Actually, that first [...]
Nothing But Ghosts
Submitted by Book Nut
by Beth Kephart
ages: 12+
First sentence: “There are the things that have been and the things that haven’t quite happened yet.”
There are some things that stand out about certain authors. A sense of humor, fabulous world building, great characters. In the case of Beth Kephart, it’s the language that grabs you. Haunting and [...]
On Commentors and Commenting
Submitted by Book Nut
I actually thought I’d have a lovely Sunday Salon post musing about the role of comments in the blog world, but it really didn’t work out that way today. So… just the award part. Perhaps I’ll get around to my thoughts on comments later.
The lovely Melissa at One Librarian’s Book reviews gave [...]
Mission Control, This is Apollo
Submitted by Book Nut
by Anderw Chaikin/paintings by Alan Bean
ages: 8-12
First sentence: “Until 1961, space travel was something that only dreamers and science fiction writers thought about seriously.”
This is an absolutely gorgeous book. Oversized, glossy pages, beautiful paintings by former astronaut Alan Bean — it’s a book that I want to own just so I can [...]
The Key to the Golden Firebird
Submitted by Book Nut
by Maureen Johnson
ages: 12+
First sentence: “Chome on,” Palmer said, her words dulled from numb-tongue syndrome caused by the Icee she was slurping.”
A review about a Maureen Johnson book shouldn’t be that hard. This is the last one that she’s written that I hadn’t read, and honestly, there really isn’t that much to [...]
A Middle Grade Fiction Panel Squee
Submitted by Book Nut
Can I tell you how ridiculously excited I am about this?
Not only did the Cybils folk let me participate again this year, they let me be on the same panel that I was last year. Which thrills me to no end. On top of that (as if it could get any better!), [...]
Book to Movie Friday: Bridge to Terabithia
Submitted by Book Nut
I’d been avoiding this movie for a long time. That is, until Betsy posted her best kids book-to-movie adaptations, and this was on the list. Well, I figured if Betsy liked it, then it must be good. So, the next time I saw it at the library I grabbed it and watched [...]
10 Questions for Jacqueline Kelly
Submitted by Book Nut
Perhaps it is too much to say that when I finished Calpurnia Tate, I wanted to meet the author behind the book. But, it isn’t too much to say that the instant I got an email from Jaqueline Kellye thanking me for my review, that I jumped at the chance and asked [...]
Go Nominate Your Favorite Book NOW!
Submitted by Book Nut
That’s an order.
Go here to do it… fill out the forms and press enter. There’s a bunch of categories to choose from — easy reader/early chapter; poetry; fiction and non-fiction picture books; middle grade fiction; middle grade and YA non-fiction; YA books; graphic novels; and science fiction/fantasy — and you can nominate [...]
