Airplane reading

7:17 am

What is it about airplanes that make it hard to read with full comprehension?  Is it the loud droning noise in the background, the small seats, the lack of legroom?  Whatever it is, I barely ever feel like reading, or when I do read, it feels somewhat awkward. Like I can't quite transport myself to London or Fool's Gold, or wherever the book is set.  Because forever there is the drone of the plane, an unending loud noise that makes you feel like there are insects crawling on your skin.

So I sit here, back aching for some reason, listening to a relaxation track, hoping that the next hour will go by quickly.

8:26am

It was actually an hour and a half from then.  Making descents aren't always fun. Ears popping. I did get a little reading in earlier, but not that much.

 1:00pm

I'm on the second flight, tired out of my mind. I thought it was an hour later that it really is, so another 1.5 hours remain.  I don't have patience for reading again, but sleeping is not working either.

Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris

Well, I am finally getting to what I promised initially-- reviewing the complete (so far) Theodosia Throckmorton series.  And it had better not be done, Robin Lorraine LaFevers, so help me.

Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris
by R. L. LaFevers

Things have settled down somewhat for Theodosia since her last escapade.  However, her father makes her start cataloging the artifacts down in the basement, which is worrisome to Theo because of the potential curses she feels coming from these objects.  Theo begins her usual methods of checking for dark magic, but in the midst of her working, a jackal statue seems to come to life.

Following some other strange happenings, all the mummies from all the museums and the like disappear, only to begin turning up in the hallway of Theo's father's museum.  There is definitely magic afoot here, but is it the work of the Serpents of Chaos group or something else entirely?

Meanwhile, Theo's grandmother, who seems to have an admirer in an Admiral, brings new loathsome governesses to educate Theo, but our clever girl needs none of that deportment stuff.  Nor does she need to be doing lessons all day when she has to protect the British empire from all these curses!

Sticky Will, the pickpocket turned messenger for the Brotherhood is not as helpful or open as he once was, and Theo feels more alone than ever.  Her father is on the verge of arrest for stealing the mummies that appear in his locked museum every morning, and something is amiss with some of the artifacts down in the basement.  What can Theo do to prevent the arrest, stop the mummies from wandering, defeat the Serpents again, and get back her friendship with Will?


This book continues from where the last one left off after Theo and her mother get back from her unscheduled trip to Egypt.  I love how LaFevers continues to show the steps to defeat the curses.  As I said before, some might find these parts slow moving, but I think it just further envelops the reader in Theodosia's world, making it seem more real.  There is still plenty of excitement, though the first part of the book is not as full of action as the second.  The idea of mummies walking on their own might scare younger readers in the suggested range, but if they read the first book, there isn't anything much scarier than what happened within.  The book is very engaging once more, though it does suffer a little for being a second book in a series.  But not too much.

I give this 8 out of 10 sonic screwdrivers.

Meeting authors

I must say that meeting the authors of favorite books can be a great time.  I met several awesome people last year--Meg Cabot, Deborah Harkness, Laurie R. King, and several others at Bouchercon.  Cabot and King were the coolest, because I got to eat a meal with them (at separate times; together it would be an odd combination, since their writing styles are quite different).  And sitting in that big circle in the Renaissance Hotel lobby with all my FOL new friends was awesome too.

However, there are other times where you put your foot in your mouth and feel like a complete dolt, and someone like Daniel Handler totally takes advantage of that and even immortalizes your gaffe in your signing.  That's the other kind of meeting authors that isn't so great.  After a half hour or so presentation, the rest of the time of the Lemony Snicket and Jon Klassen author/illustrator visit was taken by book signing.  I was basically almost the end of the line, and since I was getting both to sign The Dark, I had to wait in 2 lines.  Klassen was nice and cute, and drew a picture of a car with his John Hancock.  By the time I finished with him, it was after 10 (program started at 7).

I did get to chat with a nice girl who was right behind me in line, and we liked a lot of the same things.  I wish I had got some contact info, cause we we both into Doctor Who, Veronica Mars, Joss Whedon, and other cool stuff.  Still, I was exhausted by the time I got to Handler, the official author representative for Snicket ;).  I tried to express my enjoyment for Mr. Snicket's books but it came out rather botched.  I completely embarrassed myself in front of all the people left.  And got it immortalized in my copy of The Dark, which is rather unfortunate.  Ha!

Mr. Handler's inscription reads: To Jessica, who ought to know better.

So that is my condensed version of what happened meeting Daniel Handler.  If you want to know the whole story, well, you are just going to have to ask me.

Samantha Sutton and the Labyrinth of Lies

So, another Goodreads review since I haven't been blogging at all recently.  Much apologies to Mary Michelle and whoever else is out there.  I liked this one, but as a librarian type I wasn't sure of the intended audience.  The protagonist was younger than most people who might have developed an intense archaeology interest, and the writing style was also geared towards the earlier middle grades.

* * * * *

Samantha Sutton and the Labyrinth of Lies
by Jordan Jacobs

I really wanted to love this, because it combines so many things I adore--mystery, children's lit, archaeology, and adventure. However, I have been waffling between 3 and 4 stars because though I enjoyed the book, I feel like its audience is limited. I suppose this is a good thing, it means I am thinking like a librarian. Samantha is a character I can relate to, but I sort of felt there was some spark of personality missing from her, or that I didn't quite connect with her. And while the descriptive archaeology terms were great, I felt like it might detract some younger readers from the story. So while it is a story that I would love to love, I can't quite get there. The mystery is well formed, however, and though I had my suspicions I didn't quite get the answer before the reveal. I love the pieces of Samantha's notebook between chapters. So after looking over what I have written, a 3 star review seems to correspond. Maybe the next book in the series will have more characterization. I will probably stick with it to see what happens, but it won't be at the top of my TBR list.

* * * * *

So, I suppose it is 6 out of 10 sonic screwdrivers. 

Many apologies

Not totally sure if anyone is actually reading this.  But if you are, I wanted to apologize that I haven't been posting.  It isn't that I haven't been reading, but I fear I am being lazy about the blog.  Still, I really would like to to keep it up.  Any sort of response would help encourage me, though I do want to keep trying no matter what.

Right now I am staffing Ohio's KnowItNow 24x7, an online chat reference service for anyone in the state.  I did some training a couple weeks ago, and today is my first time.  I was talking to a librarian in Dayton who said it was quiet for a Monday, so I hope next week should bring more opportunity.  Still, it is nice to try to hone my reference skills, though the two chats I have taken both got disconnected.  Sadly, since they both seemed to be nice people.

I think part of what makes it hard to do this is that I am then admitting I have time to do it, which is depressing.  The job market for librarians is a bit shaky right now, so finding a job and getting to the interview point is even harder.  Let alone actually getting a job.

I will see about an entry later today.  Maybe for one of the numerous paranormal mystery series I have been reading of late.  Better get back to staffing the service, though there are no users on right now. Au revoir. 

God of the Hive

Anyone who knows me knows I love the Mary Russell books.  I got to meet Laurie, Miss Russell's editor at this past year's Bouchercon in Cleveland.  Quite spectacular.  So I have a Goodreads review from book ten, God of the Hive, that is fairly complete and sharable.  Enjoy!

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After I won the ARC of this from Goodreads, I was ever so excited.  Since The Language of Bees ended in a cliffhanger, I was especially grateful to get to read the book as soon as possible.  However, it was necessary to reread #9 before reading The God of the Hive.  Believe me, if you don't reread it and the last time you read #9 was last year, you might be a little lost (unless you have a photographic memory).  So on the recommendation of Miss Russell herself (on Twitter), I listened to the previous book.
 
The God of the Hive begins directly where the last left off, with Mary Russell carrying Estelle on her back in Scotland.  With the realization that Brothers is not dead, Russell must get the child to safety as soon as possible.  Since they are in the Orkneys, however, it is a bit of a problem.  Russell must once again get on that rickety plane and fly south to England, but that is easier said than done.  Meanwhile, Holmes is fleeing with a shot Damian, making it difficult for them to escape the Orkneys as well.  Both groups are able to succeed with help from old and new friends, including Russell's help from the mysterious Robert Goodman.

However, things are rotten in London.  Scotland Yard is after the Holmes family, and they are not the only ones.  The middle of the book brings some great worry, and I made the unfortunate mistake of pausing there amid my grad schoolwork.  Warning: Do not do this!  It will greatly affect your psyche and possibly make you miserable.  I won't give away anything else, just that more enemies exist for the Holmes' than Brothers and his gang.

I really enjoyed reading the ARC, but I frankly cannot wait to read the actual book.  If only to get the fully edited story without the interruption of school work.  Thanks, Miss Russell, for your exciting memoir.  And thanks, LRK, for the wonderful job of editing it.

Who Could That Be at This Hour?

Huge Lemony Snicket fan here.  How about you?  Some find it an acquired taste, but it is just perfect for me and my sense of humor.  His use of language is spectacular, and this book, a prequel series of sorts, is unusual like his other works.

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I read this faster then I wanted to, but it was due today with holds.  I love going into Snicket's childhood, and the whole thing is sufficiently mysterious and nonsensical like his other work.  Lemony has just graduated from the secret organization he trained with, and is now apprenticing with the worst of the 52 chaperones.  He has a reason for this, but I don't want to give anything away.  Basically, he ends up in a dying town for his first assignment, and meets some intelligent young people and ridiculous adults.  If you like A Series of Unfortunate Events and other Snicket works, you will enjoy.  If you don't like it, I don't know if you will care for this.  The writing style is similar to his grownup voice, but this sounds younger and less experienced.  Which in my mind, makes it all the more awesome, as an evolution of the author/character.  I might change this to a 5 star after I get another chance to read it, but for now it is 4.5.  Can't wait for the next one.