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.

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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.

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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.

The Name of the Game Was Murder

Any Joan Lowry Nixon fans out there?  She wrote some great teen mysteries with tame romances attached.  Here is one that does not bear a romance, but had a really cool puzzle involved with the mystery.  And as I am posting directly from Goodreads, it may bear some references to that in the reviews.  I hope you don't mind.  Also, they are shorter than what I will be posting (probably) for my regular reviews here.  Still, they give a flavor for the books.

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I'm trying to make an attempt to add everything? (eek!) I have ever read onto Goodreads. This will be an interesting exercise, to say the least. I picked this book since I have read it so many times and I can see it from my bed.

Nixon always does an excellent job of drawing in the reader, making her feel for the protagonist. I can't really remember if I solved the mystery when I first read the book, but it is an interesting little puzzle. And the murderer is unexpected as well. Some of the story is a bit dated now, since some of the characters claim to not be familiar with computers, and today that would be near impossible. However, there is something about this little mystery that makes me smile when I read it.

My Side of the Mountain

So I am going to move some of my Goodreads reviews here in order to fatten her up.  I will also try to stay on top of adding new material too, but since I have but one lone review, I think it is time to add some more.

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George was a Newbery Honor book for that year and is a pretty interesting tale.  The following review is a response to some silly people who take books for children as literal suggestions of what children should do.  Which is ridiculous, since that isn't the point.  Imagination.  Traveling and not moving an inch, seeing the world without spending a penny.  Those are the points.  Sometimes I worry about reviewers who don't seem to have an ounce of imagination or creativity in them.  How do they survive in the world?  So, the conversational tone is addressing their criticism of the book's survival story.

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People, this book was written in the late 50s, and things were a bit different back then. Trying to place it in the now does not work. Yes, there are many unbelievable parts, but it is a children's fiction book, not a survival guide.  This charming story brings me back to my youth and reading other George books.  Escaping the hustle and bustle of everyday life is something many of us imagine for a time. I know I did, judging from journals from when I was young. Thinking it is bad or stupid because of its implausibilities means you have lost your imagination and probably have no idea what some kids think about. perhaps it should not be forced on kids to read in school, but classics that won awards are always fair game. If you don't like them, write a new story that will get awards. And if you can't, then don't complain. The  Newbery (et al.) selection committee is awesome and well qualified and does an awesome job finding the top books out of hundreds or thousands published a year.

Sorry for the rant. This book is lovely and accessible to many.  Keep when it was written in context, and you should enjoy the day to day life of surviving on a mountain.