Winner and a Bonus

I visited Mabel last night and she donated a copy for me to giveway too.  Hooray!

So I have two winners. 

I was too lazy to do my own drawing, so I used Random.org, and here's the breakdown. 
(Not to make the lower ranking comments feel bad, but I wanted to show them all.)

Random Sequence Generator

Here is your sequence:

4
 8
 6
 9
 2
 3
 1
10
 7
 5

Timestamp: 2011-12-19 08:40:28 UTC

Lori and Jill are the winners!

I'm going to have Mabel sign them, so comment below and let me know if you want them personalized.  Otherwise I'll have her keep it generic.

Thanks for playing friends!

GIVEAWAY---GIVEAWAY---GIVEAWAY

I am so excited to announce my second ever giveaway!


You can enter to win your very own copy of Mabel D.F. Cowie's first book, Awakenings.
(See my full review below)


This is a fun young adult fantasy novel that I would recommend for readers 10 and up.  I think it would be enjoyed by even younger kids if you read it aloud.

You can have two entries:

1) Leave a comment, telling me why you'd like to read this book.

2) Link up to this giveaway on your blog, and then tell me you did in the comments.

Deadline to enter is Sunday, December 18 at midnight.  I will draw a number randomly and announce it Monday morning.

Good Luck!

Awakenings by Mabel D.F. Cowie

This is the first book in a trilogy, 'Neath Ancient Ruins Lie, written by my good friend Mabel!  I read an earlier draft 3 years ago, and really enjoyed reading her polished, published version this week.  Her imagination is admirable and she has created an intriguing, fun story.

Young Adult Fantasy is not my favorite genre, but a lot of people close to me love it, so I end up reading a few here and there.  Mabel's book takes place in Scotland, 1932, but the story begins (and ends?) in a parallel world that is integral to the story.  Awakenings has castles, mermaids, fairies, ghosts, selkies and kelpies.  Not sure what a couple of those are?  Well, you'll find out!

The first chapter takes place in Ormiscaig, the parallel world, and the second at the castle in Scotland.  Both of these chapters introduce and describe characters and setting.  For me this can be a little slow, and it really took me until the fourth chapter to get into "don't want to put it down" mode.  So read on if the first couple of chapters seem a bit detailed.  The good news that in true YA style, the chapters aren't very long.

Arran is a young servant girl about to turn 14.  She is at first sweet and kind, but as the story progresses you discover (as she discovers) that she is also smart and brave.  The excitement in the story picks up as a stranger appears in the castle's dungeon, and begins to prove true the legends and folklore that have surrounded the castle.  I liked how the staff and the laird (lord) come together to solve the mysteries and help this stranded stranger.

One of Mabel's talents is in description.  She creates vivid pictures of her characters and their surroundings.  For example,

"The room was plush and beautiful; rich red tapestry curtains hung from the windows, and several tartan rugs covering the floor added warmth to the room.  On the table, lay 24 large pewter plates, each with a pewter goblet by its side, with perfect spacing between."


"The gentle gliding of the gull's wings and the sound of the water on the shore lulled her into a soft, gentle slumber."


"Above the glen, an eagle was stretching its long elegant wings out into the blue sky above soaring high above the tree tops."

The writing is also humorous at times.  A  young relative of the Laird comes to live in the castle (don't castles always need a sweet young ward living in one of the towers?) He is concerned that he might not have anything to talk to her about.  When they sit down to their first meal together, Isla begins talking and doesn't stop.  Her rambling, excited sentences remind me of several children I know.

"One fairy in particular even knew my name.  Her name is Tona, by the way, and she thinks I am a princess.  She has beautiful long wavy hair the color of the wheat fields and..."

The fairies are another part of the story I really liked.  When they talk or sing, those who believe in them are instantly comforted.  They are soothed and filled with peace.  I think this is symbolic of the pureness and goodness that the characters are searching for, but also reminded me of the power of mothers.  Kind of how newborns can be comforted by the sound of their mother's voice.  And how your mother's care and concern can wipe away your worries.  It makes me hope my children feel that way about me!

Toward the end of the book, Arran must make a difficult decision.  As she is pondering her choices, Elgol says to her,

"You have great potential, Arran.  There is much about yourself that you have not discovered yet, but it is nothing that you need to fear."

I think this is going to be important in the next two volumes.  It reminded me a bit of what her former teacher tells Penelope in book two of The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place.  I always like books in which young protagonists rise to their potential, and become the amazing people that the adults around them know they can be.

I also enjoyed Mabel's use of Scottish landmarks in her story.  When they venture to Loch Ness, it reminds me a bit of Peter and the Starcatchers series which includes an important use of Stonehenge.   I like when fantasy novels tie into mythology and locations that really exist.

Don't you love the cover artwork?  I think it sets the stage perfectly for the novel.
I think this is a fun story that you and your children will enjoy.  And probably your parents and aunts and neighbors.

You can purchase it on Amazon , only 99cents for the Kindle Edition or for your Nook.  You can also read the first chapter online, but I'm not sure that it alone will hook you. 

OR....Enter my giveaway that will be posted shortly, and win your own copy hot off the presses.  (You might even get it in time for Christmas)

Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, The Hidden Gallery (Book 2) By Mayrose Wood

I don't usually review two books in a series back to back, but I am desperately trying to meet my goal of reading 50 books this year.   It's going to be close!!

I think I might have even enjoyed this second book more than the first.  Because I knew what I was getting into in regards to the pace and length of the book, I was better prepared.

Penelope is just as charming and clever as she was before, and this book picks up right where The Mysterious Howling left off.  However book two doesn't really answer any of the questions that you have after finishing book one.  So you have to keep reading, BUT number three isn't out yet!!!  I was not aware of this fact, or I might not have rushed out to read number two.

All of that aside, I am dying for someone else to read this and let me know if you think they are as great as I do.

Here are some quotes to entice you:

"Oh, my head! Bring me a cold compress, please, I am quite at my wit's end--and some tea--and a chocolate, quick!  Make it a whole box!" (This is Lady Constance, who is hilarious in her ridiculousness.)

"Therefore, she now proceeded to do something quite rare and brave--something you yourself may find it necessary to do someday, if you have not already had case to try it out.  In short she stood up to a person of authority..."

"The London General Post Office as so impressive that Penelope could hardly imagine how Buckingham Palace might surpass it."

"But many forces shape a person's destiny, Penelope," she added.  "And a prophesy made before you were born cannot take into account the greatest influence of all."
"Which is what?"
"You.  Your own character.  The kind of person you choose to be--and that you inspire others to be."
I can't explain why this touched me.  The idea that we are more powerful that we know and that we can have that kind of powerful influence is so inspiring.

"Instead, just as one might use a ribbon to hold one's place in a fascinating book that one is temporarily forced to put down, Penelope simply made a note of her confused and disappointed feelings and then put them gently to the side, for there was nothing to be done about them at present."

The characters are good, the story is good and the writing is good.  Trifecta.

Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place:The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood

I enjoyed this fun story about little Penelope, a 15-year-old orphan who gets her first job as a governess.  This book is written for 8-12 year olds, and I think I would recommend it for the younger half of that.  It felt really short to me, and has kind of a fast ending.  But I think I've just forgotten how books for this age group are. 

Penelope has recently graduated from the "Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females."  The title of the school alone made me determined to love the book.  When Penelope arrives, is hired and then meets the children, she is told that they were raised by wolves and only found a week ago in the woods.  She just takes it all in stride, and goes about what she was hired to do.  The circumstances are almost absurd, and her progress with the children is definetly absurd, but I think it made for a really fun story.  Some moments are completely hilarious in their ridiculousness.

For example, upon realizing that she should teach the children the evils of eavesdropping Penelope thinks to herself,
"I will have the children read Hamlet as soon as it is practical.  There are some useful cautions against eavesdropping to be gleaned from that.  In the meantime, we shall deal with the squirrels."

Another thing I like was how she is constantly remembering little mantras that she learned at school.  Sayings of Agatha Swanburne, such as,

"All books are judged by their cover until they are read."


"No hopeless case is truly without hope."


"A well-organized stocking drawer is the first step toward a well-organized mind."

And I loved how she always thought about what she had been taught. 

"Swanburne girls were encouraged to be confident and bold."  


"Agatha Swanburn would not waste a moment worrying about things that couldn't be helped,"


 or  "She was a Swanburne girl, through and through."

There are some moments that remind me of Anne of Green Gables.  Penelope is picked up from the train station by a quiet older gentleman, and rides in a carriage taking in all of her new surroundings.  The absurdity and kind of deadpan writing reminded me a little of Lemony Snicket.  

The story is told from a third person narrator, who occasionally addresses the reader directly.  It was odd at first, because it speaks to you in present time, referring to the fact that the book is set in the past.  I think it actually works, and is probably helpful for young readers.  Here's one example,

"The truth is that one cannot go through life without being annoyed by other people, and this was just as true in Miss Penelope Lumley's day as it is in our own." 

The ending wraps up one big event, but then drops a couple of clues to lead you into the next book.  I was a little surprised at that, but again I think it's because the audience is intened to be middle grades.  I'm excited to pick up the story where it left off as soon as it comes in at the library!

Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith

Fair and Tender Ladies is a story about Ivy Rowe.  It begins when she is around 12, and follows her whole life until she's in her 80's I think.  Her story is told entirely through letters she writes, no responses.  And I think it works.  I thought the letters were used cleverly to reveal the characters and the plot.  I do wish dates were included on every letter, but I think they were intentionally left off so you had to discover how much time had passed.

The first few letters are kind of hard to read.  They introduce a bunch of characters, mostly Ivy's family, and are written in her vernacular.  It reminded me a bit of These is My Words, and similarly, her voice becomes easier to follow as you stick with it.

I love that Ivy loves to read, and has memorized poems.  She quotes them naturally as she thinks.  Her are a few quotes to give you a feel for her voice.

"I am going to mary somebody that makes me feel like a poem that's for sartin."


"Little Danny just smiled, he is the cutest thing.  I do not think I will have any children ever as they will brake yor hart."


"Oh Molly, I wish you culd see my dress it is so beutiful! It is green with puff sleeves and a round white coller."  Anne of Green Gables, right?

Ivy lives in the mountains of Virgina, and like other books about living in the Appalachians, she has a hard time.  There is a lot of sadness, hard work, and dying.  She has opportunities to get out, but ultimately chooses caring for her family.  Ivy doesn't always make smart decisions, but I do think she is tries to do what is right.

"She is serious, Silvaney.  She hates Sugar Fork when she thinks of it, and yet I love it, now isn't this odd?  us being from the same family and all.  She hates Sugar Fork and all the old ways.  She will not even talk about it..."


"I have lost my spunk some way.  It is like I was a girl for such a long time, years and years, and then all of a sudden I have got to be an old woman, with no inbetween.  Maybe that has always been the problem with me, a lack of inbetween. 
For all of a sudden when I saw those lights, I said to myself, Ivy, this is your life, this is your real life, and you are living it.  Your life is not going to start later.  This is it, it is now.  It's funny how a person can be so busy living that they forget this is it.  This is my life."
I think this tells a lot about how Ivy feels about herself.  Sometimes I feel this way too.

I can't think of another book that covers so much of one person's life in just 367 pages.  I really liked reading her letters, and I enjoyed the book.  EXCEPT that she makes a decision toward the end, that really taints the rest of the book for me.  It's not just her actions, but the way that she feels like it saved her life.  Like it was a turning point, and not really in the way I think it should have been.

But I still enjoy her wisdom on other topics.  For example,
"I guess you would think that when a woman has a lot of children, then each one means a little less.  It is not so.  Children will swell up your heart.  I know you say you are glad that you and Stoney have not had none of your own, that his have been enough of a headache, but I would bet it is not true, Ethel.  You just talk big, in my opinion.  But you are a soft as a featherbed underneath."

There's a letter toward the end that Ivy writes to her daughter Joli, and tells about a visit from her sister and her new husband.  Both Ivy and Ethel are older ladies by now.  Like in their 70's I'd guess.  I don't want to quote the whole thing, but the way she retells their conversation and their interactions, you can tell they are just the same as they were as kids, or in their 20s.  I loved it because it reminds me of getting together with my sisters, or when I see my mom with her's.  How you still feel like giggly girls, even though you have had this lifetime of experience apart.  Do you know what I mean?

I enjoyed this book and I would recommend it, but I didn't LOVE, love it.

Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos

I loved it.  I love her.  I was not disappointed. This is the kind of book that I love from the beginning and thought all day about when I could read it again.  Luckily I had a free night to read into the wee hours, and it was so worth it.
This is the story of Pen (Penelope) who is raising her 5 year old daughter, living with her brother Jamie and still grieving from her father's death.  In college she had two best friends, Cat and Will, with whom she was inseparable.  At some point after graduating, the three split up.  It's been 6 years, and the details of the events leading up to that moment are sprinkled through out the story.  Pen and Will receive a cryptic e-mail from Cat, which leads to them meeting up, and ultimately working through the details of their years spent apart.

What's that?  A story about three close college friends?  Lots of poignant reflections on losing your father?  Longing for people you've lost?  This is a book for me.

At the start Pen reflects, "Since you left there's been a you-shaped space beside me, all the time.  It never goes away."

I also love this perspective on harboring hate. "She could imagine sustaining certain emotions at that pitch for that long--love absolutely, grief probably, guilt maybe--but hatred was exhausting and gave so little back.  Once, after her father died, Pen had tried to keep hatred alive, but it kept losing its firm shape, kept smudging and blurring until it became an immense black, impossible heavy sadness that lived inside her body and made it hard to move, so she had given it up."

Doesn't this remind you of college? "They'd walk out of their apartment door, with their lipstick fresh and their hair and eyes lit by the streetlights, and anything, anything would seem possible to Pen."

There are so many great realizations and conversations I enjoyed reading and thinking about in this book.  There's a moment when Pen realized a guy may not be as big a jerk as he seemed at first, and it is written so well.
"It was simply this: for the first time, she understood that it was possible to form an opinion about a person, an opinion based on solid evidence and a vast quantity of justified self-righteous anger, to even have this opinion reinforced by trusted colleagues, and to be, at least partially, wrong."

The book takes them on a journey, literally and figuratively, to find Cat.  I think the story is interesting and well developed.  But really it's the writing more than the story that I fall in love with when I read Marisa de los Santos.

"'I'm beside myself with happiness,' said Pen. "And gratitude.  And relief.  I just came home from work and saw her sitting there with Augusta, and it took my breath away.  It was like someone fixed my television.'.....
the fact was that he knew immeadiately what Pen meant.  'Colors got brighter,' said Will. 'Edges got sharper.'
'Everything gleamed,' Pen said. 'Like sometimes happens after it rains.'"

Just like her first two books, I felt like the prevailing theme was love.  How love, in all its forms, is what is most important.

Bossypants by Tina Fey

If you really like Tina Fey and think she is hilarious, you'll probably really like this book.  I did.  But it wasn't as funny as I hoped it would be.  It's a nice quick read, and had some really great parts.  It confirmed to me that she is smart and original and just super funny!

She does us the f-word, and there are some jokes that I think of as the easy way out, ie. periods, body humor, crude words, dumb responses to rude comments online.  BUT it could, of course, been a lot worse.  I still feel like she goes for the smarter punchline, rather than potty humor.  But just from a few references, it is always shocking to me that real comedic writers think that kind of stuff is funny.

I think my favorite chapter is the one titled, "Sarah, Oprah, and Captain Hook, or How to Succeed by Sort of Looking Like Someone."  It tells about the weekend that she filmed with Oprah for 30 Rock, first parodies Sarah Palin, all while preparing for her daughter's 3rd birthday.  Having watched both 30 Rock and SNL during that time, I found it fascinating!  Really.

It's shouldn't be surprising that she has some really hysterical lines in this book.  I loved that it really carries an easy narrative voice, and you laugh as you go.  I'll share a couple to give you a taste, but I don't want to spoil the whole feel if you want to read it.

"All the windows were covered, and you had to be buzzed in through two different doors.  This place was not kidding around."

"I hope you enjoy it so much that you also buy a copy for your sister-in-law."

 I also loved the chapter where she explains the step-by-step process of a photo shoot. 

"You must not look in that mirror at your doughy legs and flat feet, for today is about dreams and illusions and unfiltered natural daylight is the enemy of dreams."

"When people say, 'You really, really must' do something, it means you don't really have to...When it's true, it doesn't need to be said."

Because I love 30 Rock, I really liked all the behind the scenes stories about how it became a show, and how different episodes came about. 

Also, Tina Fey includes real life pictures from growing up.  Hilarious. 

I love her non-chalant humor, and I enjoyed reading more about her!

LOVE THAT DOG by Sharon Creech

A short, sweet book that is written like a young boy's poetry journal for a school class.  Of course the English teacher in me loved the idea of inspiring a student to express themselves in poetry.  I love that Sharon Creech references all those poems that we introduce kids too in an effort to get them to love poetry.  They are the best ones!


I enjoyed reading this book.  I'm going to hand it off to my boys and see what they think about it.  It was a fun change from what I'm usually reading, and  I like books that present their story in a clever way.  This is like a poem of a book.

"Maybe he was just making pictures with words..."
Isn't that a great definition of poetry?

Cold Sassy Tree Olive Ann Burns

This is just what I needed this week.  It has been a while since I've read a book that I loved.  Thank you Colby for the advice to "stop what you are doing and read this now."  I loved this book!  Years and years ago (during high school maybe?), I read this after my aunt recommended it to my mom or something.  I remember I liked it, but I didn't remember anything else.  Now I can't believe I could ever forget forget it because I enjoyed reading it so much.

Cold Sassy is a fictional town in Georgia, and this book takes place in 1906.  Will Tweedy is 14, and tells the story about his family and the events that changed them that summer.  I enjoyed his voice and the southern accents, "ast," " 'tweren't," "swannee."  Olive Ann Burns uses her characters' voices to create the whole feel of the town.

In the second page of the book Will Tweedy says, "I and my little redheaded sister, Mary Toy, always followed him down the hall and he usually gave us each a stick of penny candy."  Don't you love how he added that little detail about Mary Toy?  I liked him right away.  Just a few pages later, when describing Miss Love Simpson he says "I had always admired Miss Love, with all that wavy brown hair piled atop her head, and that smiley, freckledy face and those friendly gray-blue eyes.  She was a merry person, like Grandpa."  Wouldn't you love to be described as a "merry person"?

There is a sweet story that his Grandma would tell about his Grandpa, "When he come back to Cold Sassy after the War, he was the handsomest man you ever seen and I was a old maid.  Twenty-one year old and never had a beau in my life.  I was fixin' to go to church one Sunday morning when this good-lookin' feller, he tapped me on the shoulder and said, 'Ain't you Miss Mattie Lou Toy?  You don't need no sermon today.  Stay out here and le's talk.'...So we stayed in the churchyard, like a re'lar courtin' couple, and talked one another's ears off.....Fore that day was over Mr. Blakeslee said he was a-go'n marry me..."  Cold Sassy Tree is filled with these little heart-warming moments. 

I also loved the sweet wisdom that Grandpa shares in nuggets throughout the book.  Like, "Livin' is like pourin' water out of a tumbler into a dang Coca-Cola bottle.  If'n you skeered you cain't do it, you cain't.  If'n you say to youreself, 'By dang, I can do it!' then, by dang, you won't slosh a drop."  Later after Will escapes a close run in with a train he is asking his Grandpa if it was God's will that he survived.  His Grandpa said, "What God give you was a brain.  Hit's His will for you to use it--p'tickler when a train's comin'."  Grandpa's religious explanations were especially meaningful.  He offers a "family prayer" right after Will's accident that is so great. 

Cold Sassy is a small town, the kind that makes "small town" an adjective. I loved how when tragedy strikes, they gather together, bring food, and take care of each other.  Of course, the other side of the coin was how when anything happens, there is someone there to judge, report and repeat what had happened.  There are so many examples of this in the story.

I loved the family dynamics, and really how no one is perfect.  Will makes some choices that drive you crazy, and Aunt Loma is such a pill, but by the end they have really endeared themselves to you.  At least they did to me.  I loved the Grandpa's teachings and his critiques of preachin' and where he thought the pastors were getting it wrong. 

This book is getting a spot in my top 10.