Musing Mondays (May 31)

Musing Mondays are hosted by Should Be Reading!

This week’s question asks…

Do you ever read a word or phrase that sparks a specific place or setting in your mind and makes you crave to read a book with that type of place/setting in it?

Well recently I've developed an insatiable appetite for steampunk, and basically anything science fiction, so when I see words like goggles, clockwork, or the doctor I instantly want to read a book or watch TV that has to deal with either one or all of these things. >_<

When I talk about old fashioned thing's or the country I yearn to read classic's and when I read about puzzle's, crime, etc. I want to read a mystery. So yeah, a lot of word's and phrases make me want to read specific books.

WWW Wednesdays (May 26)

This is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.
To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…
* What are you currently reading?
* What did you recently finish reading?
* What do you think you’ll read next?

My Answers:

What are you currently reading? I am reading "Death in the Clouds" by Agatha Christie for my Marple, Poirot, Holmes Challenge, and my thriller/suspense challenge. I haven't gotten very far in it yet so I'm not sure how I feel about it yet.

What did you recently finish reading? "Northanger Abbey" by Jane Austen. I'm going to put a little review of it up soon.

What do you think you'll read next? I really want to read "Jekel Loves Hyde" by Beth Fantaskey .

House of Many Ways: A Book Review

Title: House of Many Ways

Author: Dianna Wynne Jones

Genre: Fantasy

Reading Level: Ages 9 and up

Summary: When Charmain Baker agreed to look after her great-uncle's house, she thought she was getting blissful, parent-free time to read. She didn't realize that the house bent space and time, and she did not expect to become responsible for an extremely magical stray dog and a muddled young apprentice wizard. Now, somehow, she's been targeted by a terrifying creature called a lubbock, too, and become central to the king's urgent search for the fabled Elfgift that will save the country. The king is so desperate to find the Elfgift, he's called in an intimidating sorceress named Sophie to help. And where Sophie is, the great Wizard Howl and fire demon Calcifer won't be far behind. How did respectable Charmain end up in such a mess, and how will she get herself out of it?

My Review: Dianna Wynne Jones has always been and will continue to be one of my favorite authors ever. She has a gift for creating the best and most imaginative stories and situations ever to grace the pages of MG fiction. Not only that but her characters are always top notch. Jone's understands the appeal of a flawed character. Her characters, and most of all Charmian, have a lot of thing's to learn about life and themselves, and seeing that growth in a book is really something special. This book has a great cast of character's each unique in their own way, from little lisping Twinkle a disgustingly angelic child all the way to the evil and cruel (and purple)Lubbock. Jones writes with the best sense of humor, and I am always amazed after reading one of her books. There are always revelations at the end, identities discovered, secret's exposed and this book is no exception. I loved it to bit's, maybe not as much as Howl's Moving Castle, but pretty close. It was great to see feisty Sophie and Calcifer again, oh and of course Howl, who's got his own way of saving the world which usually involves outlandish schemes. But that's why we love him. >_< Oh and two last side note's one: little Twinkle's lisp was so contagious I found myself reading Thopie instead of Sophie and two: Great Uncle William's house is soo cool. I love anything that bends time and space, and look's small on the outside but is bigger on the inside. It reminded me so much of the TARDIS from the British tv show Doctor Who. Wizard Melicot must have been a time lord. Okay enough random ranting from me. :P
Content: Nothing objectionable
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Recommend: For fan's of Howl's Moving Castle, and clever fantasy's. If you haven't read Howl's Moving Castle, do it. ^_^

The Secret Adversary: A Book Review

Title: The Secret Adversary

Author: Agatha Christie

Genre: Mystery

Reading Level: 10 and up

Summary:Two bright young characters of the Jazz Age start out looking for adventure and wind up saving England in Agatha Christie’s The Secret Adversary. Childhood friends Tommy Beresford and Prudence “Tuppence” Crowley have hit hard times. It’s 1920, and the Great War is blessedly over. But the peace has left staid old England in upheaval and the young veteran and the pretty former nurse flat broke. In the free spirit of the age, the two advertise themselves as “Young Adventurers,” hoping for enjoyable as well as profitable employment. Their first client, a British Army Intelligence officer, promises both when he hires them to find a missing woman, and the charming duo are soon involved in a case of international intrigue, mistaken identities, and, ultimately, romance.

My Review: This is the 1st in Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence mystery series, and also her second novel. I have all of the books in the Tommy and Tuppence series now, thanks to a large book sale at my library. Anyway, this is a fun lighthearted read. I loved it personally, but then I love detective couple's, and now dear Tommy and Tuppence are 2nd on my list only surpassed by Nick and Nora Charles who came after them chronologically, but whom I met first. Tommy and Tuppence are a great dynamic couple, Tommy is the thinker, and Tuppence is the girl of action. They both have a fun witty banter going throughout the book, and even though they're separate for most of the plot (funny I just noticed that) you can still sense how much they care for each other. There are ton's of great character's in this book besides the two main. The villain is the mysterious Mr. Brown, a person whom no one has really seen, but that everyone is afraid of. He could be anyone in the novel, and Christie's writing certainly make's you jump from suspect to suspect trying to find him.
As far as plot goes this was very basic, national intrigue, missing people, and secret paper that could destroy the world if in the wrong hands. I was still shocked in the end, but it was more of a "AHA I KNEW IT!!" sort of shock for really if you pay close attention this is a fine one to solve on your own, for it is relatively easy, without being boring. This is the 1st one in my suspense thriller challenge. I think it count's because I was in suspense.
Content: Just some curse word's.
Rating: 4 stars out of5
Recommend: For fan's of light fun mysteries, and Agatha Christie (Not all of her mysteries are light, see And Then There Were None one of my personal favorites)

Book Blogger Hop: May 21-24, 2010

Yay The book blog hop is back again! This is a fun weekly event hosted by Crazy-For-Books. To join in on all the fun just go to her blog, add your link and check out all (or as many as you can) the other cool book blogs out there. An added fun thing to do is tell everyone about all your favorite blog's you go to visit on the hop. Well to see all my favorite's one need only to go to the link section of my blog! Have fun and a great week!

The Awards Ceremony

Thanks to Katherine and her lovely blog I have 3 new awards. The latest one was the prolific blogger award, given to bloggers who are "intellectually productive, keeping up an active blog with enjoyable content."

Now that I have received it I'm supposed to give it to 7 other deserving blogs. So I award:
Just another Village Wise Woman at Village Wise Woman
Katalyn at The Bookshelf Sophisticate
All of the Authoresses over at Sisters of Pemberly
Morgan at Books and Literature for teens
Jennifer at Crazy-For-Books
Morgan at Smitten with Books
Kris at Voracious YAppetite
My computer's starting to act funny so I think I'll save the other award's for later. Until then,

Musin Monday(May 17)

(Musing Monday's are hosted by Rebecca)

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about movies based on books…

What happens when you see a movie based on a book/story, especially one you’ve not read? Do you feel the need to track it down and read it?

When I learn a movie is based on a book, I track down the book version like a rabid hawk! I'm very into reading the book that a movie is based on, it help's me to compare and contrast the two which is a favorite past time of mine.

Why I Love The Anne Series by L.M. Montgomery

When I was little I loved watching the Anne movies, when I turned 12 or so I read the first book Anne of Green Gables. I tried reading Anne of Avonlea right after it, but I never got very far. A couple month's ago I was feeling really down, none of the book's I was reading were making me happy, I was longing for something in literature that I was not finding. On a lark, I picked up our beautiful copy of Anne of Avonlea and thought I would try and give it another go. I haven't read any classic children's literature in a while. I forgot how wonderful, and beautiful they could be with their everyday plot's full of humor, and gentle lesson's and character's that you really come to love. After Anne of Avonlea I quickly moved on to Anne of the Island and then Anne of Windy Poplar's and loved every single one of them. It was nice to read of adventures Anne has that you never see in the movies (although the 1st two adaptation's certainly do the stories justice.) and meet character's you would have never met before like mischievous but loving Davy and his perfect sister Dora introduced in the 2nd book, or the carefree seemingly shallow Philippa who Anne befriends in the 3rd book.
I found that the Anne series was just what I needed at the time, I was lost in every page, wishing I could jump into her Gibson girl life on Prince Edward Island. I am now working on Anne's House of Dream's and will go on until I finish the whole Anne series. Then I'll move on to L.M. Montgomery's other works particularly the Emily series. You know I never knew until recently that Montgomery wrote anything outside of the Anne series. Silly me! :P What are some of your favorite classic children series? Do you still read them, and why do you love them?

Book Blogger Hop!

YAY! It's the next book blogger hop, hosted by Crazy-For-Books. If you are new to the hop click on the link and see all the other amazing book blog's out there and join in on all the fun!

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"This petty little business, as you call it, bears directly on a very big business, bigger than either you or miss Tuppence know. If this boy is alive, he may have valuable information to give us."
--The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie

Book Challenges

I've joined two challenges this month that I'm really excited about. The Thriller and Suspense Reading Challenge of 2010 and the Marple, Poirot, and Holmes Challenge. I can't wait to start on them (I'm picking out my first book right now) and if you have any interest in them and wish to join and learn more about them just click the pictures. The thriller challenge is hosted by Book Chick City and The MPH challenge is hosted by At Pemberly.


Review's for T&S Challenge: 1. The Secret Adversary

Heist Society: A Book Review

Title: Heist Society(Great title huh?)

Author: Ally Carter

Genre: Crime fiction (I'm not sure if this is the right genre, but it's the closest I could get.)

Reading Level: 11 and up

Summary: When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her to the Louvre . . . to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria . . . to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own — scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving “the life” for a normal life proves harder than she’d expected.
Soon, Kat’s friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring her back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has good reason: a powerful mobster’s priceless art collection has been stolen and he wants it returned. Only a master thief could have pulled off this job, and Kat’s father isn’t just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help.
For Kat there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it’s a spectacularly impossible job? She’s got two weeks, a teenage crew, and, hopefully, just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family’s (very crooked) history — and with any luck, steal her life back along the way.



My Review: I am now an Ally Carter fan. Her first YA novels in the Ghallagher Girl's series we're cute, but Heist Society was smart, it was fun, it was a new genre you don't see running around YA that much. I thoroughly enjoyed everything about it. The characters we're clever, and quirky, I liked Katarina's character, and her devotion to her friends and family brought depth to her character which otherwise would have made her very run of the mill(the typical run away from my calling hero.). All the usual suspect's are back in this heist romp, the witty love interest, the tech prodigies, the boy who's not what he seems, there's even a villanious mafia art collector, but Ally write's them in with pizzazz and humor, so you don't mind meeting them again. There's a lot of hopping back and forth through romantic foreign countries, and all the gadget's and planning for stealing from a famous musuem that send chill's of anticipation and excitment down your spine.

I also feel that Ally Carter write's better in the 3rd person. The style was snappy and witty, and you got to see more of the whole picture of what was going on in the novel instead of seeing everything from one character's eye's which can be quite restricting at times. It is especially good in this novel since so many different thing's are going on and there are so many character's that it can get confusing at times, but other than that it's fine.

It's very ocean's eleven at time's only with teen's. It's been optioned for a movie, which I think is a great idea, although I don't think they should up the characters age to 20 for the fact that it's like ocean's eleven. I wonder why so many book to movie adaptations are straying away from the original source particularly YA adaptations? Oh well, I'll still probably go see it.

Content: Just some silly comment's about a girl's figure.

Rating: 4 star's out of 5

Recommend: For fan's of lightweight crime fiction.

Book Blogger Hop-May 7-13, 2010

I'm doing the blog hop this week, hosted by Crazy-For-Books and if you click that link you can see all the fabulous details about this fun and encouraging event, and join in!
Through this blogger hop I've found a bunch of nice new book blog's and you might too so don't hesitate to join in on all the fun! Clink the links! Spread the Book blog love!!