Archive for July, 2009

Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr

This is book two for me out of the three YA novels nominated for a California Young Reader Medal this year. As I mentioned before, I’m trying to get a jump start on reading some of the nominees before the students start scrambling for the books. I actually enjoyed this one more than St. Iggy, [...]

July 31, 2009  Tags: , , , , ,   Posted in: fiction, Young Adult  No Comments

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

I’m really of two minds about this book. It took me about a hundred pages to really get into it. The only thing that saved this book from being thrown onto the “trade” area of my bookshelf after the first fifty pages was my trait of being tenaciously persevering when it comes to books; I [...]

July 31, 2009   Posted in: fiction  No Comments

The Plague by Joanne Dahme

I am starting to feel a bit repetitive lately, but this is yet another book that had a superb concept, but poor execution. The story is set in Medieval Europe where Nell, a commoner, serves as Princess Joan of England’s double. When the princess dies en route to her wedding to the Spanish heir, the [...]

July 31, 2009   Posted in: fiction, historical fiction, Young Adult  No Comments

Fairy Tale by Cyn Balog

I love the concept, I adore the plot, but the execution…not so much. The first person narrator in this novel suffers from the same malaise as Bella Swan in the Twilight series…a crippling lack of self-confidence and horrible self-image, cutting herself down while aggrandizing and idolizing her boyfriend in the same breath. Ick. I have [...]

July 14, 2009  Tags:   Posted in: fiction, retold fairy tale, Young Adult  No Comments

Saint Iggy by K.L. Going

So, some changes around here.В  The poor book review aspect of my website has been sadly neglected.В  I started a separate blog for a while, but also started to neglect that one.В  In an attempt to stay up to date with my blogging, I’ve decided to make a few changes.В  While I won’t be removing [...]

July 1, 2009  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: fiction, Young Adult  No Comments