Archive for December, 2007
Monday, December 31st, 2007
Howl’s Moving Castle and Castle in the Air, by Diana Wynne Jones
Yes. More Diana Wynne Jones. You’ll learn to love her.
I read Howl’s Moving Castle a couple years ago (yes, after the movie came out – mock me later) but didn’t get around to reading the ’sequel’ until I found both of them together in a SFBC omnibus. I loved Howl’s Moving Castle the [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Friday, December 28th, 2007
Heir Apparent, by Vivian Vande Velde
Vivian Vande Velde’s written a fair amount of books, most of which are rather small. I was happy to discover that this book was over three hundred pages, despite the fact that it’s sort of almost cyberpunk. (Cyber-teen-punk?) I haven’t read much real cyberpunk, but that really had nothing to do with my enjoyment of [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Thursday, December 27th, 2007
Flora Segunda, by Ysabeau Wilce
The actual title of the book is what got me: Flora Segunda: Being the Magickal Mishaps of a Girl of Spirit, Her Glass-Gazing Sidekick, Two Ominous Butlers (One Blue), a House with Eleven Thousand Rooms, and a Red Dog. It sounded sort of like one of Patricia C. Wrede (with or without Caroline Stevermer)’s whimsical [...]
No Comments » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Wednesday, December 26th, 2007
The Warrior Heir, by Cinda Williams Chima
Cinda Williams Chima is a local author for me; she’s from ‘a suburb of Cleveland’ (Cuyahoga Falls), writes a nutrition column for the Plain Dealer, and teaches at the University of Akron. She’s written (so far) two fantasy novels in this series, and as of yet, there are no plans to make it into a [...]
No Comments » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Tuesday, December 25th, 2007
The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 1: The Field Guide, by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
This is a very small book. It’s roughly the same size as a mass-market paperback, and it’s barely over 100 pages long. There are also illustrations, taking away from the printed surface area. Considering I finished it in about 15-20 minutes, I suspect it’s less than 20,000 words. Had it been written for an older [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Monday, December 24th, 2007
The Book of Story Beginnings, by Kristin Kladstrup
I picked this book up on a whim because I liked the cover, title, and plot synopsis. Yes, oddly enough, judging a book by its cover is what gets the book off the shelf and into my collection. I read it in two sittings, and it was enjoyable.
The Book of Story Beginnings 360-ish pages long, [...]
No Comments » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Friday, December 21st, 2007
Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
Stardust, by Neil Gaiman, was originally a graphic novel but after being rewritten into a regular novel was been turned into a film that opened in August of 2007. It got, overall, good reviews (75% Fresh on RottenTomatoes.com). I read this book several years ago but wanted to get a reread in before the movie [...]
No Comments » - Posted in book reviews, fantasy by Stephanie
Thursday, December 20th, 2007
The Dark Lord of Derkholm, by Diana Wynne Jones
You know, I love Diana Wynne Jones and have for many years. Every few weeks I go on a rant about how she’s 14 million times better an author than J. K. Rowling, and The Dark Lord of Derkholm is now one of my examples why.
Ben (my boyfriend; also my web guru) had been trying [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Wednesday, December 19th, 2007
Obernewtyn and The Farseekers, by Isobelle Carmody
A few months ago, I read Obernewtyn and The Farseekers by Isobelle Carmody. When they were first published in the U.S. (she’s Australian), there was a big fuss about how amazing it was that there was this awesome fantasy author from Australia and she wrote these amazing books. I see the fervor’s cooled a bit [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Sunday, December 16th, 2007
Welcome!
We’ve just got this site up and running. Hopefully in the not-too-distant future I’ll start doing things with it.
Oh, we’re doing book reviews over here, by the way.
