Archive for January, 2008
Thursday, January 31st, 2008
Ill Wind (Weather Wardens, Book 1), by Rachel Caine
Rachel Caine, author of the Morganville Vampire books (the first one I reviewed here), is surprisingly prolific. She’s written at least seven books in her Weather Wardens series, published by Roc, and there are surely more to come. The Weather Warden books, unlike the Morganville Vampires, are aimed at an adult audience. Yes, [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in book reviews, fantasy by Stephanie
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
The Spiderwick Chronicles, Books 3-5, by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
These last three books in the Spiderwick Chronicles, Lucinda’s Secret, The Ironwood Tree, and The Wrath of Mulgarath, by Holly Black, aren’t really quite complete books. Although there was an overarching story that was fairly obvious, books 1 and 2 held their own as individual books, containing everything a book needs. Not so with the [...]
No Comments » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Tuesday, January 29th, 2008
The Lady in the Loch, by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
Back in his day, Sir Walter Scott was Sheriff of some of the Border Counties of Scotland, in addition to being a writer and folklorist. Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, probably best known for her collaborations with Anne McCaffrey, has rearranged history a little bit to make him the Sheriff of Edinburgh. She has also [...]
No Comments » - Posted in book reviews, fantasy by Stephanie
Monday, January 28th, 2008
Glass Houses (Morganville Vampires, Book 1), by Rachel Caine
This book is apparently labeled as YA. I’m not entirely sure about that. It feels in ways like she wrote an older vampire novel and then moved the characters’ ages down three to five years (and knocked out some sex) in order to make it properly YA. So while the main characters are all eighteen [...]
7 Comments » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Friday, January 25th, 2008
Austenland, by Shannon Hale
This, Hale’s only book in the adult market, is a short but lovely homage to Jane Austen. The dedication is one of the funniest I’ve ever seen:
For Colin Firth
You’re a really great guy, but I’m married, so I think we should just be friends.
To digress a moment, the cover is fantastic as well. The front [...]
No Comments » - Posted in book reviews, contemporary by Stephanie
Thursday, January 24th, 2008
Princess Academy, by Shannon Hale
Princess Academy, Shannon Hale’s third published novel, was also a Newbery Honor book a couple years ago, and a New York Times bestseller. It’s her only novel indicated for middle-grade readers, although it’s of course of the same quality as the books for older readers. Unlike the books reviewed the last two days, this [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008
Enna Burning, by Shannon Hale
This, my third entry in the unofficial Shannon Hale Week here at Someone’s Read it Already, is Shannon Hale’s second published novel. It’s one of the companion books to Goose Girl, yesterday’s installment. I think she balks at calling it a direct sequel, but other than the fact that Ani is not the [...]
No Comments » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale
Having read The Book of a Thousand Days (reviewed yesterday), I was determined to find the rest of Shannon Hale’s oeuvre. The first book she published was Goose Girl, based on the Grimm fairy tale of the same name. Between Half-Price Books and a Borders gift card, I managed to acquire it, one of [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Monday, January 21st, 2008
The Book of a Thousand Days, by Shannon Hale
I received this book for Christmas from Ben’s sister. I’d heard for years that Shannon Hale and her books, starting with Goose Girl, were something to look out for, but, silly me, I hadn’t found what I’d decided was book 1 on the used/cutout market, so I hadn’t read any of them. I finished The [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Friday, January 18th, 2008
Little (Grrl) Lost, by Charles de Lint
Charles de Lint is one of my favorite authors, ever, and he’s practically the only name anymore on the ‘auto-buy’ list. Every few years he writes a YA fantasy novel, and Little (Grrl) Lost is the latest submission. This book is based on a short story he wrote, by the same name, originally published [...]
