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Owning books might be a luxury. Reading should be a right.

Written on August 12, 2010 at 5:03 pm, by Rhoni Wilkins

I had another post composed about reading (& enjoying) YA adult books and the joy of sharing different series with my 13 year old son. Then I opened Twitter and saw that Scholastic had posted the following:

“Tell us on our blog what you think about this poem “The Book” by a young girl named Vangie: http://bit.ly/9RZbfB“

First, click that link and go read the poem.

Done?

Wow.

My kid is lucky. If you’re reading this, chances are your kid (or niece or nephew or cousin or neighbor) is pretty lucky too.  I also happen to know that my kid takes the privilege and luxury of books for granted.

I UNDERSTAND why books are considered a luxury that can be eliminated when times are tight. But it breaks my heart that children suffer from the void created by lack of reading. Books lend color and texture to our world. Stories offer a reprieve from stress and fears. Regular reading gives children a fighting chance in school even if other elements are hindering them. So I love that Scholastic makes an effort to get books into the hands of children like Vangie.

(DISCLAIMER: We are in no way affiliated w/Scholastic or any other publisher. They are not compensating them for this post. We are not compensating them for this post. I simply clicked on a link and am responding.)

I’m curious to know how old this little girl is. I would love to know if she still has access to a library and if it’s a resource she takes advantage of.  Owning books might be a luxury but borrowing them is (hopefully) still an option.

So what is YOUR reaction to the poem?

Teaser Tuesday: “The Dead of Summer” by Camilla Way

Written on August 10, 2010 at 3:30 am, by Rhoni Wilkins

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!

“The Dead of Summer” by Camilla Way is an oldie (published 2007) but definitely a goodie!

I’d see a random person on the street; just a random person - an old man, a kid, anyone - and I’d stare and stare at them, driving myself mad with thinking about them because the more I wondered about them, the less real I became, thee less I could see myself, feel myself, and then the terror would start. Suddenly I seemed to be always outside myself, could only see Anita from the outside, as if I was another person watching myself, wondering who I was.

New Releases 08/10/2010

Written on August 9, 2010 at 4:01 am, by Rhoni Wilkins

Hardback fiction new releases:

08/10/10

Tough Customer (Sandra Brown)*

Displaced Persons (Ghita Schwarz)

Death on the D-List (Nancy Grace)

Dear George Clooney: Please Marry My Mom (Susin  Nielsen)*

The Vigilantes (Badge of Honor Series #10) (W.E.B Griffin)

Cure (Robin Cook)

Blind Man’s Alley (Justin Peacock)

The Eternal Ones (Kirsten Miller)*

The Tower, the Zoo and the Tortoise (Julia Stuart)*

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden (Helen Grant)*

The Body at the Tower (Agency Series #2) (YS Lee)

With Friends Like These (Sally Koslow)

Veil of Night (Linda Howard)*

Girl Parts (John Cusik)*

08/12/2010

Hot Shot (Gary Ruffin)

*Added to my TBR list

Hardback Fiction Best Sellers

Written on August 9, 2010 at 4:00 am, by Rhoni Wilkins

Here’s the weekly comparison of the Wall Street Journal and New York Times Top 5 bestsellers in Fiction Hardback.

Wall Street Journal Top 5	New York Times Top 5
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest Steig Larsson	The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest Steig Larsson
Star Island Carl Hiassen*	Star Island Carl Hiassen*
The Help Kathryn Stockton	The Rembrandt Affair Daniel Silva
The Rembrandt Affair Daniel Silva	The Help Kathryn Stockton
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner Stephenie Meyer	Fly Away Home Jennifer Weiner

*New this week

Book Review: “As Husbands Go” by Susan Isaacs

Written on August 6, 2010 at 4:08 am, by Rhoni Wilkins

Seems I’ve been on a trend of books written about widows lately. However, this one was NOTHING like “The Lovers”. Instead of focusing on the wife’s journey through memories, “As Husband’s Go” follows Susan B Anthony Rabinowitz Gersten’s quest to find out the truth behind her husband’s murder. The first chapter is her self-introduction where she immediately tells us how about her good looks, shallowness, and only moderately intelligence.

Perhaps on of the goals was to turn this woman from irritating narrator to a protagonist worth cheering for. And while she is unarguably stubborn, it wasn’t a trait I found admirable. Or rather, her motives did not appeal to me. She was not on a quest to clear her husband’s name or provide peace for her children. Her sole motivation was to prove that her life - and husband - was as perfect as she’d imagined. And here’s the rub - in view of the fact that she had just found out her husband, a high profile plastic surgeon,  was found murdered in a prostitute’s apartment, it’s hard to blame her for her reaction.  I felt like I SHOULD sympathize with her but I never did.

The supporting cast was flamboyant. All of them were over the top in some aspect or another. The storyline was standard and there were no major twists. The one big reveal was more of a “huh that’s interesting” rather than “WOW? REALLY?”. The plot didn’t keep me glued to the pages. And yet - it was enjoyable. It was simple, it was fun and I would recommend it to anyone looking for an easy summer read.

Does it matter?

Written on August 4, 2010 at 4:00 am, by Rhoni Wilkins

I’m sure you’ve all heard by now that Anne Rice announced last week she was “quitting Christianity”. I was amazed at the amount of attention her declaration garnered, spawning various articles, Twitter comments and Facebook discussions.  I remember her decision to “join Christianity” after years of being known as the queen of vampires. There was quite a reaction then as well although without the social networks of today, the discussions weren’t so public.

I would think that an author’s belief system would impact his or her writing.  Not being an author myself, I am simply guessing. Any authors out there feel free to chime in? But when you’re reading (disregarding intentionally religious books) how much of that element plays into your experience? Personally I rarely read something and think “That’s obviously an allusion to Christianity/atheism/Buddhism/whatever”.  Actually I’d have to say I never do that.

I’m just curious, does knowledge of an author’s beliefs and /or personal life affect whether you’ll read them? What if you’ve been a fan and later find out something you don’t agree (or even agree) with?

Teaser Tuesday: “As Husbands Go” by Susan Isaacs

Written on August 3, 2010 at 4:00 am, by Rhoni Wilkins

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!

“As Husbands Go” by Susan Isaacs was released on July 6. Review coming Friday!

Whatever “a state of suspended animation” actually meant, I was suddenly in it - a cone of silence that wouldn’t lift until she spoke. Would I hear “He had no secret life?”

Hardback Fiction New Releases 08/03 - 08/09/2010

Written on August 2, 2010 at 4:01 am, by Rhoni Wilkins

Hardback fiction new releases:

08/03/10

Shades of Milk and Honey (Mary Robinette Kowal)

Babylon Nights: A David Spandau Novel (Daniel Depp)

Dancing Backwards (Salley Vickers)

Internecine (David J Schow)

Fragile (Lisa Unger)*

Slicker (Lucy Jackson)

Treachery in the Yard: A Nigerian Thriller (Adimchinma Ibe)

On Location (A Rita Farmer Mystery) (Elizabeth Sims)

The Superman Project: A Chico Santana Mystery (AE Roman)

Cat in an Ultramarine Scheme (Midnight Louie Series #22) (Carole Nelson Douglas)

Hangman (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Series #19) (Faye Kellerman)

Scarlet Nights (Edilean Series #3) (Jude Deveraux)

I Curse the River of Time (Per Petterson)

Overexposed (Susan Shapiro)*

The Garden of Betrayal (Lee Vance)

My Hollywood (Mona Simpson)

The Stuff that Never Happened: A Novel (Maddie Dawson)*

The Stainless Steel Rat Returns (Stainless Steel Rat Series #11) (Harry Harrison)

Murder in the Air (A Dan Rhodes Mystery) (Bill Crider)

The Search (Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens)*

Black Mamba Boy (Nadifa Mohamed)

Red Star Rising (Brian Freemantle)

Stiltsville (Susanna Daniel)

An Ordinary Decent Criminal (Michael Van Rooy)

Villan (Shuichi Yoshida)*

In Harm’s Way (Walt Fleming Series #4) (Ridley Pearson)

Betrayal (Gillian Shields)

Burn (Anna Pigeon Series) (Nevada Barr)

The Good Psychologist (Noam Shpancer)*

I Am Number Four (Pittacus Lore)*

The Red Queen (Phillipa Gregory)

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June (Robin Benway)

Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex (Eoin Colfer)

Roy and Lillie: A Love Story (Loren Estleman)

Moscow Sting (Alex Dryden)*

Death’s Excellent Vacation (Charlaine Harris, etc)*

Dream Queen (Betsy Thornton)

08/05/2010

The Man Who Never Returned (Peter Quinn)

Service with a Smile (PG Wodehouse)

Simply From Scratch (Alicia Bessette)

How to be an American Housewife (Margaret Dilloway)

Bill Warrington’s Last Chance (James King)*

A Stranger Like You (Elizabeth Brundage)

08/09/2010

The Recessionistas (Alexander Lebenthal)

Perfect Alibi (Mike Daley Series #7) (Sheldon Siegel)

Three Sisters (Bi Feiyu)

City of Veils (Zoe Ferraris)*

*Added to my TBR list

Hardback Fiction Best Sellers

Written on August 2, 2010 at 4:00 am, by Rhoni Wilkins

Here’s the weekly comparison of the Wall Street Journal and New York Times Top 5 bestsellers in Fiction Hardback.

Wall Street Journal Top 5	New York Times Top 5
The Rembrandt Affair Daniel Silva*	The Rembrandt Affair Daniel Silva*
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest Steig Larsson	The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest Steig Larsson
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner Stephenie Meyer	The Help Kathryn Stockton
Fly Away Home Jennifer Weiner	Fly Away Home Jennifer Weiner
The Help Kathryn Stockton	Private James Patterson

*New this week

Review: “The Lovers” by Vendela Vida

Written on July 30, 2010 at 4:01 am, by Rhoni Wilkins

I don’t know what I expected from this book but I didn’t get it.

Scratch that. I DO know what I expected. But I didn’t get it.

That’s not to say the book isn’t good. It is. It’s just much more serious than I expected.

In “The Lovers”, Yvonne returns to the place of her honeymoon as a widow hoping to immerse herself in happier times. Instead she finds herself plagued by memories and regrets. I opened the cover looking for a character to sympathize, grieve and remember with. Instead I found Yvonne. I spent the entire narrative alternating between pitying her and well, not particularly LIKING her. And yet - she’s much more real than the woman I anticipated. I didn’t encounter a glossy widow traversing a painful but sweet grieving process. No, Yvonne was displayed in all her neurotic, past dwelling, self centered glory.

I loved that she is a history teacher as it elegantly encapsulates her personality. Her thoughts and emotions occupy the past to the exclusion of many present realities - including her daughter’s growth into a self sufficient woman. She is unable to even fully understand herself. On one hand she complains that everyone sees and interacts with her through the filters of “history teacher, widow, mother, etc” without recognizing her depth and complexity. And yet, she never actually displays any complexity. It is only after a trip gone even more awry than my expectations of the book, that she shows any sign of moving beyond her self- imposed walls. In the end is the beginning of redemption and the journey there is satisfyingly bumpy.

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