Review: The Prophecy of Sisters

Last week, a coworker asked me if I wanted to read any of the galleys she'd recently been given to review before her upcoming meeting with the company's sales rep. I pawed through them and took two. I started with The Prophecy of Sisters by Michelle Zink.

It's YA; a historical novel (late 1800s) with a touch of fantasy. Twins Lia and Alice discover they play opposing roles in an ancient prophecy, and each must unravel its meaning and find her place within it on her own. It actually kept me engrossed, and I finished it in a few days. A touch overdramatic in places, but generally a good, quick story with enough history to keep it romantic (big house, sweeping gowns, and the like) and enough fantasy to keep it exciting (a spiritualist, mysterious marks appearing on wrists, and so forth).

My only complaint is that it's the first book in a series. I'd be complaining less if I'd known that from the start; honestly, I probably would have passed it by. Not that I have anything against series books. It's just that it's so darn hard to wait for the next book to come out. Heck, the one I just read won't even be published until August! I had the same problem with Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games (although about 100 times worse...now that's a sequel worth waiting for!). I'd rather wait and start the series right before the last book comes out.

What about you? How do you feel about books in a series that's not yet complete?

Review: Made from Scratch

If there's anyone out there who's ever considered learning some homesteading skills but didn't know where to start, I have a book for you.

Made from Scratch by Jenna Woginrich hit bookstores at the end of 2008.  Part memoir, part empowering how-to guide, the book is truly an inspiration and a guide for anyone who wants to grow their own food, raise chickens, keep bees, spin wool, sew clothes, or just appreciate the simple things in life.

I read Made from Scratch in the fall as a galley.  So far Jenna has me spinning on a drop spindle and baking my own bread, with more to come with spring (a container garden!).  And someday, when I don't live in an urban apartment building anymore, I'll use the courage Made from Scratch has given me to start up my own flock of chickens!

For more about the book, check out the post I did for my store to advertise Jenna's signing later this month.  And if you're in the Albany area, come to the signing!  There may also be reading and music.  Definitely worth the trip!

Review: Blonde Roots

Well, I just finished Blonde Roots, a forthcoming novel from Bernardine Evaristo.  I can't say much about the plot without giving important twists away.  The novel follows the life of a slave in an alternate retelling of history, where "whytes" are enslaved by "blaks" and history as we have been taught it is turned upside down.

The novel comes out at the end of January.  Anyone who likes intriguing narratives or unique perspectives on history will enjoy it, and it provides plenty of food for thought as well as infinite details to pick out and mull over for those of us who like to analyze what we read.

I've not read anything like it that I can think of.  Check it out if the idea appeals to you; it's well written, absorbingly plotted, and full of very real characters.

Booking Through Thursday: Best Books of 2008

From Booking Through Thursday

It's a week or two later than you'd expect, and it may be almost a trite question, but...what were your favorite books from 2008?

If I had to pick one single best book of 2008, I would say The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  It's fantastic, creepy, shocking, gripping, and so much more, all at the same time.  After I finished, I was bookless for a few days as I tried to find something that could follow it.  So good.

The best older book I finally read was Watership Down by Richard Adams.  I don't know how rabbits can be so enthralling, but my goodness, they can.

As for newer fiction, I adored Ariana Franklin's Mistress of the Art of Death books.  There are technically only two so far (Mistress of the Art of Death and The Serpent's Tale), but I read the galley of the third one (Grave Goods), which will be out early this year.  It was my favorite of the three, so keep an eye out for it!

My non-fiction favorites from 2008 are all along the same theme.  Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, and Made from Scratch by Jenna Woginrich are all excellent books that have all impacted my life in a positive way.  Anyone interested in being more involved in where the things in his or her life come from should check these books out.

And there you have it...my favorite books of 2008!

Back!

Well, computer troubles and then holiday madness have kept me away for far too long.  I'm back now, on my shiny new Mac, and ready for 2009.

I'm hesitant to make resolutions.  If we were playing Word Association and you said "New Year's Resolution," I'd say "fall off the wagon."  They're associated with failure for me, not because of past experience but because of our culture, I think.  And so I've made goals instead.

The only goal that applies to this blog is, of course, the book-related one.  I have too many books (surprise!).  I've already built myself one new bookshelf in the past year, and now I have a two-foot stack of new acquisitions that won't even fit on my shelves.

The silly part is that I haven't even read probably three quarters of the books I own.  People look at my collection and ask me, "Oh, how was this one?" and I sheepishly admit I've not yet read it.  I move far too often cart around so many unread books.

And so my book goal for 2009 is to always be reading at least one book from my own shelves.  I know I won't be able to resist all the new books I see at work or the recommendations of friends, so I won't limit myself to books I own.  But I'll always be reading one.

If it catches my attention in the first 50 pages, I'll read it, then decide if it's something I'd read again or lend to someone.  If so, it stays; if not, it gets sold or donated.  If the book in question can't even make it 50 pages, I'm letting myself set it aside.  Life is too short to read uninteresting books.

First up is Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo, a novel that's due out later this month.  The premise is a complete historical swap: 400 years ago, Africans enslaved Europeans, not the other way around.  The novel is told by Doris, a British woman who was captured and sold into slavery in Africa.  I'm about 60 pages in, and thus far the combo of current oppressed state versus nostalgic flashbacks reminds me of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale (in a good way!).  More on that once I finish!