Squeaky Books: January 2008

A Slew

Here’s the deal. I have an absolutely cRaZy week this week and so I won’t be around for much posting so in this one post I’m going to give you Monday’s with Jane (which I missed) and TWO book reviews (you should feel so lucky). And then it should get a little less crazy next week. But I won’t really have my life back until after the play is over and after I take the ACT (again). So here we go:

Monday’s with Jane:

“Certainly silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.”
~Emma Woodhouse

The Lighthouse Land-- Adrian McKinty

This is a pretty common book. Boy has sad life. Boy travels to different world. Boy’s life gets better and yet more hectic, boy meets girl and then I can’t say the rest or I’ll “give” it away.

Nothing special about this book really except that it was very modern- there were references to Shrek 3 etc. I don’t think that’s a good plan. When things are that modern, in a few years it will have become obscure. So read it fast! *wink*

It’s not a bad book. It’s well written; has a semi-interesting story; and is great when you don’t really have anything else to read. It’s also got some depressing stuff about cancer and divorce but that’s not too bad.

Keturah and Lord Death-- Martine Leavitt

“I will tell you a story of magic and love, of daring and death, and one to comfort your heart. It will be the truest story I have ever told. Now listen, and tell me if it is not so.”

Ah! I loved this book. Just finished it tonight. It’s very similar to Shadow Spinner. Keturah tells stories to Lord Death and promises to tell him the ending if he’ll just let her live one more day. And Death agrees. Plus, he says that if she can find her one true love, he’ll let her live.

This book read a lot like a fairy tale. It was short and sweet. The ending nearly made me cry (I’m a wuss) and I’m so glad it was recommended to me (thank you Kirstin! [I think that’s her name…] ).

END

So that’s that. Now I’m off to my CrAzY week! Phew.

~Enna Isilee

Coming whenever I have time, a review on whatever book I happen to decide to review.

goodreads

Sunday, January 27, 2008 7:16 PM Posted by Enna Isilee , 3 Comments
Labels: Other

WHY have I never heard of this site before? I just got an invite from Taiger. I've never even seen this! It's awesome and I've only been looking at it for a few minutes. Oh. Here's the link:

www.goodreads.com

From what I've seen it's a place to look up books and rate them and give reviews. There's probably more that I haven't seen yet!

Thanks Taiger! This is great!

~Enna Isilee

Dragon Slippers-- Jessica Day George

10:42 AM Posted by Enna Isilee , 6 Comments
Labels: Book Review

I know that most of you have already read this book, but now it’s my turn.

I really enjoyed this book. Really. It was witty, clever, and very intriguing. I liked the personality of the main character and I really liked the dragons. The main struggle in this book was strong enough to make me really get into it and care what happened. And the ending was PHENOMENAL! I don’t have much more to say on that except that you should really read it if you haven’t.

The end.
~Enna Isilee

Coming soon, a backlog of reviews starting with Nobody’s Prize by Esther Friesner

I’ve pre-written all my reviews and I’ll probably post one every three days.

People. People who, kill people…

Monday, January 21, 2008 10:58 AM Posted by Enna Isilee , 11 Comments
Labels: random

…are the craziest people, in the world.

Mmhm.

I was recently bemoaning the fact that I couldn’t read what I wanted because I had to read In Cold Blood for my Language class. And after I had bemoaned I decided that I was going to finish it so I would have no more need for bemoaning.

Well. I did. I finished it about two minutes ago. And I’m not going to say much about it except that you shouldn’t read it unless you have to.

And since this is not a normal blog post I’m going to do more non-normal things:

1. I’m going to start doing something called “Mondays with Jane” where I will post a Jane Austen quote every Monday. I figured y’all would/are get/ting bored with my blog. So I wanted to spice it up.

2. I’m going to make a list of all the books I want to buy because I have a horrible memory, so I’m hoping that if I write them all here I will not forget them. Of course, I am currently in the hole $200 with my mother because she paid for me to go to a summer-campy-thing this summer.

Books to buy (In no particular order)
Physik ~Angie Sage
Terrier- Beka Cooper ~Tamora Peirce
Specials ~ Scott Westerfeld
Enna Burning Audio Book ~Shannon Hale
The Queen of Attolia ~Megan Whalen Turner
Rangers Apprentice (Series) ~John Flanagan
Chronicles of Prydain ~Lloyd Alexander
The Mysterious Benedict Society ~Trenton Lee Stewart
A Great and Terrible Beauty (Series) ~Libba Bray
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy ~ Gary Schmidt
Dragon Slippers ~Jessica Day George
Nobody’s Princess ~Esther Friesner
Nobody’s Prize ~Esther Friesner (not released)
How to take the “Ex” out of Ex-boyfriend ~Janette Rallison
Out of the Wild ~Sarah Beth Durst (not released)
Breaking Dawn ~Stephenie Meyer (not released)
Brisingr ~ Christopher Paolini (not released)
Rapunzel’s Revenge ~Shannon & Dean Hale (not released)
The Books of Mordred ~Vivian Van Velde
Ender’s Game ~Orson Scott Card
Kiki Strike ~Kirsten Miller
Percy Jackson #4 (something about a labyrinth…) ~Rick Riordan (not released)

~Enna Isilee

Faeries of Dreamdark, Blackbringer-- Laini Taylor

Saturday, January 19, 2008 1:15 PM Posted by Enna Isilee , 5 Comments
Labels: Book Review

Demon fighting crows and Faeries, who could ask for more? I know I couldn't. Magpie Windwitch is one-of-a-kind, she's the only faerie who still believes that the demons even still exist! Most of them just remember the old demon stories as... well.... stories. But the demons are back, and Magpie is going to stop them, with the help of her crow-brothers. But something comes along that Magpie's not ready to face, and threatens to take everything away.

Wow. That was probably the worst summary I've ever written. I don't think it does the book justice at all.

Anyway. I've been trying to get my hands on this book ever since I found out that Shannon Hale blurbed on it. I finally bought it with my Christmas money and devoured it in one day (all day). The characters were charming and perfectly loveable. I almost cried at parts and laughed out loud at others. I really wish I could post spoilers... but I don't do that. Or I try not to.

(It's very very good. I'm not in a very good writing mindset, I probably should have waited until I got home to write this, but I'm already way behind in my reviews.)

Oi. Capote's leeched my brain of all creativeness. Sorry Laini. I really liked it.

Is this only seeming lame to me?

Gah!

Well, I'll re-read it over the summer and make another post. One that's more deserving.

*sigh*

~Enna Isilee

Coming soon, a review on Dragon Slippers, by Jessica Day George.

How To Get Free Books

Thursday, January 17, 2008 7:21 PM Posted by Enna Isilee , 16 Comments
Labels: Other

So some of you displayed interest in knowing how to get free books, well we had a discussion a while back on LRRH and here's the info:

HipScouts- Little, Brown I don't believe I've recieved a single book from them but it doesn't hurt to sign up. Must be 13+

First Look Teen- Harper Collins I've gotten 2 books from them. It's a monthly lottery. Tell them why you want the book and if they think you deserve it, you'll get it.

Pulse It- Simon and Schuster I've gotten 2 from this one as well. It's good. They just randomly send you books.

In Group- Henry Holt This is probably my favorite. They send you an e-mail every month describing the book for that month, then you can say if you want it or not. If you want it, they'll send it to you. Simple as that.

Am I missing any? For some reason I thought there was more.

Well. There you go, that's that.

~Enna Isilee

Coming soon, a review on Blackbringer, by Laini Taylor.

The Swan Maiden-- Heather Tomlinson

Tuesday, January 15, 2008 11:33 AM Posted by Enna Isilee , 13 Comments
Labels: Book Review

Doucette doesn't understand. Both her sisters are Swan Maidens, why isn't she? She doesn't want to train to be a boring noble lady because that's... well... boring. But she soon discovers that she has her own power, and with it comes a lot of perks, but power is very easy to abuse.

I really really liked this book. Henry Holt sent it to me to review (and I'm not sure how I do that) and it's the first book sent to be (for free) that I generally enjoyed reading. I would definitely recommend it.

It's very French, which I LOVE! And the characters are charming. The love story is really sweet as well.

WARNING- The first part dragged a little bit, for me at least, but give it a chance, it's really good.

~Enna Isilee

Coming soon, A review on The Faeries of Dreamdark- BlackBringer, by Laini Taylor.

Into the Wild-- Sarah Beth Durst

Friday, January 11, 2008 12:26 PM Posted by Enna Isilee , 10 Comments
Labels: Book Review

I uh… I have to collect my thoughts… Meanwhile, watch this lovely book trailer made by my friend Mima:

Okay. I’m ready now.

Ho-ly Cow.

This book was FANTASTIC! I’m talking Shannon Hale fantastic (and those of you who know me know how fantastic that is).

I’ve been spoiled for about 18 months. I’ve had the Bayern books and Austenland and other Hale works. They’re magnificent. Other books looked different after I had found such wonderful writing. That’s why Into the Wild was such a treat.

It’s about Julie, daughter of Rapunzel, and her secret- guarding the [not so nice] fairy tale world that is “The Wild.” The Wild escapes however, and it’s up to Julie to stop it with the help of her brother, Puss-in-Boots.

I almost cried while reading this, not because of the plot, but because it was so good! It was such a wonder to find this book!

Right now I can’t really say anything other than it was good. My brain is just fried! I stayed up late finishing it and just lay in bed going “that was amazing. That was so good. How can I sleep after that?”

Oh! And the epilogue! *Ecstatic sigh*

I’ve been torn over whether I would like it if Ms. Durst wrote a sequel. I would love to read more, but then it’s so perfect as it is! Amazing! Ah!

And if you don’t like it… don’t tell me *wink*

I should stop now. Ah!
~Enna Isilee

Coming soon, a review on Swan Maiden by Heather Tomlinson

Hey-ho Squeaky Books readers! Listen up!

I'm trying to update my links so that anyone who has ever posted on my blog is there, if you don't see yourself let me know and I'll be sure to fix it!

How I Live Now—Meg Rosoff

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 5:57 PM Posted by Enna Isilee , 3 Comments
Labels: Book Review

I decided to buy this book because a) I picked it up and it was so cute and small and paperbackish that I couldn’t resist. b) I had previously seen this:

What did you think of that? It sound interesting eh? Well if you’re anything like me I’m here to tell you that that is not what this book is about.

Oh yeah sure, there is lots of running around through forests and nearly starving to death. But the underlying theme is very inappropriate. I don’t want to give anything away, but as I was reading the last pages of this book I was actually saying out loud, “This is wrong. This is wrong.” It just left me with a bad taste in my mouth and a pit where my stomach once was.

Don’t get me wrong. The writing is incredible, Ms. Rosoff has no lack of writing skill, but the story left me sick to my stomach. Be warned of it’s inappropriate nature and minor swearing.

So I wouldn’t recommend this book, but if you read it… I won’t think badly of you.

~Enna Isilee

Coming soon, a review of Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst

Freakonomics-- Levitt & Dubner

Saturday, January 5, 2008 10:31 AM Posted by Enna Isilee , 3 Comments
Labels: Book Review

This book was assigned to me to read, sort of. We were given a list of about six books and could choose anyone we wanted to read. Well, Freakonomics sounded the most interesting.

First off, the chapter titles are hilarious. They include:
--------What schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? (chapter one)

--------Why is the Ku Klux Klan like a bunch of real estate agents? (chapter two)
--------Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? (chapter three)

And the answers to these questions are very… interesting.

This book explores “the hidden side of everything” and lets you know how things work, economically. I found that the last chapter on names vs. success was particularly interesting.

It’s not a boring read, at least not to me, it's a very clever and witty book. So it’s not your typical nonfiction (sorry nonfiction).

However. There is some language in the book. Whenever they quote someone they tend to swear in the quote. And it’s not minor swearing either. If you want to avoid this just skip the chapter on drug dealers and part of the KKK chapter.

There ya go.

~Enna Isilee

Coming soon, a review on How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff.

2007's Squeakiest Books

Tuesday, January 1, 2008 6:03 PM Posted by Enna Isilee , 11 Comments
Labels: discussion

These are books that I read in 2007. Not necessarily books that were published this year. And I haven’t reviewed all of them here seeing as my blog is still relatively new.goo

Best Young Adult ~The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Narrated by death this wonderfully written novel by Markus Zusak tells the amazing story of a young German girl during WWII. It’s heart-touching and beautiful.

Best Juvenile ~The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stuart

Want to laugh? TMBS is for you. Written by Trenton Lee Stuart, it’s clever and entertaining. Four young children learning to be spies and overcoming their differences. It’s the perfect rainy-day book.

Best Sci-fi ~Extras by Scott Westerfeld

The thrilling fourth book in the Uglies “trilogy” by Scott Westerfeld. Gripping. See what happens in a world where popularity is everything and conspiracies are everywhere.

Best Non-Fiction ~Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass

This is probably the only non-fiction book I read all year, but it was genuinely good. Written by Frederick Douglass he tells you about his life, his trials, and his escape from slavery. Highly interesting.

Best Adult Fiction ~Austenland by Shannon Hale

Have you seen the 6-hour Pride and Prejudice? Do you find Colin Firth absolutely amazing? Do you know exactly which tape/disc the piano scene is on? Well you’ll find that Jane does too. No, not Jane Austen, Jane Hayes. Shannon Hale’s charming book leaves you thinking that maybe there really is a Darcy out there…

Best Girl-Power ~Terrier by Tamora Peirce

Beka Cooper knows what she wants. She wants to be a Provost Dog. She wants to protect the city and help the innocent. But she’s thrown into something she’s not quite sure she’s ready for. Tamora Peirce gives us another great Girl-Power book in Terrier.

Best Dealing-With-Life book ~All’s Fair in Love, War, and High School by Janette Rallison

High School. Everyone remembers it, or has nightmares about that someday going into it. In AFiLWaHS, we follow Samantha and her panic at her less-than-good SAT scores. Her friends, personality, and relationships are all explored in this fun read by Janette Rallison.

Best Newbery Honor ~Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

I finally bucked up the courage to read this book and was not disappointed (of course I knew I wouldn’t be). It’s no wonder Shannon Hale won an honor with this book. The quarriers of Mt. Eskel are struggling to survive. An announcement is given that all the daughters of Mt. Eskel will be sent to an academy to learn to be a princess, and the prince will choose one of them for his bride. What effect could this have on the small community? And is being a princess all it’s cracked up to be?

Most Awaited ~Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

The last Harry Potter book by J.K. Rowling. ‘Nuff said.

Number one book of 2007 ~Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
An indescribable book. Truly amazing and heartwarming. Shannon Hale has outdone herself again. Dashti is assigned to be a Lady’s maid, and to be trapped with her in a tower for seven years. But her goodness and devotion never wavers. A rich story that wraps you up like a warm blanket. And let’s add a cup of cocoa just for fun. With marshmallows.