The Ice Sisters Cover Reveal
The Glorian Legacy Series by A.L. Raine is about to begin.
Not long before it’s in print for you to read and enjoy! For now, here’s the cover!
Cover art by Gershom Wetzel of Aoristos.
Greystone Valley
“Which one of these could I read out loud to my daughter?” I always ask that question when perusing piles of books these days. Not necessarily because I will read the title to my kid, but should she walk up and say, “Read it LOUDER, mommy,” because I’m not reading out loud at all – I want to feel comfortable with the words coming out of my mouth and falling on her ears.
She likes to hear my voice. Not my singing voice, just my voice. Which surprises me. No one likes my speaking voice – no one. As pretty as I sing, my speaking voice is annoying to the ears. It grates. I know this. This isn’t self-deprecating, this is knowing myself. So when my daughter wants to hear me talk, it surprises me.
Jason, the head honcho of awesomeness at Grey Gecko Press, pointed at Greystone Valley and said, “Greystone Valley for sure.” He began telling me about the little girl, featured in her pajamas on the cover. About Keely, about the world, about all of it. Sold. Well, not technically, I got a freebie copy from them on my kindle. But I put it on my priority reading list.
And I’m so glad I did.
Greystone Valley is so much fun! With the holidays coming up and everyone setting out to buy gifts – even though it’s not yet Thanksgiving, so don’t get me started – this is the book I want to put into all the parents’ hands.
It’s not just for kids. It’s not just for parents. It’s for both, for the relationship you have with them. It’s for the magical worlds you want to share with them, but instead you’re caught up teaching them about the real one. It’s pretty spectacular in every way.
For all the kids who finished Harry Potter, who know Chronicles of Narnia like the back of their hand, and have moved on from A Wrinkle in Time… for the ones looking for that next classic fantasy and just haven’t found it yet – It’s Greystone Valley, hands down.
Charlie Brooks has created something that can stand the test of time all alone as an individual story, but I’m still tapping my fingers on my night stand demanding a sequel (for the record).
Please, this holiday season, when you’re picking out book gifts for your loved ones: remember to shop indie and shop small. There are amazing things out there to be discovered that don’t have giant window displays or the backing of multimillion dollar publishers, but that doesn’t make them less amazing. Charlie Brooks of Grey Gecko Press is one of those amazing authors whose book deserves a special place for a special little someone under the Christmas tree.
The Fault in Our Stars
Title: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
Genre: Teen Fiction
Length: 318 pages
I was told not to bother reading this book. It is predictable. It is overly sentimental. It is both those things, but it what telling you that does not include is how adorably witty the banter and narrative are. The characters are clever, and fun, and teenagers, despite their cancer – and this reminds you that even the sick are human, even the terminal have personalities outside their prognosis.
I read the book in one sitting.
I enjoyed every page.
Peter Van Houten was a nice touch – and if you don’t know what that means, I suggest you read the book. No skipping to the movie. Read the book, it’s a quick, smooth read, that may remind you of people you’ve lost. After all, we all have roughly 14.
Insurgent and Allegiant
I read Divergent a while back. It intrigued me enough to know that I wanted to read the rest of the series eventually, but not enough to make too much of a mad rush to get my hands on it. Although now I have read the rest of the series, despite many people telling me not to bother, and I’m glad I did.
So there’s a little too many fingers curling into shirt scenes… it might be the only way Roth has seen or experienced closeness – in the form of people tugging on t-shirts or twining their fingers around fabric in a near desperate manner. That’s ok. As a writer, I have a nasty habit of tucking things places. She tucked this into that. He tucked blah blah blah. My editor gets on me about it all the time. I’m surprised Roth’s editors didn’t nab her for the finger curling. But that’s not the point…
The point is, despite the teen coming of age romance that we’ve seen over and over again, I liked one major thing about THIS romance.
Tris acknowledges that Love is a Choice.
“I fell in love with him. But I don’t just stay with him by default as if there’s no one else available to me. I stay with him because I choose to, every day that I wake up, every day that we fight or lie to each other or disappoint each other. I choose him over and over again, and he chooses me.”
After Twilight and Bella’s helpless infatuation… After The Mortal Instruments and the “to love is to destroy” mantra… After Hunger Games and a PTSD induced marriage of comfort… I’m glad Roth had the guts to write about another kind of choice, the kind that doesn’t happen just once, but every day in every moment.
I think that every true relationship has a little bit of all of those things: infatuation, passion, trust and comfort, and thousands of choices. It’s interesting that in one sub-genre of young adult fiction, all released within a decade of each other, all popular enough to make blockbuster films out of them… we’ve covered such a vast array of relationships in our teen romances. It’s good for young people to see such a variety of examples.
Even though Roth’s aren’t my favorite books ever, I like that she had the courage to write the ending no one wanted, but the one that would be expected in a world such as the one her characters live in.
I still haven’t seen the Divergent movie, but I’m looking forward to the day I do a little bit more, hoping that they stick to the books and don’t go too Hollywood with it. I also look forward to seeing what Roth will write next.
Enchanted Ivy
Title:Enchanted Ivy
Author: Sarah Beth Durst
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Length: 310 pages
It was the matte finish that got me. So many young adult fantasy novels have the glossy cover that screams: I’m complete brain candy and will rot your mind! READ ME! But not Enchanted Ivy, maybe you can’t tell from the picture, but if your fingers touch the cover, you’ll know.
Ivy here is a play on words. The main character, Lily Carter, is trying to get into Princeton (her back-up school is another Ivy League option: Harvard). No biggie, right? She just has to pass a top secret admissions test provided by the Old Boys her grandfather went to college with and she’s in…
Insert Tolkien and Harry Potter style creatures of myth… shape shifters, a gate to a magic world, gargoyle professors, unicorns, dryads, and ivy (and trees and flowers) that obey commands, and you’ve got the fixings for a fantastical adventure that occurs in a day or two and can be read faster than that.
Cassandra Clare meets C.S. Lewis and Sarah Beth Durst brought us a fun filled fantasy with a few romantic moments or two to satisfy our girly hearts.
When I read these books, I’m mentally cataloging them… will I recommend this to kids at the store? Will I recommend this to my niece? Will I recommend this to my daughter? For Enchanted Ivy, yes on all fronts, as long as their school work is done. The book is both exciting and innocent enough for tweens and teens, I enjoyed it, but I don’t feel like I wasted my time or killed brain cells in doing so. The author, after all, is a Princeton gal herself.
As for a few cheesy soulmate lines, I both loathe them and am a sucker for them. I met my husband when I was 14, all the first meetings and teenage hormones is sheer nostalgia for me. Although Durst does a great job at keeping these on the very far back burner.
Fizz and Peppers Got a New Cover!
Remember my obsession for Fizz and Peppers? Do you also recall my adoration for Bryan Collins?
You can imagine my squeals of joy when this happened:
This second is my favorite. Munk really POPS!
Just thought I’d share and send two of my favorite people to promote some online love.
Wrapping up Clare, Clary, and Clockworks
Titles: City of Heavenly Fire
Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: Fantasy/ Teen
*SPOILERS*
So I was finally able to wrap up two series, The Mortal Instruments and the prequel series Infernal Devices. It was kind of refreshing to finish something and know that I know as much of the story that is available to know at the moment.
City of Heavenly Fire was exactly what I expected. Great closing to it all, not a lot of surprises. The only thing that did surprise me were the number of new characters that were introduced, seemingly to kick start another set of books. But Clary and Jace are finally basking in their glorious together-ness, the readers got a wedding (Clary’s mother and Luke of course), and the teen couple finally sealed the deal which was expected, gratifying for the masses, but also disappointing for me – the girl who waited.
Clockwork Princess was not nearly as satisfying. It went as expected (the ending sort of spoiled by having already read City of Heavenly Fire), but also disappointed me in the sense that sometimes a girl should actually have to do a little more choosing. No one gets everything they ever wanted that thoroughly, and Tessa being allowed to love both boys so completely thrusts you outside of the book’s reality and back into your own by the sheer fact that no one should be allowed such a fairy tale. Even in happily ever afters, a girl has to pick a prince. You didn’t see Clary marrying Jace and running into the ever after with Simon or vice versa. It was sweet and wonderful, but too sweet and too wonderful, and therefore fell flat to me.
I’m glad I read them the way I did though, I am. Even if things were a little anti-climactic, I understand stories and the fact that the characters simply have to live their lives and sometimes those lives are anti-climactic. I’m just also a little relieved that both series have ended.
I still adore Cassandra Clare, I still look forward to reading more of her writing in the future. But for now, I think I may have burned myself out. Or maybe Clare burned herself out. I’m not sure and it’s probably not fair for me to decide right now.
City of Glass
It seems even though this is my second time reading this book (my second time through the series as I prep to read the final volume!), I didn’t write proper reviews for each one.
I addressed the series, made references to Cassandra Clare’s work in many of my reviews, but City of Glass never got a review all it’s own.
So here it goes:
Title: City of Glass
Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: Young Adult/ Teen/ Fantasy
Length: 541 pages
The book cover finally features a boy *with* his shirt on. However, the cover still annoys me. I suppose I’ll never get over how embarrassing they are. I’ve never preferred having actual people on the front covers of the books I read, unless of course they’re in some sort of Victorian garb. For some reason a person on the cover never truly embodies the mood of a story the way I want it to. I prefer buildings, scenery, landscapes, or the hint of a person.
For instance…
That’s a cover I don’t mind flashing the masses, a train full of people, other moms at a public park, or I don’t know – MY KID.
Who am I kidding? In the U.S. the cover up top is the only one that is going to move copies of the book. I’m an odd duck. I know that.
Regardless of all that – I still adore these books. Brain candy, teen flick, romance nonsense and all. I just love them.
I love the book references, the intelligent quotes, the very teen appropriate quips. I love that Jace (Jonathan) Wayland/Morgenstern/Herondale/whoever reminds me so very much of my own Jonathan at that age. Clare has cocky teenage boy dialog down to an art. Jace’s cockiness rings true and familiar, the knowledge that he is attractive and desired, edged with angst anyway.
I remember those conversations. I remember the beautiful, desired boy flirting with me – the short, somewhat tomboyish and frumpy nerd who was always a little out of place. Granted, I never got Luke & Leia -ed like Clary and Jace did. But I think what makes these books so marvelous is despite the fantasy, despite the action and apocalyptic level of drama, despite the paranormal parts that drip into every aspect of the story – there’s something familiar for everyone in these stories. Especially City of Glass, and the ever burning question so many romances have: If it’s not forbidden will he/she still want me?
This time around I re-read the first book, City of Bones, after seeing the movie. The library didn’t have the second book, City of Ashes, on hand so I just skipped it and went onto City of Glass. By doing this, I was brought to a whole new level of appreciation for the series, Cassandra Clare, and each book individually.
Even though I jumped in having skipped the second book – I wasn’t lost. Although the second book is pivotal to an epic saga of the Nephilim, I didn’t feel out of sorts by not having read it. Clare does such an excellent job of having each book stand on it’s own even though it’s merely a puzzle piece in a giant story. I love that.
I know it’s the thousandth time I’ve said this, and I shall say it a thousand times more – Well done, Cassandra Clare, Well done.
Do I feel bad about re-reading young adult titles over and over again and the age of thirty? No, not anymore.
“A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest.”- C.S. Lewis
S. Smith Book Signing – Earth Day Every Day Part Four
The Half Price Books Clear Lake store was a lovely host today for S. Smith’s first signing of her Texas Earth Day Tour.
The weather was gorgeous, a little chilly for we Texans, but quite beautiful. A great day for an author from Oregon to set up shop in Houston.
Last night, in preparation, I made seedling cupcakes. Yet another great Pinterest idea that the Texas humidity took a toll on. The fondant sort of got floppy the warmer it got throughout the day, and the green sort of melted a bit. But over all, I’m pleased with my first try.
We met new readers today, and enjoyed chatting with the customers in the store. Of course, the first and most common questions was, “What are the books about?”
If you’re stumbling across my blog for the first time, Seed Savers is a young adult series about a dystopian society where growing your own fruits and vegetables is illegal. So naturally, an underground organization is created to keep the art and know how of gardening alive. It’s good garden sense mixed with the danger and adventure of kids on the run from the government entities hunting them down.
There are three books in publication that Sandy is signing and selling right now, but the series is set to be five volumes long. The story is pretty epic, in my opinion, as you can tell if you read through all the past Seed Savers posts featured on this blog. I adore this woman and all her work, and I hope that everyone who purchased her book today feels the same way when they’re done reading.
S. Smith will be at Good Books in the Woods Friday night and then at Half Price Books Humble 1-3 pm and HPB Montrose 6-9 pm on Saturday. If you missed today’s signing, please make time to see S. Smith at the other Houston stores before she flits off to Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas. The author is from Oregon so this very well might be a once in a lifetime opportunity!
April Events 2014!
The month of April is full of Earth Day celebrations. More specifically, S. Smith, author of a dystopian young adult series that I can’t seem to rave enough about, has planned a trip to Texas from Oregon! I’m so excited!
She will also be at the Montrose HPB (hpb.com/011) on Saturday, April 19th, 6pm-9pm.
Then she’ll be making rounds in San Antonio, Austin, and finally Dallas! Check out her website for more details on events in those cities: http://authorssmith.com/book-news-and-events/
Also, although I am based out of Houston, this is a Dallas event that I support with all my heart and would love to attend if I were able:
Anakalian Whims 