The Book Review Club (December 2014)

Season's Greetings! It's that gift-buying time of year. It's also that party-going, cookie-baking, house-decorating time of year. But since today's post is all about book reviews, we're focusing on the gift-buying part. And what makes a better gift than a book? Nothing. That's what. So, sit back and enjoy our book reviews...put together to help you with your holiday shopping and, of course, personal reading. Enjoy!

WAGGERS (picture book)
Written by Stacy Nyikos
Illustrated by Tamara Anegon

This is one of the few times I've reviewed a picture book. As a result, I ended up googling "how to review a picture book." I figured you'd want more than just my saying things like: I really think you'd get a kick out of this book or You can't go wrong with giving this book to a child on your gift list or You'll appreciate the unique way the author resolved Wagger's problem.

Anyway, googling "how to review a picture book" wasn't over helpful. Everyone has their own ideas on the subject! As do I! So, here goes...

In a nutshell: When Waggers is adopted, he tries to be good; he really does! But it isn't Waggers's fault that his tail goes crazy when he gets excited. How much harm can a tail do, anyway? Well, his new family is about to find out. (borrowed from amazon)

What Struck Me: There's a delicate dance between the words and the illustrations. They complement and enhance each other. Sometimes the words tell more of the story. Sometimes the illustrations do.  It's beautifully executed in WAGGERS. Also, this book is funny, with unique situations and illustrations full of personality.

Surprisingly: I could relate to this book! Waggers is a lot like my child #3! In fact, the author's solution for Waggers might have worked in my situation, too. Unfortunately, I'll have to leave it at that so as not to spoil anything for you. Ha!

Here's an interesting interview with Stacy about WAGGERS.

Dear FCC: Surely you know me well enough by now to understand no one paid me or badgered me in any way to write this review. Yes, the author is OUR VERY OWN STACY NYIKOS. When I see her next fall, I may convince her to sit next to me at lunch. But she probably would've anyway. She's pretty friendly and sociable. 

To the left is a photo of Desi, the dog who inspired the book.

You can order autographed copies from Best of Books. Because the one thing better than giving a book is giving an autographed book.



Now onto the last reviews of the year. Please click through. We'll make your day!

MIDDLE GRADE/YOUNG ADULT FICTION BOOK REVIEWS

Alyssa Goodnight: A LITTLE SOMETHING DIFFERENT by Sandy Hall (YA)

Ellen Booraem: EGG AND SPOON by Gregory Maguire (YA)

Jenn Jilks of Cottage Country: AMAZON BURNING by Victoria Griffith (YA)

Stacy Nyikos: BELZHAR by Meg Wolitzer (YA)


ADULT FICTION BOOK REVIEWS

Linda McLaughlin: MAP OF LOST MEMORIES by Kim Fay (mystery/historical adventure)

Patti Abbott:  IN THE MORNING I'LL BE GONE by Adrian McKinley (crime)

Sarah Laurence: THE BONE CLOCKS by David Mitchell



Note to Reviewers: Any errors (broken link, missed review, etc), just shoot me an email or leave a comment. Thank you so much for your reviews!

This past weekend was the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville, VA. That is one really fun book festival and one really cute town.

I was on an author panel, chatting about setting. Yes, it's true; I'll talk about anything! Above is our fantastic panel: (back) Keri Mikulski, (who brought delish salt water taffy to share), me; (front) PJ Hoover (who is always uberfun and smiley), Stacy Nyikos (I just noticed she has an adorable new website) and Suzanne Morgan Williams, (who phoned me this morning at home BY MISTAKE!!).

I like this photo of Suzanne Morgan Williams' arm, me and Keri Mikulski. This is the first time I met Keri IRL. She couldn't be nicer.

I also met James of Book Chic. He has an interview with moi. What can I say about James? Entertaining. Friendly. A book lover.

Here are myself and PJ Hoover with Susan of Wastepaper Prose. Susan's pretty wild and crazy and delightful. And she often has book giveaways on her blog. PJ said I squealed when I learned Susan's identity. Not true. I'm too cool to squeal.

Following our author panel and other panels and an author reception where I chatted nonstop (who, moi?) with all sorts of people, I went out to "dinner". Yes, I placed quotation marks around dinner. Keep reading, and you'll see why.

Here are a few of my "dinner" companions: Suzanne Morgan Williams, Stacy Nyikos and Irene Latham. I am SO glad Irene was there. She has an adorable Alabama accent which is easy on the ears. Even more important, SHE EATS LIKE A BIRD. You will see why the latter is important a little further down.

Here are some more "dinner" companions: Bonnie Doerr, PJ Hoover, and Fran Cannon Slayton


This is my "dinner"!! It's tuna tartar. Well, what there is of it is tuna tartar!! Do you see the quarter? That's to give you some perspective. Three potato chips and a bite and a half of tuna. And it cost $13.

A major apology to Suzanne Morgan Williams and Bonnie Doerr who copied me by ordering this excuse for a meal. A huge thank-you to Irene Latham who SHARED her steak and asparagus with me.

All joking aside, it was a great weekend and a great book festival! And I have done a marvelous job with linking in this post, if I do say so myself.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, I sent i so don't do famous in to Editor Wendy!!! (Child #4 is thrilled!)

Wrapping up CLA + Theft

At a Chinese restaurant in San Jose: (left to right) Zu Vincent (THE HAPPY PLACE), me, Stacy Nyikos (DRAGON WISHES), PJ Hoover (THE EMERALD TABLET) Hoover. We missed you at dinner, Courtney Scheinmel (MY SO-CALLED FAMILY).

CLA (the California Library Association) went super well! No one fell over. No one broke out in hives. All the electronic junk worked--powerpoints, book trailers. In four words: we were a hit!

One faux pas: not one of us remembered to take a group picture. :(

PJ Hoover blogged about our CLA weekend. She has a particularly upscale bathroom shot.



Guess what else happened this weekend? DH and I became the victims of credit card theft! Yikes!

I talked to the credit card company Sunday evening around 11. They believe a counterfeit credit card was used to purchase:

         $ 432 worth of merchandise at Walmart in Oakland
         $   13.78 at a game store in Oakland
         $ 400 worth of gas at a station in Bakersfield (although a hold was put on the card after $100)

That is not a very imaginative thief. No trips to Hawaii or Paris. No diamond rings. No books.

Child #3's theory: The thief is a truck driver, getting ready for a long haul. So, he bought a bunch of gas, new clothes and snacks at Walmart and a video game.

It's all very creepy. On the upside, we're not responsible for the fraud purchases.


EXACTLY THREE WEEKS UNTIL THE RELEASE OF I SO DON'T DO MYSTERIES!

My Town Monday: San Jose, CA

Greetings from San Jose, CA! I'm up here with four fellow class of 2k8ers (in alpha order): PJ Hoover (author of THE EMERALD TABLET), Stacy Nyikos (DRAGON WISHES), Courtney Scheinmel (MY SO-CALLED FAMILY) and Zu Vincent (THE HAPPY PLACE).

So far, we've chatted. Drunk wine. Chatted. Eaten Chinese for dinner. Chatted some more.

Don't worry, fellow 2k8ers, your SCANDALOUS secrets are safe with me!

We're on a panel at the California Library Association's Annual Conference. Which means that, tomorrow morning, I will be standing up and speaking for FIFTEEN whole minutes. Thank goodness I have a very cute power point presentation.

Totally ignoring the evening-before public-speaking jitters, I'm posting about a fun house to visit here in California's 3rd largest city.

Winchester Mystery House

Some interesting facts about the Winchester Mystery House:

Wealthy widow Sarah Winchester, heiress to the Winchester Rifle fortune, began building on this house in 1884.

Construction continued for THIRTY-EIGHT years.

There are 160 rooms in this Victorian mansion.

This house is bizarre, with features like staircases that lead to the ceiling.

The house was built without any master plan, so it's quite the hodge podge.

Building costs were about $5.5 million.

The Winchester House is HAUNTED by people who were killed by Winchester rifles.

You can have your birthday party here.

If you're interested in visiting:

525 S Winchester Blvd
San Jose, CA 95120
(408) 247-2101

Sorry if this isn't my best MTM post. But think of the pressure I'm under. Speaking engagement tomorrow. Holder of SCANDALOUS secrets. Please please cut me some slack. So... I'm off to get my beauty sleep. Think of me (and the rest of the 2k8 gang who are in San Jose) at about 10:30 am Pacific time. Cross your fingers that I don't fall over in a dead faint.

Now, go directly to Travis Erwin's blog. He's our big kahuna boss for My Town Mondays. He'll have a MTM post up himself plus a list of links to other Mondayers.

Sources; http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/
Wikipedia

Encyclo-Media or Adrenalin Rush in Oklahoma City

In the last two days, I've met FIVE of my classmates from the Class of 2k8! Life is very excellent.

WEDNESDAY: Oklahoma roadtrip with PJ Hoover, debut middle grade author of The Emerald Tablet. Also along for the ride is Child #4 (who's escaping from a house with a throwing-up cousin to hang out with authors and an author's kids). What can I tell you about PJ? High energy. Helpful. Entertaining. The type of girlfriend you def invite to your slumber party because she'll keep it all lively.

We stay with Stacy Nyikos, hostess extraordinaire and debut middle grade author of Dragon Wishes. She is ultra generous. With her exquisite guac. And her strawberry margaritas that defy description. And her oodles of info on school visits and public speaking. And her incredible organizational skills. Thank you, Stacy.

Jenny Meyerhoff, debut middle grade author of Third Grade Baby, flies in to chill with us. Jenny is sincere and thoughtful. She makes you think. I'm guessing if you have Jenny as a friend, you have a friend for life. Plus, she has stupendous black leather boots.

Jenny, PJ, Stacy with strawberry margaritas

THURSDAY: Jenny, PJ, Stacy and yours truly do a panel at Encyclo-Media, the annual librarian-educator event in Oklahoma City.

Are you sitting down? Take a look at the next photo.


THERE WERE ONE HUNDRED FIFTY (150!!!) PEOPLE AT OUR PANEL! That is THREE HUNDRED eyeballs.

Luckily, this was an extremely nice and welcoming mob who loved all four of us. I bet they ask us back next year.

I couldn't help but notice this crowd had a sophisticated sense of humor. They laughed at all my jokes.

AND seemed genuinely interested in meeting Sherry come December 9th.

Does my heart look like it's hammering a million beats a minute like I'm on the elliptical at the gym?


Then....that evening...

I met up with the amazingly creative Brooke Taylor, author of Undone, and another member from the Class of 2k8.

There are many many things I liked about Brooke. She's witty, fun, smart, loves to talk books, drinks diet coke AND she's way shorter than me. It's not often I tower over someone, and I enjoyed the experience. Yes, yes, I insisted we stand up for the picture. Just messing with you, Brooke. I LOVED having dinner together.

EVEN THOUGH you requested an interview with KELLY Couric (Katie's trashy twin) and NOT me. So, that's down the pike, folks. An interview with Brooke by Kelly and a giveaway of Undone. It'll be after Kelly reads the book so she can ask pertinent questions. (snort)

Quite the day! (well-deserved yawn)