Author Archives: Laura

• Book Review: “Days of Blood and Starlight” by Laini Taylor

  Posted at 9:21 pm by Laura, on January 19, 2013

  Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

  Publisher: Little, Brown
  Publishing Date: November 2012
  Genre: young adult, fantasy, romance
  ISBN: 9780316133975
  Goodreads: 4.35
  Rating: ★★★★★

  While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.

  But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?

  Hidden away in an abandoned desert castle, Karou takes on the role Brimstone had trained her for in her previous form as Madrigal: a resurrectionist. Though Karou does it to keep her people, the chimaera, alive, Thiago has a more sinister plan in mind. Akiva, teamed with his brother, sister, and small squad of soldiers, do their best in Eretz to warn and save the remaining chimaera from the terrifying angel emperor’s mission of destruction. Through a series of whirlwind and unpredictable events, Karou and Akiva cross paths, and must come to a decision to bring peace to their world before it destroys humanity.

  Taylor’s world, her imagination and skill and detail, blows my mind. I am nearly speechless. While the first book was lighthearted, spunky, artistic, romantic, and mildly tragic, this second installment is dark, weary, painful, and full of loyalty and determination. Rich with characters — chimaera and angel alike — and intricate plots bouncing from the human world to Eretz, you’d imagine the reader would become confused. Taylor is so talented, I can guarantee every character mentioned will leave a mark in your mind. You will know Ziri from Razor, Thiago from Joram, secondary characters from other secondary characters. Their points of view are scattered throughout the book, each with distinctive voices and overlapping events.

  While this second book has a dark and bleak tone, especially in comparison to the first, Zuzana and Mik’s commentary and chapters bring enough warmth and happiness to the book to provide hope when Karou needs it most. Even Karou’s observations are sparked here and there with sarcastic one-liners she must keep to herself.

  Another brilliant aspect of Taylor’s plotting is her ability to surprise you with every chapter. This book was entirely unpredictable. Characters that seemed to only appear once and could be forgotten would actually crop up again, with something important to say or do, a key event to become a part of. Events once seen will rise again with an eerie explanation, a twist in plot, a change in tide.

  In a year, the world will see what will become of Karou, Akiva, and the hope they have to bring peace to Eretz…

  Posted in books, Reviews 2013 | 0 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: fantasy, genre: romance, genre: young adult, goodreads, review

• Awards, Bestsellers, and E-books, Oh My!

  Posted at 7:34 pm by Laura, on January 16, 2013

  Apologies for the lack of posts. I’ve since taken a trip to NYC and adopted a kitty from a shelter.

  On to some book news!

  1. NBCC Finalists Announced — 2012 National Book Critics Circle finalists were announced Monday. There are 30 finalists across 6 categories, including Adam Johnson’s The Orphan Master’s Son, Katherine Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Tom Reiss’s The Black Count, and Allan Peterson’s Fragile Acts.
  2. Wanna know which titles dominated in 2012? I’m sure you can guess quite a few of them. Big Names Dominated Bestsellers in 2012 contains all the sales information as well as the lists of the Top 10 Books within 10 categories.
  3. Prepare to be launched into a literary Italy with Dan Brown’s Inferno on May 14! Make all the jokes you want — I’m really looking forward to this one. Lost Symbol was ehhh for me, but the other Robert Langdon books were intriguing. Probably because it was set in Europe. And now we’re looking into Dante’s Inferno? Yes, please!
  4. Scholastic Report Finds More E-book Reading Among Children — This is to be expected, as the current generation is growing up with easy-access technology. However, the stats are incredibly fascinating. More boys are reading, and more teenagers are making the switch from print to digital.
  5. 2013 Edgar Nominations Announced — Check out the selections from the Mystery Writers of America, with Best Book, Best First, Best Fact Crime, and many more!
  Posted in books, Link, publishing, technology | 0 Comments | Tagged awards, books, ebooks, ereaders, news, publishing

• Book Haul!

  Posted at 5:06 pm by Laura, on January 9, 2013

  GUYS.

  Guys…

  I bought books. I know I said in my Bookish Resolutions that I would hold off on buying books before reading them and instead use the library more. Hopefully these exceptions have validity in your eyes for purchasing and breaking that resolution.

  

  Snobs by Julian Fellowes — After a heartbreaking third season (sorry, America, you’re in for a real tear-jerker. Be wary with each episode.), I needed something by Fellowes (because let’s face it, he’s a great story-teller and really knows his history) that would hopefully have a much happier outcome. Full of drama we all know and love, I expect to really enjoy this book. Frankly, I’d been eyeing it for some time and after the Christmas episode I threw up my hands and went on impulse.

  Possession by A.S. Byatt — If I weren’t in grad school for publishing, I would be in grad school (at Durham University, cough cough) working towards a PhD in Victorian and Romantic Literature (if you couldn’t tell from my favorites list). Two people are to blame for my obsession with the Romantics, Victorians, and the Gothic: my sophomore honors English teacher in high school, and my Victorian professor in college. Both of them highly recommended I read “Possession” — this book followed me for years. And then, on the plane back from the holidays, I sat next to a very nice gentleman who loved talking about books, and he suggested I read this too. Well, geez. If a total stranger says this is the book for me, as well as my two favorite English teachers, then maybe I really should buy it!

  But wait! There’s more!

  

  Requiem by Lauren Oliver — Harper Teen hosted a Deliria Slogan contest on Twitter and I was one of the winners to receive an ARC of the third and final installment to the Delirium trilogy! Thank you very much, Harper Teen!

  Children of Liberty by Paullina Simons — As a bookseller, you can receive ARCs as one of the perks. Some publishers have deals with bookstores to send ARCs so that the bookseller can give an honest review as well as prepare for questions from customers about the book upon publication. This is a prequel to the Tatiana and Alexander trilogy, which I thoroughly enjoyed winter 2011. Thank you, William Morrow!

  In short, HarperCollins rocked the ARC giveaways today.

  Posted in books, Update Post | 0 Comments | Tagged advance reading copy, ARC, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: dystopian, genre: fiction, genre: history, genre: romance, genre: young adult, goodreads, publishing

• Book Review: “Daughter of Smoke and Bone” by Laini Taylor

  Posted at 3:15 pm by Laura, on January 7, 2013

  Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

  Publisher: Little, Brown
  Publishing Date: September 2011
  Genre: young adult, fantasy, romance
  ISBN: 9780316133999
  Goodreads: 4.09
  Rating: ★★★★★

  Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

  In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.

  And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

  Karou, an art student in Prague, sketches beautiful creatures and monsters. Her friends think she’s imaginative, but the truth is these creatures are real. When Karou meets Akiva on one of her missions for the creatures, a sense of wholeness and terror fill her. Akiva, an angel and an enemy of Karou’s family, hopes to help Karou discover her past and her role in the never-ending war.

  Usually “teen paranormal romance” is poorly written, with obvious outcomes and cliche plots. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is entirely different. I have visited Prague and thoroughly loved the city — but one does not need to have traveled there to feel like you’re walking in the streets with Karou. Taylor paints a beautiful picture of the city, and the descriptions only heighten from there. As the reader is introduced to Karou’s adoptive family, the beasts, monsters, and creatures called chimaera, the story begins to unfold and build a new world.

  Drop everything you know about angels and devils. The angels are not the benevolent, holy beings of Scripture; devils are not sinful and ugly. It is all in the eye of the beholder, in this story: who are the real monsters? Taylor’s Karou, Akiva, Brimstone, Zuzana, and Madrigal may not all be human, not all angels, not all devils, but they have such deep humanity, such raw emotion, such powerful personalities, that it’s easy to see where Karou’s inner conflict builds.

  The plot is addicting, the characters engaging, the world — both real and magical — stunning. I cannot wait to begin the next book!

  Posted in books, Reviews 2013 | 0 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: fantasy, genre: romance, genre: young adult, goodreads, review

• Book Review: “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens

  Posted at 10:00 am by Laura, on January 5, 2013

  A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

  Publisher: (of this particular edition) Harper Press
  Publishing Date: (original) 1859, (of this particular edition) 2010
  Genre: historical fiction, Victorian, gothic
  ISBN: 9780007350896
  Goodreads: 3.69
  Rating: ★★★

  “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” With these famous words, Charles Dickens plunges the reader into one of history’s most explosive eras — the French Revolution. From the storming of the Bastille to the relentless drop of the guillotine, Dickens vividly captures the terror and upheaval of that tumultuous period. At the center is the novel’s hero, Sydney Carton, a lazy, alcoholic attorney who, inspired by a woman, makes the supreme sacrifice on the bloodstained streets of Paris.

  One of Dickens’s most exciting novels, A Tale of Two Cities is a stirring classic of love, revenge, and resurrection.

  From the moment Dr Manette is released from prison, a decade-long plot begins to unfurl surrounding English lawyer Sydney Carton, French aristocrat Charles Darnay, and Lucie Manette. The two men fight for the love of Dr Manette’s daughter Lucie, but outside circumstances with the French Revolution begin to interfere. Only Lady Guillotine, the icon of the Republic, can solve end the battle.

  Admittedly, I began this book thinking it would be all about love and heartbreak. It is referred to several times in other favorite books of mine. However, this is Dickens, and Dickens is so much more than a simple love story author. I have learned from my Victorian literature classes that, to read Dickens and fully appreciate his work, one must read slowly and split it with another book. His work was read serially, just like TV episodes today are aired. I practiced this method again (breaking up every few chapters with a chapter of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets — vastly different genre) and it certainly helped me enjoy the novel. But Two Cities was nothing like I’d imagined.

  I was most interested in all the scenes containing Darnay, Carton, and Lucie, of course. The error in paying close attention to those scenes meant lots of confusion towards the end when the complicated plot began to unravel and reveal itself in the final chapters. I did not pay close attention to Mr Lorry — “only a man of business” — or Madame DeFarge — always knitting, knitting, knitting — nor do I know enough about the French Revolution. Because of my personal flaws, I could not enjoy the novel as much as I should have.

  Dickens is a master with characters, though. He makes everyone incredibly memorable, even archetypal. We know, as a reader, that every time DeFarge appears, she’ll be knitting. She’s grouchy and revengeful. We know that when Mr Lorry appears, he wants to do the right thing by man but wants to keep his hands clean, so he will only do what his business will allow him to do. We know Darnay to be a kind and gentle person, easy to fall in love with and difficult to hate. Carton knows this, and although a drunkard, he is a good man at heart. This makes the love triangle heartbreaking to watch — neither man wants to fight the other, they have mutual respect in their love for Lucie, and it’s all so personal, raw, and human. It makes Carton’s sacrifice unbearable.

  After I spend some time researching the French Revolution, I will come back to this book and try again. I truly think that if I understood my history and pay closer attention to the outside plots that later converge, I could love this book.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2013 | 0 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: classics, genre: fiction, genre: history, review

• WBN Giver Applications Close January 23rd

  Posted at 7:06 pm by Laura, on January 3, 2013

  Make sure you’ve signed up to become a World Book Night book giver this April!

  There are some great books to choose from to hand out, including Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and Tina Fey’s Bossypants!

  Make a reader this year!

  Posted in books | 0 Comments | Tagged books, world book night

• Happy New Year! New Book Challenge

  Posted at 4:46 pm by Laura, on January 1, 2013

  Happy New Year, readers, bloggers, and bookworms!

  New year, new challenge. Once again, I’m participating in the Goodreads Reading Challenge, where one sets a goal for a number of books to read in that year. The books need to be completely read, and they can be anything: children’s books, nonfiction, fiction, manga, comics, you name it! In 2011, I read 55/55 for my very first challenge, and in 2012 I read 51/45 for my second challenge.

  This year, I’m shooting for 50. It looks like I can manage.

  Another personal goal, as a poor graduate student/bookseller, is to check out books from the library more often. I get a great discount as a bookseller, and tend to run off and buy every book in sight that I’m slightly interested in. This year, I’m going to slow down, read the book at the library, and then go through the inner debate of “Should I buy the ebook or the print book?” [Hint: I may have a Nook, but I still tend to veer toward print book.]

  What is your reading challenge for 2013? Do you have any personal book goals?

  Posted in books, Update Post | 4 Comments | Tagged books, ebooks, goodreads, reading

• Book Review: “Witchlanders” by Lena Coakley

  Posted at 5:35 pm by Laura, on December 24, 2012

  Witchlanders by Lena Coakley

  Publisher: Antheneum
  Publishing Date: August 2011
  Genre: fantasy, young adult
  ISBN: 9781442420052
  Goodreads: 3.73
  Rating: ★★★

  High in their mountain covens, red witches pray to the Goddess, protecting the Witchlands by throwing the bones and foretelling the future.

  It’s all a fake.

  At least, that’s what Ryder thinks. He doubts the witches really deserve their tithes—one quarter of all the crops his village can produce. And even if they can predict the future, what danger is there to foretell, now that his people’s old enemy, the Baen, has been defeated?

  But when a terrifying new magic threatens both his village and the coven, Ryder must confront the beautiful and silent witch who holds all the secrets. Everything he’s ever believed about witches, the Baen, magic and about himself will change, when he discovers that the prophecies he’s always scorned—

  Are about him.

  Everything about the Baen, the dark-haired and brown-eyed people, bothers Ryder. His mother’s consumption of maiden’s woe is to blame for her insanity and obsession with reviving her witchcraft. Ryder feels burdened by his life, growing up into the father figure of the household before he was ready. But great things are happening. When the Baen Falpian enters his mind, Ryder is determined to seek him out and exact revenge. Upon meeting Falpian, and their connection and talent as one, Ryder’s plans begin to change in the midst of a Baen and Witchlander war.

  If high fantasy is your cup of tea, Witchlanders is it. Coakley expertly creates an entirely new world for readers, with everything one can relate to: mental instability, skepticism in lore, love for family, unexpected burdens. These trials and triumphs are set in the backdrop of a highly prejudiced and beautifully descriptive magical world, the Witchlands and the Bitterlands. It was stunning and I wanted to learn more.

  Falpian and Ryder were interesting characters as well. They were quite complex characters, never truly seeing eye to eye with one another due to their deeply ingrained prejudices, and yet they understood their purpose in the impending war and worked together. Every step these boys took had disastrous consequences. It was difficult to side with one over the other due to the psychological and emotional complexity, which was actually very refreshing to read.

  There is very little YA out there with high fantasy like these and characters as difficult as Falpian and Ryder. This novel is meant as a stand-alone, which is rather a shame. I’d love to read more about the Witchlands and Bitterlands. The ending is a solid one, but there so many other aspects to this world and to the characters that I’d love to explore.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2012 | 0 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: fantasy, genre: young adult, goodreads, review

• Top 5 Books of 2012

  Posted at 10:26 am by Laura, on December 24, 2012

  It was very difficult to narrow down which books I wanted in the top five. Cassandra Clare’s second in the Infernal Devices series, Clockwork Prince, and Kate Morton’s The Secret Keeper had to be cut. To see a full list of what I read in this year’s challenge, feel free to browse here.

  2012 was a mix of contemporary and dystopian young adult with Victorian gothic literature. I read my absolute favorite genre of all time and explored a new and booming genre with relish. Here are my top five books of 2012, in no particular order!

  

  The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

  The first and only novel by John Green written from the point of view of a teenage girl in the midst of heartbreaking cancer is full of life, wonder, and awe. The characters are charming and a joy to read, and as a previous Indianapolis resident I was so happy to watch all their adventures across my home city.

  Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

  Every person on this planet needs to read this book. I convinced my mother to read it — and it sparked hours-long discussions on Soviet history, her old Latvian friends, and the state of the Baltics today. I convinced history buffs to read it — and they are discussing untouched topics with their history professors. I convinced a friend who never reads nonfiction or YA, and she was moved to tears. This book, true accounts of Soviet Russia’s mass slaughter of the Baltics during and after WWII wrapped up in a fictional character, is beyond words. It is a must-read.

  The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

  Enchanting and riveting, this masterpiece is set in the late Victorian age as two magicians compete in a fierce challenge within a spell-binding circus. The characters, the setting, the dream-like qualities, and the love are so moving, you’ll never want to leave Le Cirque des Reves.

  A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

  Diana is supposed to be an American professor in Oxford, nothing more. But her magic draws attention to other creatures only heard about in myths, including the very predatory Matthew cannot seem to stay away. This is not the ordinary academic professor romance, nor are the witches and vampires sweet and kind. History, magic, alchemical texts, Oxford, Massachusetts, genetics, and chemistry merge together in this great, intelligent romance.

  Delirium by Lauren Oliver

  Hunger Games brought me back into the YA genre, and Delirium kept me in. I’m a hopeless romantic, so a story about forbidden love will always draw me in. However, Oliver does not make this dystopian cheesy or cheap. Love is forbidden because love is a disease. Love clouds judgement, causes unnecessary illness like fevers, sweat, lack of appetite. This concept is so beautifully written, and the characters so well-developed and intuitive, I could not put this down.

  Posted in books, Update Post | 3 Comments | Tagged 50 book challenge, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: contemporary, genre: fantasy, genre: fiction, genre: history, genre: romance, genre: young adult, goodreads

• Book Review: “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern

  Posted at 9:32 am by Laura, on December 24, 2012

  The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

  Publisher: Anchor
  Publishing Date: September 2011
  Genre: fantasy, gothic, historical fiction
  ISBN: 9780307744432
  Goodreads: 3.99
  Rating: ★★★★★

  The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

  But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.

  Two magical schools of philosophy are at war: the alchemical, charming, scholarly side versus the natural, inborn talent. If put in a competition with only one competitor left standing, which school of thought would win? Two magicians, Prospero and Alexander, pluck two young children, Celia and Marco, to battle. But everything changes once the venue is created for them: Le Cirque des Reves. The circus is not simply a place to compete; it becomes a part of Celia and Marco, another half of their beings, another limb, a soul itself. When Celia and Marco fall in love, the consequences for everyone involved could be disastrous.

  I have never come across a book that has left me as enchanted as this. The whole experience was a dream. The luxurious language, the confectionery sweets, the lush descriptions, the stark contrast of black and white with splashes of red, the vibrancy of the characters, the fierce competition, the free-falling into the unknown. It was nothing short of magical.

  Morgenstern incorporates fantasy with reality, turns a battle of the mind into action, gothic essence into a deeply timeless story. This is more than love. This is more than magic. It’s about all the lives in-between. She allows the reader to jump across countries and oceans, from the late 1800s to the early 1900s, from one perspective to another. We’re in the minds of Widget and Poppet, the mysterious and talented circus twins; of Chandresh, the planner and financial backing to the circus; of Isobel, a tarot-reader in love with Marco and in control of the perfect balance of the circus; of Tsukiko, the contortionist who subtly points out the mysterious idiosyncrasies of the environment. We experience each and every tent with Bailey and Friedrick, attendees and reveurs, and gaze at the still human statue Snow Queen, wander the Ice Garden, sit in awe watching the illusionist. And, of course, the heart-wrenching and exhilarating journey Marco and Celia take to overcome the rules of the challenge and find a way to be together.

  An absolutely enchanting piece of work that I will read time and time again!

  Edit: I wrote this a few weeks ago and apparently it never published! So here you go!

  Posted in books, Reviews 2012 | 2 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: fantasy, genre: fiction, genre: gothic, genre: history, goodreads, review

• 

• Hello, I’m Laura!

  I'm a bookish bookworm and book hoarder. By day I'm a literary agent, and by night I'm forever rearranging my bookshelves. I could talk your ear off about Gothic literature, and in my past life people thought I'd become a professional musician. I have a fluffy black cat named Rossetti, I love to travel, tea is my drink of choice, British TV is the best, and I'm always down for chips-and-queso nights. Welcome to Scribbles & Wanderlust! Grab your favorite hot beverage and let's chat books!

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