Annette's Book Spot

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Book Review: The Scar Boys, by Len Vlahos @LenVlahos

It is impossible to not fall in love with the main character, Harry, in The Scar Boys.

Harry was burned and horribly disfigured when he was eight years old. He was tied to a tree by some neighborhood boys during a violent thunderstorm. The tree was struck by lightening, and that's how Harry was burned.

He has spent his entire life getting medical treatment, and also psychological help. He has learned some mechanisms for coping, but his life is lonely, and of course he is the victim of bullying.

Enter Johnny. Johnny takes a liking to Harry, and they become fast friends. Harry is so desperate to have a friend, that he becomes somewhat subservient to Johnny. When Johnny decides they are going to start a band, Harry is on board. Harry even takes guitar lessons, and it turns out that the band becomes Harry's savior.

The Scar Boys (the name of the band) become somewhat successful locally, and eventually they decide to go on tour over the summer, before Johnny enters college in the fall. The road trip turns out to be more than just the band playing gigs, it changes everyone's life.

The characters are special. Besides Johnny and Harry, there's Cheyenne, the only female member of the band, and of course there's a romantic sub-plot. The plot is interesting enough to keep the pages turning, even though this is mostly a story of Harry's growth.

The Scar Boys is supposedly Harry's 250 word college application essay that blossoms into this story. He does address the application committee once in a while, but this really was a non-issue for me. I pretty much forgot it was an essay.

I love that the chapter titles were each song titles. Harry provides the writer and performer of each song, and I could pretty much hum the tune to almost all of them.

The Scar Boys is an entertaining coming-of-age story about a very special boy and how music changed his life. It's very short, so you can recommend it to your reluctant readers, your underdogs, and your music lovers. I know I will.

Published by EgmontUSA, January 21, 2014
eARC obtained from NetGalley
256 pages (Qualifies for my Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge!)

Rating: 4/5

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Book Review: Avalon, by Mindee Arnett

While Avalon has an interesting sci-fi premise, I was unable to connect with the characters or build up the appropriate excitement for the plot.

Jeth and his team fly around on spaceships stealing, hijacking, and doing the bidding of one of the biggest crime lords in space, Hammer. Jeth is basically a slave, along with his sister, Lizzie, who is on Jeth's team. Jeth's parents were accused of treason and executed. After that, their uncle who was their guardian lost the family's ship, the Avalon, to Hammer. Jeth is desperately working to make enough money to buy back the Avalon from Hammer.

Jeth and his crew get caught in the middle of Hammer and the governing agency for all space travel. Everyone is keeping secrets; no one can be trusted. They end up going to a section of space that's like a wasteland, and it also has a reputation for being somewhat like the Bermuda Triangle of space. Weird, unexplained things happen.

The premise of Avalon is promising. I just didn't click with this book. I'm a sci-fi fan, so the explanations of those aspects didn't bother me. The plot drags a bit -- I spent much of the book with a "just get on with it" attitude. I didn't feel much of a connection to the characters. There were sweet, touching moments, but I'm not sure why I didn't care very much.

Avalon is one of those books that I just didn't like as much as I thought I would, and I'm not sure why. The story is pretty good, but the execution was inadequate to really compel me to keep turning pages. Although I did finish it.

The comparison to Firefly is unwarranted. That TV show was about a group of space cowboys, who did end up doing some running from the law. But the witty dialog and colorful characterization that made Firefly special are not evident in Avalon.

Since I can't really put my finger on the problem I had with this book, I would say that if it sounds interesting to you, give it a try.

Published by Balzer + Bray, January 21, 2014
eARC obtained from Edelweiss
432 pages

Rating: 3/5

Monday, January 13, 2014

Book Blogger New Year's Challenge - Day 13

You guys, I haven't ever told anyone this. I'm so embarrassed. Here goes, my Blogger Horror Story...

In 2011, I read and reviewed Between Shades of Grey, by Ruta Sepetys. In early 2013, I read and reviewed Out of the Easy by the same author. I loved both of these books. Shortly after I posted my Out of the Easy review, I was reading about the book somewhere else, and noticed the blogger had used the name "Ruta." I thought it was a typo. You see, in both my reviews, the entire time I read these books, I thought the author's name was RUTH. I put it in my reviews. I put it in my archives. It's in the URL for my review!!! Imagine my horror, when I realized I didn't even get the AUTHOR'S NAME correct. How embarrassing. I went back and changed what I could, but links and "you might also likes" still come up with my original posting...that says "Ruth." How could I be so unobservant?

So, I apologize, Ms. Sepetys. Your name is in pretty BIG letters on the books. I have no excuse. I'm embarrassed that I made a mistake, when your books are so brilliant. Well, I'd feel bad even if her books weren't brilliant, but they are!

How about you? Any horror stories? Make sure you visit Parajunkee and all the participating blogs.

Book Review: Champion, by Marie Lu @Marie_Lu

Champion is a satisfying conclusion to a thrilling dystopian trilogy.

June and Day are one of my favorite couples. What has always been special about this series is the characterizations of these two. I want good things for June and Day SO BADLY!

In Champion, the Republic is again on the brink of war with the Colonies. It seems that the Colonies believe that the Republic has infected their population with the plague, and the Colonies are demanding the cure or else. Well, there IS no cure. This is the main problem I have with Champion. The Colonies could have found out that there is no cure. I'm not going to say how, but several times during the book I thought, "See, that should be how they find out there is no cure." This isn't a huge issue with Champion, and I still really enjoyed it, but I didn't get the whole threat thing. It made no sense. At the end, where we find out more about why they don't have a cure, well, that just made it more confusing to me.

OK. Lets get on to the good stuff. June and Day have to do their own thing. Day has to protect his little brother, Eden. He's also very sick himself, so he's dealing with a lot. June, because she's Princeps-Elect, has to follow Anden around like a puppy. But June and Day manage to get enough time alone to really make some progress in their relationship, and I loved it.

I enjoyed the re-appearance of some old characters, and how they also grew up and matured. The

The ending confrontation was tense and pretty painful. Champion didn't end the way I wanted it to. But rarely does an author end a book the way I want them to, and if they do, I complain that it was "predictable." So, go figure. Anyway, I liked the ending. It was good. Appropriate. I just have to keep telling myself, "Annette, you are NOT the author! You don't get to decide!"

Well, you MUST read Champion if you've read the first two books, Legend and Prodigy. And, if you haven't begun the Legend series, and you are at all interested in dystopians, this is one of the BEST series out there. I'm so sad to see them go. But as Lu says in her acknowledgements, "They are off to live beyond the confines of the trilogy; I am left waving to them from the sidelines." I love that.

Published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, November 5, 2013
Copy obtained from the library
369 pages

Rating: 4/5

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Book Blogger New Year's Challenge - Day 12

Followers? When I started blogging, I really didn't think I'd get ANY followers. Well, maybe a handful. That was never my goal, and still isn't. If you enjoy what I write (mostly book reviews) then feel free to follow, or just stop by occasionally. If you don't read YA, or would rather read author interviews, book spotlights, book tours, or lots of memes, then your probably won't enjoy my blog. And that's OK.

I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing. Having fun reading and writing about what I've read. Trying to get some ARCs. Participating in a few memes, and reading a lot of reviews on other blogs. I love the book blogging community, and I really appreciate what YOU all do. It makes me better at my job and provides a lot of entertainment. Thanks for joining me today! Make sure you visit Parajunkee, our host, and see all the other participating blogs.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Book Blogger New Year's Challenge - Day 11

Ugh. The dreaded TBR pile. Right now, I have about 25 books "to review." I have about 25 books sitting on my desk, wanting to be read. I have a folder on my Kindle with 44 books to read "someday."

And, I work in a school library, so really my TBR shelves are limitless...(It's not a bad problem to have!)

How about you? Are you buried in books too? Leave me a link, and be sure to visit Parajunkee and all the other participating blogs! Enjoy your weekend!

Stacking the Shelves -- Snow Days!

Well, we haven't had school this ENTIRE WEEK. So, I certainly haven't checked any books out of the library!

However, Edelweiss came through with a couple of eBooks for review.

For Review:

House of Ivy & Sorrow, by Natalie Whipple, from Edelweiss

The Care and Management of Lies, by Jacqueline Winspear, from Edelweiss

That's all for me, actually for the past two weeks. How about you? Leave me a link to your new treasures, so I can add them to my list. Please visit Team Tynga's Reviews to see all the participating blogs. Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, January 10, 2014

Feature & Follow Friday: Blogging Resolutions

So, today's question from Alison & Parajunkee is one many of us have probably answered.

Resolutions: Put together your blogger resolution list for all of us to see!

One place I have already discussed this is Day 1 of Parajunkee's Book Blogger New Year's Challenge. So I'll just repeat that here in case you missed it!

Nothing fancy here. I'd like to keep the reading pace that I've had for the past two years. Almost 56,000 pages and around 170 books. I don't think I can do much more than that, so I won't even go for that.

I also REALLY REALLY need to do something about my blog design. It's old, and simple, and I'm really bored with it. I have ideas about what I want, but haven't yet decided to give up the time (and money) and hassle to get it done. Maybe I'll just go for something simple that I can do myself again. I just need a change. I've never been about winning prizes or maximizing hits on my site, so that's why design is not my top priority. But it's time to DO something.

As always, and just like most people, I'd like to read and comment on more blogs every day. I'll keep working at getting better at this. Some days are better than others...

How about you? What are your Blogger Resolutions? Leave me a link!

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Book Blogger New Year's Challenge - Day 9

I don't get to attend a lot of cons or events. But, I attend the Illinois School Library Media Association Annual Conference every year. I've actually been on the planning committee for this event several times. It's an opportunity to network with people like me, learn some new things about being a school librarian, and get to see some authors. Mostly local, but this year we had Sharon Draper and Tim Green -- not too shabby.

How about you? What are your travelling goals for 2014? Make sure to visit the host of the challenge, Parajunkee, and see all the participating blogs.

Book Review: The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches, by Alan Bradley

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches is a bit different than the previous Flavia de Luce novels. This one is much more personal.

Flavia's mother, Harriet, has been found. Her body is being returned to Buckshaw for a proper burial. Many people come to pay their respects, including Winston Churchill, so it becomes apparent that there's more to Harriet's life, and death, than we realized.

Flavia, of course, would like to find out what really happened to her mother. Well, actually, that's not entirely accurate. She wants to bring her back from the dead. Flavia believes this is possible, and wholeheartedly puts her chemistry knowledge to the task.

Flavia is a different kind of detective in The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches. She isn't up against Inspector Hewett, even though there was a dead body on the tracks after Harriet's coffin arrived. Flavia is too preoccupied with her mother to worry about that accident (or murder?) She doesn't do any real sleuthing or even tick anyone off.

I'm not sure I would even call this book a mystery. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches serves to expose a lot about the de Luce's past -- all of them -- including Harriet, Aunt Felicity and a new relative, Lena. But there are still a lot of questions.

Is this book the beginning of a new chapter for Flavia? By the ending, it certainly seems so. Or perhaps it's the last Flavia book? I hope not. Bradley can write about this character forever, and I would read it.

As with all of the books in the Flavia de Luce Series, this one is appropriate for teens who are mystery fans, as well as adults. Although the order of the books hasn't been too important as of yet, I would not recommend reading The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches first. I think it would be too confusing because of the already established personalities and history in the previous books. Read them all. In order. The first book is The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. It's an entertaining ride.

Also, I wanted to mention that I've listened to a couple Flavia de Luce books on audio, and they were wonderful. So if you are interested in audio books, give these a try.

Published by Delacorte Press, January 14, 2014
eARC obtained from NetGalley
336 pages

Rating: 4/5