Review: Nantucket Blue

Sometimes I find myself completely surprised by a book, and its a feeling that I love. How often can we say these days that our expectations were not only met but far exceeded? That's exactly what I got from Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland. I wanted to take a look at it because I knew it would be of interest to some of the teens at my library, but I wasn't exactly excited to read it. 

And then I couldn't put it down. What a wonderful feeling, to be so intrigued by something that seemed like just another typical teen romance at the outset.

That's not to say that it's not a typical teen romance in many ways. Main character Cricket is the odd girl out at her school - a scholarship kid surrounded by the way-too-rich-for-their-own-good who is just starting to get noticed by the hot guy.

Things take a turn, though, when Cricket's best friend's mother dies suddenly, a woman she considered as close as her own mother. Things chill between the two friends unexpectedly, leaving their summer plans of hanging around together on Nantucket up in the air.

There's nothing terribly earth-shattering about this book (although teens who have dealt with a death in the family or in the community may find some comfort), but it all felt real enough that I wanted to keep reading. Cricket felt very understandable to me, and the level of plausibility was just high enough to not make me want to throw the book across the room.

I can't wait to start handing this out to some of my kids. I know it will be right up their alley.

Review: Under The Dome

I am a devout Stephen King fanatic (I'm pretty sure I scare people off when I start talking about The Dark Tower). Or rather, I should say that I am a formerly devout Stephen King fanatic. Like many other Constant Readers (hi, Mom!), I have a predilection for his earlier stuff, which are all (for the most part) whole stories. It's the newer stuff that starts out strong, with lots of atmosphere and a huge cast of well-defined characters, but always end up devolving into a mush, leaving you feel left down. My mother and I now call these "Stephen King" endings, no matter who writes them.

I think I first noticed this with Cell, which starts out stronger than a lot of SK's books (perhaps only for Bostonians like me, though - how could we forget that first scene on Boylston Street and Arlington Street). The ending, though, left multitudes to be desired. And routinely, just about all his books that I've read since (Duma Key excluded) have stumbled sadly toward mediocrity.

And yet somehow, I keep coming back for more. With Stephen King, the journey is what matters (see? I can work Dark Tower into anything). I've come to mind the bad endings less and less, just enjoying the ride. I don't excuse them, but if I assume they're coming, I'll be less disappointed in the long run.

Case in point: Under The Dome. I've been meaning to read this since it was released, but its size kept pushing it down my list. But when I heard that the book was being turned into a mini series for CBS this June, written by Y: The Last Man author Brian K. Vaughan, I knew I had to get it read ASAP.

I opted for the audio book, since I was still a bit daunted by the size, and I had so many other physical books on my to-read stack. Somehow, 30 discs seemed more manageable than the book itself. And I surprised myself at how quickly I flew through them! I give full credit to Raul Esparza, who did an excellent job managing different voices for a huge cast of characters. It felt like I was listening to a whole cast reading the book instead of one man.

The book itself is typical latter-day King, rushed bad ending and all. I actually yelled at my radio when it the actual bad guy was revealed. But the journey to the bad ending was highly enjoyable, filled with twists, turns, and plenty of gore. I may have hated the ending, but I'm waiting not-so-patiently for the show to air next month.

24-Hour Read-a-thon - Hour 22

This hour
Book read: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg (finished!)
Pages read: 60
Time spent reading: 38 minutes
Food and drink consumed: 

Total
Books read: In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, The Selection by Kiera Cass, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
Pages read: 814 (plus 1 1/2 disc)
Time spent reading: 9 hour 35 minutes

And I think, with that, I am done. I can barely keep my eyes open. Thank you, everyone, for a great readathon!!

24-Hour Read-a-thon - Hour 21

This hour
Book read: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
Pages read: 59
Time spent reading: 40 minutes
Food and drink consumed: butter waffle cookies from Trader Joe's

Total
Books read: In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, The Selection by Kiera Cass, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
Pages read: 754 (plus 1 1/2 disc)
Time spent reading: 8 hour 57 minutes

24-Hour Read-a-thon - Hour 20

This hour
Book read: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
Pages read: 42
Time spent reading: 30 minutes
Food and drink consumed: berry seltzer

Total
Books read: In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, The Selection by Kiera Cass, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
Pages read: 695 (plus 1 1/2 disc)
Time spent reading: 8 hour 17 minutes

24-Hour Read-a-thon - The Selection

So my major problem with the 24-hour read-a-thon is that sometimes you read a book that is SO GOOD, you don't want to muck it up by jumping right into another book. There's a quote from The Thirteenth Tale (which I don't even remember reading, but I must have, long ago, to have copied this quote down) that sums it up completely:

"All morning I struggled with the sensation of stray wisps of one world seeping through the cracks of another. Do you know the feeling when you start reading a new book before the membrane of the last one has had time to close behind you? You leave the previous book with ideas and themes -- characters even -- caught in the fibers of your clothes, and when you open the new book, they are still with you."

Having just completed The Selection by Kiera Cass, I am struggling with just those feelings. I don't have the second book in my hands right now, and even if I did, I fear that THAT much immersion in the world would leave me unsatisfied. But as of right now, I'm itching for more, and I can't possibly think what book I could settle on next.

I think all that needs to be said to sell this book is that it is a less violent Hunger Games mashed up with The Bachelor. I love the characters, especially narrator America (despite her name), and I'm having an even easier time making a decision on which boy she should pick than I did in Hunger Games (and I am firmly on Team Peeta). However, I also love that even America doesn't think it just is about which boy to choose. 

At least The Selection has gotten me worked up enough that I'm not really tired.

24-Hour Read-a-thon - Hour 19

This hour
Book read: The Selection by Kiera Cass (OH MY GOD THIS BOOK!)
Pages read: 79 
Time spent reading: 45 minutes
Food and drink consumed: 

Total
Books read: In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, The Selection by Kiera Cass
Pages read: 653 (plus 1 1/2 disc)
Time spent reading: 7 hour 47 minutes