The Goblin Wood: Book Review

Summary

After her mother is murdered by her own village, Makenna runs away and only survives by making the unlikeliest of friends--goblins. She renounces her humanity and defends the goblins against people, but soon a plot to destroy them all forces her to accept the aid of a human knight and find a gateway into another world.

Overview (No Spoilers)

I actually owned this book for quite some time, but I didn't read it until recently because goblins aren't really my thing and the cover wasn't that prepossessing. It made me think the story was just some little girl wandering into the woods and meeting plucky goblin friends. But when I got an advanced reader's copy of the sequel, The Goblin Gate, at the library conference back in June, my sister read them both and loved them. Since we usually have similar taste I figured I'd finally give it a chance and I loved it too. The characters have so much mettle from the very first page that I immediately liked them all. Independent, determined, Makenna and her devious but faithful goblin companion, Cogswhallop. I also felt Tobin the knight's perspective of Makenna, the feared sorceress, added a depth to the story that we would not have otherwise had. It's a morally confusing but satisfying mix of rooting both for and against the main characters when they find themselves pitted against each other and having to decide what they truly believe is right.

Another thing I loved about the story was the moral ambiguity in general. The characters struggle throughout, never quite knowing if what they're doing is right, even at the very end. We see both sides are fighting to survive. Is one any more justified than the other? The question's never really answered in this book, but I still loved the characters enough not to care if they were always morally right. I liked the fact that they questioned themselves, but there's never any convenient or easy answer--just like in life.

The sequel, The Goblin Gate officially came out just this month, but since I already read that, I must now eagerly await the third book, The Goblin War, which does not yet even have a publication date. I guess that's the only downside to advanced readers copies, now I must wait even longer for the next one!

8/10 stars * * * * * * * *

Book Club (Spoilers)

In the beginning it was Makenna's vengeance on her former town that cemented how I related to her. I know if I had seen someone I loved murdered by villagers she had helped all her life, I too would have wanted to flood the town. I probably would have wanted to do worse, but what she did is clever and so human. We mostly acknowledge that our desires for vengeance are often wrong or won't really solve anything, but almost all of us feel it. I always prefer a flawed protagonist to one who always does the "right thing."

I was also surprised to find that I didn't mind so much that the attraction between Makenna and Tobin never fully blossomed into romance. Although, one can interpret Tobin's actions at the end to be largely based on how he feels about Makenna--they're still also based on the love he develops for the goblin people.

Al Capone Does My Shirts: Book Review

Summary

Moose Flanagan always does what he's told. He takes care of his sister, who has autism in the 1930s before science really understood this condition. He moves with his family, who must live on the famous prison island, Alcatraz, so his father can work as a guard there. He even gives up his beloved baseball when he has to take care of his sister instead. But Piper, the Warden's daughter, is a trouble-maker who can even get the obedient Moose in trouble. Even more shocking, is when the heretofore straight-and-narrow Moose finally finds something worth risking everything.

Overview (No Spoilers)

What I liked most about this book was that it wasn't depressing, in spite of the subject matter. It would be so easy to make a Depression era story taking place on Alcatraz with a boy who must care for his severely autistic sister a sob-fest. At the same time, it's also not unrealistically cheerful. It's the mark of good writer that Gennifer Choldenko managed to perfectly balance darkness with humor and light.

It's easy to relate to Moose's problems. Perhaps none of us live them to the extreme of Moose, but many people feel overshadowed at some point in their lives, like Moose does by the needs of his sister. Having to move to Alcatraz and away from everything he's ever known also taps into the lack of control that the majority of children (and even some adults) have over their lives, which makes this a fitting youth book--not surprising that it won the Newbery.

Yet, in spite of his relatibility, Moose is not a tabula rosa by any means. Instead, he feels like a friend walking you through his world, and I was glad that he shared it with me.

I was also pleased to find out this book has a sequel called Al Capone Shines My Shoes, and I look forward to reading it.

7/10 stars * * * * * * *

Book Club (Spoilers)

The amount that I liked Moose is on par with the amount I hated Piper. A spoiled, selfish, and insensitive little rich girl with no redeeming qualities who inexplicably is nice at the end but I still think she wanted something. I hope she and Moose don't end up together. I would like Moose's sensibleness to win over his growing hormones. He was only twelve in this book, so it wasn't played up much, but it was unmistakable that there was an attraction that baffles even Moose himself who simultaneously cannot stand Piper. So I suppose that you're supposed to hate Piper just like Moose does. But I think I hated her more. I am firmly on team Annie. I'd love to see Annie and Moose end up together. Unfortunately, I doubt that will actually happen in the sequel, if he ends up with either one, it'll probably be Piper, so I just hope Choldenko redeems her character somehow.

I was a little bored by the scene where Moose actually plays baseball, but since I liked his character so much, I was sad for him when he couldn't play. The pain and frustration of having something like that promised and ripped away is another thing I think many people can relate to.

I liked the end but it felt unresolved. What did happen with 105? Why was the warden at the dock to meet Piper? Seems strange that it would just be about grades. My theory was that Al Capone never got Moose's letter but the warden did and he managed to get Moose's sister in that school but let Moose believe it was Capone by leaving a note in his shirt. Maybe that's too crazy, but the idea that Capone could do anything from Alcatraz was the only unrealistic thing I found in the story. So I'm interested to see how the sequel resolves these issues.

Mistress of the Art of Death: Book Review

Summary

Dr. Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar does well enough as a female doctor in her native Salerno, but when the King of Sicily orders her to a wet and gray Cambridge, England, Adelia finds an entirely new world where she does not fit. In order to track a treacherous child-killer, Adelia most both blend in and set herself apart in a land where one misstep could get her burned as a witch. However, for the children of Cambridge, Adelia's success is a matter of life and death.



Overview (No spoilers)

Being a huge fan of the TV show Bones I was pleased to find many similarities between Adelia and the TV version of Dr. Temperance Brennan. Actually more similarities than there are between the book and TV versions of Brennan herself but I digress. The point is that Adelia is a sharp, intelligent, but in many ways, socially inept. She wears the mask of fearlessness and emotional distance but is often more human than those who scorn her.

I did also listen to this book on audio but the audio was neither bad nor spectacular, simply the type of well-done recording as to be unobtrusive to the experience of the book, but I have nothing specific to say about it.



Book Club (Spoilers)

Along with Adelia I thought the other characters really came to life. I was particularly fond of Simon of Naples and King Henry. Of course, this also meant I was rather distraught when Simon died but that was just how I knew how much I liked him. It wasn't even him alone as a character but the mix of characters that did so well. Franklin did a great job of creating a friendly chemistry among the three (Adelia, Simon, and Mansour) that the loss of one effected the balance and could not be replaced.

Henry's cunning character made me smile at the ending courtroom seen and I appreciated the suspense of not knowing what would happen to the nun, Victoria. However, I did guess that Sir Jocelyn was involved based on the fact that he was so nice, so he would be the one people would least suspect. However, if I had picked an accomplice for him, it would have been the Prioress, so I was wrong on that count.

Total Ranking: 8/10 stars * * * * * * * *

Bunnies!

So, today's storytime was bunny themed for the upcoming Easter holiday. I had the kids make rabbit eared hats which they enjoyed. But I only got to tell one story because the kids were far more interested in the hats. This is one of those instances where I wonder if I should shift the craft to the end of the storytime but for now I still prefer it as a method to gather a crowd.

This story was good though because it was simple but clever enough for the slightly older girl I had in the audience who was paying the most attention.

SHEEP!

Yesterday I gave a sheep themed storytime and had the kids make woolly sheep by pasting cotton balls onto paper sheep cut-outs. Good fun. Of the sheep stories I read, this was the best--a sheep that just keeps getting bigger because he doesn't stop eating. Excellent. Check him out in all his woolly glory.

Alice in Wonderland

I saw Alice in Wonderland in 3D and with all the 3D movies out recently, I feel this movie should come in two parts. One on the actual story and plot and the other on the 3D special effects and use thereof.

Story

Alice Kingsley has had the same nightmare since she was a child: a land full of strange creatures and people--a land called Wonderland. At the age of 19 Alice is far from Wonderland, about to be forced into a horrible marriage, when she falls down the rabbit hole once more. She finds a Wonderland plunged into war between the Red and White Queens--and Alice is the one prophesied to end the feud!

Story Review

When I described the story to my sister before we saw it, I said it was a sequel to Alice and Wonderland where Alice returns to fight in a war for the freedom of Wonderland with the Mad Hatter as a daring general.

My sister seems to think my description was better than the actual story but she felt the plot was still far better than Avatar's and I did as well. I've actually never read the original, but I think the basic story is part of everyone's general psyche if they grow up hearing about it. In that sense, I felt this movie was in keeping with the general tone of Alice in Wonderland--being sufficiently surreal and wide open to interpretation.

With just the story I give 6/10 stars. I would have liked a little more background and depth to the characters since so many of them were so bizarre. You can't just assume they're like normal people. I also would have liked a little romance for Alice, but I respected the ending they had for her.

3D Review

I wish things would pop out of the screen. I know they can do it. I've seen it before. But modern 3D movies seem to think that depth is more artsy or something. Either that or it's easier to do on a mass scale because the best 3D I've seen has been for IMAX specials--not Blockbusters. True, it's cheesy to write a story for 3D. But if there's a monster flying at the screen I want it to pop out! The Jabberwocky should have come flying right in my face. There was one scene where the smoke was coming off the Mad Hatter's hat and it was coming out of the screen but everything else but me in mind of seeing a play and the "stage" had a depth so it looks more like the actors are really standing down there. This wasn't always bad. I thought it was really well done when the Mad Hatter was standing in the burned out pit. But in the action scenes I just don't feel they use the 3D to its fullest.

There were even some parts in the beginnning that I wasn't sure were in 3D at all. But I would say the 3D gets a 7.5/10 stars overall.

Total Ranking

7/10 stars * * * * * * *

I know it probably doesn't make mathematical sense, but the combination of 3D and decent story made me feel that the movie overall was 7/10 stars. For me this means I'm not disappointed that I saw it but I wasn't blown away and it could have been better.

The Girl Who Played With Fire: Book Review

First off I thought it was really cool when I realized that the cover art was not fire but hair. Secondly, I listened to this on audio but I don't feel like I have enough to say about the audio to call this an audiobook review. I have a few audio critiques but the majority will be story focused. Honestly, I feel like most my audiobook reviews are like that so, in the future, I may just call them book reviews.

Summary:

So, The Girl Who Played With Fire, picks up where The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo left off. You find out that, after the events of the first book, Salander takes a year off to tour the world. She returns to find that a plot has been hatched against her that soon turns her into the country's most sought-after fugitive. When Salander's few friends fight tooth and nail to exonerate her, we discover the key factors of her past that made her the mystery she is.

Overview:

l loved this book even more than the first, which I loved quite a lot. This may have been because the underlying villains were in the sex trade which is a lot easier to understand than financial crime. Plus, I feel Larsson really hit his stride with the characters where I was really rooting for them even more than before and I was very worried when they were in danger. I began the book with the assumption only certain characters could die. I finished fearing everyone was fair game. They even had me get really into boxing in one scene, a sport I care nothing for normally. The only thing that had me concerned was the end. I won't reveal it here (that's for my Book Club section), but I will say, if that's the end to this book, I'm worried about the end of the last book. At the same time, I have to know what happens! I can't wait for the release of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest this May!

Audio

It was fine EXCEPT he gave Salander and Blomkvist these very distinct British accents which felt weird since they're Swedish. The narration was fine because it was a very standard midlands British accent which was fine. But the voices were weird. I don't know enough about British accents to point to a map and say where one is from, but I would bet someone who did could. I don't expect Swedish accents but no pronounced accent at all would have been the best route.

Film

There is also a Swedish film to this book. You can see the trailer below. The trailer made some scenes look a bit cheesier than I would have liked, but it's hard to tell without seeing the movie.



Book Club

Okay, this is where I talk about the book as if you've already read it, so if you don't want spoilers, don't read on.

First of all, Mia Johansson and Dag Svensson were really likable characters, so I was easily able to relate to the shock and heartache the other characters felt when they were murdered.

I also didn't think it was possible, but I love Blomkvist even more in this book. He's responsible, ethical, loyal, and true. These qualities easily outweigh his human foibles--such as his many and varied relationships with women. Part of the reason I'm never bothered by it is that Blomkvist continues to show all of these women nothing but respect and it is always believable why they're interested in him. Harriet, for instance, owes a lot to Blomkvist, and he's the only one who knows her secret. So it makes sense that she would feel close to him. Berger explains in even more detail that she just happens to be sexually attracted to Blomkvist. The few other women mentioned are interested in his rising fame. It doesn't feel like a male fantasy as these type of books often do. Not in the least because Blomkvist isn't jumping into bed with everyone who offers. Berger and Harriet are actually the only two in this book. He's not even tempted by the young star-struck intern which shows he has some measure of integrity and taste. I think it also helps that I generally like or at least respect the women he's with. There's also the fact that even after Salander has repudiated him, he remains a loyal friend. It's also a small detail, but the scene where he's panicking over the alarm after breaking into Salander's apartment and she can see him on video is hilarious!

I still find Salander difficult to relate to, but I understood her a lot better in this book than the first one. Probably because this book is actually about her. I also loved it when Paolo Roberto told Blomkvist he was a friend of Salander's and the "of course" moment. Priceless. The beauty of these characters is they are simultaneously realistic and larger than life. Salander is both troubled child and avenging angel. For this reason, and the fact that I knew there was a third book, I wasn't worried about her death through most the book. She seemed safely invincible. But at the end I began to seriously fear that she would die when she was shot in the head. I thought maybe the third book was a prequel or something because she was shot and buried! Part of me was thinking "No! She can't die! She's Lisbeth Salander!" The other part was thinking "@$#%! She's just been shot in the head and buried. She's dead. She's dead!!" Even if he brought her back as a zombie, it would be the death of a good book. But I was so excited when she bust out of that grave. Larsson made it just difficult enough where I could believe it just might be medically possible. Plus, I was willing to stretch the limits of possible just a little for Salander.

The ending allows for no denoument, though. Not really a cliffhanger, but I sincerely hope the third book doesn't end similar. I fear it's possible because this was supposed to be a ten book series but Larsson is dead. Literature is the poorer for that man's early loss. But I will definitely still read the third and last book of his oeuvre.