In which I am blessed and overwhelmed...
Are you crazy?! You want me to write all those out?!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Celtic Names for Children (and characters!)
Celtic Names for Children
Author: Loreto Todd
Publisher: O’Brien Books
Pages: 191
Read Time: I spread it out between a few weeks
Rating (1-5): 5
Tag Words: Celtic Names, baby names, character names
My Summary:
Want to honor your Celtic heritage? Wish to name your characters using a Celt moniker? This book is a fabulous resource with over 2,000 first names from Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, Cornwall, Wales and the Isle of Man.
My Review:
Whether you are a name-nerd, Celt-Crazy, or an expectant Mommy, this is a wonderful guide for you!
This may surprise some of you, but some baby name books do not know what they are talking about. I’ve read a couple where the author has used the wrong origin, uses a Kre8tive spelling as the primary, or has listed an incorrect name meaning. You can only catch these things if you study *cough*obsess over*cough, cough* names the way I do and have a file in your brain for who, where, when and how when it comes to names.
Todd knows of what she speaks and has assembled a perfect combination of accessible, exotic, traditional and ancient Celtic names in her database book.
I read this book for help on naming my own characters, but may have named some future children inadvertendly. Although, Gwendolyn, a welsh name meaning Gwen+ (blessed, white, pure) dolyn (ring, circle), or The blessed ring, the white ring, the pure circle, was already my very, very, very favorite and has been for years and years. I love it!
Notes on the Names:
I think I shall just list names I think are cool from the text:
Blodwen, Liadin, Mabh, Radha (prn row-a), Kerenza, Nonie, Saoirse (prn. Sheer-shah) Althea and Aela for girls.
Alastair, Austell, Cahir, Cian, Egan, Madoc, Milo, Riordan (prn. Ror-din) Torin, Owen and Nessan for boys.
Thoughts on the Cover: I wish baby books had awesome covers.
Think this is cool? Check out Name Nerds!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Waiting For You, or not so much
Derek is clearly the love Marisa’s been waiting for, but there’s just one problem: he has a girlfriend. Nash is clearly wrong for Marisa, but he’s crushing on her. And, as if life wasn’t complicated enough, Marisa’s also contending with a best friend who won’t stop falling for older guys, a family that’s acting totally bizarre, and a secret crush on a guy whose identity is a mystery – even to her.
Sophomore year is going to be intense.
My review:
Let’s start off with why I wanted to read this, well one, I loved the title, and two because I kept hearing whispers “like Dessen” “if you love Sarah’s books, you should read one of Susane’s” and this was the first one I could get my hands on.
No, nothing like Dessen, sorry.
This just proves that we can’t substitute our sugar for Splenda and not think we are going to end up with a big head ache and an unquenched thirst for the thing we truly desire.
The characters are nice, Derek isn’t even a huge jerk, he’s just not right for Marissa and that makes him the wrong guy and so pretty soon you are tired of reading about the wrong guy.
I wanted more Nash! I loved Nash, he was great!
Marissa was cool, but the anxiety disorder bit seemed forced, like, why is this part of the plot? By the way, no giant squids of anger in the comment section about how I am dissing people with anxiety disorders, or books that include protagonists dealing with panic attacks, I love The Nature of Jade and understand the disorder. Capeesh?
The best friend, I loved everything except for who she ended up meeting, it seemed like a limp-noodle sum-up, because I don’t feel like she learned anything, she just ended up embarrassed with a little public egg on her face.
So the characters, for the most part, I liked, the plot was awful. The whole point of “Waiting For You” was diminished.
My three epic problems with this book are as follows-
1) No one can be Sarah Dessen, why is everyone saying that this is remotely close?
2) The book was a clean spin-off of Pump Up The Volume, an 80’s Christian Slater flick I love and will leave the trailer to below
3) The title of the book is “Waiting For You” and yet all the characters just try and date whom ever they think they can get their hands on. Even Nash, who clearly has only had eyes for Marissa since before the book takes place, asks another girl to be his girlfriend, kindergarten style, in case you were wondering! Sheesh, teens.
Notes on the names: They served their purpose, but even Marissa herself brought up that Marissa means sea of bitterness, so I really wonder why Colasanti even chose it.
Thoughts on the cover: I really, really love this cover, truly, deeply and madly, Nash looks like my ideal guy, a little bigger, of course, but the red hair and glasses sold me, so I was bitterly disappointed in reading, knowing this book would not end up on my Mod Podge Bookshelf.
I will try a Colasanti again, because I’ve seen that many people give higher ratings to her other books, and lower ratings to this one in particular. What do you suggest, or all they all this odd? Leave your comments below to fill me in!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Abandon (ARC)
Abandon
Author: Meg Cabot
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pages: 320
Read Time: One Day
Rating (1-5): 3
Tag Words: Greek Myths, Persephone and Hades, Death, The Underworld, Florida Keyes, Supernatural Romance
My Summary:
Pierce knows what it’s like to die, she’s seen the Underworld with her own eyes. Desperate to return home she turns her back on the one boy she has ever felt anything for. Little does she know that she was safer in Hell than on Earth.
My Review:
I was so excited for this book; when it came in the mail I threw everything else down and read it cover to cover. Having finished I feel a little let down. The idea is still awesome and I'm hoping that this first book, which laid the groundwork- which was shaky at best- for the series will be my least favorite of the coming Abandon books.
My main problems were:
Lack of present action, what I mean by that is the book exists mainly in back flashes, too many and too long to really build anticipation. The present day is 24 hours long, not giving Pierce enough time to do anything to press the story forward. Due to the lack of present action there was a...
...Lack of romance, because of the set-up for the novel John and Pierce had very little time together when he wasn't trying to kill someone. I never felt like Pierce had any real feelings for him. I also felt Pierce was a bit of a wishy-washy character. On the one hand she is described as this innocent bird, caring about people, speaking softly and on the other she is sentenced to D-wing in her school for rage issues. What rage issues?
There was no rising action, climax, falling action; in fact when we got to the "great reveal" I found it to be so unbelievable, very contrived and not at at all what I expected. I’m not about to spoil things for you... John is a Death Deity... which you would know if you read the back of the book. That was also suppose to be one of the great ‘Ta-Da!’ moments of Abandon, but when it came about (nearly to the end of things) I literally said out-loud, “Ya think?!”
Also, for those of you who read it, Coffin Night, what happened with that besides nothing. There were too many instances like this, leaving extraneous questions hanging wide open without tying them to the plot firmly enough to hold the readers intrigue.
I am a HUGE Cabot fan, but she is going to have to work double time to get me to fall in love with this series in book two, Underworld.
Notes on the Names:
Pierce is a really good play on Persephone. For those of you who aren’t obsessed with the names from Greek myths like certain Name-Nerds who write this blog let me prn. it for you. Purh-seff-ah-nee. I can’t think of anything better for the character, though I’m not a fan of gender-bender names. The two popular kids bore two of my favorite names, Farrah and Seth, and John means, “God is Gracious.” Which is ironic for the character.
Thoughts on the Cover:
Gah, I love this cover. It gets better when it’s right in front of you.
Parental Book Review *spoilers*
Sexual Content:
Mild.
Kissing without much detail.
Affair between an off-screen student and her teacher.
Pierce notices the bed in John’s room.
One sexual innuendo.
Language:
Mild.
D- 2
H- 1
A- 2
Jesus- 1
Violence:
Moderate
Student who has affair with teacher takes pills and commits suicide.
Pierce dies by hitting her head on the side of the pool and drowning.
A teacher is bludgeoned to death in the cemetery. This happens off-camera.
John arrives in time to save Pierce from her teachers advances and a jewelers fury. John causes the jeweler to have a heart-attack and the teachers arm-bones are smashed to pieces.
Whispers about students being D-wing as a very mild form of bullying.
Other Notables:
Uncle Chris was behind bars for 15 years; something to do with possession, or distribution of drugs.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Daily Dose (19) Paris
As much as I love a good YA read, or a fabulous name, this blog represents my love for photography. That is why I love Holly over at Good Golly Miss Holly, well, there are many reasons and I rec her blog to the moon and back, but her new meme is wonderful and I am glad to participate.
I think this is the best way to “get to know me.”
The best way to know someone is to know what they find beauty in. You’ll see snow, fireworks, foxes and polar bears. Books, of course, kisses and true love captured on film. I may be too pretentious for my own good, but there will be a deep and moving quote or two. Come with me to Paris, Capri and New York City. Who knows when I will be the one behind the camera, but I assure you, it’s one of the best places to find me.
How MPB’s DD works: I will never post pictures best classified as “porn.” I will not post quotes with filthy language and I am not going to be making political statements. However, you may see skin, just not anatomy, sarcasm is widely acceptable and God will be mentioned in a Holy light. I hope that none of that makes you uncomfortable. The first picture shown every week will be the theme. I hope the story is easy to understand and fun to look at.
All pictures are from the most amazing (addictive) site called We <3 It.
Paris…need I say more?
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Forgive My Fins
Forgive My Fins
Author: Tera Lynn Childs
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books (An Imprint of HarperCollins)
Pages: 293
Read Time: Two Days
Rating (1-5): 4
Tag Words: Mermaids, soul mates, Princess, rivals, popular boys, first kisses, picking the right guy
My Summary:
Lily is part Mermaid Princess with a huge crush.
Brody is the boy of her dreams, she can feel it without a shadow of a doubt. He is everything she could possibly want, a swimmer, popular (great for when they rule the Seven Seas together!) and handsome.
When Quince, her annoying gnat of a neighbor kisses her, sealing their bond of Mer-marriage, Lily’s tale is set spinning and she wants to make it right. The closer she gets to Quince the more “right” begins to look wrong.
My Review:
I wasn’t planning to read this book until I won it as part of Best I’ve Read 2010. Why? I really have no clue. Forgive My Fins combines my very favorite things, we have mermaids, true love and an utterly original heroine. What isn’t there to love about all of that? I am so glad I won because this book was an Ocean Full of Fun!
I enjoy a good, fun book from time to time and when you throw romance in I am all ears! Reading FMF was a blast and I love Quince, like, a lot. A lot.
The book is a bit predictable, and yes, you will tire of Lily not FirguringItTheHeckOutAlready!!!! very soon, but the journey is worth it.
I think the best aspect of this book was what a realistic crush Quince had on Lily. He acted like a little boy with a crush that quickly deepened and strongly developed when she began to return his affections. I loved that Quince wasn’t all I-Can’t-Breath-Without-You (even though he is the only character in one of these paranormal tails *ha, tails* that literally cannot breath without a mermaids help). It was a breath of fresh air to watch him deal with his human emotions and human love for Lily. Bravo, TLC!
I am not sure where TLC (Read: Tera Lynn Childs) is going with that epilogue, but you know I will be tuning in to find out! Fins are Forever comes out very soon!
Notes on the Names:
Her name is Waterlily!!!!! I LOVE it! Perfection right their, folks. It’s whimsy, Sea-inspired without being predictable, it has accessibility through the nickname. It is perfect. Brody, Quince, Capheira, Prithi and Dosinia are other notable, unique choices.
Thoughts on the Cover:
It is very pretty and whimsy, again. I like the make-up very much.
Parental Book Review *spoilers*
Sexual Content:
Mild.
Kissing without much detail.
Language:
Mild.
D- 4
H- 8
B- 1
OMG- 6
Violence:
The mother died from a car-accident involving a drunk driver.
Other Notables:
None.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Guest Post with Angie Smibert
I like naming things. In fact, I might even over-think my naming schemes. (For instance, all my critters of the last twenty years have character or author names with a Southern or Celtic bent.) When it comes to characters, I pour over baby name books, play around with online name generators, and even hit up the Social Security Administration database.
Here’s how I can up with several of the character’s names in Memento Nora.
Nora James:
Before I started writing, I knew I wanted the title to be a play on the phrase Memento Mori. Latin for “Remember you must die,” Memento Mori is a type of art work designed to remind you of your mortality. So, the main character’s name needed to be in the title. Memento Jane? Not so much. Memento Nora? Yes. Roughly translated it means “Remember Nora,” or it could mean “Remember, Nora,” both of which are appropriate for the story.
Since Nora is a happy consumer and popular girl, I wanted a nice simple white-bread, upper crusty kind of last name. Hence, Nora James. (I couldn’t really call her Nora Jones.)
Micah Wallenberg:
Micah’s character is loosely inspired by someone I know, whose name is Mike. Micah is an updated (or depending how you look at it, old-fashioned) version. If you look at SSA database of popular baby names, US boy and girl names are trending to more old school, even Biblical names. In 2009, popular boy names are Jacob, Joshua, and Noah. Micah just might work its way up there in a few more decades.
As for his surname, now we get a little serious. Wallenberg is the last name of a Swedish diplomat—Raoul Wallenberg—who helped many Jews escape Hungary during World War II. Wallenberg is thought to have died in Soviet detention after 1947. He’s remembered for his courage and non-violent opposition to tyranny.
Winter Nomura:
She’s of Japanese heritage but very American in character. I wanted her to have a striking and different first name to go with her family one. Since she has a dark and brooding personality, Winter seemed like a good fit. (Truthfully, I may have had Victoria Winters from Dark Shadows on my brain.) Winter’s mother, by the way, is called Spring.
Winter’s father’s family runs one of the biggest electronics companies in the world. However, despite being from this powerful family, Winter (and her grandfather) are essentially on their own. Nomura means “no village” (I think) in Japanese.
Koji Yamada:
Winter’s grandfather has built an obstacle course from an old Japanese competition show called Sasuke in his backyard. (Sasuke is called Ninja Warrior in the US.) I chose his name from actual Sasuke contestants. The show is named for a famous ninja in Japanese folklore. Winter calls her grandfather Sasuke-san without knowing how right she is about that nickname.
Bridget:
She’s the black dog that guards Black Dog Village. Bridget (Brigid) is the Celtic goddess of the hearth and poetry, an apt guardian for a homeless village where the chief baker likes to quote poetry.
True confession. Bridget is actually named after my dog. And my Bridget is named for Helen Fielding’s main character in Bridget Jones Diary. See? Literary character with a Celtic bent.
See readers? I'm not the only one who obsesses! <3 G.C.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Memento Nora (ARC)
Memento Nora
Author: Angie Smibert
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Pages: 192
Read Time: 1 day
Rating (1-5): 4
Tag Words: dystopian, memory, shopping, debut author 2011, Class of 2K11, falling in love, artists, comic strips, live action sculptures
My Summary:
It’s Nora’s first trip to TFC, the Therapeutic Forgetting Clinic and she is perfectly ready to swallow the simple pill until a boy spits his own pill into the garbage on his way out.
Together she, the boy, Micah, and his friend Winter, begin a comic called Memento, so they can show the world what they were suppose to forget in the first place.
The longer Nora chooses to remember the more she sees, the more she sees the more she wishes she could forget...
My Review:
This is a great story, an interesting concept, but too short of a time line! Less than 200 pages was just not enough in my opinion to tackle the web of lies and truth each character was spinning. Thank goodness there will a sequel, the romance needs to be bigger, bolder and the comics need to be in color! (Alright, I’m just being silly...)
The thing that stood out to me most was how each character had their own voice that completely came across as authentic. I didn’t even have to read the chapter header to know who was speaking. Not many authors can pull that off, but I think Smibert made a raging success of the multiple POV storyline.
This book is classified as a dystopian, but I don’t think it follows the normal pattern, which in the book works, but I still want to note that the conflict is not nation-wide, rather it is confined to the plot, and the immediate characters, so the society didn’t seem as menacing, or a character in it’s own right (as dystopia is regularly known for). Instead certain characters just played the villain. Like I said, in Memento Nora this structure worked to Smibert’s advantage with her less-than-200 page allowance.
The last thing I want to say is going to sound so nit-picky that I hate to bring it up, but I feel I must. Any good fan of dystopian has read the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. One of the defining elements Westerfeld included in his society was the language- bubbly, icy, pretty-making- and the like. Smibert attempted to do the same in Memento Nora, using the word glossy. I am a non-compare blog, because if you use similar elements and it works, I applaud, rather than criticize the author, however I feel that if you are going to attempt the new-language phenom Westerfeld has basically trademarked you have to give your all into pulling it off and commit your story to the entire concept and use it to build a plot structure and a 'glossy' setting. That is my opinion, and if you share it, awesome, if you don’t, still awesome.
I would read this one if I were you, it’s really cool and I loved the manga-inspired quasi-Japanese take over America has gone under in Memento. The thing that really would have pushed the point is if the novel were illustrated with the comics! That would have been so cool...
Notes on the Names:
Nothing dystopian about the names, which always disappoints me simply because I think it should be the authors first priority to give the audience characters who are marked by their times. However, Smibert did use some awesome monikers, even if they are not futuristic.
My favorites? Nora, Micah Jonas, Winter, Aurora Adams and Rebecca Starr!
Thoughts on the Cover: I wasn’t too sure about the cover when I just saw it online, and seeing it in front of me I like it a lot, but I wish that the comic theme had been captured in some way. Don’t you think that would have been cool?
Parental Book Review *spoilers*
Sexual Content:
Mild
Nora is invited to a party because she is no longer a virgin.
(This tidbit seems odd to me as this element is abandoned on the spot, nothing becomes of the party, her virginity, or lack-there-of.)
Micah and Nora share three *very* chaste kisses.
Language:
Moderate
S- 16
D- 9
H- 4
A- 3
Jesus- 1
Violence:
Mild- the reason for this rating is that though the following take place none are described, we only see, or hear about, the after-affects.
Nora’s mother is beaten by Nora’s father and that is why she is a “Frequent Forgetter”
Micah is beat up by a bunch of kids
Micah is hit by a car and breaks his arm.
A black car plants a bomb in a car where a young boy is living. Micah saves the boy, but the car explodes after they leave the scene.
Other Notables:
Jet, the head tattoo-technician at Winter’s grandfather’s shop, is a lesbian, her girlfriend is a news anchor and Winter wishes Jet liked her instead.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Easter Hop in which I channel Steph Perkins
So I am going to kill two birds with one stone and update you on something awesome about The Mod Podge Bookshelf as well as entice you with stuff.
There is a nifty new tab up there under my gorgeous header. Oh, you've been eyeing each other, have you? Well go click it. No, wait! Not yet, you can't click it yet, I still have some 'splaining to do.
That is The Trading Post. I'm going to keep up the list of books for trade there and you can e-mail me anytime if you think we can swap including right-this-very-minute if you are so inclined.
It's also really convenient for Hops.
What can I win? Pick a book, any book from this list.
The Catch? You MUST be a GFC follower here, and leave me a comment saying what book you want. Also, add your e-mail address to that comment so I can track you down.
Extra Entries? Well you can follow me on Twitter, if you like. I'll give you an extra entry for that. Add +1 and your Twitter name to the comments.
Can We Trade? Now would be a brill time for you to click that tab. Just to make it easier, I'll make a (third) link... right... here. Click that.
What about the last hop? Sadly, my link never made it onto the linky list by some act of oddness, and very few people got to hear about that contest, so I am giving the three people who did enter an extra entry this time around.
Anything else I should know? You're Beau/Belle depending on your gender, you smell real, real good and you must read Anna and the French Kiss. Go! Voulez-Vous!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
The Nature of Jade
Jade Deluna is sick, she’s been having panic and anxiety attacks since she was a young girl. She’s always felt on the fringe, missing out, different, but not really caring that 'typical' is at her fingertips. Why would she, when her mother takes her place as high school sweetheart?
She finds solace, and a place she belongs, working with the elephants at her local zoo; she finds a home in the arms of Sebastian, a boy running from a sad past, holding onto the one thing he loves, his son, Bo, in the present.
When life catches up to them, where will Jade find relief from her own fears and insecurities?
My review:
Another Deb Caletti and I loved it. I began reading it a year ago, but turned it back into the library because I was moving. Then, I got a copy, it remained on the shelf for a while and then I FINALLY read it, oh finally and it was lovely.
I loved Sebastian and Bo, I loved Sebastian and Jade, I wanted a bit more Jade and Bo, a bit more like she was becoming his mom. But it didn’t take away from the cool story and the wonderful conclusion.
Some people might not love the conclusion, but I did, as it laid to rest the tension between Jade and her mother, who was one of my favorite characters.
The elephants were so sweet, I want to say sweet about the whole book, because it was, it was sweet, though it deals with being a teenage parent, true love, anxiety attacks and other dramatic issues, the book wasn’t bogged down by problems, secrets and muddied, over dramatic dialogue. This was a huge relief, a break from trying to deeply feel for every contemporary novel I read. It was nice just to fall in love, and find a place to fit, letting the fearful things go softly. That was really, really nice. And sweet!
Honey, Baby, Sweetheart is still my favorite Caletti thus-far, but this is a close second.
Notes on the names: Jade DeLuna, as Sebastian says, “{Gosh}, that’s pretty!” Sebastian really fit him, as did Bo and I loved them all together. Tess and Damian also fit perfectly! The elephants names are some of the best- Chai, Jumo, Onyx, Hansa, Bamboo, Tombi and Flora, oh, I hope I get to name as many children as she got to name elephants so effortlessly! All the names fit together, but they each define a new creature, you can see their personality in their name, just like you could a human, this element was so important, because the humanity of the elephants presented itself symbolically in the novel.
Thoughts on the cover: I love the old cover, it’s the one I own, and I really don’t like the new one at all. It seems really juvenile, and I felt Sebastian and Jade were more soul mates, than just a kiss with a crush. If they are going to change the cover, I think they should include Bo, like a family portrait, or something with elephants, something to make it unique, like the first cover was. Also, Sebastian is first called “the boy in the red jacket” so I thought it was weird to put red on Jade instead. I didn’t like that. The green color scape works best anyway, IMO.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Daily Dose (18) Mod Podge Deux
Daily Dose!
As much as I love a good YA read, or a fabulous name, this blog represents my love for photography. That is why I love Holly over at Good Golly Miss Holly, well, there are many reasons and I rec her blog to the moon and back, but her new meme is wonderful and I am glad to participate.
I think this is the best way to “get to know me.”
The best way to know someone is to know what they find beauty in. You’ll see snow, fireworks, foxes and polar bears. Books, of course, kisses and true love captured on film. I may be too pretentious for my own good, but there will be a deep and moving quote or two. Come with me to Paris, Capri and New York City. Who knows when I will be the one behind the camera, but I assure you, it’s one of the best places to find me.
How MPB’s DD works: I will never post pictures best classified as “porn.” I will not post quotes with filthy language and I am not going to be making political statements. However, you may see skin, just not anatomy, sarcasm is widely acceptable and God will be mentioned in a Holy light. I hope that none of that makes you uncomfortable. The first picture shown every week will be the theme. I hope the story is easy to understand and fun to look at.
All pictures are from the most amazing (addictive) site called We <3 It.
Since this is the Mod Podge Bookshelf I decided to put together a Daily Dose that really represents!
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