BBAW: Unexpected Treasure

We invite you to share with us a book or genre you tried due to the influence of another blogger.  What made you cave in to try something new and what was the experience like? 

Oh wow…a book?! Just one?! I think I might have to break the just one book just a little. I can’t write about just one book, as because of book bloggers, I’ve discovered a treasure trove of books. There was The Baby Catcher by Peggy Vincent that I discovered through Eva at A Striped Armchair. Then we had The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman which wasn’t a review but a twitter conversation with Nymeth and Eva. The more I go through my bad blogger list the more I realise that Eva is very responsible for the state of my TBR pile BAD Eva :D However if I had to pick one of my bad blogger books to highlight to you all I would have to pick Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers, for which Nymeth at Things Mean a Lot is responsible, with this review.

 

Why did I love this book so much?

Well mystery is one of my favourite genres but this mystery was a little bit different. Sayers manages to create a very creepy but real feeling. I actually felt like I was transported to Oxford in 1930.

I am really glad I took up the recommendation from Nymeth because it allowed to find not just a book that is vying for my favourite reads of 2010 but also introduced me to a new to me author. Although I had heard of Sayers before it was actually in connection with education and not mysteries and here I am, wanting to read all the Peter Wimsey series (plus the one Harriet Vane book I have left). This book also helped me look outside of my normal mystery series. So although this book was in one of my “normal” genres it was still a book I probably wouldn’t have picked up had it not been for bloggers.

What made me pick up this book?

Well first off, it is a mystery, which is one of my favourite genres. Secondly, Nymeth wrote such a glowing review of it, how could I not? Add to these two factors it features a strong, independent female character as its main character, which is something I really like. And it was set in Academia, a world in which I am supremely happy. This book and I were made for each other. We really were.

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

BBAW: New Treasure - Interview Swap

Welcome to day two of BBAW and the interview swap! I am very pleased to welcome Sophia of the Fiction Vixen Book Review  to my blog! Although she reviews in a genre that I don’t read a lot of books in I really enjoyed getting to know this new to me blogger.

 

First off, can you tell me and my readers a bit about yourself?

Hi Zee, thank you for having me at Notes From The North today.  My name is Sophia and I am an unapologetic romance novel lover.  I write the blog Fiction Vixen Book Reviews where I review romance and urban fantasy books.  I am married and mother of three girls. 

What made you start blogging about books?

I originally started my blog as a way to connect with other readers who share my love of books.  I didn’t have a clear idea of the direction I wanted to take my blog back in August of 2009 when I first started blogging but eventually I fell into a my groove and found my blogging voice. 

How did you find out about BBAW?

BBAW was in full swing just after I started my blog and became more active in book blogging community.  I didn’t participate last year since I was a fairly new blogger, but I decided that I wouldn’t miss out in 2010.  I’m very excited to have been short listed for Best Romance Blog this year. 

What other bloggers have you connected with? What made their blogs stand out to you?

Since my main reading interests are in the romance and urban fantasy genres I mostly visit blogs that focus in those areas.  My must read blogs are Smexy Books, Babbling About Books and More, Smokin’ Hot Books…actually the list is a little too long to share here.  I love these blogs and others because they are written by smart women with opinions.  They read the books they love and write thoughtful, constructive reviews.

If you didn’t blog about books what would you blog about ?

I’ve been a blogger for years about various topics, however my book blog is the only one I currently write.  In the past I have kept a family blog, blogging about family life and parenting.  I also had a blog dedicated to digital scrapbooking where I promoted my business and shared my digital art.  But these days if I wasn’t blogging about books I’m not sure if I’d be blogging at all.

In your post from December 2009 you admit how you fell in love with “your” genre you mention that your “gateway” books were Twilight and then Sookie Stackhouse. Are there any other books you think a relative “virgin” to the genre should read? (I’ve read Twilight and I’ve got the Sookie Stackhouse books waiting for me).

Well, my December 2009 post was mostly tongue-in-cheek where I was being a little silly.  Most of my readers are used to my sense of humor but I sometimes wonder how someone who just happened to stumble upon my blog might receive some of my posts.  I like to have fun and keep it light. 

Twilight and Sookie Stackhouse did lead the way for my love of paranormal romance.  If you’ve read those books and enjoyed them then you might enjoy the Immortals After Dark Series by Kresley Cole as well as the Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward.  Paranormal Romance was actually the gateway to my most favorite genre, romantic urban fantasy.  My favorite urban fantasy series include The Fever series by Karen Marie Moning, The Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost, and a few more you can see here.

Before you found your love for Paranormal Romance what type of books did you read or did they turn you into a reader?

I have been a reader most of my life.  I’ve dabbled in horror, mystery and suspense as well as some Christian fiction.  However I’ve always loved romance and that’s what I always come back to.

I noticed you read a lot of books on your Kindle, what made you switch from print to e-reader?

I haven’t totally switched over to e-books yet since most of the books I receive from publishers for review are print books.  But when I purchase books for myself I prefer e-books.  I don’t like clutter and overstuffed bookshelves and my e-book library stores nicely on my hard drive and e-reader.  I love the convenience of e-books as well.  I can easily take all my books with me on vacation or anywhere else and I can purchase new books within seconds.  I just recently purchased a Kindle 3 and I love it.  

Let’s play Desert Island Discs Books! If you could pick only 5 books to take with you to a Deserted Island (no you can’t bring your Kindle :D) which books would you take? And why?

Oh gosh, that is a hard one.  I think I would take the first five books in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.  That series is one of my most favorite and I could read it over and over again.  It’s a mix of fantasy, historical and paranormal romance and adventure.  It’s written beautifully and each book at least 650 pages or more.  Plenty of pages to keep me busy.

Thank you!

Thank you for having me here today Zee, it was fun. J

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

BBAW: First Treasure

We invite you to share with us about a great new book blog you’ve discovered since BBAW last year!  If you are new to BBAW or book blogging, share with us the very first book blog you discovered.  Tell us why this blog rocks your socks off and why you keep going back for more.

Allow me to introduce my “New to me” book blog!

A Little Bookish

A Little Bookish is run by Carin B and like me she reads quite an ecclectic mix of books! Just take a look at her sidebar to see what she has read in 2010. Her reviews are always thoughtful and I’ve added a tonne of books to my thanks to her! (should it really be thanks? sometimes I wonder ;))

But it isn’t just her ecclectic mix of books I like, she also runs (or co-runs) a bunch of fantastic features on her blog.

First there is Friday Coffee Chat where she asks book related questions and asks her readers to comment on it. One of my favourite topics was Are You a Book Abuser? (answer: yes)

The second feature is Book Around the World or Book Hobo where she has two different books travelling around the world to different bloggers. Carin generously provided two books to travel around the world: Lost on Planet China by J. Maarten Troost (my group) and Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim. When a blogger receives the book they read it 1-2 weeks and then writes a guest post for Carin about where they are from and about the package they received, you see each blogger sends some small local gifts to the next person on the list along with the book. It is such a fantastically fun idea. I can’t wait to see what I get and I’m trying to think of what to get myself.

In addition Carin is currently running 3 different competitions, so stop on over and enter!

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

TSS: BBAW, the Dewey 24-Hour Read-a-Thon and a Book Fair

School is picking up so I’m not getting as much fun reading in as I would like, and even though I am reading loads I won’t be reviewing my ethics textbooks here thankyouverymuch so reviewing might slow down (it might also speed up because I am making a concerted effort to READ in my free time :D) but I do have some exciting bookish events coming up that I wanted to share with you all!

So starting tomorrow is the start of BBAW (Book Blogger Appreciation Week) and I’m really excited and I’ve got some great posts lined up. Because of this I won’t have any regular review posts up during the week, I know everyone will be busy reading all the fantastic posts for BBAW and I will save any review posts for after the event. But do please check in as I will have some review posts (of sorts) and will be highlighting some great bloggers!

I’m also throwing my hat in for the Dewey 24-hour Read-a-Thon. I won’t be reading for the whole event due to family commitments but I will read as much as I can. I’ve missed the previous two events due to various life things so now I’m going to make some time for me! And READ!!

Finally I am hoping to have some great posts to share with you in late September-early October about my experiences at Bok & Bibliotek Göteborg Book Fair which is one of the highlights of the year for me. I’ve just about triple booked myself for every hour of the day and really have to start making some hard choices soon but it all looks like so much fun!!

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: The Graveyard Book [Audio]

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Narrated by Neil Gaiman

Category: Children’s Horror

Challenges: R.I.P. V Challenge

Synopsis: Nobody Owens aka Bod grows up in a graveyard where the inhabitants of the said graveyard keep him safe (for the most part) from the Man Jack who wants to kill him. Along the way Bod learns about the graveyard, how to do certain non-living things and above all how to be a good person. However, as he grows older the threat from the Man Jack looms ever nearer.

My Thoughts: I really really enjoyed this book. Although it was quite predictable it was also sweet and mysterious and…I don’t know had some sort of indefinable characteristic that had me gripped from the word go (or should that be from the word boo?)

Bod was a very likeable character who had just enough curiosity to keep the story flowing without making him seem overly precocious or annoying. He was very ordinary (if ordinary little boys lived in graveyards and could fade), he doesn’t always do what his parents and guardian tell him. He feels like the whole world is against him at time, and consequently falls in with a bad lot. I found the story to be simple but profound. Sometimes we have to do things that might seem horrible in order to save ourselves and others. And above all stay true to ourselves.

The writing style in the book is fantastic. I love how the different inhabitants of the graveyard are referred to by their name and epithet. It contributed to the overall feeling of different I got from this book

I loved the narration of the book. I have a particular fondness for authors who read their own books and Gaiman reads his work to perfection. He is soft spoken and this lends itself well both to comfort and to the slightly sinister tone that is present throughout the book. He also uses a particularly British inflection when reading the name and epithet of the different ghosts which lends a certain tone to the story.

I find this review very hard to write because I loved it but I can’t put my finger on what I loved about the book, I do however highly recommend it.

Purchase The Graveyard Book from BookDepository.co.uk

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: John Adams

John Adams by David McCullough

Category: Biography

Challenges: 2010 Challenge (TBR), Memorable Memoirs

My Thoughts: This book left me with two overarching thoughts: 1) Nothing has changed in politics in the past 150 years. 2) Those who use the term “this wasn’t what the Founding Fathers intended…” really need to study some history, ‘cause the Founding Fathers couldn’t and didn’t agree on almost anything.

I really enjoyed this biography. I enjoyed getting to know John Adams and Abigail Adams both through McCullough’s narrative and through the great use of primary sources, primarily letters written by the different people in the book. I enjoyed learning more about a period in history of which I (to my embarrassment) know very little. I enjoyed the vivid portraits painted by McCullough.

As I mentioned I enjoyed getting to know John and Abigail Adams and I felt that although McCullough is clearly a fan of Adams he still managed to give a fairly balanced view. Or at least he manages to point out the faults that Adams undoubtedly had. However, he is far more critical of Adams contemporaries than he is of Adams himself. As much as I enjoyed reading the book, I would like to, in the future, read a biography written by someone else, in order to get a more balanced view. I would also like to read biographies written about the rest of the “cast”. They all seem to be fascinating characters.

As someone whose favourite subject in school was history I was very pleased with the extensive use of primary sources used by McCullough. This was clearly helped by the fact that Adams was a prolific letter writer, in the closing pages of the book McCullough remarks that in a letter exchange between Adams and Jefferson, Adams wrote at least two letters for every one of Jefferson, often more than that. And Jefferson wasn’t Adams only correspondent. At various points in his life Adams corresponded with his wife, his children, his in-laws, his grandchildren and various friends, acquaintances and enemies. In addition to writing many letters Adams also kept diaries and notebooks, wrote pamphlets and reports, not to mention being on the committee charged with drafting the Declaration of Independence. McCullough therefore had a large amount of primary sources from which to learn about the man. In addition to all this written material Adams also argued with his books, in his books. Yep (and I hear some of you gasp out there) Adams WROTE in his books (you can guess how vindicated I feel here). Adams enjoyed arguing with his books in pen, at the source. 

As I said in my opening paragraph this book showed just how similar politics then are to politics now. Even in Adams time the different factions pursued campaigns of defamation of character centred around the different individuals political and/or religious affiliation (or lack thereof), their personal choices (who really cares who warms whose bed?) and other sundry political missteps. Part of me wanted to be really depressed at this intrigue and part was glad to know that at least we haven’t sunk from great heights (we are currently in the last two weeks of a general election campaign here, at let me tell you, politics on this side of the pond? just as muckslingingly disgusting).

Although the biography is about John Adams, it also heavily covers Thomas Jefferson as he had a large impact on Adams life, for good and for bad. And despite the fact that the hero of the book is most definitely Adams I felt some sympathy for Jefferson, even though he is portrayed as a bit of a clueless dandy at times. This sympathy is perhaps what really marks McCullough’s writing, all of the people are show at their best and their worst and this both heightens the hero status many of these people have, but at the same time makes them feel very approachable. And I must admit that I actually cried when first Abigail and later Adams and Jefferson passed away (partly I think it is because I was not at my best when reading those sections, but partly it was because these people, who died long before I was a twinkle in anyones eye, were real people to me now). I really wish I could have known these men and women, and I really hope that McCullough writes a biography about Abigail.  

At the end of the book there are extensive source notes as well as an extensive bibliography for the reader who wishes to continue their study of this time period and the people connected with it. In addition McCullough has also has several other books and audio series concerned with the same time period. I highly recommend 1776 as well (review from when I was a very baby blogger before this blog was really a book blog).

Overall I thought this was a very good biography. It gave me a good feel for both the man, John Adams, and the time in which he lived, as well as the historical events in which he was involved. In addition I felt like I learned something about humans and the human condition. I would recommend this book to others.

Purchase John Adams from BookDepository

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

TSS: Read in August

 

August has ended, school is back in session and the leaves have started changing colours. It is time to summarise the reading that got done in the last month of the summer despite working almost full time.

Image Credit

I read 6 books in August. I loved one and hated one. The others were all enjoyable in their own way.

Emma by Jane Austen Really didn’t enjoy this book. Enough said.

The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson I thought Johnson handled the confusion that is being a teenager very well. I also enjoyed the snarky commentary. I did find it hard to distinguish between the different voices in the book though.

My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger An amusing YA book about friends and growing up. I liked the writing style and different narrators.

Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers I really enjoyed the social commentary in this book, and the mystery had me guessing.

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers I really really really enjoyed this book. It was a fabulous mystery with a great social commentary and above all, complex characters whom I loved a great deal.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling. Narrated by Stephen Fry. This particular HP book is one of my favourites and when Stephen Fry reads it it is enough to make me a very happy camper.

I also wrote posts about building my library and that of my niece. Thank you to all those who have given me suggestions. I’m keeping a list, and I will be checking it twice :D I also wrote a post on Library Envy

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.