Review: Laura Ingalls Wilder Country by William Anderson

Laura Ingalls Wilder Country
by William Anderson
Photobook / Non-fiction
 pages
published: 1990
5 of 5 stars

After going through the Little House on the Prairie series. I found I had a few questions and a lot of interest in what the real people looked like. After doing some research I discovered a few additional books and a whole bunch of scrapbooks, or photobooks, that have been published about Laura. I picked one out and put in a amazon order. (Yes, I probably could have searched out all those pictures, but I'm not that good at it, not that patient, and am very old fashioned about my desires to hold the pictures and look at them without worrying about resolution.)

I loved this book. It is big and beautiful and contains lots of information along with the pictures. I shows what the landscape looked like, what the houses looked like, what the people looked like. I read it cover to cover in one day. It also had such useful things as maps, time lines, and indexes.

Recommended For: every Laura fan - come over and borrow mine

Review: Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

Twisted
by Laurie Halse Anderson
YA
256 pages
published: 2007
4 of 5 stars



I got this book from the library because one, I have loved everything I've read by Laurie Halse Anderson, and two, I thought it was a different book that I wanted to use for my dangerous challenge. It wasn't that book. But I'm glad I got it because I really loved it.

Warning. This is not a book for "kids" and I was glad there was such a warning in the beginning of the book. This book goes over some very mature themes, like sex, drinking, and suicide. Why would I like that stuff...well...it was really good.

It's about this poor kid who pulls a stupid prank out of desperation and is sentenced to community service, meaning hard physical labor. This changes his physique and gives him a reputation that changes his situation in the cesspool of High School social life. While dealing with this, the girl, and his dysfunctional family, he also finds himself accused of a crime he didn't commit. The hell his life turns into leads him to contemplate some serious issues and figure out if life is worth living, and if it is, how to go about living it.

I would never have guessed that the book was written by a woman because the voice of this teenage boy felt so right. So right, in fact, that I mentally flinched occasionally at thoughts that I definitely did not relate to. But I felt such compassion for this kid! He was a good kid. A confused kid. A kid that wanted, needed, to grow up but didn't know how to do it - had no example to follow.

I really did love this book and couldn't put it down. And it ended where it should...looking up but without everything fixed.

Recommended For: older YA, High School kids, their parents

Review: Little House in the Big Woods and Sequels by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little House in the Big Woods
Little House on the Prairie
Farmer Boy
On the Banks of Plum Creek
By the Shores of Silver Lake
The Long Winter
Little Town on the Prairie
These Happy Golden Years
The First Four Years
by Laura Ingalls Wilder

YA, Autobiography / Historical Fiction
published: 1932 - 1971
6 of 5 stars


I loved these book as a child and they left indelible images in my head. Images of the prairie from the back of a covered wagon; Christmas with only a tin cup, stick of candy, penny, and tiny cake with white sugar; grasshoppers falling from the sky and covering the house; a never-ending winter with hay twisting, wheat grinding, brown bread, and potatoes. These books where the first to pop into my head when I joined the Childhood Favorites Challenge.

Some observations this time around:

• The first book, while still wonderful, didn't have as much story to it as the rest. It was more instructional in nature. It seems Mrs. Wilder hit her stride in the second installment.
• As a child, Ma and Pa where old, of course, and a mite stringent in their work ethic. But as an adult reader I realized how young they were, how dedicated, and even how fun-loving the father was.
• These book would not have been popular or interesting if the narrator had not been Laura. Imagine the story if Mary had been writing it! Yuck. Laura was lovable and interesting because she wasn't the perfect little girl she often wished to be. I loved her because she let her bonnet hand by the strings, was ever so slightly disobedient, loved to run and help her father, loved the wildness of the country and had a sixth sense about it the way her father did. Spirited Laura was the heart of the Little House books.
• While all those things I remembered where still as fascinating and memorable to me, other things stood as just as plainly. Things like Laura teaching school when she was only 15, how close the family came to being murdered by Indians, the love and faith of Ma who followed her restless husband into the middle of nowhere (several times!) to start completely over, the work and preparation necessary to store enough food for winter, and how grateful they were for so little.
• I remember being horrified that Laura married such a old man, 10 years older, when she was only 18. Ironically, I did the exact same thing.
• I remember reading Farmer Boy during free time in my grade school class that was right before lunch. It seemed to me that the book was all about huge quantities of delicious food. It was torture for a hungry kid. The impression held true this time around as well.
• When I thought of the end of the series, it was my memory that there was almost no romance, or even interaction, between Laura and Almanzo. When I began reading them again, I found myself saddened by the idea that I would have no idea about their relationship when I finished. I was wrong! There is quite a bit of interaction and subtle romance. I guess I ust didn't register any of it as a kid, and then mourned the loss only when thinking back on it as an adult.
• The tragedies in the First Four Years hit me much harder this time. I didn't remember diphtheria and near paralyzation, nor failed crops year after years that meant strangling debt. I certainly didn't remember the baby boy that died. That was the most difficult of all the books for me.
• If I had to pick favorites, it would be Little House on the Praire and The Long Winter. Both take you completely out of this world and into situations that we in our sheltered, comfortable lives can't begin to imagine.

I still love these books. I would recommend them to everyone. In fact, I gave the first one to my 9 year old daughter to read. Stay tuned for her review!

25 Things

I've lost track of how many tags I got for this one on facebook. But facebook and I don't work that closely together, so I'm doing this here.

1. I grew up swimming in lakes and wading in the ocean, so unlike most people here, I find the chlorine in pools disgusting, the crowds disturbing, and the scenery seriously lacking.
2. I get my nose wet when I eat whole apples. Love apples. Gala and Fuji.
3. I'm as naturally bad as any kid or man at putting things away. I will actually not see the mess until I look for it.
4. I have never been east of Colorado or north of Oregon. (Not counting Yellowstone.) But I love to travel and hope to actually do some of it some day.
5. I knew I wanted to be a writer in 4th grade and have never wavered. At this point I have had 2 poems published (or to-be published) in the national market. Otherwise, it is mostly on hold while my children shred my last brain cells.
6. I have been going to BYU for nearly 12 years. No, I'm still not graduated.
7. My favorite classes have been Creative Writing Picture Books, Adolescent Literature, and Folklore.
8. I learned to crochet during the 4 months I was on bedrest with Xander. Now I can do dresses and probably anything else.
9. I love to decorate and make things beautiful, but the most important design element for me is functionality. You won't find "pretties" just lying around on the floor or couches with 5 million pillows to be arranged.
10. I can't eat chicken. Intolerance thing.
11. I love collecting books. One my biggest space problems is all those books. I dream of some day having a LIBRARY with a couch.
12. I was diabetic during one pregnancy (also Xander) and can count carbs, prick my finger without flinching, and will argue with you about rather corn is a vegetable. (And I'd be right!)
13. I knew I was a mom when I found myself catching vomit rather than letting it get to the couch or the carpet.
14. I used to carry a fully packed diaper bad ready for any contingency into every store or house I entered. Now my kids are lucky if I find a crumpled diaper on the floor of the car. Live Dangerously!
15. I love playing frisbee and baseball.
16. I don't like dogs. Especially small dogs, which I've called Punt Dogs for more years than I can count.
17. I hate the color red.
18. I was a huge tomboy as a kid. No hair combing. No dresses. Dig up dead cats and squish road kill. Fill your pockets with frogs kind of tomboy.
19. I desperately want to write YA/MG novels but am too afraid to start one.
20. I had a "fascinating" older brother and spent much time as a child on military hikes (ask me sometime), learning how to behave according to which body part was shoot, jumping off cliffs, and trying to tackle a much larger person only to be thrown across the room.
21. I love fantasy novels, but could do very well with science fiction. And you can keep your Star Trek.
22. I dislike the cutesy names forsed on small people and have adapted most to have butt, monster, bug, snot or the like in them. Cutie Butt, Cranky Butt, etc...
23. I love music. I love to sing, but not where you can hear me. I love to play the piano, but if anyone asks, I will deny it.
24. I have the best husband in the world.
25. Speaking of tomboy...I loved to collect ladybugs at reces and once filled all my pockets and lunch box with them and took them back to class. Another student opened said lunchbox. *Giggle* I wish my memory didn't short out there. Though my mom remembers being called in to meet with the teachers while they incredulously discussed her "little girl."

I'd tag people, but I'm probably the last one.

The Lost Interview Post

I'm so late on this I seriously thought about not doing it, but...what the hey!

There was an interview thing I saw on Suey's blog (that she got from other blogs: like Serena's blog and Monica, and Ruth) and I signed up.

Here are the questions Suey sent me:

1. If you could interview any author for your blog, who would it be and why? What would you ask?

Most of the "new" authors I love have blogs or interviews or I have met at writing conferences, so I feel I have "access" to them. So I guess I would interview some of the authors I read as a child, like Anne McCaffrey, David Eddings, or Raymond E. Fiest. (I know you implied one, but I'm assuming that was a joke.)

I would ask writing questions. Everything from "computer versus paper" to "how do you plot." All three of these author write fantasy series and the plotting astounds me.

2. What would you do with an entire day that you had all to yourself?

I really can't imagine such a thing! I guess I would do some combination of all things I love and never really get to do: read, WRITE, scrapbook, crochet, sleep, blog... Or maybe I would try to visit some friends or call some family.

Come to think of it, assuming it wasn't in the middle of the disgusting winter, I would drive up into the mountains and get out and sit among the trees and close my eyes and just feel the breeze and listen to the trees and animals. I would think of stories to write, doodle in my notebook, take hundreds of pictures, and just feel all the knots inside my chest that build up from living in the city loosen and disappear. Suddenly I'd be able to really breath again, really think, and thank God for the beautiful world.

3. What book can (or would) you re-read over and over again and why?

There are several books that I have read countless times.

Dragonsong and Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey
The Apprentice by Deborah Talmadge-Bickmore
Pawn of Prophesy (and sequels) by David Eddings
Restoree by Anne McCaffrey
What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones
And several of the Harry Potter books that we have on CD and listen to repeatedly on trips

Why? The first 3 have a nostalgic quality since I read them as a young girl, but they are also great escapes, great stories, and comfortable like an old t-shirt.

The last 3 I encountered more recently, but they have the great escape quality as well, and are now just as comfortable.

Most of these books are fantasy, and like most fantasy, have some romance. I love flipping through the pages and reading the most romantic parts. But I can also flip through and read the most exciting parts. I know these books that well.

4. What superhero power would you like to have and why?

I would love the super power of keeping my house clean. Or maybe the power that escapes my particular personality type of making decisions decisively and easily. Or how 'bout the super power of making friends easily and being outgoing.

But if we just want to talk about super super powers, I've always wanted to be telepathic and telekinetic. How absolutely amazingly cool would that be? (Read The Rowan by Anne McCaffrey)

5. Name five of your favorite books you read in the last year.

I wasn't keeping any sort of track last year! Old posts have been helpful, but some of these might be guesses...

The Sisters Grimm series by Michael Buckley
Magyk and sequels by Angie Sage
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka


If you'd like to participate here's the "rules":

Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.” (along with your email address!)
I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Review: Light of the Moon by Luanne Rice

Light of the Moon
by Luanne Rice

Romance
496 pages
published: 2008
For: Live Dangerously Challenge
3 of 5 stars

While shopping with my family at the ever-popular Costco, I had a revelation as to how to start my living dangerously challenge. I always go through the movies at Costco, but rarely spend any time with the books unless I know something big is coming out. Why? Because that flat of books is everything I DON'T read. Those books are contemporary, popular books, written for adults! (And I don't mean popular with librarians, or with fellow writers, or with book reading friends, I mean popular with the masses.) Yes, I am a snob.

So I decided, while staring at the sea of literary pizzas, that I would pick one out and read it. *Gasp* I hesitated. Then I picked one up and read the back. *Bigger gasp* I put that down and read another back. And another. Then another. They were only getting worse! My shuddering became violent as I came to the end of the row where I encountered such authors as Grisham, whom I've successfully avoided all my life. I nearly failed at my resolve...but I staggered back to the beginning and picked up the first book I had looked at. I have to confess that my decision reflected both the fact that my family had moved on and I needed to hurry, and that fact that it was one of the cheapest.

Sidenote: My sweet husband didn't flinch one bit when I told him the strange book in the cart was for my dangerous challenge. :)

First, let me admit that I read this book and was entertained. I am a story sucker. I was also surprised and thrilled to find no swearing and no sex. I didn't know that was even possible these days. I enjoyed learning snippets about a different country and culture, and I enjoyed the info about the main character's career as an anthropologist who studied cave paintings. I cared about the characters and feel fortunate in my random selection.

That being said, this book was based on the whole "fly away to a romantic country to escape your problems and find your true love in the tiny foreign town." It has the obligatory "get rescued by hot cowboy on white horse" (literally) and the "we are so instantly and dramatically attracted to each other physically it is almost more than we can bear" elements. I guess that's what makes a good stirring romance? I admit I happily finished it. But I'm not going to be rereading it, remembering it long, or even keeping it. (Anyone want it?)

My only serious criticism is that I thought the whole thing a bit melodramatic. The love interest's problems just seemed a bit overdone. The main character's need to escape felt exaggerated considering that her problems weren't all the bad.

That's it. Enjoyable. Nothing special.

Recommended For: people who like that kind of thing, anyone wanting a momentary escape

Review: The Princess and the Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison

The Princess and the Hound
by Mette Ivie Harrison
YA, Fantasy
416 pages
published: 2007
For: Book Club
3 of 5 stars

This is my second book by this author, and I liked this one much better. The plot was more complex, and for me, less dark. It also had Beauty and Beast elements, which I thought was interesting. Do all her books echo that story? At first it reminded me strongly of Goose Girl, and later of another book, but darn that I can't remember which one!

It was the story of two lonely royals who arrange their marriage for political reasons. But it's not as simple as just two strangers marrying - one has been cursed by magic, the other has the cursed magic.

It is a mystery, a fantasy, and love story. It has politics, witch hunts, betrayal, and of course, someone dies. (I must be in a facetious mood.) It was good fun.

Recommended For: all fantasy/fairy tale lovers

January Summary

Here's everything I read in January:

1. Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
2. Mira, Mirror by Mette Ivie Harrison
3. Alcatraz and the Scrivener's Bones by Brandon Sanderson
4. Atremis Fowl the Graphic Novel by Eoin Colfer
5. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
6. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
7. On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
8. By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder
9. The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
10. Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
11. These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
12. The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
13. The Princess and the Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison
14. Light of the Moon by Luanne Rice

I am, of course, behind in reviews, but who would have expected anything less of me? I will work hard on catching up...

Review: Artemis Fowl the Graphic Novel by Eoin Colfer

 Artemis Fowl the Graphic Novel
by Eoin Colfer
YA, Fantasy, graphic novel

125 pages
published: 2007
2 of 5 stars

I have recently read through number 4 in the Artemis Fowl series and have been thoroughly enjoying them, so when I saw that there was a graphic novel out I was excited. I haven't had much experience with graphic novels, but figured the pictures would be highly stylized so I wasn't surprised when they were. My biggest complaint was that I was under the impression that this one contained an additional story, a side story, or something extra, but it did not. It was a retelling of the first book in the series.

Even given my disappointed on that count, I enjoyed this book and branching out from my usual reading style. It was actually fascinating to me to see how the author pared down the original book to fit it into this format. Surprisingly, most of salient points were hit.

Conclusions:

• If I ever have trouble getting one of my children to read, I'll be happy to whip this out and get them involved in a story.
• I need to watch graphic novels carefully to make sure they don't cross the line into "graphic." There were a few pictures of the heroine I thought a bit too revealing.
• I much prefer the full fleshed out story of a novel and my own imagined pictures. The author's words and MY visualizing are MUCH better.

Recommended For: Artemis fans, reluctant readers

Review: Mira, Mirror by Mette Ivie Harrison

Mira, Mirror
by Mette Ivie Harrison
YA, Fairy Tale
320 pages
published: 2006

3 of 5 stars

I've been wanting to read this book for a long time, and finally got to the library to get it. The premise for this novel is fascinating and I was excited and intrigued. I figured, with the magic mirror, that it was a take-off of Snow White, but it took me a little while to figure out where the characters in the beginning of the novel fell into the original fairy tale. It was a fun mystery.

I loved the idea and the insight into the wicked witch. I enjoyed the mystery and perilous situations that the peasant girl and the mirror got into. I was pulled into the story and read it straight through. I enjoyed the spunky peasant girl, though she seemed to wither as the story continued, only coming out again at the end. The ending was unexpected, but it made enough sense to me, and I wasn't upset that it was unhappy for some. It was happy enough. And the novel had good messages about love, loyalty, and appearance.

With everything I liked so well, I was surprised to realize that I did not love this book. After reading other reviews (and thinking lots) I have come up with some reasons. I didn't like the dark theory of magic employed in the story. I have read worse, but not in a YA. I really hated the scene where a child was grossly murdered, though I understand the use of it in characterizing the witch. The middle fell flat for me when the story centered on the relationship between the peasant girl and the merchant girl. I guess I just got a little bored with all the love. But the worst fault for me was that I didn't really care about any of the characters. I was interested in their story, but wasn't caring rather it turned out well or not.

Interesting Note: The story seemed to overlap with Beauty and Beast.

Recommended For: older YA, people who enjoy fractured fairy tales (without too weak a stomach)