Book Blogger Hop (incredibly early)

I just keep doing this earlier and earlier, hahaha...

it's time for another Book Blogger Hop! For those fellow hoppers, welcome to Imagination in Focus! The idea of the Hop is to network and find cool blogs you might not have found otherwise. Check it out at Crazy-for-Books and join in the fun!

Last week, I found a lot of other amazing blogs...some of them include:

Emily @ Emily's Reading Room

Elle @ Media Molly

Miel Abielle @ Bon Vivants

Felicia @ Bits n Bytes of a Geeky Blogger (love that title!)

Emily @ Af-fiction-ate

Susan Quinn @ Ink-Spells

S.A. Larsen @ Writer's Ally

Kelly @ Bookend Diaries

Candace @ Candace's Book Blog

Melissa @ My World...in Words and Pages

Beth @ Maybe Tomorrow?

Okay, now I'm off to go check out MORE awesome blogs :)

Review - ENNA BURNING

Enna Burning - Shannon Hale

Genre: MG/YA Fantasy

# of pages: 317 pages (Bloomsbury pb)

Amelia's Age-Level Suggestion: 11/12< (6th grade up)

At this moment, I'm still debating whether I like this book better than The Goose Girl ... I certainly love them both, but I'm thinking that I might like this one a little bit more. The Goose Girl was mostly a fairytale retelling; this book is a continuation of Bayern, but it does not revolve around a specific fairytale, and I think that enabled Shannon Hale to write with more artistic and creative freedom. Yes, this is still a "fairytale" book: as in, characters are complex and well-rounded, but not vice-like as you may find in "grown up fiction" or a lot of other YA-books out there. So once again, if you wrinkle your nose at love stories or happy endings, go find something else, because you may not like this story.

Have we rooted out all the anti-happy people? Okay, good, on with the review! So there's a whole lot of what I would call "natural magic" in this series: powers of wind, fire, water, etc., and the ability to communicate with them. The main character of The Goose Girl, Ani/Isi, switches out with Enna, who becomes the main (and titular) character in this story. Central to the plot is Enna's firespeaking ability, a gift/curse that threatens to destroy her if she cannot learn to master it. I really thought that was such an interesting premise, and one that has an obvious theme we readers can take away and apply to our own lives. There are actually many themes that are so easily spotted in Shannon's writing, and I think that is one of the many things I admire about her. She's not one of these authors who spends the whole book trying to point a finger at some societal issue, and she never goes "after school special" either; instead, her story and characters reinforce themes: messages we as the readers can take away and apply to our own lives.

And yes, I agree with other reviews: this book is "darker" than the first one. Enna has an urge to burn. The fire has a life of its own, and it starts to feed off of Enna's life (reminds me very much of the Ring!!!! Remember how the Ring had seemed to be "alive"? Remember how the Ring "wanted to be found"?!?! It's just like that!) The story was intense, in my opinion, but not inappropriate. I'll expand on that later. But one thing I want to ask all the criticizers: have you ever heard of siege warfare? Well, thoughout history (as in, REAL LIFE: not the stuff of fairytales) armies used fire at their enemies: fireballs, flamethrowers, Greek fire, lighted arrows... In other words, people got set on fire in real life...that is not something Shannon Hale just thought up. But I mean, from some of these reviews you'd mistake Enna for Bellatrix Lestrange! She's not particularly happy about setting people on fire... it stinks and everything, but yes, that happens. It's not presented in a graphic way: if anything, it's presented in a blunt, dull way. I kept thinking, "umm, these people are on fire, why is she not *screaming*?" But anyway... Okay and Sileph... wow. I have to admit, I really didnt think he'd be Book #2's "Designated Bad Guy." Yeah, he has one those cocky personalities, and he's a bit on the manipulative side, but I kept waiting for him to redeem himself, somehow... but then...well, I wont say anything. I just didnt expect him to actually be bad. So that was a shocker. Oh, back to why Shannon Hale is Not Inappropriate: she's pretty much the only author I can think of who can take an otherwise provacative situation and make it perfectly tame. Here's a scenario: a girl and a guy sleeping next to each other in a tent. And. Nothing. Happens. At. All. I just want to fax her scenes to some of these other YA authors out there, goodness gracious! Parents, Shannon Hale does not need to be on your Hit List. She's okay. And when two characters who are *actually* in love with each other camp together at night, nothing happens either. Don't you just love that? Nice, sweet romances with no content issues. In fact, the only content issues in this book relate to scenes of war. I didnt find them that disturbing, actually, but in my opinion this should probably be a Middle School and Older series (YA). But I found book so much harder to put down than the first one...and I really loved the first one, too :D I like the conflict in this book: Enna's a great character: strong and spunky, yet still human enough to need others. And I loved the struggles she endured: she was relatable and human, but never self-pitying.

Final Rating: 5/5. I said I liked it as much as The Goose Girl, so I think I have to give it a 5!

Go read the Books of Bayern - they're great!

Review - THE GOOSE GIRL

The Goose Girl - Shannon Hale (Books of Bayern, #1)

Genre: MG/YA Fantasy (depending on which bookstore you visit)
# of pages: 400 (Bloomsbury pb)
Amelia's Age-Level Suggestion: 10< (great for upper elementary and beyond!)

Another old review that I haven't posted over here yet :) Counting down the days until Friday, when fun-reading begins again!

Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, spends the first years of her life under her aunt's guidance learning to communicate with animals. As she grows up Ani develops the skills of animal speech, but is never comfortable speaking with people, so when her silver-tongued lady-in-waiting leads a mutiny during Ani's journey to be married in a foreign land, Ani is helpless and cannot persuade anyone to assist her. Becoming a goose girl for the king, Ani eventually uses her own special, nearly magical powers to find her way to her true destiny.

My thoughts:
As of right now, 6,990 fans have given The Goose Girl the top 5-star rating, and only 62 have given it a 1-star. I guess I'm going to be #6,991, because I obviously have found a new treasure!


This was the first book I had read since finishing the epic saga The Bridei Chronicles in December 2009 (adult historical fantasy by Juliet Marillier - which I also highly recommend!), and I was relieved to have something less perplexing. I generally love fairy-tale retellings, as long as they dont go too "realistic," which is pretty much the modern euphemism for "trashy." I'd actually forgotten about the "Goose Girl" tale, as it never stuck out to me as one of the Grimms' major stories, but I found this book to be a fun but substantial read.


I will say, I could have used more character development. I like my villains to be explained, and I kept wondering as to why the villains in this story (including a backstabbing "frenemy" who could very well be Regina George's ancestor) went to the trouble of doing their deeds. Jealousy? Is that it? The perspective followed the main character, Ani/Isi, all throughout and I could have done with a shift to some other characters, just so I could get a better understanding of what they were going through. I really liked Shannon Hale's characters, but I didn't really feel that they were as developed as they could have been. I especially liked Geric, and I agree with lots of other reviewers that he should have had more scenes! But Shannon Hale deserves a pat-on-the-back just for writing a clean, sweet romance (note, that's my thing: I really like clean, sweet romances...that may just be me, though!)


So if you like YA books where both characters have vice-like behavior, this book is NOT for you, haha! Okay I'm kidding...but seriously, this was a great book! Oh and the other books in the series - Enna Burning and River Secrets, are also incredible as well!



Final Rating: 5/5. Even with the sometimes lackluster character development, all the other elements of the story came together nicely, and The Goose Girl gets extra points for just being so enjoyable--so that bumps it to as perfect a rating as I can give it! Try the Books of Bayern sometime - they're pretty fast reads and you'll be glad you did!

Do you have READING RULES?

I was just daydreaming in class today (something I do very, very well) about how my reading system has changed over the year. I had this rule, you see, that I wouldn't read a series until all the books were out (like reading the Twilight series right after Breaking Dawn was published), or until the second-to-last book was out (reading the Percy Jackson series with just the last book to go).

The reason? Pretty much the anticipation... if I got started reading a series and I had to wait like over a year for the next book to be published, I seriously would go slowly out of my mind. I can't let the story go! I will seriously stay awake at night wondering "what's going to happen next? WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN?!?"

But now...I'm kind of going back on my own rules. There are several "first books" that I have in my TBR pile

Now, I've kind of moved away from waiting around for all the books in a series to come out before I start reading... although I still try and hold off as much as I can. I'm trying to wait to read the Hunger Games series until closer to August just because I heard through the grapevine there's a CLIFFHANGER! At this point, the only reason I won't read a book (and I do have to "Just Say No" to a couple of them) is if there are content issues I've heard about, or if they're a genre that doesn't excite me.

Also, this may be really stupid, and/or it may reflect the inner "teacher" in me and the need to make lesson plans, but I actually set up a reading schedule - for the month of May, I have like 4 or 5 books blocked off that I'm going to read in a certain order.... c R a Z y ?

Do you set up any "rules" or guidelines when you read? Is there a procedure you follow when you pick what book you're going to read, or what you'll read next...?

Week in Review...

Books Reviewed

The Red Necklace

My Posts

Friday Finds [7]: The Dark Divine & Brightly Woven

Cover Wars [9]: Wings & Spells

Who Am I? Some Quick Stats

MY CONTESTS

The Last Olympian anniversary giveaway - ends May 3.

Incarceron & Sapphique giveaway - ends May 2

• Note: Sapphique will not be published in the United States until December - here's your chance to READ IT EARLY!

This week wasn't that bad. It wasn't spectacular, but not bad. This week coming up is going to be a GOOD WEEK - why? - because it's the last week of class @ my school. No stupid school=more time for reading & blogging! I have one more paper to finish by the 30th, and then I'm done, baby!

What I'm looking forward to...

as soon as I turn in my paper, I'm high-tailing it back to the house where I have a date with...

that's right! Fun-reading is back with a vengeance!

What book will you be dating this weekend?

Friday Finds [7]

Friday Finds are books that you've heard about during the past week. For me, I'm taking it a step further: these are books I heard about and may potentially read. Friday Finds is hosted by MizB @ Should be Reading

I seem to be on a pattern lately:

1) I either find/read books that no one's ever heard of/read yet or

2) I find out about books that have been out for awhile and that everybody has already read/reviewed!

But yep, this week's Friday Finds have actually been garnering lots of publicity, and I bet many of you have already read them.

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared—the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in blood. But she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night really held. And when Daniel returns three years later, Grace can no longer deny her attraction to him, despite promising Jude she’ll stay away. As Grace gets closer to Daniel, her actions stir the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind Jude and Daniel's dark secret . . . and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it—her soul.

And hey, apparently it's the first in a series! The sequel, The Lost Saint, comes out in December :) So I've added this one to my TBR after some of my close beta reviewers on GR gave this a good rating. And Bree Despain seems like a really level-headed person...that's always a plus.

And Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken

Sydelle Mirabil is living proof that, with a single drop of rain, a life can be changed forever. Tucked away in the farthest reaches of the kingdom, her dusty village has suffered under the weight of a strangely persistent drought. That is, of course, until a wizard wanders into town and brings the rain with him. In return for this gift, Wayland North is offered any reward he desires—and no one is more surprised than Sydelle when, without any explanation, he chooses her. Taken from her home, Sydelle hardly needs encouragement to find reasons to dislike North. He drinks too much and bathes too little, and if that isn’t enough to drive her to madness, North rarely even uses the magic he takes such pride in possessing. Yet, it’s not long before she realizes there’s something strange about the wizard, who is as fiercely protective of her as he is secretive about a curse that turns his limbs a sinister shade of black and leaves him breathless with agony. Unfortunately, there is never a chance for her to seek answers. Along with the strangely powerful quakes and storms that trace their path across the kingdom, other wizards begin to take an inexplicable interest in her as well, resulting in a series of deadly duels. Against a backdrop of war and uncertainty, Sydelle is faced with the growing awareness that these events aren’t as random as she had believed—that no curse, not even that of Wayland North, is quite as terrible as the one she herself may carry.

Dude, she's only 23 and she wrote this in college! Oh my gosh, she must a genius! I can barely manage a few pages a week... :( Anyway, this one sounds good, too and even better, Alexandra Bracken answered my email! Yay!

So I would like to know... who has read these books? What did you think?

Book Blogger Hop! (early)

For those fellow hoppers, welcome to Imagination in Focus!

The idea of the Hop is to network and find cool blogs you might not have found otherwise. Check it out at Crazy-for-Books and join in the fun!