Paper Moon, Joe David Brown

They say my mama, Miss Essie Mae Loggins , was the wildest girl in Marengo County, Alabama. I couldn't say about that. There's not much I remember about her at all. What I can recall are mostly little things. Like how after she put polish on her fingernails, she would spread her fingers wide, hold out her arms, and go waltzing around the room while it dried. I used to try to do the same thing and we both would laugh and laugh because I would get dizzy and tumble down. I remember one time a man she didn't like came to the house, and she took off her shoe and chased him right out the door. 


This book, which McKenzie reviewed, sounded really interesting, so I borrowed it from her and...I was hooked. I always like to read books about enterprising con men and women who you can sympathize with. Addie Pray is eleven years old, and she travels around Alabama and a few other states with Long Boy, who is possibly her daddy, and they fleece a whole bunch of gullible people.

I agree with Kenzie in that this one should have become more of a classic. It's really entertaining; not what I would call "high-brow literature" (whatever that means), but fun to read. I think they made a movie out of it though. I didn't find the dry patch that Kenzie referred; there were a lot of various different types of cons that were described, and I liked that. I wanted their adventures to continue. I probably liked this one a lot because I really like the movie The Sting (which incidentally was made around the same time as this book was published), which also about con men during the Depression. So now you have two reviews motivating you to read it.

240 pages (in this copy)
 

Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf For Rereading (jf I own it)!

New Books Acquired

And I just had to share this photo:
Aren't they so pretty next to one another?

Insurgent, Veronica Roth

I wake with his name in my mouth. Will. Before I open my eyes, I watch him crumple to the pavement again. Dead.


Well, here's the sequel to Divergent. Insurgent starts right where Divergent leaves off, which was good. The factions are all divided in war, and relationships are changing. Tris, Four, Caleb (her brother), and a few other people go from Amity's headquarters to Candor's, to the factionless. Tris really struggles a lot with herself and her emotions in this one. She is haunted by killing Will while he was under the simulation, and her parents' deaths.   There's a lot of new stuff in Insurgent, which was great, to see the plot getting more and more complicated. But it dealt with old things too. In some ways, I might say that this series has too many secrets; it seems like just about everybody has a dark past or something to hide. It just seems unrealistic (although I realize of course that this is science fiction). Though undoubtedly that makes the book more entertaining and suspenseful. And the ending was really good. I can't say I was that surprised, but it opens a lot of new possibilities for the next and final (I think) book.

I would say Insurgent is definitely a good sequel, and I really look forward to reading the next book. In fact, I don't know how I'm going to survive for a year...

(Oh, and you can read Becky's review here.)

Read Insurgent:

• if you liked Divergent
• if you like science fiction

525 pages.

 

Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf For Rereading (jf I own it)!

Rereading Divergent by Veronica Roth

There is one mirror in my house. It is behind a sliding panel in the hallway upstairs. Our faction allows me to stand in front of it on the second day of every third month, the day my mother cuts my hair. 


I first read Divergent in February and I just loved it. Here is what I said in my original review: "In this science-fiction book, the world is divided into five factions, each named after a virtue that they possess. The factions are Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent.) At the age of sixteen, each person must take a test and decide which faction they belong too. For Beatrice, the heroine, this means staying with her family or being who she really is. Of course, there is a romance. Of course, Beatrice, or Tris, as she renames herself, realizes that her society isn't really as perfect as it seems. In other words, all the typical elements of a sci-fi plot- a dystopian world, "heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance" (from jacket.) And yet, I still really enjoyed this book. The society depicted in it is different then other societies written about. At the beginning of the book, it not only seemed perfect to the characters, but to me, the reader, as well. In most sci-fi books, the reader immediately sees that the society is not perfect, though the main character may think it is. In this book, the imperfection of the society is not that easily discovered. But quickly you realize it's a horrible, cruel world. Especially the faction that Tris decides to join. Trouble strikes when Tris becomes a Divergent, meaning that it is possible that she could be in any of three factions. She must choose. This was a great book, and I really loved it. I looked forward to reading the sequel, Insurgent, which comes out in May."


Everything I said there still stands, and also, I think that Divergent is one of those science fiction books that are not just for entertainment, but also make you think. Divergent definitely does. I can see how each of the factions are right in their way; where they're wrong is deciding to split up, rather than taking all the beliefs together. I think that would work much better. I'm not going to talk about how much I love Four, because Becky goes into that, but I did. 


I decided to reread this one in preparation for the sequel, Insurgent, which I'll be reading soon. You can read Becky's reviews of it here and here.


Read Divergent:

• if you like dystopia science fiction with just the right amount of romance 
• if you like really suspenseful books

487 pages. 

 

Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf For Rereading (jf I own it)!

Rereading Graceling by Kristin Cashore

In these dungeons the darkness was complete, but Katsa had a map in her mind. One that had so far proven correct, as Oll's maps tended to do.


Graceling is one of my very favorite fantasy novels. It's set in a land with seven kingdoms: Nander, Wester, Estill, Sunder, Monsea, Middluns, and Lienid. In the lands, some people are "Graced" with a special skill. Their eyes are different colors, and they are called Gracelings. It might be something harmless, like talking backwards, or something dangerous, like killing. Katsa is the niece of the king of the Middluns, and her grace is killing. Or is it? She meets Prince Po of Lienid, Graced with fighting skills (or is he?), who is searching for the reason that his grandfather got kidnapped. She and Po practice fighting often, and eventually, they set out on a journey to Monsea to investigate the suspicious King Leck of Monsea. Obviously, Katsa and Po fall in love on their way.

The characters in Graceling are really wonderful. Katsa is a great strong character, struggling with the way she sees herself, and Po-well, I love Po. There are a lot of surprises in the book, so I won't spoil it, but this is a really exciting fantasy. Definitely one of my Top 10 Books. There are two other books about this land, Fire and Bitterblue, which I look forward to reading. You can read Becky's review here.

Read Graceling:

• if you like fantasy with romance
• if you are looking for a wonderful, action-packed book
• if you like books with strong heroines

471 pages.

 

Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf For Rereading (jf I own it)!

Delirium, Lauren Oliver

It has been sixty-four years since the president and the Consortium identified love as a disease, and forty-three since the scientists perfected a cure. Everyone else in my family has had the procedure already. My older sister, Rachel, has been disease free for nine years now. She's been safe from love for so long, she says she can't even remember its symptoms. I'm scheduled to have my procedure in exactly ninety-five days, on September 3. My birthday.


Delirium was a very interesting science fiction book. The premise is that in a future U.S, love is called a disease, and at the age of eighteen, everyone has an operation to get rid of love (basically, their desire.) It sort of reminded me of Uglies, (though I haven't actually read it), in that there's a required procedure to fix a perceived problem. The main character, Lena, is looking forward to her procedure, to being disease free. But everything changes when she meets Alex. And of course, she falls in love with him. (Also her best friend Hana has been going to illegal parties.) The United States has been closed off from other countries; I kind of wished that Oliver went into what was happening in the rest of the world. But I guess the main characters can't know about that.

Delirium is one of those books about how valuable something is when it is forbidden. And the love that is removed during the operation is really the desire for life and happiness (though the government says the operation is to make you happier and more secure). You get matched up with a spouse, and have children, but you can't love either them. You can't love literature or music or relatives, or anything anymore. Life is flat. A nightmare, huh? Throughout the book, Lena suddenly comes to realize that everything she's been told by the administration (in the Book of Shhh) is a lie, a blatant lie, a network of lies. Of course, she has had experience with love; her mother could never be cured. But it's all suddenly quite immediate.

Delirium is obviously a YA romance as well. It was quite engaging; I had difficulty putting it down once I started it. And of course, it ends on a cliff-hanger. There is a sequel, Pandemonium, which I look forward to reading. You can read Becky's review of it here.

Read Delirium:

• if you like romance
• if you like science fiction
• if you like Lauren Oliver (she's written other books for teenagers and kids)

441 pages.

 

Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf For Rereading (jf I own it)!

North and South, Elizabeth Gaskell

'Edith!' said Margaret, gently, 'Edith!' But, as Margaret half suspected, Edith had fallen asleep.


I really enjoyed this book; I got on recommendation from Becky (you can read her review of it here), and while I didn't love it as much as she did, it was an interesting book. North and South is not only the story of an unlikely romance between two very different people, but also of the industrial revolution, which was rapidly changing England, and the middle class. Our main character is Margaret Hale, from the south of England, who moves to the northern industrial own of Milton. She deeply sympathizes with the millworkers, but she is also attracted to the mill owner John Thornton. Margaret grapples with her outlook on life, while also missing her old home in the south. She and John debate often about the relationship of the mill owner and the worker. A lot of ethics is discussed in North and South; you see, Frederick, Margaret's older brother, was involved in a mutiny and now cannot come back to England, on pain of death. And the industrial revolution, which is changing the world.

I really liked the two main characters of the novel, John and Margaret. They're both strong-minded, independent people. My favorite thing about the book was probably the descriptions of the beautiful southern country town in which Margaret lived, and also the descriptions of Milton. Though the book doesn't mention slavery, I was also reminded of the fact that the factories were getting all their cotton from the South of the U.S. (from slavery.) I kind of wished that Gaskell would talk about that a little, but it was probably too controversial. In any case, North and South is an entertaining classic. There is also a television adaption of it.

Read North and South:

• if you like Elizabeth Gaskell
• if you like Victorian literature
• if you like classics with strong romance and a bit of tragedy (borrowing from Becky here)
• if you like books with strong characters

436 pages.

Very Good! I would recommend this book!