Over the past week or so I’ve been reading 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson.  I first became aware of her through some of my friends on twitter.  I started following her and became quickly charmed by her personality and randomness.  So, of course I had to buy one of her books.  I’m not sure why I started out with 13 Little Blue Envelopes, but I feel like I made the right decision in doing so.

13 Little Blue Envelopes is a novel about a girl named Ginny.  Ginny has an aunt named Peg.  Peg is one of those relatives.  You know which ones I mean.  The eccentric, fly by the seat of their pants, totally unpredictable relative.  The book starts out with Letter #1 in which Ginny is told that they are going to play a game called “today I live in” that Ginny & Peg played when Ginny was little.  The game is literal this time.  Aunt Peg instructs Ginny to buy a passport, a backpack and a one-way ticket from New York to London (and has included $1000 to do so).  Aunt Peg has also established four rules in this letter.

• Rule #1-Ginny can only take what fits in her backpack.  No purses or carry-ons.
• Rule #2-No guidebooks, phrasebooks or any kind of foreign language aid.  No journals either.
• Rule #3-No money (Aunt Peg says she is going to take care of all of that)
• Rule #4-No electronic crutches.  No laptop, cell phone, music or camera.  However, letters and postcards are encouraged.

Okay, I just have to say that upon reading this I freaked out a bit at the thought of having the opportunity of the lifetime to go on this big, mysterious trip overseas…but then to be told that I can’t take any electronic stuff?!  I mean, the laptop and the cell phone would be hard enough, but I would go nuts without my camera and ipod.  Ginny is a much braver character than I am because I just don’t know that I could do that.

Ginny is not like her Aunt Peg.  Johnson describes Ginny as a 17 year old that is the type that tries to go unnoticed. She is also quiet and a little shy and unsure of herself, which is the polar opposite of how Aunt Peg is described.

When Ginny’s Aunt Peg was 17 she ran away the first time. Her entire life was spent on one grand adventure after another, without staying in one place for long periods of time. Peg was an artist. Ginny describes her visits from Aunt Peg (while erratic and infrequent) as “magical experiences during which all normal rules of living were cast aside”. We eventually learn that Aunt Peg had died of cancer three months before Ginny got this infamous letter which is what makes this book all the more interesting for me. I can tell that Peg’s death has had a severe impact on Ginny. I know all too well about all of the emotions that go through a person when they don’t get a chance to say goodbye to a loved one. So, Ginny’s feeling that Aunt Peg isn’t really dead, that she’s still hiding out there somewhere…I can really understand those thoughts.

Ginny is also instructed that she has to pick up a box from Aunt Peg’s old apartment and open it on the plane to London. In this box contains (you guessed it) the little blue envelopes numbers 2-13. Number 2 has “OPEN ME ON THE PLANE” on it, so Ginny does. In this letter Aunt Peg tells Ginny of why she ran away and why she hadn’t called (she didn’t know what to say and she didn’t have any answers) and tells Ginny that each envelope contains a path and instructions for Ginny and that she can only open the next one after each task has been completed.

And with this Ginny embarks on a remarkable, unique journey. From helping an aspiring artist (Starbucks: The Musical), to falling in love, to becoming overwhelmed and frustrated with her aunt, to traveling everywhere…Ginny’s journey through the envelopes helps to push and shape her into a different person. (and to tell you anymore about what happens will ruin the entire book..and that’s not what I want to do).

While the book will eventually have a sequel to it, it does not leave you on a cliffhanger. I thoroughly enjoyed 13 Little Blue Envelopes and I will buy more of Maureen Johnson’s books.

Questions for the comments:

Could you pack up and leave everything without any electronics? How would you feel about not having any photographic evidence of all of the wonderful places you had been?

Links:
Maureen Johnson on twitter
Maureen Johnson’s official website
13 Little Blue Envelopes on indiebound

At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love — the light and the dark, the warm and the cold — in a way you will never forget.

Comes out in stores everywhere July 20th. Pre-order here.

Enter to win an advanced review copies of LINGER, Sisters Red, The Dead-Tossed Waves, and The Replacement on Maggie’s blog.

Running behind on putting up posts. Still working on my Bran Hambric review. I’ve been so sick that it has been hard for me to put my thoughts together to write what I want to.

I’ll hopefully get caught up on reviews soon.

Up next: 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson & Princess Academy by Shannon Hale.

Posts up as soon as I can focus and not write a bunch of garbage!

The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg is a new release…as in just released this month. This is Eulberg’s first published book.

The story is told from our main character, Penny Lane Bloom.  Her parents have a slight obsession with The Beatles.  Penny loves them, but it’s not quite the obsession that the parents have.  Penny has a thing for her childhood sweetheart, Nate Taylor.  Their families are old friends, spending every summer with each other.  Penny has decided that this is the summer that she is going to have sex with Nate.  I could tell that she had it built up to be this awesome fairy tale romance, like most girls do…and obviously, it didn’t work out to be like that.  By the time she got up her nerve to do it & surprise Nate, she walked in on Nate with another girl.

Thus, The Lonely Hearts Club is born.  At first the only member is Penny.  Then school starts back and Penny is joined by a renewed friendship with Diane and her best friend Tracy.  Penny takes you through the growth of not only The Lonely Hearts Club as a club but how they all begin to grow up and see what life is really about.  That it is more than just boys and dances…it is about doing what your heart desires and overcoming struggles to become a stronger person.

I enjoyed the book because it wasn’t overly serious.  Lots of times books that deal with high school can be overly dramatic and be just over the top with everything.  There are a few dramatic moments in the book…but that has to do with the particular character (various moments with Tracy…and every moment with Rosanna).

The only part I didn’t like in the book was when a guy (I won’t say who because it would spoil part of the plot) physically harms Penny (grabs her arm hard enough to leave bruises) and it’s just kinda blown off.  Even though there were so many witnesses, it was never really portrayed that what he did was wrong, even though Penny could be seen as continuing to fuel the fire.  Eulberg resolves it with what I call a “What goes around comes around” resolve with the guy.  He gets in trouble for other things, but nothing is ever said of the physical harm that he did to Penny.  Physical violence should never be blown off or left unresolved.

The Lonely Hearts Club is a good, quick, fun read.  In fact, Eulberg says this about the book in her bio on her official website:

“Finally, I decided to give it a try. I started with a couple of ideas that fizzled out, mostly because they were too serious. Then I remembered the books that I really enjoyed as a teen, books that were fun…”

It is something I would take out on the beach or by the pool to read during the summer.  The Beatles tie ins through out the book is very unique and sets The Lonely Hearts Club apart from your typical high school book. This book is one that I think that everyone could enjoy, but is basically a book for every girl who has been broken hearted.  Every girl that has just wanted to give up on guys and on love.  If you’ve ever been there, then The Lonely Hearts Club is waiting for you.

Questions for the Comments:

What are some books that you have read just to have a fun read?

Official Elizabeth Eulberg website
Elizabeth Eulberg on Twitter
The Lonely Hearts Club on Indie Bound

Book for Week 4-Bran Hambric and the Farfield Curse by Kaleb Nation

I literally just finished Shiver a few minutes ago.  It is amazing.  Seriously.  I want to go out and buy every book that Maggie Stiefvater has ever written.  Like right now.  I follow her on twitter and before I started reading I asked her what I should expect and this was her reply.

@TiaRawls Tissues. I would recommend them, if I am any good at all at what I do. 5:17 PM Jan 4th from web in reply to TiaRawls

She couldn’t be more right.

I had a difficult time wanting to read this week.  I’m chalking it up to an insane work week and being bummed about the ending of The Lovely Bones.  However, I connected with Shiver the moment I started reading.  I immediately felt this intense lonely, yearning that I hadn’t felt in quite some time.  It stirred up my emotions so much at times that I had to just sit the book down and take a break from the intensity.

Shiver is about 17 -year-old (every so appropriately) named Grace and 18-year-old Sam.  They live in a small town named Mercy Falls (I alternate between appropriate and irony on this…)

The book begins from Grace’s point of view as she is remembering when she was attacked by wolves when she was younger (I believe she was 11).  What first struck me was that Grace never fought what was happening to her.

“I could have screamed, but I didn’t.  I could have fought, but I didn’t.  I just lay there and let it happen, watching the winter-white sky go gray above me.”

I couldn’t help but wonder what could possibly be going on with this child where she wouldn’t fight for her life?

Then the next chapter…Sam.  I suppose I should note that I was intrigued by why each chapter had a temperature underneath the chapter title.

Example:

Chapter Two • Sam
15°F

I knew that Sam was a wolf from the moment I read his first words.  Since I had no knowledge of what this book was about going into it, my first thought was, “Oh shit.  Another werewolf book.”  As much as I loved the Twilight series when it first came out, it seems as if vampires and werewolves are all that anyone writes about anymore.  I DID NOT want to read another one of those books again.  So, I promised myself that I would suffer through it for the sake of my ABAW goal.  From the ending of the second chapter where Sam says,

“…I thought she was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen, a tiny, bloody angel in the snow, and they were going to destroy her.

I saw it.  I saw her, in a way I’d never seen anything before.

And I stopped it.”

Maybe it’s because I’m a sucker for romance.  Perhaps it is the way Maggie is so descriptive, I’m not sure.  I just know that I had to know what happened from that point own.

So begins this intricate twisted love story between Grace and Sam.  Ever since that fateful night when Grace was attacked Sam has always watched her…except in the summers.  When the temperature is warm that is when these wolves become human again.  Well, for a few years.  Eventually the wolf overtakes the human and it is The End.  The story becomes somewhat predictive in the sense that it is Sam’s last year being human and he fights it.

That is all that I found truly predictive, though.  Maggie takes the plot of the book in so many twist and turns that had I not been following her on twitter I would have been quite upset at the ending of this book, as it is a bit cliffhangery (I make up new words simply because I’m that awesome and I can!).  Shiver is part of a trilogy.  Linger, the second book in the series is due out in July 20, 2010.  This is the type of book that I can’t really say too much about without ruining it, so go read it and let me know what you think of it.

Maggie made this awesome trailer for Shiver.  Check it out!

Links:

Maggie Stiefvater on Twitter

Maggie Stiefvater on facebook

Maggie Stiefvater’s website

Shiver on Indiebound

Questions for the comments/readers:

Do you believe that the literary world (in particular YA) is being taken over by vampires and werewolves?  Does this dissuade (or even persuade) you from reading a book/series?

I was surprised on how quickly Alice Sebold set up Susie’s death (within the first chapter/first 15 pages).  When I started this book I went with the preconceived notion that it would be a bit gory, as most books that deal with rape and murder often are.  However, Alice Sebold was able to lead up to the murder with all the description needed without being overly dramatic or overly graphic.  Susie’s words for her death is very matter of fact:

“Tell me you love me,” he said.
Gently, I did.
The end came anyway

Susie’s heaven is not what she expected, but it is partially made up of her dreams. I love that even though Susie’s body is dead that her spirit lives on and continues to mature.

The hardest part of this book for me is the family. I know from experience how death breaks you as a person and how it alters your family. How people lose themselves, how they become guarded, how parts of them never let go, never move past it. Having to watch Susie’s family’s world be rocked and watch the aftermath made me relive parts of when we found out about my dad’s death. It was hard to get through at points…but it wasn’t even any of family or even Susie herself that I connected with the most in the book.

Ruth. In the beginning she is a seemingly minor character, but she is such an intricate character. I love that she is aware of the dead as well as the living.

The character that I disliked the most was Susie’s mother. She is nothing short of a selfish bitch to me. How can a mother choose to run away and leave her family behind is beyond me.

I don’t know why but I’ve had an extremely hard time writing about this book. Maybe it is because of the subject…maybe it is because so much happens…or maybe it’s just because I am so disgusted with the ending of the book.

This book gave me an endless list of things to think about. There were times that I just had to put the book down and think about what was written. It was slow at times and fast at times, but it didn’t lose my interest until the end. Maybe it was after the part where Ruth and Susie swap places for a bit…or maybe it is when her mother comes back…it seemed as if a different person wrote the book. The ending to me was left unresolved and not in line with the rest of the book.

Maybe the best quote of the book is this:

These were the lovely bones that had grown around my absence: the connections — sometimes tenuous, sometimes made at great cost, but often magnificent — that happened after I was gone. And I began to see things in a way that let me hold the world without me in it. The events my death brought were merely the bones of a body that would become whole at some unpredictable time in the future. The price of what I came to see as this miraculous lifeless body had been my life.

I just can’t seem to get my thoughts together on this. Maybe I will re-read it and attempt to write another review.  So would I recommend it?  Absolutely.  It is very descriptive and hauntingly beautiful throughout the book.

The Lovely Bones at Amazon

Questions for the Readers:

For those of you who have read the book, how do you feel about the ending?

What character (if any) did you identify with?

This week’s pick is The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.

Questions for the readers:

What days would you like to see the reviews on?  I’m considering Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

Keep the requests/suggestions coming!

It is a great fast paced series about a kid named Percy Jackson and what happens when he finds out that he is half-god (as in the Olympians…Percy is the son of Poseidon) half-human.  Percy is also dyslexic and has ADHD, which I thought was an awesome way for people  to relate to the character.

I was quickly drawn into the series.  Rick Riordan must be amazing to hang around.  His characters are all very well thought out and there is this great sense of humor that runs throughout the series.  Even though the characters may be going through or doing some serious or sad situations Riordan always pulls the humor out to keep it from getting too dark.

One of my favorite parts was in The Last Olympian when Mr. D (Dionysus-the Greek god of wine; also the director of Camp Half Blood) is playing Pac-Man

“Erre es korakas , Blinky!” Dionysus cursed.  “I will have your soul!”

….”Ha!”  he shouted.  “Take that you pixelated fiends!”

I’ve read several reviews for the series where people keep comparing it to Harry Potter, but I don’t think that it is quite fair.  I think the series stands on its own.  Riordan creates a very unique world with a very unique perspective on Greek mythology.

As I read the first four books I was able to put the book down for hours/days at a time and wonder what was going on, but I didn’t have that incessant drive that I often get when reading a book.  However, in the fifth book, Riordan seemed to hit his stride and it was near impossible for me to put the book down.  Monday at work I kept watching the clock…anxiously waiting for 5pm so I could come home and finish the book.

Riordan left the series open at the end of the 5th book….but not in one of those cliche cliff-hanger endings that I loathe with a passion…and he is currently working on more stories from Camp Half Blood.

It is hard for me to write on this series without spoiling way too much about it, so go read it.  It is a fun, fast read.  I’m sure that some avid readers could finish the series in less than a week. 

Questions/thoughts for readers:

Does a book being classified as a children’s series, or any classification for that matter, influence your decision on reading it?

For those of you who have read the series, are you happy with the way it has ended?  What character did you like the most?

Related Links:

Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson books

The series at Amazon.com

The Lightning Thief

The Sea of Monsters

The Titans Curse

The Battle of the Labyrinth

The Last Olympian

Jeff let me pick out a bunch of books for my gifts.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan (Book 4 of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series)

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan (Book 5 of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series)

Percy Jackson & the Olympians:  The Demigod Files by Rick Riordan

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

13 Little Blue Envelopes by the one and only Maureen Johnson

I may write a review about the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series as a whole once I’m finished with them.  The end of the year is soon and I want to have them finished by then so that I am starting fresh with this project.

I’m not sure what I want to come out of this blog, other than a record of every book I read in 2010 (ABAW).  What would you like for me to include?