It was a little strange reading a book without "YA" on the spine, but I had to laugh when I realized it very well could've been classified that way.  Aside from the outermost framing story, all of the important characters are kids or young adults & there's very little content that would give a publisher pause . . . except for the author's name, I  ( Read more... )

Why the hell didn't I find this book in 1986?!

Well, that's pretty easy.  In 1986 when I wasn't working or, erm, sleeping, I had a wrench in my hand or the wind in my hair.  I did very little reading outside of the stripped paperbacks I collected from one of my three jobs -- the books nobody wanted to buy (mostly Louis L'Amour & Zane Gray).  But ( Read more... )

So Kiddo & I just watched Real Steel & were completely blown away.  This movie has everything (except 100% consistent performances from all actors, but that's a quibble & may've been intentional on the director's part):  great writing, cool effects, action, a cute kid, the coolest chemistry between Hugh Jackman & Dakota Goyo (the aforementioned kid ( Read more... )

I bought the Kindle edition of this book because it's a Lambda Award Finalist & the premise is awesome (& I wanted some instant gratification reading). I've heard good things about Ms Witt's writing so I didn't hesitate to pluck her book off the award list first, but to me it's a high-concept novel that just didn't make it in the character ( Read more... )

Jennie Shortridge wrote one of my favorite books ever, Riding With The Queen, & she's a very cool gal.  I've taken two of her workshops over the years & not only did I have a blast but I learned things I still use.  I'd avoided this book since '09 because I usually don't like books based on true stories -- the story is usually secondary to the " ( Read more... )

So today I finished another book for my reading challenge:  Maurice by EM Forster.  It’s been on my TBR list for a long time (since I saw the movie :)).  At first I was a little put off because it was written over a hundred years ago - wasn’t sure how easy it would be to get into the writing style.  It wasn’t very, but easy isn’t always best ( Read more... )

I literally just finished this book, and am barely keeping myself from sobbing like a blubbery little toddler.  But that's only because this book has already made me cry a few times.  I'm putting it under Romantic Fiction in my challenge list because it's probably the most romantic story I've read in a good long time.  It's highly unlikely I'll ( Read more... )

So last night I watched the Rifftrax of the second Twilight movie with Kiddo and four of her friends.  I can't believe that film even got made, but it was perfect for riffing.  Nelson, Corbett & Murphy were in rare form, & more than once I expected to see three silhouettes in the lower right corner of the screen.  I'd definitely rec this one (& the ( Read more... )

I've been avoiding this novel for years (no, I won't say how many) -- not consciously, but somehow I hadn't read it until now.  When Dean Winchester said he'd read it I made up my mind if I heard one more reference to it I'd take the plunge.  Jo Walton mentioned it (much more than I thought at the time) in Among Others, so it went on my reserve ( Read more... )

It took me longer than I thought it would to finish this one, even though I pretty much loved everything about it.  (I think it had more to do with my hormones & their reaction to the middle than to the fact it's over 800 pages long, but that's just TMI.)  It's another story that Mr. King started in the 1970s but waited *mumblemumble* years to ( Read more... )