For this review, I'm going to make it a little different. I am going to interview myself, Ms Foster being the interviewer. B.O.B.er being the one interviewed. But if you missed Part 1 to Flops, click here.
News Cast Reporter: "On today's episode of Blog of Books, our own Ms Foster will be interviewing the author of the B.O.B. To you Ms Foster." [Cameras switch to cozy room with two people sitting in it.]
Ms Foster: "So B.O.B.er, what did you think about The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson? On a scale of one to five, what did you think of it?"
B.O.B.er: "I'm going to be straight forward with you Ms Foster. I would give it a one; the book didn't really have what a book needed. I wanted a climax in this book, and I wanted a solid plot. That means I need a problem and solution. The problem was mentioned in the blurb, but not in the book. Plus, it was just dry, really."
Ms Foster: "So you expected more?"
B.O.B.er: "Yes for a book that's won awards and so has the author, I expected more. I pumped myself up for a mystery, as it said so on the back, but I was mistaken. No mystery there. So for the readers, I wouldn't hope for something you're not going to get."
Ms Foster: "So if you were to recommend this book to someone, who would you recommend it to?"
B.O.B.er: "Someone who likes the book Steal Away Home by Lois Ruby, or someone who doesn't like action adventure books or mystery books. Ages nine to twelve."
Ms Foster: "Here's a question from one of the viewers: Do you like cheese?"
B.O.B.er: "What kind of question is that? Everyone likes cheese!"
Ms Foster: [Mumbles] "I don't like cheese."
B.O.B.er: "Shame on you!"
News Cast Reporter: "That's it for today, folks! Next week we'll tap into our magical sides with The Name of This Book is Secret!"
Saturday, June 28, 2014
First of the Flops
Every now and then I stumble upon a book I did not enjoy as much as other people did. To me they are flops, where as most people are like "Oh my gosh! I love this book!" And then they act all excited, and start quoting or fantasizing about it. (This applies mostly to One Direction books, which really aren't literature, and I don't read those, but let's not get off-topic)
I found my first flop when I was reading last year's Reading Club's list, and usually the books on them are good. Well, this time a book wasn't working the magic for me. I enjoy pretty much any book I pick up, ranging from nonfiction to pumped up fairy tales, so a book I don't like is practically impossible. And The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson did the impossible.
Ms Kanagawa's story begins in the workshop of Master Tatsuhiko. She is the last doll Master is going to for the rest of his life, and one of the first dolls to touch the hearts of girls from Japan to America during the Great Depression
First stop: New York City
Bunny is supposed to give the speech to introduce the dolls at the Opening Ceremony, but the heir of President Roosevelt takes her place. Bunny had practiced so much in the warmth of her mansion, and at school, to earn her dignity back. At the Ceremony, Bunny seeks revenge by dropping an object on the stage to distract Belle Roosevelt from finishing her speech. The plan seems perfect, until a voice speaks inside her head to not drop the item. The voice of Ms Kanagawa.
At the Chicago World's Fair, Lois, has gotten to go by the skin of her teeth. She had been invited by her Aunt Eunice. Her aunt has interests in drinking tea and looking at dolls, and Lois is the exact opposite, being interested in airplanes and Amelia Earhart. She couldn't go with her dad anyway. They were too poor to pay. When Lois'aunt drags her into the new Japanese doll exhibit, a particular doll keeps talking in her mind. Ms Kanagawa tells her to use her quarter to buy something for Mable, her Lois' best friend, who could not come, instead of riding the Sky Ride.
In Kentucky, Willie Mae's only hope are books. Her family is suffering from The Great Depression, and when she gets a job reading to an old woman, it's a miracle. But there's always a down side to life. Mrs Weldon isn't very fond of people, much less kids. It takes a while for Mrs Weldon to be fond of Willie Mae, but she finally realizes how much she loves Willie Mae when she is sick. Mrs Weldon gives Ms Kanagawa to her when Willie Mae is sleeping. She dies with Ms Kanagawa in her arms.
The last girl we see is Lucy. She moves to Oregon from Oklahoma when her mom dies. Lucy teaches people how to write for money in her free time when she's not at school. Then the bombing of Pearl Harbor hits the country. During the school field trip to the local museum, Lucy finds Ms Kanagawa. She visits her again and again after that. She speaks to Lucy, giving her the gift of a life lesson: Do not give up when things are hard. She listens and that is the right choice. As you can see, Ms Kanagawa is quite the helper.
Coming Soon: The review of The Friendship Doll!
I found my first flop when I was reading last year's Reading Club's list, and usually the books on them are good. Well, this time a book wasn't working the magic for me. I enjoy pretty much any book I pick up, ranging from nonfiction to pumped up fairy tales, so a book I don't like is practically impossible. And The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson did the impossible.
Ms Kanagawa's story begins in the workshop of Master Tatsuhiko. She is the last doll Master is going to for the rest of his life, and one of the first dolls to touch the hearts of girls from Japan to America during the Great Depression
First stop: New York City
Bunny is supposed to give the speech to introduce the dolls at the Opening Ceremony, but the heir of President Roosevelt takes her place. Bunny had practiced so much in the warmth of her mansion, and at school, to earn her dignity back. At the Ceremony, Bunny seeks revenge by dropping an object on the stage to distract Belle Roosevelt from finishing her speech. The plan seems perfect, until a voice speaks inside her head to not drop the item. The voice of Ms Kanagawa.
At the Chicago World's Fair, Lois, has gotten to go by the skin of her teeth. She had been invited by her Aunt Eunice. Her aunt has interests in drinking tea and looking at dolls, and Lois is the exact opposite, being interested in airplanes and Amelia Earhart. She couldn't go with her dad anyway. They were too poor to pay. When Lois'aunt drags her into the new Japanese doll exhibit, a particular doll keeps talking in her mind. Ms Kanagawa tells her to use her quarter to buy something for Mable, her Lois' best friend, who could not come, instead of riding the Sky Ride.
In Kentucky, Willie Mae's only hope are books. Her family is suffering from The Great Depression, and when she gets a job reading to an old woman, it's a miracle. But there's always a down side to life. Mrs Weldon isn't very fond of people, much less kids. It takes a while for Mrs Weldon to be fond of Willie Mae, but she finally realizes how much she loves Willie Mae when she is sick. Mrs Weldon gives Ms Kanagawa to her when Willie Mae is sleeping. She dies with Ms Kanagawa in her arms.
The last girl we see is Lucy. She moves to Oregon from Oklahoma when her mom dies. Lucy teaches people how to write for money in her free time when she's not at school. Then the bombing of Pearl Harbor hits the country. During the school field trip to the local museum, Lucy finds Ms Kanagawa. She visits her again and again after that. She speaks to Lucy, giving her the gift of a life lesson: Do not give up when things are hard. She listens and that is the right choice. As you can see, Ms Kanagawa is quite the helper.
Coming Soon: The review of The Friendship Doll!
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Part 2 of the Heroes and Villains Blogging Chronicles
Alright, before we get into reviewing THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL, I would like to thank whoever is reading this blog. 200 page views already????? :D Yay!! Okay so yeah, thanks guys.
And now we find ourselves at the review for THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL.
Here's what Soman Chainani gets for his debut:
***** FIVE STARS!!!!!
Alright, you guys know I rarely give out five stars. So you're probably thinking oh, this book must be really good. No kidding. It IS. I had heard about the SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL on the Amazon Book store, making 4 stars for an over all review. Pretty good for his first book right? So I decided to read it. Sophie and Agatha did not let me down.
The girls' stories are unpredictable. And if i read ahead, nothing made sense, forcing me to read it all the way through. Which is good, so you actually read the book. (And yes, it does make sense when you read all of it. Besides you won't want to skip a single page.) Maybe it does have a bit of a slow start. But by the time you get to chapter 2 (specifically page 31), you hands will never leave the grip of the book. An asteroid could have hit the Earth and you would not have noticed. That's how good it is.
Here's what one of the readers thought:
"Soman Chainani has written a beautiful and enthralling novel that will appeal to every age out there because it has a bit of everything, action, romance, the meaning of friendship and everything else in between. You will never read a book like this one, Soman Chainani has written a one of a kind novel that will amaze you. I just loved this book. Loved it. LOVED. IT. And can I just say, that ending made me cry." Says Louisse @ The Soul Sisters.
I couldn't agree more. No one will be able to recreate the greatness of Soman's work. He has a real, strong bond between Sophie and Agatha like no other. These two will do anything to get in the right place, and they work together till the end. The Tale of Sophie and Agatha may not be a classic fairy-tale, but it has deserved to be an equally wonderful work of art to the world. If you had to ask me what the best part of the book was, I'd have to say the whole book! This book has gotten to the best sellers list in a year, so I think just that speaks for itself. If you haven't read the book, you need to run to the nearest library or bookstore so you don't miss out on anything.
I'll have the summary and review of Book 2 within the next few weeks! Next week we'll take a blast to the past with The Friendship Doll!
And now we find ourselves at the review for THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL.
Here's what Soman Chainani gets for his debut:
***** FIVE STARS!!!!!
Alright, you guys know I rarely give out five stars. So you're probably thinking oh, this book must be really good. No kidding. It IS. I had heard about the SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL on the Amazon Book store, making 4 stars for an over all review. Pretty good for his first book right? So I decided to read it. Sophie and Agatha did not let me down.
The girls' stories are unpredictable. And if i read ahead, nothing made sense, forcing me to read it all the way through. Which is good, so you actually read the book. (And yes, it does make sense when you read all of it. Besides you won't want to skip a single page.) Maybe it does have a bit of a slow start. But by the time you get to chapter 2 (specifically page 31), you hands will never leave the grip of the book. An asteroid could have hit the Earth and you would not have noticed. That's how good it is.
Here's what one of the readers thought:
"Soman Chainani has written a beautiful and enthralling novel that will appeal to every age out there because it has a bit of everything, action, romance, the meaning of friendship and everything else in between. You will never read a book like this one, Soman Chainani has written a one of a kind novel that will amaze you. I just loved this book. Loved it. LOVED. IT. And can I just say, that ending made me cry." Says Louisse @ The Soul Sisters.
I couldn't agree more. No one will be able to recreate the greatness of Soman's work. He has a real, strong bond between Sophie and Agatha like no other. These two will do anything to get in the right place, and they work together till the end. The Tale of Sophie and Agatha may not be a classic fairy-tale, but it has deserved to be an equally wonderful work of art to the world. If you had to ask me what the best part of the book was, I'd have to say the whole book! This book has gotten to the best sellers list in a year, so I think just that speaks for itself. If you haven't read the book, you need to run to the nearest library or bookstore so you don't miss out on anything.
I'll have the summary and review of Book 2 within the next few weeks! Next week we'll take a blast to the past with The Friendship Doll!
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Part 1 of the Heroes and Villains Blogging Chronicles
Now that we've visited Dead City, I think we should make a rather long stop at one of my favorite places for special kinds of people. Next to Camp Half Blood, Foxfire, and some creations of my own, The School for Good and Evil has me enchanted as all get out. They are actually two different schools, one for Good, and one for evil. In each school students get different training. Evil has co-ed classes like "Henchman Training" and "Curses and Death Traps". Good is separated by gender, boys having Sword Training (something I extremely envy) and girls having Animal Communication (a class I would fail miserably).
Just a heads up, for this week's summary, it's going to be different. First, I'll have the intro, then a description of three characters who take a big part in the book. That will be our summary. Then I'll put on part two, the review. Here we go!
There are no mistakes in this world. Although Sophie is convinced there is one when a shadow drops her off at the school for Evil. She's a princess, from her glittering green eyes to her flowing long hair. Her best friend Agatha, however, was dropped off at the school of Good, which is where she was supposed to go. When Sophie sets her eyes on her Prince, Tedros, the son of King Arthur, she knows she has to get over to the School of Good. And nothing will get in her way.
Tedros is waiting for someone to see past his looks. Every girl is practically drooling over him, begging to get his rose at the welcoming convention. The rose means you're dedicated to that person, that you like them. When his rose accidentally lands in a ugly pale girl's hand, he has to live with that mistake. Then he makes failed attempts at tests on the heart, just like his dad. That's the last thing he wants to do.
Agatha, the misfit of the school, is now back at base 1. Everyone hates her with her pale, anorexic ugliness. She thinks that the School For Evil is her home. She had lived in a graveyard for all of her life. Really all Agatha wants is to go back home with Sophie so they can forget about this crazy world, filled with walks and packing cucumbers. When desperate times call for desperate measures, Agatha steps up to help her friend, which is what only a Good person would do.
And that's it for today! We will have part two of The School For Good and Evil later this week containing the review!
Just a heads up, for this week's summary, it's going to be different. First, I'll have the intro, then a description of three characters who take a big part in the book. That will be our summary. Then I'll put on part two, the review. Here we go!
There are no mistakes in this world. Although Sophie is convinced there is one when a shadow drops her off at the school for Evil. She's a princess, from her glittering green eyes to her flowing long hair. Her best friend Agatha, however, was dropped off at the school of Good, which is where she was supposed to go. When Sophie sets her eyes on her Prince, Tedros, the son of King Arthur, she knows she has to get over to the School of Good. And nothing will get in her way.
Tedros is waiting for someone to see past his looks. Every girl is practically drooling over him, begging to get his rose at the welcoming convention. The rose means you're dedicated to that person, that you like them. When his rose accidentally lands in a ugly pale girl's hand, he has to live with that mistake. Then he makes failed attempts at tests on the heart, just like his dad. That's the last thing he wants to do.
Agatha, the misfit of the school, is now back at base 1. Everyone hates her with her pale, anorexic ugliness. She thinks that the School For Evil is her home. She had lived in a graveyard for all of her life. Really all Agatha wants is to go back home with Sophie so they can forget about this crazy world, filled with walks and packing cucumbers. When desperate times call for desperate measures, Agatha steps up to help her friend, which is what only a Good person would do.
And that's it for today! We will have part two of The School For Good and Evil later this week containing the review!
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Omaha!!! Wait no.... Omega!! BINGO!!!
Welcome back to the Blog of Books! This week's review (if you read last week's you would know what book, you can check it out here) is on Dead City By James Ponti, A story of a girl who's just discovered who she is. And well, that says a little too much...a little too weird. Molly visits the morgue on a regular basis. She's a mastermind in fencing and just in general smartness, going to a school that's practically home for all these brain filled people; MIST school. (Yes, that's actually the name.) It's also home to the biggest ZOMBIE fighters in the history of history. Unfortunately, in New York City, zombies lurk on every underground corner. Molly gets caught up in this deadly mess [you know zombies are dead so it's a DEADLY mess. ; )], fending off zombies on undercover missions, fencing and karate maneuvers, and occasionally a flat iron. With brains and friends on her side, almost anything is possible. Almost...
As that concludes our summary for this week we reach our review. You guys know the drill.
**** Four Stars for Molly and James Ponti
I love the book. It's filled with action and kept me on the edge of my seat, and I nearly died when Molly went to the zombie party. I loved how [author name] developed Molly's social life, from The Seven Swans to the Omega Team. The Ending has a great cliff hanger, which in my book now means throwing the book down and saying "Arrrrrrrggghhhhhh!!!" Then, screaming downstairs, "Mom! I need the second book!" Now I'm criticizing myself for STILL not getting the second book.
What wrong with this book? The only (and yes only) problem I had with it was this:
"Stop investigating. Us adults will take it from here." Of course I'm not quoting from the book, but that's the gist. The adults take over and we don't get to read about what happens. Plus, you're taking the biggest zombie problem EVER away from the world's best zombie fighter in the 21st century. I guess I have to read the second book to find out. This book is really for anyone starting at the age of ten. I don't even like zombies and I liked this book. Also you cannot say people don't like this book, because Suzanne Collins recommended it (she's the author of the Hunger Games, a book I might review, but everyone else has already read it.). And well, if she said it was good, that makes the two of us.
Next week's review will be reaching out to your inner hero/villain, so be sure to check that out!
The B.O.B.er signing out!
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