Tag Archive | reading

Being Henry David, by Cal Armistead (book review) – memory gone, called to Walden

Jun11

book cover of Being Henry David by Cal Armistead published by Albert WhitmanNo luggage, no memory,
No memory, no past…
Why? Why did he erase his own memories?

From wherever home was, teenage “Hank” finds himself alone in a train station with only a copy of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden  and knows that he must get to Walden Pond, just as the author did, to discover truth through nature and perhaps find the strength to face his past.

Read an excerpt of the book here as you dive into the story of why a young man abandons his memory and decides that Being Henry David  is much better than being himself.

Can deciding that a memory doesn’t exist change the past?
**kmm

Book info: Being Henry David / Cal Armistead. Albert Whitman, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [video author interview]

My book talk: Waking up in Penn Station alone, no memories. None. Looking in washroom mirror, he sees a teenage guy with black hair, gray eyes, a big lump on his head. He has ten bucks in his front pocket and a copy of Walden – that’s it. He’ll be Henry David, after its author, until he can remember his own name or past or why he can’t remember…

Another teen rescues him from a homeless guy who wants to eat the book, nicknames him Hank because Henry David is too long, takes him to a hidden place to sleep, and gets him involved with some drug dealers who need more runners. After a knife fight, running seems like an excellent idea, so Jack splits the drug money and Hank gets on the train for Concord, looking for answers at Walden Pond, the only glimmer of memory he’s got.

Thoreau’s cabin site is easy to find, says Hailey, the girl he meets at the station. But Hank can’t understand why there is no cabin at the cabin site, just four rock cornerstones and a slab… cold sleeping tonight, and dreams where Thoreau speaks to him.

Is Thoreau there in the flesh in the morning? No, it’s Thomas, who does historical interpretations at Walden Pond and is the town reference librarian, heavily tattooed and riding a Harley. He shares breakfast with Hank, shares hia appreciation for Thoreau’s vision of a simpler life, but doesn’t pry into Hank’s affairs.

In Concord, Hank scopes out Hailey’s high school as a place to stay over the weekend, trying to avoid the blackness that erupts when he probes his memories. Visiting the town library to read more about Thoreau, Hank passes out as the infected knife wound clobbers his system and Thomas takes him home.

Hank’s fingers remember how to play the guitar – can he help Hailey in the Battle of the Bands?
Thomas suggests checking the missing teens database – can he find himself?
The blackness holding back his memories wavers – can he live with what he remembers?

Whether runaways or kidnapped, lost, strayed or stolen, so many stories of teens gone from home have unhappy endings – read Being Henry David to see if Hank’s story is one of them. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My Fave Five apps for bloggers and readers (plus a bonus app or two)

Jun5
cartoon of billiard ball 5 by ClassroomClipart.com

(c)ClassroomClipart.com

Today’s WordCount Blogathon theme is Five Favorite Apps.

My hands-down favorite is 30/30 for iOs and Android (didn’t find it for Windows phone yet). This timer program allows me to set up alerts for a sequence of tasks – as long as the blocks are under 60 minutes – and sounds an alarm when it’s time to switch to next task. I can pause a timed task, add or subtract time, move off the list for now, all on the fly.  Add in the ability to create and save multiple sequences, and you have a truly useful app that’s FREE.

I use  30/30 to schedule in stretch breaks, remind myself to check email and Twitter on a regular-but-not-constant basis, and so on. Rewarding myself with a 15-minute block of gameplay satisfies my need for some non-writing time while keeping me from getting so engrossed in the game that I ‘forget’ to get back to work. Super-super-super for ensuring that I’m not sitting still in front of computer for hours at a go.

Finding BufferApp was delightful. I use the free version to pre-schedule tweets at times when more of my followers are on Twitter, which lets me write the perfect tweet about a new blog post, put it in a scheduled slot on BufferApp, and not have to worry about remembering to tweet as soon as that post goes live. Recent enhancements let me Buffer retweets directly from Twitter, rather than having to copy-paste. Also available for iOs and Android, it works with Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. You can have up to 10 tweets buffered at a time with the free version, more with paid subscription.

Next is Dropbox (free for computers, iOs, Android, Windows Phone) which gives me access to my saved Dropbox files from nearly anywhere. As I routinely move between several computers in multiple locations, I save essential documents (optical prescriptions, frequent flyer numbers, book reviews) into Dropbox so I don’t have to remember which hard drive they’re on. It’s also great as photo/video downloader and repository, as I don’t have to locate cables to directly download phone photos to my computer.

Number four is a catchall of apps, since I haven’t yet bought a dedicated eReader because the eReader format wars haven’t shown any clear winner. I use the free Kindle and Nook apps on my phone (and desktop and laptop and netbook) to access those eBook types. Many publishers provide ARCs (advance reader copies) to reviewers in Adobe Digital Editions format, so that’s on all my computers, too. Adobe doesn’t have ADE for iOs yet, and user reviews of phone apps which claim to read ePub and ADE format are uniformly dissatisfied with those alternatives; hope Adobe has their own reader app available soon.

My fifth app helps me keep up with all the wonderful blogs I follow. When Google announced they were discontinuing GoogleReader this summer, I joined the mad dash to find a good substitute. After trying a few, I’ve settled on feedly as my preferred blog-reader and have happily changed my 30/30 task name. With a robust ‘back-end’ to harvest the blogs you subscribe to, it’s time to say hello feedly and sayonara GR!

And the bonus apps for everyone are Sun Wise from the EPA (all smartphone platforms) which gives you the current UV Index for any zipcode and Charity Miles which donates money to your choice of several charitable causes for every mile that you walk, run, or bike while you have the app activated. That’s right – you give the physical effort and someone else donates the funds! Among their current charities are Wounded Warrior Project, The Nature Conservancy, Autism Speaks, and StandUp2Cancer. Their initial $1 million pool pays out 25 cents per mile walked or run and 10 cents per mile biked to the charity you’ve selected. So download this app for iOs or Android, then get out there and move!

What apps do you use to keep your life/work/fun/relationships balance successfully juggled?
**kmm

Read with your ears! Free audiobook downloads all summer with SYNC

Jun1

SYNC summer YA audiobooks logoWoo-hoo! Summer is finally here!
time for road trips, new jobs,
Wordcount Blogathon,
lazy days by the pool…
so “read with your ears” while you work or relax – for free!

The popular SYNC program returns this summer with free audiobooks of YA and classic books, so you can read with your ears at your computer, on your phone, or with any other enabled electronic device.

Once you’ve downloaded a SYNC audiobook, it’s yours to keep and listen to for as long as you like!

There is a catch, of course – each pair of audiobooks is only downloadable for 7 days (Thursday through Wednesday).  I’ll remind you of each title pair and the SYNC download site weekly, but you can also have the program send you alerts by email (sign up on the SYNC site) or by text message by texting syncya to 25827 (standard message rates and fees apply).

Our first free pair of books take us to the stormy sea – download them before 11:59 pm US Eastern time on Wed, June 5th!

CD cover of Of Poseidon audiobookCD cover of The Tempest audiobook by BBC RadioMay 30 – June 5, 2013
Of Poseidon by Anna Banks, read by Rebecca Gibel (AudioGO)
The Tempest by William Shakespeare, read by a Full Cast, with music (AudioGO)

You’ll note several BooksYALove favorites on the line-up for SYNC Summer 2013 below – the link to my no-spoilers recommendation appears after those.

So get ready to read with your ears, all summer long! Which SYNC audiobook are you looking forward to most?
**kmm

June 6 – June 12, 2013
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 1: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood, read by Katherine Kellgren (HarperAudio)
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, read by Wanda McCaddon (Tantor Audio)

June 13 – June 19, 2013
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, read by Will Patton (Scholastic Audiobooks)
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, read by Robert Ramirez (Recorded Books)

June 20 – June 26, 2013
Once by Morris Gleitzman, read by Morris Gleitzman (Bolinda Audio)
Letter From Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr., read by Dion Graham (christianaudio)

June 27 – July 3, 2013
Rotters by Daniel Kraus, read by Kirby Heyborne (Listening Library)
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, read by Jim Weiss (Listening Library)

July 4 – July 10, 2013
Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford, read by Nick Podehl (Brilliance Audio)
She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith, read by a Full Cast (L.A. Theatre Works)

July 11 – July 17, 2013
The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann, read by Peter Altschuler (HarperAudio)
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, read by Simon Vance (Tantor Audio)

July 18 – July 24, 2013
Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, read by Erin Moon (Recorded Books) – my recommendation here
Hamlet by William Shakespeare, read by a Full Cast (L.A. Theatre Works)

July 25 – July 31, 2013
The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen, read by Charlie McWade (Scholastic Audiobooks) – my recommendation here
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain, read by Steve West (Blackstone Audio)

Aug 1 – Aug 7, 2013
Death Cloud by Andrew Lane, read by Dan Weyman (Macmillan Audio) – my recommendation here
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, read by Ralph Cosham (Blackstone Audio)

Aug 8 – Aug 14, 2013
Enchanted by Alethea Kontis, read by Katherine Kellgren (Brilliance Audio) – my recommendation here
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll, read by Miriam Margolyes (Bolinda Audio)

Aug 15 – Aug 21, 2013
Sold by Patricia McCormick, read by Justine Eyre (Tantor Audio)
Let Me Stand Alone by Rachel Corrie, read by Tavia Gilbert (Blackstone Audio)

Armchair BEA! Book bloggers wishing we were there…

May28
sketch of stacked books typewriter person reading from 1clipart.com

(c) 1Clipart.com

The biggest US book event of the year starts now in NYC, and I am among the many book-fans not attending BookExpo America… sigh.

But, hark! There in the blogosphere… it’s Armchair BEA, a chance for book bloggers not thronging Javits Center to gather together virtually and celebrate our love of books and blogging!

First things, first – introductions:

Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging?
I learned to read when I was so little that I can’t remember ever not being able to read – and I’ve always loved reading a wide range of genres and subjects. In fact, being a non-specialist is why I became a librarian, back in the olden days of mainframes and card catalogs.

A few years ago, my husband’s out-of-state job transfer gave me the chance to ‘retire’ early from school library (the retirement checks will catch up in a few years), and I found myself with time to finally read and read. When Barb Langridge asked for guest reviewers for her website www.abookandahug.com where kids search for books themselves, I sent in a sample…and the rest is history! Barb always reminded me that my recommendations belonged to me and encouraged me to share them, so when I heard about WordCount Blogathon 2011 – blogging every single day for a month – I decided to leap in.

Thankfully, my choice of blog name was available, I had a built-in community of supportive bloggers for that first month, and I found my niche recommending young adult books beyond best-sellers. Because of Blogathon, I also got onto Twitter, where I can hear from authors, bloggers, and everyone else (love it).

This year, Blogathon starts June 1 (you still have time to sign up!). I still contribute many recommendations to www.abookandahug.com, too (over 340, at last count).

Where in the world are you blogging from? Tell a random fact or something special about your current location.
Now in a different location for husband’s work – we stay in an RV park during the week, home to E. Texas most weekends. If you drive straight south on road from RV park, you get to the free Lynchburg Ferry which has been running since 1822! After crossing the river, you come to the San Jacinto Monument and the Battleship Texas.

Have you previously participated in Armchair BEA? If you have not previously participated, what drew you to the event?
This is my first year for Armchair BEA. For the past couple of years, I’ve just pouted when all the tweets and blog reports came in from BEA. It sounds like the Texas Library Association conference exhibit hall on steroids, and that would be some kinda huge!

I really like the chance for interaction and community in what can be such a solitary pursuit. It’s just me and 2 sleeping cats here writing reviews with content enhancements, week in and week out.

What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2013?
Oh, gosh, ask an easier question, like favorite book this week! I read very, very fast (so my summer #bookaday challenge should be easy), but really take time to craft recommendations with no spoilers.

Since I concentrate on smaller presses and debut authors, finding the gems among them is so cool. Two very different books by M. Scott Carter are recent reads that I’ll recommend during June so Blogathonners see them: Stealing Kevin’s Heart  and The Immortal Von B.  (both from The Roadrunner Press). Laurie Plissner’s Screwed from Merit Press made me cry; it’s so good, but no easy answers.

Tell us one non-book-related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you.photo of couple in traditional Chinese wedding clothes (c) Katy Manck
My husband and I celebrated our 25th anniversary while he was building the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, so we had a traditional Chinese wedding ceremony as our rededication! The wedding planners said they’d never heard of a Western couple doing that before. Lion-dog dancers, acrobats, being carried in a palanquin, erhu and flute music – quite the experience!

Onward, Armchairers!
**kmm

Clipart of reader with books and typewriter copyrighted by and courtesy of 1clipart.com

Ready…set…blog! It’s Wordcount Blogathon Time!

May27

Wordcount Blogathon2013 green logoWhere the first spark struck a flame,
The setup, the theme choice, the blog name,
Where BooksYALove got its start – Wordcount Blogathon!!

Yes, the reason that BooksYALove exists is the 2011 Wordcount Blogathon, where a free challenge to blog daily every day of the entire month of May finally gave me the oomph to create a blog so I could share and comment on the young adult books that I recommend on Barb Langridge’s site www.abookandahug.com, where librarians recommend the best books for babies, kids, tweens, and teens.

This year on June 1st, Wordcount Blogathonners will set out to post to their own blogs every single day of the month. The discipline of posting something with regularity helps you build up your “blogging muscles” and explore your blog topic more widely and/or deeply.

Freelance writer Michelle Rafter’s brainchild is now in its 6th year, and the registration, advice and guidance are still free. Sign up here by 11 p.m. EDT/ 8 p.m. Pacific on May 31 to be eligible for a whole slew of prizes in the closing raffle for folks who blog every day of June 2013.

Michelle offers a few suggested theme days (to fill the lull when you just can’t think of another thing to write about) and the opportunity to connect with bloggers to match up for guest posts (you write a post for their blog, they write a post for yours).

The kickoff Twitter chat (use #blog2013) at 1 p.m. Eastern/ 10 a.m. Pacific on Wednesday, May 29th is a great way to scope things out, ask questions about blogging for 30 days straight, and gear yourself up for a great challenge.

New this year is a Wordcount Blogathon Facebook page, where participants can share post summaries and links, request guest post matches, and keep in touch. This FB page replaces the old Google Group which several of us used to share our posts year-round, months and months after Blogathon officially closed (like I said, community!). Blogathonners are generally quite good about visiting one another’s blogs during the challenge, then following favorites over the long haul, so you can get some new followers, too!

Whether you want to start blogging, give your current blog some new spark, or find new bloggers to follow, Wordcount Blogathon 2013 is for you, so sign up for Blogathon and get on out there!

You know that you want that cool Blogathon participant badge, too.
**kmm

TBR and A-to-Z – Reflecting on April alphabet soup!

May1

sketch of cloud with face blowing out wind April just whoooshed by, didn’t it? Suddenly it’s May 1st, BooksYALove’s second birthday!

This month, I shared twenty-six new book recommendations here, over half for books published before 2013, so I’m making progress on the TBR2012 Challenge and my overstuffed to-be-reviewed shelves, and attended the Texas Library Association annual conference in Fort Worth, where I met authors, got autographs, and received advance reader copies of upcoming titles which look amazing!

Last year was the first time I’d participated in the April A-to-Z Blog Challenge, and I really stressed out about it, trying to visit and comment intelligently on far too many participants’ blogs while squishing my recommendations into the restrictive A-on-this-day, B-on-next format (and also attending TLA with activities in every waking moment).

This year, I signed up anyway as a good way to prod myself into clearing my to-be-reviewed shelves of the great books which had just gotten passed over for even-more-wonderful books as time went along. I got a few new followers (which is one reason to do a blog challenge), and they left insightful comments (which is why you want followers), so I feel better about April A-to-Z Blog Challenge than I did last year and am likely to sign up next year to do it again (my to-be-reviewed shelves will undoubtedly refill themselves, as I read much quicker than I write recommendations).

Here are the prior-to-2013 books which I recommended in April for TBR Challenge; just click on the title to read more about it:

Fantasy/Fairy Tale:
Darkbeast – Morgan Keyes
Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses – Ron Koertge; illustrated by Andrea Dezso [in verse]

Historical fiction:
The Lost Crown – Sarah Miller
Where the Broken Heart Still Beats – Carolyn Meyer

Mystery:
Death Cloud (Young Sherlock Holmes #1) – Andrew Lane

Paranormal:
Born Wicked (Cahill Witch Chronicles #1) – Jessica Spotswood
Exile (Mercy #2) – Rebecca Lim
Radiant Days – Elizabeth Hand

Realistic Fiction:
The Candymakers – Wendy Mass
The Day Before – Lisa Schroeder [in verse]
Freaks Like Us – Susan Vaught
The Key to the Golden Firebird – Maureen Johnson
Nothing Special – Geoff Herbach
Pink Smog: Becoming Weetzie Bat – Francesca Lia Block
Surviving High School – M. Doty
Wish You Were Here – Barbara Shoup

So, I’ve recommended 44 titles for TBR2012, including those featured in January, February, and March, with some still on my shelves! Stay tuned…

Which new-to-you pre-2013 books have you enjoyed lately?
**kmm

(blowing cloud image (c) FreeClipArtNow.com)

TBR2012 Challenge Marches On (reflective) – more 2012 titles recommended, more to go!

Mar29

sketch of tired walking stickman from Online ClipArt LibraryAnother swath of my to-be-reviewed-2012 bookshelf cleared in March, bringing my total to 28 this-year recommendations of last year’s books, including my January and February lists.

Just in case you missed a few, try these 2012 titles:

The Dark Unwinding – Sharon Cameron

Exposure  – Kim Askew and Amy Helmes  

Mothership – Martin Leicht and Isla Neal 

The Secret War (Jack Blank #2) – Matt Myklusch

Sisters Red  – Jackson Pearce

Tempestuous  – Kim Askew and Amy Helmes

Making pretty good progress on the TBR2012 Challenge at Evie’s Bookish blog, but wait till you see the list after the Blogging from A to Z Challenge in April!

(sketch of Stickyman Tired courtesy of OpenClipArtLibrary http://openclipart.org/detail/86137/stickyman-tired-by-cybergedeon)

April’s AtoZ Blog Challenge (reflective) – 26 letters, 26 new book recommendations

Mar25
drawing of mouse walking with umbrella by Dover

April showers bring… books!

Twenty-six letters.

Twenty-six blog posts.

Twenty-six new book recommendations.

April showers – of books!

You’ve heard the expression, “If you want something done, ask a busy person.” That must be the reason that I’m taking on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge  (I’m #257 of over 1,100 bloggers!) again this April (especially after my so-so experience with it last year). Mainly, I’m using the A through Z theme to help clear more off my To Be Reviewed shelf of last year’s titles, so that will get me further along on the TBR2012 Challenge, too.

Most are fiction books (over half with pre-2013 copyright dates), with a couple of brand-new nonfiction titles to keep it interesting.

AND my new website is nearly done, so all BooksYALove posts (old and new) will be there very soon. I’ll let y’all know when it goes live and will leave a notice at this site to make sure folks find it if they come to the party later.

**kmm

January progress on TBR2012 Challenge (reflective) – read lots, recommended more

Jan31
Faced with overflowing shelves of 2012-dated ARCs (advance reader copies) and published books as the old year wound down, I leaped at the TBR Challenge posted by Evie on her Bookish blog (I’m #251). So, in January, I’ve re-read and written recommendations on BooksYALove (and am posting the brief reviews for several titles on www.abookandahug.com) for these 2012 books:Fantasy:
Watersmeet,  by Ellen Jensen Abbott

Historical fiction:
A Hundred Flowers,  by Gail Tsukiyama

Paranormal:
Every Other Day, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
The Unnaturalists,  by Tiffany Trent

Realistic fiction – Young Adult:
The Butterfly Clues,  by Kate Ellison
The Difference Between You and Me,  by Madeleine George
Fish in the Sky,  by Fridrik Erlings
Moonglass,  by Jessi Kirby
Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy,  by Bil Wright
What Happens Next,  by Colleen Clayton

SciFi:
Adaptation,  by Malinda Lo
Year Zero, by Rob Reid

As you’re hunting up these great books, remember to check with your local library and independent bookstore, since all these titles have been published already. Keeping your book-dollars close to home is good sense and good business, as these singing booksellers remind us!

Yes, I’m making progress on my To-Be-Read stack of new books and 2013 ARCs, while also writing up my To-Be-Recommended books from 2012 (and some from 2011!). Let’s see what February brings…
**kmm

TBR – books To Be Read AND books To Be Reviewed! (reflective)

Jan1

cartoon of cat wearing party hat with champagne glassWell, the holiday season is almost complete, the old year nearly done, the new year peeking around the clocktower… and soon I’ll be back in the saddle, writing BooksYALove blog posts, recommending YA books that you might miss if you rely on the big-box stores’ displays and promotions.

So it’s a great time to make resolutions – especially ones that you can successfully keep! I’m taking my cue from Evie over at her Bookish blog and concentrating on my overflowing TBR piles and shelves.

For me, that’s the To Be Read shelves, whose covers I haven’t even opened yet, as well as the other TBR shelves, my To Be Reviewed/Recommended books, the ones that I’ve read and enjoyed, but haven’t quite gotten around to crafting my recommendations for… yet.

And they’re really good books! Otherwise, I just chuck them into the giveaway box. Y’all don’t have time to read ho-hum, formulaic books, do you? So I have stacks of 2012 copyright books that I haven’t told you about…yet.

So that’s my priority for BooksYALove in 2013: to efficiently tackle my 2012 awesome books while bringing you the best debut titles and books from smaller publishers as they arrive, hot off the presses throughout the year. TBR Challenge, here I come!

To keep me honest, I’m registering my intent over on Evie’s blog: http://www.evie-bookish.blogspot.com/p/welcome-to-2012-tbr-pile-reading.html and will be checking in with a linked post monthly, highlighting my 2012 must-reads, as shared with y’all through BooksYALove (and usually on Barb Langridge’s abookandahug site, too: www.abookandahug.com).

Promising an exact number of posts each week seems unrealistic, but I’ll do my best to make you hungry to read these wonderful books at your local library or purchased from your favorite indie bookstore (keep your money in town, okay?) – and please, let me know if I’m bringing you titles that sound intriguing, unmissable, or out-of-the-ordinary.

Indeed, 2012 was a great year for Young Adult books, so let’s hope that 2013 is equally stellar.
Which genre is your can’t-wait-to-read favorite? Happy New Year, and happy reading!

*kmm
(celebratory cat cartoon courtesy of DesignedToaT: http://www.designedtoat.com/newyears.shtml)