Tag Archive | TBR2013

Grammar Girl Presents the Ultimate Writing Guide for Students, by Mignon Fogarty (book review)

Mar26

book cover of Grammar Girl Presents the Ultimate Writing Guide for Students by Mignon Fogarty published by St Martins GriffinBetween or among?
There, their, they’re?
I wonder if an indirect question needs a question mark.

Ah, springtime and term papers… what a crazy combination! You can keep the red editing marks from marring your work by consulting a friendly voice in the writing wilderness: Grammar Girl.

Among Mignon Fogarty’s many helpful books on writing, grammar, and word usage is Grammar Girl Presents the Ultimate Writing Guide for Students. Check it out at your local library, then buy your own personal copy from your favorite indie bookstore.

Now, about when to use as versus like…
**kmm

Book info: Grammar Girl Presents the Ultimate Writing Guide for Students / Mignon Fogarty; illustrations by Erwin Haya. St. Martins Griffin, 2011.  [author site]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Whether you’re writing a school report or fanfic with a twist, knowing how to use grammar properly will ensure that you are truly understood. Mignon Fogarty brings her trademark clarity to student writing with this fun and funny guide.

Revisit parts of speech and sentence types, “punch up your punctuation” (how do those quotation marks mix with the rest?), and dive into the whole editing/rewriting process with Grammar Girl’s easy-reading mix of explanations, writing samples, pop quizzes, and Quick and Dirty Tips (like when to use they’re, their, or there).

Aardvark and his pet snail Squiggly act out key concepts for visual reinforcements, and the written examples can be hilarious: “Squiggly presumed that Grammar Girl would flinch when she saw the word misspelled as alot.”

To improve your writing and laugh along the way, get a copy of Grammar Girl Presents the Ultimate Writing Guide for Students now – your readers and teachers will thank you! (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Spies and Prejudice, by Talia Vance (book review) – girl undercover or under the radar?

Mar7

book cover of Spies and Prejudice by Talia Vance published by EgmontGuys aren’t only lying when their mouths are moving –
Berry’s surveillance photos for divorce cases prove it.
So she’ll never fall in love with anyone – too risky.

Listening devices and hidden videocameras are the tools of her trade, but Berry certainly never expected to overhear the cute new guy label her “nothing special” while she was on a stakeout!

Over 200 years after its publication, Pride and Prejudice  still inspires retellings of its story of misdirected love and misguided snobbery. Surely Jane Austen would admire Berry’s forthrightness, as well as exploding jeweled bracelets and micro-camera eyeglasses as vital articles of fashionable apparel!

Have you read any other inspired-by-the-classics or mash-up contemporary YA books lately?
**kmm

Book info: Spies and Prejudice / Talia Vance. Egmont, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Secrets and betrayal are nothing new to Berry, but the teen isn’t used to cute guys interfering with her undercover work.

Maybe it began when Tanner and his brother Ryan came to McHenry High, or when senior Drew started talking to Berry in the library, or when the woman who witnessed the accident which killed Berry’s mother eight years ago now says it wasn’t an accident…

Her high-tech genius best friend is falling for Ryan, Tanner tells Berry that she can’t trust Drew, and Drew says that Tanner and Ryan aren’t who they claim to be. Add in her first Homecoming dance and a mysterious letter from her mom addressed to someone who denies it – no wonder Berry is distracted during routine stakeouts for her dad’s private investigation firm.

Hidden identities and mixed messages are funny until they become deadly serious in this tale of espionage, romance, and the family business (with a nod to the Jane Austen classic).  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

My to-be-reviewed shelf is slowly shrinking… TBR2014 Challenge update

Feb28

For most book-folk, TBR means “to be read” (as in “My TBR stack is taller than I am”), but for me it means that lonnng shelf of books that I’ve already read, but still need “to be reviewed” here!

Moving right along, I added recommendations of these books with 2013 or earlier copyright date to BooksYALove in February (click each link to open my no-spoiler review in a new tab/window):

book cover of Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason published by Chronicle Booksbook cover of Go A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design by Chip Kidd published by WorkmanThe Clockwork Scarab – Egyptian curse stalking young women in steampunk London or merely murder? Eva Stoker and Mina Holmes investigate!

Go: A Kidd’s Guide to Graphic Design – from color to typography, noted graphic designer Chip Kidd shares info, insight and project ideas.

book cover of Team Human by Sarah Rees Brennan and Justine Larbalestierbook cover of Flygirl by Sherri L Smith published by PenguinTeam Vampire – when transforming to vampire can leave you a zombie, why wouldn’t Mel want to keep her best friend among the living?

Flygirl – passing for white so she can fly during WWII, Ida Mae will face even more dangers on the ground than aloft.

book cover of How Not to Be a Dick by Meghan Doherty published by Zest BooksHow Not to Be a Dick – this common-sense (with a sense of humor) everyday etiquette guide will help you be a better person.

So far in 2014, I’ve 8 recommended of my targeted 50+ pre-2014 titles for this year’s Bookish 2014 TBR Reading Challenge – onward!
*kmm

How Not to Be a Dick, by Meghan Doherty (book review) – etiquette for everyone

Feb25

book cover of How Not to Be a Dick by Meghan Doherty published by Zest BooksEating your last cupcake without asking!
Texting while walking on a busy sidewalk!
Cutting in line! What revolting behavior!

Honestly, we don’t need any more dicks in this world, so heed the advice in Doherty’s book while enjoying the off-the-wall life lessons shared by her retro characters (you’ll never think of cheese logs again without smiling).

pages from How Not to Be a Dick by Meghan Doherty published by Zest BooksThis humorous and helpful book is decidedly worth asking for at your local library or independent bookstore (a great graduation gift idea, too).

And, please, don’t sing on public transportation…

**kmm

Book info: How Not to Be a Dick: An Everyday Etiquette Guide / Meghan Doherty. Zest Books, 2013.   [author’s tumblr]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy, sample page images, and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Thoughtless, selfish people make life miserable for everyone – avoid becoming a dick like them by following the advice in this cartoon-laced etiquette guide for young adults (and older folk who should already know better)!

Meghan Doherty discusses how not to be a dick in relationships and at home, as well as at school, work, and play. Internet and travel etiquette are also covered (shoes-off = okay while online, not while on the bus), and her signature retro-sketched characters hold decent and dickish conversations throughout the book.

Whether it’s how to state your opinion without alienating your friends or how to divide chores fairly with your roommates, keeping her ten big guidelines in mind will smooth your way in life – without making you a doormat.

Please do pledge “to use the tools and techniques provided in this book to help make the world a less dickish place” – we’re all in this together!

Flygirl, by Sherri L. Smith (book review) – flying for her country, despite prejudice

Feb21

book cover of Flygirl by Sherri L Smith published by PenguinWorld War II made Uncle Sam let women fly military planes.
Grit made women pilots endure ‘this man’s Army’ to become WASPs, flying routine Stateside runs in 1943-44.
Ida Mae dared to  ‘pass for white’ so she could fly again, in memory of her father.

While this book is fiction, the prejudices faced by “farm hick” Ida and her bunkmates “rich Jew” Lily and “carnie” Patsy the air show wing-walker were commonplace during World War II, as was the constant danger that Ida would be lynched if her not-white origins were revealed.

Training was tough; only half of WASP trainees made it to actual missions – delivering aircraft to bases, stress-testing new military planes, towing targets for artillery practice – but they weren’t recognized for their military service until 1977!

Flygirl has been out in paperback since 2010, so you should easily be able to find this riveting story at your local library or favorite independent bookstore.

How far can Ida fly and remain true to herself?
**kmm

Book info: Flygirl / Sherri L. Smith. Speak, 2010 (Penguin hardcover, 2008).  [author site]  [publisher site]  [fan-created book trailer] [author video interview] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: If passing for white will get Ida Mae back into the sky during World War II, she’ll do it – but how long can she live the lie and stay away from her family?

When the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots begin to test and transfer planes so military pilots are free for combat missions, Ida dreams of flying again, wondering if Uncle Sam is desperate enough to take black women pilots.

Light-skinned Ida applies anyway – she can use her late daddy’s flying lessons to serve her country, though she can never allow anyone to know her true roots.

One error at the WASP training base, and Ida will be sent home as a failure.
One mistaken calculation, and she could crash a much-needed training plane.
One slip-up that shows she’s not white, and the consequences could be deadly.

Test flights in unstable new planes, competition to be on a crew, bad news from overseas and from home – there really is a war on, and Ida is fighting it on more fronts than any of her fellow WASP pilots can imagine. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

A2Z Blog Challenge this year? My TBR shelf says yes!

Feb18

logo of A to Z Blog Challenge April 2014 Every spring, I agonize over whether or not to participate in the April AtoZ Blog Challenge.

Twenty-six posts in 26 days…

By no means impossible, but it sure is tough for me to get all the posts’ subjects to align with the A-through-Z daily schedule in April (we have Sundays off, thank God!).

However, my to-be-reviewed shelf of worthwhile reads is so overflowing that I  easily set aside 26 great books, each with a wee-bitty alpha tag, just waiting for April – and I still have scads more to write about in the meantime!

So yes, I’m committing myself to 26 A2Z posts in April again – third time’s a charm? See me at #785 on the AtoZ list?  (This will also help immensely with my pre-2014 books backlog as part of the Bookish blog TBR2014 Challenge)

Are you up for the Challenge too?
**kmm

Team Human, by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan (book review) – love your local vampire?

Feb14

Team HumanHazmat suit? Check.
Fountain pen and journal? Check.
Vampire enrolling in high school, 200 years late? Check.
Craunston High may not be ready for Francis, but Cathy sure is – and Mel wants to stop that relationship ASAP!

Read an excerpt here for that first schoolday as Cathy swoons over coolly distant Francis, whom Mel judges as “a crazy astronaut suit full of trouble” – and that’s before she meets the human teenage boy who lives in the same vampire house!

You should easily be able to find Team Human  in your favorite local library or independent bookstore after its 2013 paperback release (also available as eBook).

Would you give up sunshine, chocolate, and your best friend for love?
**kmm

Book info: Team Human / Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan. Harper Teen, 2012 (paperback 2013).  [Justine’s site]   [Sarah’s site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy from personal collection; cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: When her best friend falls in love with a vampire and wants to change over, Mel just cannot let it happen!

It’s all so civilized in this New England town founded by vampires, with sunproof windows in every building and the Zombie Disposal Unit on call (unfortunate side effect for 20% of vampire changes) and volunteer blood banks.

Recently, the principal’s husband ran away with a vampire, leaving her and Mel’s classmate Anna alone. Then debonair Francis enrolls in their high school, and ultimate undead fan Cathy falls for him.  Why is this well-educated 200 year old vampire suddenly risking daytime travel to school? Mel is sure he’s up to no good.

No, Cathy’s not a modern soul, but what if Francis stops loving her after she risks the change?
Yes, Kit is hot, but the human teen living with Francis’s vampire family is planning to change, too!

Maybe Mel is a bit sensitive about vampires, but she won’t stop investigating Francis’s real reasons for coming to school if it will keep her best (her only) friend on Team Human!   (One of 7,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Go: A Kidd’s Guide to Graphic Design, by Chip Kidd (book review) – design is everywhere we look

Feb7

book cover of Go A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design by Chip Kidd published by WorkmanColor and contrast,
Fonts and spaces,
Scale and repetition,
Graphic design is everywhere.

Chip Kidd has designed book covers for the past 27 years, “putting a face on the story” as he says in his so-funny TED talk. He created the Jurassic Park logo, so he really knows his stuff.

Don’t be fooled the “board book” chunky cardboard cover or the youthful voices on the clever book trailer — this is a thorough and intriguing guide for young (and not-so-young) adults who want to better understand design.

Go  has deservedly been named a 2014 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction finalist. Find it at your favorite local library or independent bookstore today, and start seeing the human-made objects around you in a different light.

How would you re-design your favorite book cover? Chip is waiting for your entry at http://gothebook.tumblr.com/challenge!
**kmm

Book info:  Go: A Kidd’s Guide to Graphic Design / Chip Kidd. Workman Publishing, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Graphic design is all around us – but how do you know what works if you’re creating your own? Go: A Kidd’s Guide to Graphic Design can tell and show you everything.

From defining precisely what graphic design is (“Everything that is not made by nature is designed by someone.” p.6) to the parts which make up every design – form, typography, content, concept – Chip Kidd provides clear explanations and spot-on examples.

Explore the history of graphic design from cave paintings to now, positive and negative space, kerning and picas, Pantone colors, and much more as illustrated by book covers (many designed by Kidd) and advertisements from many eras.

After you’ve experimented with color grids and decided on which of 25 fonts feels like you, work through the 10 graphic design projects which wrap up the book (your personal logo!) and post your favorites on the book’s website. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Clockwork Scarab, by Colleen Gleason (book review) – the Misses Stoker and Holmes, on the case!

Feb4

book cover of Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason published by Chronicle BooksAncient Egypt is all the rage,
“Cognoggins” crave the newest steam-machines,
London society’s fairest maidens are being kidnapped…and worse!

It’s Evalina who inherited the Stoker family call to hunt vampires and the superhuman quickness needed to succeed. The logical mind and innate problem-solving skills shared by Sherlock and Mycroft also live on in gadget-loving Mina.

Only the personal request of Her Highness could make these rivals work together in this 1889 world powered by steam… and lies.

Add a handsome police detective, a young man of the streets who knows more than he should, and a stranger who claims to come from the future (where electricity is legal? Oh, who is he trying to fool?), and things get more complicated than either independent-minded miss had anticipated!

Check out the first Stoker & Holmes book today at your favorite local library or independent bookstore, and immerse yourself in a steampunk city with mystery and mayhem.

Or should modern writers not take classic tales beyond their original authors’ limits?
**kmm

Book info: The Clockwork Scarab (Stoker & Holmes, book 1) / Colleen Gleason. Chronicle Books, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: When young London society heiresses go missing and leave scarab amulets behind, Stoker and Holmes must investigate – that’s Eva Stoker, vampire hunter, and Mina Holmes, niece of Sherlock.

Summoned by the Princess of Wales to solve the deadly mystery, the two young ladies find another dead girl in the British Museum’s Egyptian room – and a young man in strange garb who claims to come from the future!

Inspector Luckworth of Scotland Yard suspects this Dylan fellow in the case, charming street urchin Pix knows more than he’s telling, and another young lady of quality disappears…

Can Eva’s defensive talents keep rational Mina from becoming the scarab cult’s next victim?

Can Mina solve the scarab mystery before Eva’s impulsive actions close off all clues or get them both killed?

Can they get Dylan back to his time in his own world?

Something much deadlier than illegal electricity is stalking the streets and levels of steampunk London in this first volume of the Stoker and Holmes series, even if these dedicated young ladies are underappreciated by the men in their noted families!  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

TBR2014 Challenge – catching up on YA books!

Jan31

Wait a minute…
How did January race by so fast?

Thankfully, I did squeeze in some recommendations of pre-2014 published books for the TBR2014 Challenge on Bookish blog (I’m number 30 there).
(the newest books are great, but the best books of any time are better, right?)

Be sure you check out these recent BooksYALove faves (each title link goes to my no-spoiler recommendation):

book cover of Coda by Emma Trevayne published by Running Pressbook cover of Winter of the Robots by Kurtis Scaletta published by Alfred A KnopfIn Anthem’s future USA, personal music is illegal, but he must play anyway! Coda, by Emma Trevayne (Running Press, 2013)

Something eerie and deadly stalks the old junkyard in Winter of the Robots, by Kurtis Scaletta (Alfred Knopf, 2013).

 

book cover of Relic by Heather Terrell published by Soho TeenTechnology lust killed the earth, say the elders, but the Relic which Eva finds says otherwise in Heather Terrell’s 2013 Soho Teen release.

So that makes 3 of my hoped-for 50+ TBR2013 titles… gotta step it up during February!

What 2013 books are still on your to-be-read shelf?
**kmm