Review: Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar

First, thanks to Delacorte Books for Young Readers and Edelweiss for allowing me to read an egalley of this title.  I was excited for it because I loved Holes and Small Steps by this author. And the idea behind it really grabbed my interest as a science fiction reader and former science teacher.  And while the idea was really great, and there were some good parts to the story, I was left a little disappointed and feeling like the story was too short and too rushed.  I feel it needed more, just more  More depth, more story, something. 

There are two main characters. Tamaya, a 5th grade girl, and Marshall, a 7th grade boy.  Tamaya is a good girl, she likes rules, likes doing what she is supposed to do.  And one of those things is that she has to walk to and from school with Marshall, and not walk through the woods.  Marshall is a pretty normal 7th grade boy, but he is being bullied by a new kid at school named Chad. And on the day the story starts, Chad has told Marshall that he is going to meet him on a certain corner on his normal route home from school and beat him up.  So Marshall decides that he's going to go through the woods and avoid that place.  Tamaya has to go with him, as she doesn't want to walk by herself.  Unfortunately, once they get in the woods, it's almost like they get a little lost. And then, even worse, Chad shows up, and starts beating up Marshall. Tamaya doesn't know what to do, so she sees this mud that looks fuzzy, and throws it in Chad's face, and then she and Marshall take off for home. 

However, the hand that she used to grab the mud is now all tingly, even after she washes it up. And then sores start popping up on her skin. So she tries different creams and bandages, but nothing seems to do much for it.  The next day at school it seems that Chad never made it to school.  With what is happening to her hand, she has a feeling what might have happened.  When Marshall refuses to do what Tamaya knows is the right thing, go look for him, or else tell someone, she goes into the woods herself.  And from there, well all heck breaks loose.

Interspersed within the story are records of a political hearing about the people who made the stuff that is called fuzzy mud. And it is interesting.  But I'd like to maybe have the scientists in the story more. 

A good story, might be a good read for a reluctant reader because of how quick the story is, without a lot of extras.  But it really doesn't have the heart that Holes did, which has always been a good book for reluctant readers itself.  So it was an okay read, but nothing special, and not what I have come to expect from this author.

Cover Characteristic - February 27th, 2015 - Science

Cover Characteristic is hosted at  Sugar and Snark.  Here are the guidelines for how it works if you want to join in:
Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite covers with that characteristic. If you want to join in and share your 5 favorite covers with the weeks particular characteristic, then just make a post, grab the meme picture (or make your own) and leave your URL in Linky (so we can visit).
You don’t even need to participate, just stopping by and saying hi would be great! Don’t forget to stop by the other participants!

I do try to pick books I've read, and for some, I liked both of the covers in a series, so I will include them together for one number.  

5.

4.

3.

2.

 1. 
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And a bonus cover that I had to also use:

At first I wasn't sure if I'd come up with 5 that I liked, and then I had more than five, but I kept myself to just six.

Review: White Space by Ilsa J. Bick (TBR Challenge #2)

Originally I had received an egalley of this from Egmont USA Publishing and Edelweiss, but was unable to finish reading it.  I left a short review of how far I got HERE.  I got an ARC of it, I believe through trading on YA Book Exchange, and I picked it back up just recently so I could be prepared to read the egalley of the sequel, The Dickens Mirror.  And now that Egmont will be closing their USA publishing, I am also participating in a tour to promote the authors that are being left off, one of them being this sequel.

At first it took me a bit to get back into it. What I remembered was a bunch of teens who had been stuck in a blizzard.  But then it wasn't just a blizzard, a strange fog showed up, and really crazy monsters, as I said in my original semi-review, Lovecraftian monsters.  And it seems all of it kind of stems back to a certain author, and how he used something called the Dickens Mirror in order to create his characters, but it also pulled through these monsters that are now coming through.  It turns out that all of the characters may just be written in books.  Even one, Emma, who it seems has been writing books herself.  There are all kinds of dimensions, and twists and turns, and there are some really major science terms and theories talked about, including Schrodinger's Cat, and another one I had to look up, and even after looking up I'm still not sure I understand it completely.  But then physics has always been my least favorite science area, I prefer Biology and Geology.  But I did really like the science stuff thrown in.

It's really hard to explain this book.  I feel like you have to read it for yourself.  It's definitely not anything that would ever be termed an "easy" read.  It is a good one, like I said, the monsters are very scary and the scenes are very exciting and action packed at times.  Definitely could make a very intellectual horror movie from it.  I did get back into it when I was about 100 pages after where I left off, and by the end I was really liking all the twists and turns.  Until the very end.  Once again I was kind of confused, although I understand there was an "infection" that was supposedly causing the changes that confused me, I still am not quite sure if what I finally thought I'd figured out is true or not.  So I'll be eager to pick up the sequel in a week or so, I'll be posting a review of it as part of the blog tour on Monday, March 2nd.

Not sure if this is a very good review.  Like I said, I'm really unsure how to explain it.  It's characters from different stories brought together to try to help the author's daughter get rid of the bad things/fog that is starting to leak into the real world, maybe.  Lots of good characters, with back stories that are almost all really well developed, and you learn eve more about them at the end.

If you like the author, you will probably want to give it a try, just be prepared to have to actually take the time to read and think as you read, so that you don't get too confused. 

Review: Erased (Altered #2) by Jennifer Rush

Hi everyone!  I have of course been kind of out of it sine I had surgery on Wednesday.  I actually finished this book Tuesday night, late, but haven't had time review it since then.  Doctor said the surgery went just fine and I am healing well.  However the pain medicine is making me sleepy, so sitting up to do much doesn't happen.  In fact, there may be a lot of typos and such in this as I'm still having trouble with heavy eyelids.  My thought was that maybe doing this would help me stay awake more.

If you haven't read the first book in this series, you may not want to read much further than this first sentence or so.  I did really enjoy the first one in the series, Altered, and it was one of the books I got when I attended BEA for the fist time in 2012.  One of the things you can see in my review of the first one is that I'd wished for a bit more science  Yes, we got some new science in this second story, but it still didn't give me quite as much as I'd wished for.  So I am glad to see there is a 3rd book coming out in 2015, as well as a kind of short prequel available at this time.  Once again when I get some money I'll have to buy it.  Okay, possible spoilers for the first book coming up, so STOP reading now.

Anna is now on the run with Sam, Nick, and Cas, after the Branch attacked the farmhouse where they were staying.  Now on the run, they are looking for anything that might help them finally be free of the Branch.  To get their lives back to as normal as possible.  Along the way they find more boys like them, and Anna even finds and rescues her sister Dani.  Trev even offers some help, which Anna nd the others are leery to take after he betrayed them in the first book.  Anna doesn't really remember much about her sister, or her life growing up.  In this book she finds out some of the reasons for that.  She learns more about her past, as well as Sam, Nick, and Cas's past lives before.  Anna learns that Nick may not always have been this surly and hateful towards her.  But now, she must decide how much can she trust her sister, who also used to be in love with Sam like Anna is now.  She learns of an Uncle Will, and again, doesn't know how much she can trust anyone who once may have worked or been involved with the Branch.

Another good, on the road kind of story.  Which I've mentioned before how it seems the 2nd book in a trilogy is often like that.  But I'd say it wasn't a bad way, it was still interesting, once again like the first book, so hard to put down.  So my advice is to get ahold of this and read on in the series!  I wasn't disappointed, and I don't think you will be either.

A to Z April - N: Nonfiction

For today's post I'm kind of lumping a bunch of different types of books together.  There are so many different types of nonfiction, or "true" books.  I'm going to choose a few of my favorites that I actually read and share them with you.


1.  I already shared probably my favorite with you, and that was biographies/memoirs.  You can go back and read my post on that HERE.

2.  My second favorite group would probably be science.  As a former science teacher, with my undergraduate degree in biology and earth science.  Some of my favorite science books you can see below, and you can tell I guess, that I'm a huge dinosaur freak.  And the last one I actually included with my biography post back on #1, but it is a lot of science, and I loved that.



3.  My 3rd favorite type of nonfiction is humor.  This can be memoirs again, I love a funny life story.  Or else lately there have been some books based on technology type things that I read and it just cracks me up!!  Here are a few of my favorites.
 

4.  History is another area that I sometimes find interesting.  I don't know that I've actually read that many history books, and a lot of them though, are often true crime types of books.  Here are the ones I remember reading.  The last one I'm still reading.  I have it on my iphone and whenever I go somewhere and don't happen to have anything to read, I can pull it up and read. 



5.  The final type of nonfiction I like to "read" are cookbooks.  I technically don't read them, just look for recipes I like and then make them.  If I have time.  And I also picked this because I got to listen to the author of the Hungry Girl cookbooks, and now diet last night, so I wanted to share that picture.  But first I'll share 3 cookbooks I have actually used.

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And here is a picture of Lisa Lillien, the "Hungry Girl" herself, speaking last night at the Barnes and Noble where I work part time.

So, how about you? Do you read much nonfiction?  If so, what type do you like to read?

Waiting on Wednesday: Cured (Stung #2) by Bethany Wiggins

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases that we're eagerly awaiting.  This week I've chosen the sequel to a book that I read as an e-galley, and really enjoyed some of the real science it pulled in with the theme or plot point about bees going extinct.  You can read my review of the first book, Stung, HERE.  And here is the blurb from Goodreads.com about the 2nd book, Cured:

Now that Fiona Tarsis and her twin brother, Jonah, are no longer beasts, they set out to find their mother, with the help of Bowen and a former neighbor, Jacqui. Heading for a safe settlement rumored to be in Wyoming, they plan to spread the cure along the way--until they are attacked by raiders. Luckily, they find a new ally in Kevin, who saves them and leads them to safety in his underground shelter. But the more they get to know Kevin, the more they suspect he has ties to the raiders. He also seems to know too many details about Jacqui and her family—details that could endanger them all. For the raiders will do anything they can to destroy the cure that would bring an end to their way of life. 

So how does that sound to you?  I can't wait to hear what happens next!  What are you waiting to read next?

While you're here, be sure to check out these two giveaway posts/challenges:

• September is for Sequels Giveaway Hop

• 2nd Annual September is for Sequels Challenge

The Dark Between by Sonia Gensler

First thanks to Edelweiss and Knopf Books for Young Readers for allowing me to read an e-galley of this book.  I'm glad to see more ghost stories these days, or at least it seems like there is more.  Although while this is a ghost story, and that is a main theme throughout the story, it is not as if that is all that happens.
There are 3 main characters.  First we meet Kate.  Kate works for a medium, but one who fakes thins for her customers.  The way she fakes things is by having Kate appear during part of the seance looking like a ghostly creature, then she'll disappear.  She also has boys who live on the street that will do investigating for her of her customers, so that she can find out the things that will convince them she is for real, because how else would she know these things?  Well we begin with one of these very seances.  All is going as planned until someone says the name Frederic Stanton.  This shocks Kate as she is "disappearing back into the spot behind the medium's chair, and the cover to her hiding spot drops loudly.  At which point she is grabbed by one of the men there and the medium is said to be a fraud.  Turns out this man is Kate's father, or was.  She was illegitimate.  He supported her and her mother, but one day the money stopped, and now Kate knows it was because he died.  Unfortunately now that she has been unmasked in front of the patrons, she is fired.  She goes to hang out with her friends, the street boys, and tries to figure out what she will do next.  Her friend Billy, who is about 8 years old, is getting ready to do some really important investigating, and wants to trade his knife to Kate so she will be safe.  And in exchange, he holds her father's watch.  He tells her if he doesn't come back in the morning, the deal will have gone wrong.
When he doesn't come back, Kate fears the worst as he said, and decides to go to the man who caused her to get fired and demand that he make up for her lost job.  The man is Mr. Thompson.  He lives and works at the local women's college, Summerfield.  So she heads to the college.  As she approaches the gates trying to get past the man at the gate, a young man walks up.  This is our 2nd main character, his name is Asher.  Asher is a man unhappy with his father, and things that happened to his family.  He has come to Summerfield as well, to visit with Mr. Thompson, as he is a friend of his father.  He is able to convince the man at the gate to let them in, especially when Elsie, Miss Atherton is asked to show them around while they wait to meet with Mr. Thompson.  Elsie is a photographer  And she has seizures, one happens at this very first meeting.  She also takes a medicine for it that makes her very sluggish.  As Kate must run to get her medicine, and then Asher carries her inside the house, they are thanked by the Thompsons.  And are asked to stay.  Even Kate, after she tells Mr. Thompson why she is there, is asked to stay, and given something to help out with while she is there.  The three of them spend a lot of time together, and we soon learn that Elsie sometimes sees ghosts when she has her fits.  And when Billy's body turns up dead, Kate begins to wonder what happened to him, as well as what this all may have to do with her father.  The three get involved in the mystery, searching to find answers.
I enjoyed this book.  I feel that Elsie annoyed me a bit with her almost insta-love it seemed.  But I like that it wasn't the true insta-love, in that it didn't work out.  And that Kate would call her on it.  I think that the story left off in a way that could be the end, or that there could be more.  And I would be interested to see what happens next with these characters.  There was some interesting science type stuff in the story, which I've always, as a former science teacher, been intrigued by how science is used to try to prove ghosts exist.  At the end of the book the author also included some information about what science topics were actually going on during that time period, and even gives suggestions for those who want to learn more.

Wings by Aprilynne Pike

This is the first book by Aprilynne Pike that I have read, and I must say I wasn't disappointed at all!  I got a copy of this at the RT Convention back in May of this year.  I've actually not really been a fan of fairy or fae stories.  Not that I mind when they are in other stories, but I haven't actively sought out those types of stories.  I'm finding more and more that maybe it is time to give them more of a chance.  I gave this book a pretty high rating, 5 stars, on Goodreads because I picked it up this morning, and pretty much barely stopped until I was done late this afternoon.  It was that good.  I read one comment that said it was a very simple story, and I guess it was.  But, as a former science teacher, I loved how this put science into the mythology behind fairies.  Very unique to me, but again, as I haven't read a lot of this type of creature, maybe it's not.
So, the main character is Laurel, and she has just moved to a new town with her mom and dad, actually her adoptive parents.  Up until this year she has been home-schooled by her mother.  But now that she's in high school, her mom doesn't feel like she can teach as much that Laurel needs as if she goes to a real school.  At first Laurel really isn't happy about it.  But what is nice is that she makes a friend right away.  A very nice boy at school named David.  David is in her Biology class, which Laurel can tell from just opening the book and paging through it that she is going to be struggling.  But David doesn't seem to mind her strange habits, the fact that she only eats vegetables and fruits and drinks Sprite.  That she wants to eat outside instead of in the cafeteria because it is too loud and she just feels that she gets refreshed with the time outside.  He even gets his group of friends, some of them at least, to eat outside with her.  Things seem to be going well, she's making friends, kind of fitting in.  Then one day she gets a zit or some kind of bump on her back.  This is weird, as even though her body has developed, hips, etc., she's not really gone through puberty, never had a period, acne, etc.  But she decides this is normal, and decides not to worry about it.  Until it gets bigger.  And then one morning she wakes up, and the bump is gone, but now she has petals, actually a flower, growing out of her back.  Now, here is where I'm not quite sure I'd have done the same, but instead of talking to her parents about it, she talks to David.  And David is pretty intrigued.  The science geek in him wants to look at it under a microscope.  And he does, and it is a plant.  Soon, he begins to wonder other things about Laurel, even as she does herself.  When Laurel and her parents go back to the old house, she runs into a really interesting boy in the forest behind the house, named Tamani.  He tells her some more stuff about herself, tells her she is a plant, that she is a fairy.  When she shares with David, they begin to do more research into it.  You'd think maybe this is the big deal of the story, but no, Laurel also learns that she needs to keep her parents from selling the land, that it needs to remain her property to protect something.  But when her dad gets sick, and the hospital bills begin adding up, her mother has to sell just to get the money.  But this leads to a dangerous situation.  Life and death, and also to Laurel learning even more about her past and what may be in store for the rest of her life.
Like I said, I loved the science and mythology in this story.  It was a quick, easy read.  One that grabbed me and made it hard to put it down.  I know I'm a bit behind on this series, and if you are as well, you need to grab it and check it out!

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

I've been interested in this book since I first saw it at the bookstore.  I remember I started reading it one day when I was working at the cash register.  And it was a page turner!  I mean the story doesn't sound interesting, the way this author told it, or maybe just because of what the story is, it actually is very interesting.  There was a lot of science in it, but I feel the author did a very good job of explaining those things, which  makes sense because the family in the story didn't even really understand most of what was actually happening.  And that is probably part of what was so fascinating about the story.
Henrietta Lacks was a poor black woman who found out she had cancer in the 1950's.  At that time there was still a lot of segregation.  In fact she had to go to the John Hopkins hospital because of her skin color.  The doctors took some of the cells from her cervix to see what they were, and of course they found that they were cancerous.  As doctors do, they kept some.  Soon one doctor, George Gey, discovered the unusual qualities of these cancer cells.  They grew and stayed alive outside the body.  Which up to that point, had been impossible in almost every single case they had tried.  The cells were named from the first two letters of the patient's first and last name, and so they became called HeLa.  HeLa cells are so well known in the science community, and for the longest time, no one knew who they came from.  You see, at that time, lots of research occurred without the patients ever knowing they were a part of it.  This is one of those cases.  The things that HeLa was used to help, creating a Polio vaccine, etc., the list is long and amazing.  Where these cells have been, the fact that they are still alive and growing more over 60 years after Henrietta's death, well that is only part of what was so intriguing about this story.
Henrietta and her family themselves are an interesting group.  The things they've suffered through, the things they've overcome, it was very worth reading.  The family had been left out of the loop, had no idea exactly what was going on.  When doctors came back to take blood samples from the rest of the family later on, the family assumed it was to see if they carried the cancer she had.  In fact, the daughter, Deborah, was so scared when she got close to the age when her mother died, that she even started calling trying to find out the results.  But that hadn't been what they'd taken the blood for.  And so of course, they didn't have those answers, and had no record of any test results for the family.  Later on they even had a con artist say he was trying to help them get what they deserved.  This family without much education heard things from him about how their mother's cells had been cloned, or combined with plant cells, or animal cells, and they thought there were actual clones of her walking around, or hybrid creatures that meant Henrietta must be suffering.
So when the author of this book, Rebecca Skloot, tried to get in touch with Deborah, and other members of the family, she had a really hard time getting them to trust her enough to even talk to her.  And even then, one small thing could set them off and make them again lose trust and decide not to talk to her anymore.  The journey of this family, Henrietta's cells, and the author to find and share this story is one worth reading.  I read this while on vacation, and it didn't feel like I was reading something for school, it was like reading a fascinating biography.
If you have any interest in science, or biographies, or even of  how medical issues have changed, this is a book that I think you'll find as intriguing as I did.

Hazards of Working at a Bookstore May 2012

I haven't done one of these posts for a looooooooong time, it's not that I haven't found lots of books I want, I just haven't had the time to post the entries.  So I decided to do one today.  I also wanted to say that in the next couple weeks I may have a few posts that aren't book reviews, or contests, or memes.  When I go to BEA I may post some stuff about my experiences there.  So look for those in the next couple weeks.

Okay, I now have 3 books to talk about, ones that I would really like to have, but I just don't have the money right at the moment to spend on books like these.

First is one that really is cool.  When I got my tattoo, I had exactly what I wanted in mind, it had a meaning for something that was important for me, one of my favorite books.  I've always also thought it would be cool to have a dinosaur tattoo, as I'm a huge fan of dinosaurs too.  And this book has some people who do have them!  It is called Science Ink.  Here is the description from Goodreads.com:

If you have ever thought of having an image of the double helix imprinted on your forearm or buttocks, this is the book for you. We should note however that the science-minded men and women represented in this weirdly arresting illustrated book have tattoos that go far behind decorative DNA diagrams. Listen for example, as software designer Zermelo-Fraenkel talks about his arm-covering tat: "This tattoo is the Zermelo-Fraenkel with Choice axioms of set theory. From these nine axioms, one can derive all of mathematics."
















Second is another "science" related book.  It's about my favorite tv show, The Big Bang Theory.  Like a lot of other tv shows and movies, it now has its own book about the philosophy of the show.  See the description from Barnesandnoble.com:


A lighthearted meditation on the philosophical quandaries of the hit television show The Big Bang Theory

Ever wonder what Aristotle might say about the life Sheldon Cooper leads? Why Thomas Hobbes would applaud the roommate agreement? Who Immanuel Kant would treat with "haughty derision" for weaving "un-unravelable webs?" And—most importantly—whether Wil Wheaton is truly evil? Of course you have. Bazinga!

This book mines the deep thinking of some of history's most potent philosophical minds to explore your most pressing questions about The Big Bang Theory and its nerdy genius characters. You might find other philosophy books on science and cosmology, but only this one refers to Darth Vader Force-chokes, cloning Leonard Nimoy, and oompa-loompa-like engineers. Fo-shizzle.

• Gives you irresistibly geek-worthy insights on your favorite Big Bang Theory characters, story lines, and ideas
• Examines important themes involving ethics and virtue, science, semiotics, religion, and the human condition
• Brings the thinking of some of the world's greatest philosophers to bear on The Big Bang Theory, from Aristotle and Plato to Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, Simone de Beauvoir, and more

Essential reading for every Big Bang Theory fan, this book explores whether comic-book-wielding geeks can lead the good life, and whether they can know enough science to "tear the mask off nature and stare at the face of God."

And finally, I really don't read too many books about dogs.  Like Marley and Me they are almost always going to have an ending that makes me cry almost uncontrollably.  There is not much that I love more than dogs.  And having had to make the decision to put two dogs to sleep on my own in the past 10 years, it really hits me hard.  I don't know for sure this book ends this way, but maybe I could read up until the end.  It is called Giant George, and here is the description from Goodreads.com:

With his big blue eyes and soulful expression, George was the irresistible runt of the litter. But Dave and Christie Nasser's "baby" ended up being almost five feet tall, seven feet long, and 245 pounds. Eager to play, and boisterous to the point of causing chaos, this big Great Dane was scared of water, scared of dogs a fraction of his size and, most of all, scared of being alone.

GIANT GEORGE is the charming story of how this precocious puppy won Dave and Christie's hearts and along the way became a doggie superstar. In 2010, George was named by Guinness World Records as the Tallest Dog in the World-ever. He appeared on Oprah, and even has his own global fan club. But to Dave and Christie, this extraordinary animal is still their beloved pet, the one who has made them laugh, made them cry, and continues to make them incredibly happy.

So, those are the 3 books I saw the past few weeks that I remembered to post about.  I'll try to do a posting each month maybe, if I don't end up with too many!  :-)