The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry Book Review
July 31, 2008 by Tracy
Filed under Book Reviews
WHAT THIS BOOK IS ABOUT
Look into the lace . . . When the eyes begin to fill with tears and the patience is long exhausted, there will appear a glimpse of something not quite seen… In this moment, an image will begin to form . . . in the space between what is real and what is only imagined.
Can you read your future in a piece of lace? All of the Whitney women can. But the last time Towner read, it killed her sister and nearly robbed Towner of her own sanity. Vowing never to read lace again, her resolve is tested when faced with the mysterious, unsolvable disappearance of her beloved Great Aunt Eva, Salem’s original Lace Reader. Told from opposing and often unreliable perspectives, the story engages the reader’s own beliefs. Should we listen to Towner, who may be losing her mind for the second time? Or should we believe John Rafferty, a no nonsense New York detective, who ran away from the city to a simpler place only to find himself inextricably involved in a psychic tug of war with all three generations of Whitney women? Does either have the whole story? Or does the truth lie somewhere in the swirling pattern of the lace?
THEMES IN THIS BOOK
CLICK ON THE BOOK COVER OF THE LACE READER TO READ MY REVIEW AND SEE WHAT GRADE I GAVE IT! BELOW IS A TRAILER FOR THE BOOK.
So You Think You Can Dance Joshua and Katee
This was my favorite dance last night. Joshua and Katee were back together dancing to a routine by Tyce. I loved this one! Joshua shows amazing strength and the leaps Katee did into his arms were so bold and filled with such passion. They even got a standing O from the judges! The song is All By Myself by Celine Dion.
A Breaking Dawn Primer
For those of us who have read the books and for those of you who “gasp” haven’t, here is a primer to get you ready for the big day! I found this on E.W. website. I love that site!
BELLA The Heroine
Told from the point of view of a smart, reserved 17-year-old rocked by giant love, the Twilight series is an antidote for a generation tired of back tattoos, belly piercings, and Paris Hilton. Some critics dismiss Bella as being just another damsel in distress. ”Just because she doesn’t do kung fu and she cooks for her father doesn’t make her worthy of that criticism,” defends Meyer.
FORKS The Hometown
Bella moves to small-town Forks, a drizzly green hamlet in Washington, to live with her sheriff father Charlie and start her junior year in high school. It’s the opposite in every way from Phoenix, where Bella previously lived with her flighty Mom. (Incidentally, Meyer herself lives outside Phoenix but now summer vacations in a Pacific Northwest town a lot like Forks.)
THE CULLEN FAMILY The Allies
Bella befriends a strange, beautiful family, led by calm town doctor Carlisle and his radiant wife, Esme. Turns out all of them — ”brothers and sisters” Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper, too — crave blood, but they’ve weaned themselves off the human stuff. Meyer balked at an early Twilight script because the screenwriter had cut her beloved Cullens, save Edward, entirely from the film.
ROBERT PATTINSON Edward Incarnate
The actor, best known for playing Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, sent the Twilighter blogosphere into a jeering fit when it was announced he’d been cast as Edward. ”They freaked out,” sighed Meyer. ”And now all their taglines on their posts say ‘When God made Robert Pattinson he was just showing off.’ ” Teenage girls = fickle beasts.
TEAM EDWARD Vampire Fans
”Oh my gosh, I want Edward’s body!” is a typical response from fans of the hairless, amber-eyed teenage vampire. ”If Bella decided to leave Edward I couldn’t forgive her,” said one ardent fan on Meyer’s recent book tour. Unconcerned about the heroine giving up her mortality in the name of love, the 19-year-old suggested that ”They can adopt little babies and make them vampires!” Cute. Creepy, but cute.
TEAM JACOB Wolf Parade
Edward, desperate to protect Bella’s safety and salvation, vanishes in Book 2, leaving her broken. A passionate offshoot of fans fell for Bella’s younger buddy Jacob, cheery and reliable, and yes, part werewolf, after he reintroduced her to blue skies. Bella is hopelessly smitten with the sexy vampire, but Team Jacob cheered when she gave into a heady kiss at the end of Eclipse.
James The Evil Vampire One of the funnest things about this very fun film was getting to see Cam Gigandet, who stars as the villian, being all James-y. Most of you know that Cam will be playing James in the Twilight movie, and now I can vouch for the fact that he will be awwwwwwwwesome.
CONSUMMATION The Deed
Meyer revealed exclusively to EW.com that she had the pleasure in Book 4 of writing Edward and Bella’s wedding scene. (Don’t worry Team Jacob, your boy just hasn’t ”imprinted” yet with his true love!) Now fans, who might dig the action, but really come back for the romance, are free to fantasize just how far Meyer will take things on the honeymoon night.
MIDNIGHT SUN Edward’s Turn
Meyer has told her fans that Breaking Dawn will be the last book she writes from Bella’s point of view. (”The reason the books have gone on so long is I have a harder time giving up Bella’s humanity than she does,” says Meyer. ”She’s so quick to say ‘No, give it all away, I’m ready to die right now!”’) But the author already has half of Midnight Sun, Twilight as narrated by Edward, cooking on her computer.
Cool Contests
FYI on a couple of cool contests! I received an e-mail from Jocelyn over at Bookfinds.com. She wanted to let you know they are giving away three signed copies of Sisters of Misery by Megan Kelley Hall. It is a great book and you can read my review here.
![[pb_banner.jpg]](http://bp2.blogger.com/_S-HcQ4g3Wzs/SH-UNjcr8GI/AAAAAAAAAHM/LktTYsZNs6c/s1600/pb_banner.jpg)
Doesn’t this Graphic Novel look good? Twenty-five people will be selected to win in September. Click the picture above to enter.
Coraline discovered the door a little after they moved into the house…
Strangely, it was similar to her own (only better). But there’s another mother there and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl forever. Coraline will have to use all her wits and all the tools she can find if she is to save herself and return to her ordinary life.
This beloved tale has now become a visual feast, as artist P. Craig Russell brings Neil Gaiman’s enchanting nationally bestselling children’s book Coraline to new life.
And Don’t forget my three contests going on right now! Look in the left hand side to enter those! Today is the last day to enter to win Sleeping With Ward Cleaver and Project Jennifer. I will be starting a new contest tomorrow and next week as well so keep checking back!
Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince Movie Trailer
The highly anticipated movie trailer is here and it looks dark and scary. What do you think? It comes out November 21st.
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle Book Review
July 30, 2008 by Tracy
Filed under Book Reviews
WHAT THIS BOOK IS ABOUT
Born mute, speaking only in sign, Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in remote northern Wisconsin. For generations, the Sawtelles have raised and trained a fictional breed of dog whose thoughtful companionship is epitomized by Almondine, Edgar’s lifelong friend and ally. But with the unexpected return of Claude, Edgar’s paternal uncle, turmoil consumes the Sawtelles’ once peaceful home. When Edgar’s father dies suddenly, Claude insinuates himself into the life of the farm—and into Edgar’s mother’s affections.
Grief-stricken and bewildered, Edgar tries to prove Claude played a role in his father’s death, but his plan backfires—spectacularly. Forced to flee into the vast wilderness lying beyond the farm, Edgar comes of age in the wild, fighting for his survival and that of the three yearling dogs who follow him. But his need to face his father’s murderer and his devotion to the Sawtelle dogs turn Edgar ever homeward.
THEMES IN THIS BOOK
CLICK ON THE BOOK COVER OF THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE TO READ MY REVIEW AND SEE WHAT GRADE I GAVE IT. YOU CAN READ AN EXCERPT OF THE BOOK HERE.
Breaking Dawn Spoiler
Okay! Stop reading right here if you want to wait until Breaking Dawn comes out on Saturday. But this a spoiler that Stephanie revealed herself to Entertainment Weekly. Thoughts?
With the understanding that this spoiler will send the blogosphere into either a tizzy of celebration or outrage, EW.com hereby reveals a major plot point from Stephenie Meyer’s Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final installment to her Twilight series. And no, the forthcoming information is not from a fever dream or a filched copy of the book found in the dusty stock room of a Barnes & Noble. This exclusive spoiler comes straight from Meyer herself, with her explicit go-ahead to share with her fans.
Team Jacob, you staged a valiant effort, urging Bella to choose her faithful, strangely muscular friend instead of her sexy, hairless vampire. But Meyer, clapping her hands and bobbing on her toes, reveals that she had the great fun of writing Bella and Edward’s wedding scene. ”And it’s not a dream sequence!” Meyer promises with a laugh. ”It’s the actual wedding between Edward and Bella. The wedding! I’m a girly girl so it’s something I’ve been waiting for too.” Before anyone throws their computer out their bedroom window, screaming that the surprise of the summer has now been ruined for them, Meyer promises that the wedding takes place early on in Breaking Dawn. Trust that unexpected thrills still await.
While we’re on a roll, here’s another surprise for you: Meyer says she wrote Bella and Edward’s wedding scene years ago, initially planning for the young couple to tie the knot shortly after the end of Twilight. Her editor at the time balked that those crazy kids were too young to walk down the aisle, and Meyer, who herself was married and already raising her first son by the age of 23, shelved their eternal bond for a later date.
For those heartbroken that their heroine apparently picks Edward over Jacob, take comfort in the simple fact that Breaking Dawn exists. Meyer says she fought long and hard before her publisher agreed to a fourth book in the series. Little, Brown for Young Readers originally paid the author $750,000 for a three-book deal. Before Twilight had even hit the shelves, Meyer realized there was no way she could wrap up the characters’ storylines in three books. But her publisher was nervous about shelling out another chunk of change for an unproven author. ”My books weren’t out yet,” she says. ”Nobody cared about me. I was just this little author they were taking a chance on.” Eventually, Meyer prevailed, selling the fourth book for $400,000. Lucky Little, Brown. Breaking Dawn is expected to go down as the biggest book of the summer. Everybody wins. Even Team Jacob.
Book Covers That Make You Go HMMMM
Alea from A Pop Culture Junkie’s post about cover lookalikes sent me on a mission. I wondered how these books could use the same pictures but just a bit differently and get away with it. Well it turns out publishers use stock photographs and don’t pay for the rights to the picture so in turn other publishers can still use the same picture. They must think we will be fooled if they just change it a bit, such as in the pictures that Alea discovered. Click here to see those. I was surprised to see even ”Big Time” authors such as Mosley and Follett have the same cover! It makes you wonder why they don’t insist on the publisher paying for the rights to the picture. But I guess they think we won’t notice if they just change the color…..
Or if they put words over the image……..
Sushi For One by Camy Tang
It is time to play a Wild Card! Every now and then, a book that I have chosen to read is going to pop up as a FIRST Wild Card Tour. Get dealt into the game! (Just click the button!) Wild Card Tours feature an author and his/her book’s FIRST chapter!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
Today’s Wild Card author is:
and his/her book:
Zondervan
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Camy Tang is a member of FIRST and is a loud Asian chick who writes loud Asian chick-lit. She grew up in Hawaii, but now lives in San Jose, California, with her engineer husband and rambunctious poi-dog. In a previous life she was a biologist researcher, but these days she is surgically attached to her computer, writing full-time. In her spare time, she is a staff worker for her church youth group, and she leads one of the worship teams for Sunday service.
Sushi for One? (Sushi Series, Book One) was her first novel. Her second, Only Uni (Sushi Series, Book Two) is now available. The next book in the series, Single Sashimi (Sushi Series, Book Three) will be coming out in September 2008!
Visit the author’s website.
Product Details: List Price: $ 12.99
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (September 1, 2007
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310273986
ISBN-13: 978-0310273981
AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:
Chapter One
If Grandma didn’t kill her first for being late.
Lex Sakai raced through the open doorway to the Chinese restaurant and was immediately immersed in conversation, babies’ wails, clashing perfumes, and stale sesame oil. She tripped over the threshold and almost turned her ankle. Stupid pumps. Man, she hated wearing heels.
Her cousin Chester sat behind a small table next to the open doorway.
“Hey Chester.”
“Oooh, you’re late. Grandma isn’t going to be happy. Sign over here.” He gestured to the guestbook that was almost drowned in the pink lace glued to the edges.
“What do I do with this?” Lex dropped the Babies R Us box on the table.
Chester grabbed the box and flipped it behind him with the air of a man who’d been doing this for too long and wanted out from behind the frilly welcome table.
Lex understood how he felt. So many of their cousins were having babies, and there were several mixed Chinese-Japanese marriages in the family. Therefore, most cousins opted for these huge—not to mention tiring—traditional Chinese Red Egg and Ginger parties to “present” their newborns, even though the majority of the family was Japanese American.
Lex bent to scrawl her name in the guestbook. Her new sheath dress sliced into her abs, while the fabric strained across her back muscles. Trish had convinced her to buy the dress, and it actually gave her sporty silhouette some curves, but its fitted design prevented movement. She should’ve worn her old loosefitting dress instead. She finished signing the book and looked back to Chester. “How’s the food?” The only thing worthwhile about these noisy events. Lex would rather be at the beach.
“They haven’t even started serving.”
“Great. That’ll put Grandma in a good mood.”
Chester grimaced, then gestured toward the far corner where there was a scarlet-draped wall and a huge gold dragon wall-hanging. “Grandma’s over there.”
“Thanks.” Yeah, Chester knew the drill, same as Lex. She had to go over to say hello as soon as she got to the party— before Grandma saw her, anyway—or Grandma would be peeved and stick Lex on her “Ignore List” until after Christmas.
Lex turned, then stopped. Poor Chester. He looked completely forlorn—not to mention too bulky—behind that silly table. Of all her cousins, he always had a smile and a joke for her. “Do you want to go sit down? I can man the table for you for a while. As long as you don’t forget to bring me some food.” She winked at him.
Chester flashed his toothy grin, and the weary lines around his face expanded into his normal laugh lines. “I appreciate that, but don’t worry about me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. My sister’s going to bring me something—she’s got all the kids at her table, so she’ll have plenty for me. But thanks, Lex.”
“You’d do the same for me.”
Lex wiggled in between the round tables and inadvertently jammed her toe into the protruding metal leg of a chair. To accommodate the hefty size of Lex’s extended family, the restaurant had loaded the room with tables and chairs so it resembled a game of Tetris. Once bodies sat in the chairs, a chopstick could barely squeeze through. And while Lex prided herself on her athletic 18-percent body fat, she wasn’t a chopstick.
The Chinese waiters picked that exact moment to start serving the food.
Clad in black pants and white button-down shirts, they filed from behind the ornate screen covering the doorway to the kitchen, huge round platters held high above their heads. They slid through the crowded room like salmon—how the heck did they do that?—while it took all the effort Lex had to push her way through the five inches between an aunty and uncle’s
chairs. Like birds of prey, the waiters descended on her as if they knew she couldn’t escape.
Lex dodged one skinny waiter with plates of fatty pork and thumb-sized braised octopus. Another waiter almost gouged her eye out with his platter. She ducked and shoved at chairs, earning scathing glances from various uncles and aunties.
Finally, Lex exploded from the sea of tables into the open area by the dragon wall-hanging. She felt like she’d escaped from quicksand. Grandma stood and swayed in front of the horrifying golden dragon, holding her newest great-granddaughter, the star of the party. The baby’s face glowed as red as the fabric covering the wall. Probably scared of the dragon’s green buggy eyes only twelve inches away. Strange, Grandma seemed to be favoring her right hip.
“Hi, Grandma.”
“Lex! Hi sweetie. You’re a little late.”
Translation: You’d better have a good excuse.
Lex thought about lying, but aside from the fact that she couldn’t lie to save her life, Grandma’s eyes were keener than a sniper’s. “I’m sorry. I was playing grass volleyball and lost track of time.”
The carefully lined red lips curved down. “You play sports too much. How are you going to attract a man when you’re always sweating?”
Like she was now? Thank goodness for the fruity body spritz she had marinated herself in before she got out of her car.
“That’s a pretty dress, Lex. New, isn’t it?”
How did she do that? With as many grandchildren as she had, Grandma never failed to notice clothes, whereas Lex barely registered that she wasn’t naked. “Thanks. Trish picked it out.”
“It’s so much nicer than that ugly floppy thing you wore to your cousin’s wedding.”
Lex gritted her teeth. Respect your grandmother. Do not open your mouth about something like showing up in a polkadotted bikini.
“Actually, Lex, I’m glad you look so ladylike this time. I have a friend’s son I want you to meet—”
Oh, no. Not again. “Does he speak English?”
Grandma drew herself to her full height, which looked a little silly because Lex still towered over her. “Of course he does.”
“Employed?”
“Yes. Lex, your attitude—”
“Christian?”
“Now why should that make a difference?”
Lex widened innocent eyes. “Religious differences account for a lot of divorces.”
“I’m not asking you to marry him, just to meet him.”
Liar. “I appreciate how much you care about me, but I’ll find my own dates, thanks.” Lex smiled like she held a knife blade in her teeth. When Grandma got pushy like this, Lex had more backbone than the other cousins.
“I wouldn’t be so concerned, but you don’t date at all—”
Not going there. “Is this Chester’s niece?” Lex’s voice rose an octave as she tickled the baby’s Pillsbury-Doughboy stomach. The baby screamed on. “Hey there, cutie, you’re so big, betcha having fun, is Grandma showing you off, well, you just look pretty as a picture, are you enjoying your Red Egg and Ginger party? Okay, Grandma, I have to sit down. Bye.”
Before Grandma could say another word, Lex whisked away into the throng of milling relatives. Phase one, accomplished. Grandmother engaged. Retreat commencing before more nagging words like “dating” and “marriage” sullied the air.
Next to find her cousins—and best friends—Trish, Venus, and Jenn, who were saving a seat for her. She headed toward the back where all the other unmarried cousins sat as far away from Grandma as physically possible.
Their table was scrunched into the corner against towering stacks of unused chairs—like the restaurant could even hold more chairs. “Lex!” Trish flapped her raised hand so hard, Lex expected it to fly off at any moment. Next to her, Venus lounged, as gorgeous as always and looking bored, while Jennifer sat quietly on her other side, twirling a lock of her long straight hair. On either side of them …
“Hey, where’s my seat?”
Venus’s wide almond eyes sent a sincere apology. “We failed you, babe. We had a seat saved next to Jenn, but then . . .” She pointed to where the back of a portly aunty’s chair had rammed up against their table. “We had to remove the chair, and by then, the rest were filled.”
“Traitors. You should have shoved somebody under the table.”
Venus grinned evilly. “You’d fit under there, Lex.”
Trish whapped Venus in the arm. “Be nice.”
A few of the other cousins looked at them strangely, but they got that a lot. The four of them became close when they shared an apartment during college, but even more so when they all became Christian. No one else understood their flaws, foibles, and faith.
Lex had to find someplace to sit. At the very least, she wanted to snarf some overpriced, high calorie, high cholesterol food at this torturous party.
She scanned the sea of black heads, gray heads, dyed heads, small children’s heads with upside-down ricebowl haircuts, and teenager heads with highlighting and funky colors.
There. A table with an empty chair. Her cousin Bobby, his wife, his mother-in-law, and his brood. Six—count ’em, six— little people under the age of five.
Lex didn’t object to kids. She liked them. She enjoyed coaching her girls’ volleyball club team. But these were Bobby’s kids. The 911 operators knew them by name. The local cops drew straws on who would have to go to their house when they got a call.
However, it might not be so bad to sit with Bobby and family. Kids ate less than adults, meaning more food for Lex.
“Hi, Bobby. This seat taken?”
“No, go ahead and sit.” Bobby’s moon-face nodded toward the empty chair.
Lex smiled at his nervous wife, who wrestled with an infant making intermittent screeching noises. “Is that …” Oh great. Boxed yourself in now. Name a name, any name. “Uh … Kyle?”
The beleaguered mom’s smile darted in and out of her grimace as she tried to keep the flailing baby from squirming into a face-plant on the floor. “Yes, this is Kylie. Can you believe she’s so big?” One of her sons lifted a fork. “No, sweetheart, put the food down—!”
The deep-fried missile sailed across the table, trailing a tail of vegetables and sticky sauce. Lex had protected her face from volleyballs slammed at eighty miles an hour, but she’d never dodged multi-shots of food. She swatted away a flying net of lemony shredded lettuce, but a bullet of sauce-soaked fried chicken nailed her right in the chest.
Yuck. Well, good thing she could wash—oops, no, she hadn’t worn her normal cotton dress. This was the new silk one. The one with the price tag that made her gasp, but also made her look like she actually had a waist instead of a plank for a torso. The dress with the “dry-clean only” tag.
“Oh! I’m sorry, Lex. Bad boy. Look what you did.” Bobby’s wife leaned across the table with a napkin held out, still clutching her baby whose foot was dragging through the chow mein platter.
The little boy sitting next to Lex shouted in laughter. Which wouldn’t have been so bad if he hadn’t had a mouth full of chewed bok choy in garlic sauce.
Regurgitated cabbage rained on Lex’s chest, dampening the sunny lemon chicken. The child pointed at the pattern on her dress and squealed as if he had created a Vermeer. The other children laughed with him.
“Hey boys! That’s not nice.” Bobby glared at his sons, but otherwise didn’t stop shoveling salt-and-pepper shrimp into his mouth.
Lex scrubbed at the mess, but the slimy sauces refused to transfer from her dress onto the polyester napkin, instead clinging to the blue silk like mucus. Oh man, disgustamundo. Lex’s stomach gurgled. Why was every other part of her athlete’s body strong except for her stomach?
She needed to clean herself up. Lex wrestled herself out of the chair and bumped an older man sitting behind her. “Sorry.” The violent motion made the nausea swell, then recede. Don’t be silly. Stop being a wimp. But her already sensitive stomach had dropped the call with her head.
Breathe. In. Out. No, not through your nose. Don’t look at that boy’s drippy nose. Turn away from the drooling baby.
She needed fresh air in her face. She didn’t care how rude it was, she was leaving now.
“There you are, Lex.”
What in the world was Grandma doing at the far end of the restaurant? This was supposed to be a safe haven. Why would Grandma take a rare venture from the other side where the “more important” family members sat?
“My goodness, Lex! What happened to you?”
“I sat next to Bobby’s kids.”
Grandma’s powdered face scrunched into a grimace. “Here, let me go to the restroom with you.” The bright eyes strayed again to the mess on the front of her dress. She gasped.
Oh, no, what else? “What is it?” Lex asked.
“You never wear nice clothes. You always wear that hideous black thing.”
“We’ve already been over this—”
“I never noticed that you have no bosom. No wonder you can’t get a guy.”
Lex’s jaw felt like a loose hinge. The breath stuck in her chest until she forced a painful cough. “Grandma!”
Out of the corner of her eye, Lex could see heads swivel. Grandma’s voice carried better than a soccer commentator at the World Cup.
Grandma bent closer to peer at Lex’s chest. Lex jumped backward, but the chair behind her wouldn’t let her move very far.
Grandma straightened with a frighteningly excited look on her face. “I know what I’ll do.”
God, now would be a good time for a waiter to brain her with a serving platter.
Grandmother gave a gleeful smile and clapped her hands. “Yes, it’s perfect. I’ll pay for breast implants for you!”
© Camy Tang
Used by permission of Zondervan
Stephen King Graphic Novel Web Episodes
I just had an interesting e-mail I wanted to share with all of you. I haven’t read Stephen King in quite a while but he is marketing his new collection of short stories coming out in November in an interesting way. He is going to have a series of Graphic Video episodes every week about one of the stories in his new book. The first episode was pretty good I thought! It’s not like he needs the marketing but I think it is a brilliant idea! Here is the information from the website and where you can watch the videos. What do you think? Is he trying to appeal to a younger generation?
Master storyteller Stephen King presents a revolutionary new form of entertainment: his short story “N.” brought to vibrant life through a series of 25 graphic video episodes. The original series tells the story of a psychiatrist who falls victim to the same deadly obsession as his patient—an obsession that just might save the world!
watch the first episode now on www.NisHere.com before it is officially released.
The first episode will be available Monday, July 28th, 2008 with a new one released EACH weekday until August 29th. Blocks of five episodes will be released on iTunes each Monday until August 25th.
There are 25 episodes in total, with each episode running around 2 minutes.
Drawn by award-wining comic book artist Alex Maleev, and colored by famed comic book colorist José Villarrubia, the episodes were adapted by Marc Guggenheim, co-creator of the ABC-TV series “Eli Stone” with creative oversight from Stephen King.
