23 Followers
15 Following
Quellebooks

Quellebooks

Currently reading

The Man Who Seduced Hollywood: The Life and Loves of Greg Bautzer, Tinseltown's Most Powerful Lawyer
B. James Gladstone
The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson
Robert A. Caro
David Copperfield
Charles Dickens, David Gates

The Luck of the Buttons

The Luck of the Buttons - Anne Ylvisaker I have two words for this book. “Ridicously Charming”. I listened to it on audio in my car and kept trying to find excuses to drive places just so I can listen to it some more. Tugs Button is a fiesty female character, definitely an underdog. I think librarians, teachers and even parents should pick this up/recommend this to children who feel misunderstood, unheard, unappreciated or generally unlucky. They’ll see part of themselves in Tugs Button. Tugs is an underdog you will want to root for. I think fans of Anne of Green Gables will enjoy this book too. The setting is a couple of decades later in Iowa but has all of that old-fashioned rural charm of the L.M. Montgomery books. I think teachers will love this book because of it’s focus on vocabulary. Tugs learns a lot about herself and the world around her by looking up key words in the dictionary. I thought this was a great element to the book.

I listened to this on audio and it’s read by Laura Hamilton. The actress did a wonderful job with all the voices. I felt like at times Tugs’ voice changed a bit but the narrator would eventually get right on track. And boy did the narrator know how to do funny older voices. They cracked me up! Overall, a very entertaining performance.
What Comes After - Steve Watkins Please do not look at this book and cast it off as depressing fare. What Comes After by Steve Watkins is a heart-warming book full of hope in the midst of a lot of sadness. There are moments reading it when you will want to cry but there are plenty of others that will make you laugh and cheer. Iris is a strong female character. Having gone through so much, the abandonment of her mother, the death of her father, the abandonment of family friends, the emotional and physical abuse by her Aunt Sue and her Cousin Book, Iris has grown wise before her years and finds joy and happiness with Aunt Sue’s goats. While others in dire circumstances can’t find hope anywhere, Iris finds it in her love for animals. Her vegetarianism and interest in animals keeps her grounded in reality instead of escaping into the depths of depression. The organization of the story is very interesting. While it’s chronological with very few flashbacks, the beginning of the story starts with a newspaper article of an event that happens in the middle of the book. So for half of the novel you are expecting this major event to happen and for the rest of the novel you are reading the aftermath. I fell in love with Iris. She’s such a wonderful character that while I was reading the novel, I wished she would spring to life so I could meet her! I hope others will fall in love with this book as much as I did.

I listened to this book on audio and I have to say Emily Janice Card did a wonderful job in her performance. Her voice is very sweet and light which makes her sound like a young teenager and enhances the listener’s sympathy for Iris. I also enjoyed how Emily Janice Card did the Southern voices, especially that of Aunt Sue. I think well-performed audios like this one really make the listening experience wonderful.
Frank: The Voice - James Kaplan Let me warn you that this 700+ page tome stops at 1954. There is no volume 2. There is no printing error. In the life of Frank Sinatra, the book comes to an abrupt halt at 1954 when he won the Oscar for his performance in From Here to Eternity (1953). 1954 is a pinnacle year for Frank Sinatra. After having a tremendous singing career and some nice roles in a few key films, Sinatra's career was in a major slump. Rock 'n Roll was making waves and girls stopped swooning over Frank Sinatra and started swooning over other singers. It seemed like his career was over and his tumultuous second marriage to Ava Gardner didn't help much.

While I can complain all day about there is no volume 2, I cannot say that this book was no good. Frank: The Voice was beautifully written, well-researched, very organized and most important interesting. It's a great book for Frank Sinatra fans, early music buffs and lovers of interesting and unique biographies.

Read the full review here: http://outofthepastcfb.blogspot.com/2011/06/get-your-read-on-frank-voice-by-james.html
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston What I enjoyed about the novel was the intimacy with the characters. We are right in Southern Florida, traveling alongside the main character Janie as she moves from husband to husband and town to town. I felt like I was right there with the characters, fully immersed in their world.

However, I lost any sense of theme and I never got the bigger picture.

Read my full review here: http://quellebooks.blogspot.com/2012/04/classics-project-book-2-their-eyes-were.html
A Long, Long Sleep - Anna Sheehan Sleeping Beauty meets Sci-Fi.

I'm not a Sci-Fi or Fantasy reader so I was pleasantly surprised that I loved this book so much. I grew so attached to it that I cursed anything that would take me away from it. It's such a fantastic and enjoyable read. What I think the author did really well was she created this futuristic world but doesn't bog down the reader with too many characters, too many backstories, too many new vocabulary words and too much of the world's history. You get enough to understand what's going on but not so much that you get lost and need to either take notes or refer to a glossary of terms (there is none here) in order to follow along. I also liked that there were only a smattering of characters and because it's written in first-person the story is anchored by the main character Rose. The cover is gorgeous and significant to the story. Make sure you keep it in mind as you the book.

Rose Fitzroy has been in stassis, a type of drug-induced sleep that prevents aging, for the past 60 years. The world she left behind is vastly different from the world she wakes up to. Her family, her friends, the love of her life, all gone and she's still 16 and still under the jurisdiction of UniCorp and the school. As she tries to come to terms with this new world she also starts to understand what exactly happened to get her where she is now. The true story of her past unfolds and it's a difficult one to come to terms to. But Rose isn't safe. A Plastine, a plastic zombie killer, is out to terminate her and she must find out why before it's too late. This book is part sci-fi, part adventure, part romance, part coming of age story and all beautiful. I really hope folks will give this book a try.

Zora and Me

Zora and Me - Victoria Bond;T. R. Simon An amazing book written by two incredibly talented women. The language in the book is beautiful and I love how we learn about Zora Neale Hurston's adventurous spirit and talent for story telling through a fictional story as told by a character in the book. It's a great way for kids (and let's face it, this adult) to be introduced to Zora Neale Hurston. The first thing I wanted to do after reading this was pick up Their Eyes Were Watching God!

Zora loves to tell stories and all the school children call her a liar. Except for her good friend Carrie who sees Zora's strength in storytelling and believe in what Zora is saying. Zora is convinced that the quiet and somewhat reclusive Mr. Pendir is a gator man, half-gator, half-man, with a hunger to devour beautiful voices. When a dulcet-toned traveler named Ivory is found dead, Zora and Carrie (and sometimes Teddy) are on a mission to find out who done it. Was it Mr. Pendir? Zora seems to think so. But they need to first prove he's a gator-man for sure!

The mystery propels the story along. But it's not all about the mystery. That's just one element of the book. What you also get is an understanding of Zora Neale Hurston as a person, the African-American community of Eatonville, turn-of-the-century prejudice and racism as well as the power of a child's imagination.

I loved reading this book. Channie Waites did such a spectacular job with the narration. If I pick up the physical book and read a sentence or two, Waites' voice pops into my head. She delivers the language of the book so beautifully and authentically. It was really a joy to listen to.
The Unforgotten Coat - Frank Cottrell Boyce, Carl Hunter, Clare Heney Very sweet story about two Mongolian boys who transfer to a Liverpool school. They meet a young girl named Julie who they appoint as their "good guide". She helps them learn all about local culture, sports, etc. However, Chingis and Nergui approach things very differently and culture clash inevitably ensues. The way they see the world is so different from how Julie and her classmates sees it. Through photographs, observations and events, she discovers what's really going on with this family.

It's a very charming book and I highly recommend it. I love how the mystery unfolds with polaroids that reveal things as you go along.
The Anti-Prom - Abby McDonald Another winner from Abby McDonald! On Prom night, 3 high school girls, who couldn't be more different from each other, come together for an evening they will never forget. None of it happening at the actual prom. Bliss Marino is one of the popular girls. She just spotted her boyfriend making out with her best friend. Determined to bring down her best friend she lures Jolene, the jaded and angry high school misfit, to help her sabotage the friend's evening. Jolene, has been stood up by her date and is looking forward to causing some mischief. Bliss and Jolene rope in Meg, a quiet, unassuming do-gooder who is ignored by everyone in high school except now when Meg is Jolene & Bliss' primary port of transportation (ie she has a car). What ensues is a wild night of parties, multiple break-ins, make-outs, fights, hair-pulling, wardrobe changes and perhaps a surprise dip in a pool.

Do I make the plot sound shallow? Because the plot, the characters and the writing are excellent. Abby McDonald writes teen chick lit with wit and intelligence and thoughtfulness. There is a Bliss, Jolene and Meg at every school. What McDonald does really well is she puts these disparate characters together showing that everyone can get along with each other if they stop putting up walls and perpetuating prejudices. There are a lot of heart felt moments, especially the ones in which Jolene is coming to terms with the abandonment of her Dad, as well as a lot of funny ones too.

I listened to this book on audio. It was narrated by Julia Whelan who I think did a wonderful job giving voices to the three different main characters. She did a great job especially with Jolene's voice. She made Jolene's voice a bit lower and drawn out which contrasted beautifully with Bliss' perky voice and Meg's scared and excited one. Because the book focuses so much on these three characters, I thought it was great that Whelan was able to create three distinct narrative voices for the audio book.
The Blackhope Enigma - Teresa Flavin A new favorite for sure. Teresa Flavin blends magic, art history and mythology into a wonderful adventure. Sunni and Blaise are art students studying the Medeival painter Fausto Corvo for a school project. When Sunni, her step-brother Dean & Blaise go to The Blackhope Tower to see Corvo's famous painting The Mariner's Return to Arcadia, Dean suddenly disappears in a labyrinth in the tower. He stumbled across a key word in the painting's description, when spoke in repetition in the labyrinth takes you into the world of Arcadia. Sunni and Blaise follow him and get lost in they layers of the artwork and into the fantastical land of Arcadia. Will they get out before Angus Bellini (a greedy art enthusiast who follows them into the painting) and a host of other enemies trap them in the painting forever?

One of my favorite TV shows was MythQuest. A quirky Canadian show that didn't even last one season. In fact, there was a 2-part episode and only 1-part was ever filmed. It was about two teenagers whose father got lost in the world of myths via an artifact and a computer. I know sounds strange but the teenagers found their way into the myths in search of their father. Each episode was one type of myth: Native American, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, etc. It was a wonderful show but because they pulled the plug so early the teens never did find their father and I never got closure. I feel like The Blackhope Tower gave me a similar story, with a tighter and more cohesive plotline and with an ending that gave me closure!

I highly recommend this book to everyone who likes an intellectual adventure but also some light reading. The author really did her research but doesn't bog the reader with details either. You could do a surface read and enjoy it or you could really dig deeper and find a rich bounty of mythological, astrological & historical references.
A Year Without Autumn - Liz Kessler A very charming story from the author of the Emily Windsnap series. This book is a departure from Emily Windsnap and her fantastical world of mermaids but it bases itself on the same thing. A young girl, put in unusual and magical circumstances and trying to make sense of things on her own. Jenni is in many ways a normal 11 year old. A pair of doting parents, an annoying little brother, a baby sister on the way and a best friend. Said bff, Autumn, is the polar opposite of Jenni. Autumn is vivacious, opinionated, outgoing, erratic and often a spaz. Jenni is calm, thoughtful and dotes on Autumn. They are very close best friends. When Jenni goes to visit Autumn at Condo #210, Jenni takes the wrong elevator and finds herself in another year. And boy have things gone wrong since then. This book is a fun read but also thought-provoking too. I think kids will really like the time-travel element and the best-friend dynamic in the story.
The Piper's Son - Melina Marchetta Melina Marchetta is really good at writing about human relationships. There are many characters in this story, all intertwined yet she does an amazing job keeping their storylines separate yet connected. I listened to this on audio and the reading by Michael Finney was amazing. In fact, it was a bit too amazing! I was distracted at a few points by his very sexy Australian accent.

Metamorphosis: Junior Year

Metamorphosis: Junior Year - Betsy Franco Listening to this was a real treat. It's a short audio book, about 2 hours on 2 CDs. It was a delight listening to Betsy Franco's sons David Franco and James Franco (yes THE James Franco) read their mom's book. This book is heavily influenced by Ovid's Metamorphosis which was one of my favorite books to read in college. My favorite part, funny enough, was the informational part at the end that talked about Ovid's life, work, exile, and death. I'm glad this was included because as fun as it is to read a re-envisioning of Ovid's Metamorphosis (in a high school setting no less) I think it's also really important to understand that what Ovid wrote was also a re-envisioning of the mythological stories that he and his contemporaries were so familiar with.
Frost - Wendy Delsol Frost takes on a wild ride from America Mid-West, to Iceland to Greenland with a good dose of Norse Mythology thrown in to spice things up. In Stork, Katla comes to understand that she is part of an ancient society of Storks, women who can place souls with to-be-mothers. She also falls for Jack, as in Jack Frost, a fellow teen in high school who also is coming to terms with his magical abilities, in this case it's changing the weather. Stork sets everything up and leaves Frost to be purely adventure. I got sucked in right away and Frost kept my attention all the way through. It definitely helps if you've 1) read Stork and 2) enjoy Norse Mythology. If you enjoy reading magical realism and want to try something fresh and different, definitely read Stork and Frost!
Sister Mischief - Laura Goode Sister Mischief is a very charming novel and you won't be able NOT to fall in love with the Jewish Lesbian teen protagonist Esme Ruth Rockett. Esme is a rapper at heart and she and her friends form Sister Mischief, a hip-hop group consistently entirely of an eclectic mix of teen girls. So much of Esme's circumstance is an anomaly. She is a lesbian hip-hopper minority in the middle of a very white Christian town in the American mid-west. Finding herself, her sexuality, her passion for hip-hop in the midst of a lot of opposition and prejudice. Esme and her friends start a group called 4H, Hip-Hop for Heteros and Homos, an LGBT/Straight alliance for sex positivity and a more positive hip-hop culture. It's quite brave considering 1) they are in high school and 2) they are in the middle of a very conservative community. I was a particularly shy teen (also a minority) who never took risks so I admire Esme's character for putting everything on the line to be who she wanted to be in a very volatile time in her young life.

I love this particular line that Esme says to her love interest in the story, "It made me feel invincible. It made me feel like we were charting a course and the world just had to suck it up and follow us wherever we wanted to take them."

This book is wonderful for different groups of people: young LGBT teens discovering their own sexuality, YA readers who want to try something refreshing and different, hip-hop enthusiasts as well as poetry fanatics, etc. The author is a very talented writer. Her prose is lyrical and she also includes a lot of original hip-hop lyrics for Esme's character and Sister Mischief. There are also texts and tweets mixed in throughout the prose and lyrics.
Another Faust  - Daniel Nayeri, Dina  Nayeri, Katherine Kellgren Katherine Kellgren has an extraordinary talent for accents. Russian, French, Italian, British (various kinds), American, you name it she's got it down pat. So with all the different voices in Another Faust, it was necessary to have a narrator with this sort of talent. Kellgren has the type of voice that makes you feel like you are being read a fairy tale which added an entertaining element to this audio book. You feel like you are being transported into a magical world through her voice. It's really quite astounding.

Another Faust, by Daniel and Dina Nayeri, is about 5 15-year olds, 3 of which have sold their souls to the devil in the form of their governess Madame Vileroy. But all 5 want something. Christian wants to be a successful athlete, Victoria wants power, Valentin wants the gift of writing, Belle wants to be beautiful and Bice wants to speak every language. They attend the prestigious Marlowe school in Manhattan and get into all sorts of trouble with their gifts.

Kellgren does an amazing job keeping all the characters distinct by giving them unique voices. There is one scene in which all 5 characters are in a room together talking and she switches back and forth between them with ease. It sounded as though it were 5 narrators instead of just 1. I couldn't help getting lost in the world of the Faust children and Madame Vileroy. Listening to this audio book was such an amazing experience.
Warren William: Magnificent Scoundrel of Pre-Code Hollywood - John Stangeland Full review here: http://outofthepastcfb.blogspot.com/2011/01/get-your-read-on-warren-william.html

This book is for classic film enthusiasts who are not satisfied with just scratching the surface of old Hollywood but want to dig deep and discover the machinations through the stories of those figures, including Warren William, who really made early film what it was. The author provides us with a thorough examination of the life and career of Warren William starting from his family settlement in Aitkin, Minnesota, following him to his theater days in New York, then his film days in Hollywood and finally to his death in 1948. The book reads both like a thoroughly researched and well-organized biography and as a tribute. It follows in chronological order, starting with the first 100 years before Warren William's birth, through his childhood, school years, WWI, marriage, careers and death. I appreciate the structure and order of the book which made digesting all the information provided a lot easier than if it had jumped back and forth through time. Each performance, both theater and film, is given a thorough description followed by Stangeland's thoughts on the work as well as audience and critic reaction. This allows us to see how many ups and downs William's career really had.

Highly recommended!