Candy's Raves (and Rants)

First the bad – the current cover for this book doesn’t do it justice at all and really has very little to do with the content. I must say that had someone not pointed this one out to me, I probably wouldn’t have noticed it, much less purchased it. Yes, I judge books by their covers.

I am really glad that a friend of mine did point it out to me because this book was just what I needed to get me out of a reading slump that I found myself in this Summer. It was reasonably light and beachy, but had enough of a plot line and a few serious issues to keep me interested in the storyline.

I was actually quite surprised by the plot and how the authors managed to weave the serious issues between and with Rod and Judith into a lighter read. In some ways, it was sad, yet also made it feel just a little more real.

The writing was great, I saw one little error where Tammi answered Rod’s phone and then just seemingly a few hours later, he couldn’t use it because it ran out of battery the night before, but if that’s the biggest content edit problem I found, we’re doing pretty good. The grammar was well done and it was overall very well written and edited.

This is highly recommended for those that enjoy chick lit, but also like a little meat with it.

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Book count for 2011: 44

Ah, the 4th book in a series. It is usually really good or really bad (like most book 2 offerings). This one was a little middling for me. Let me say that I absolutely adore Imogen Rose, I’m a big fan of her work and she makes sure I get a preview copy. She has an amazing ability to bring the people and places in her books into my own reality and I sometimes feel like I kinda of know them – if Arizona were to walk by me in the mall, it wouldn’t phase me to stop and say hello.

This book picks up where Equilibrium left off very well… and then I kind of felt like it meandered a bit. It does manage to pick back up and the story straightens back out about one third of way in. There did feel like a bit of a disconnect there in the first part of the book. While I’m complaining, I’ll also say the cliff hanger might have been too much as well. No, you cannot please me.

I’m going to try to not spoil it, but there’s a phone call early on in the book that made me grin. I nearly wet myself hoping that two people would meet like I’ve been waiting for since book 1. I won’t share if it happened or not… but… well, you’ll see!

The writing and editing, as always, was absolutely spot on in this book. Imogen has always delivered nothing less than darn near perfection in that respect. I like that she is consistent in that regard. I do think it could have dealt with a little bit more of a content edit to straighten out a straggling plot point or two. Or perhaps that was on purpose for book 5? Hmmm…

Here’s what you really need to know about this entire series… it’s clean. There’s a few curse words (not a big deal, my kids hear worse in Elementary School) but it’s interesting and really well done young adult books. The characters (even the bad guys) are very likable. I especially like the main character, Arizona. I’ve watched her grow up in these books and I find her to be a very likable teenager (yes, I realize that’s a huge oxymoron). Honestly, she’s a great kid.

At the end of the day, I recommend this for teenagers, pre-teens and adults alike. I’m 30-something and I totally wanna hang out with Arizona and the crew.

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Book count for 2011: 43

My daughter is a big fan of Candy Wars: The Tooth Fairies vs The Candy King so when I told her this one had come in from the author for review, I am pretty sure the entire state of Texas heard her squeal. I couldn’t get it on her kindle fast enough. I was excited too. Candy Wars was one of my fave kiddo books from last year. Adventurous fun with a whole lot of heart.

So, my 8-year-old daughter and I read this one at the same time. I would be sitting there reading and she’d come over and say “OMG, Mom! It’s brown sugar!” or “The archers are back!!!!” or something like that. I don’t want to spoil it, but honestly, it was a lot of fun with some of the characters we came to know and love in the first book and new ones that we love – and love to hate.

I won’t mince words… the author can write. How on earth he’s not been picked up and published traditionally, I’ll never know. The level of fun in this series is over the top. It’s a great age group to target, they are still into magic and fantasy and fun. It’s funny because my 10-year-old, who refused to read it at first, is now reading it from hearing my daughter and I talk about it – so is my husband. To me, this is important… it’s a story that we both enjoyed. I didn’t feel like it was dumbed down for me and she didn’t feel like it was over her head. It really gave us a good bond to be able to talk about it and to have both really completely enjoyed it.

I recommend this book for kids – and adults alike. You don’t have to have read the first one, but I would tell you to go ahead and get ‘em both. They are also available as a set called Candy Wars I and II: The Sugar Hit

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Book count for 2011: 42

When I was a child, I lived in a rural area and my parent had about 140 acres of land that I was allowed to prowl pretty much at will by the time I was 10. I had many adventures (some real, some imagined) and sometimes I wish that I could allow my own children that same luxury. Unfortunately, we live in the city now and I don’t think my neighbors would appreciate my kids prowling around their yards.

George and the Bee is the next best thing! Michael Johnson has written a great book that tells the story of George and his adventures in the “wild” around his home. Every small boy needs a mentor and friend, and George finds his in the person of the Bee.

George is a young boy about to enter Kindergarten, and it is his last summer of “freedom” before entering into school. This book serves multiple purposes: 1.) It introduces children to some basic animals in the wild, 2.) It introduces the change from pre-school years to entering into school, and 3.) it breaches the topic of imaginary friends and making new, real friends.

I love this book and will definitely be reading it to children for many years to come!

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A friend bought me this book shortly after I had a surgery. It was the perfect book because I needed a laugh (or 300).

Ya know, there’s just something about a humorous gay dude that can freaking write. The author is amazingly funny. This book actually reminded me of another book I read earlier this year, The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentlemen Farmers. It’s the same basic idea, a long time gay couple decide to get away from the city and move to the middle of nowhere. Only, Wade moved to the middle of nowhere and is obviously insane. Dude, the snow alone would send me screaming back home. Nevermind the freaky neighbor.

The writing itself is absolutely perfect. There was nothing in there that made me cringe. He’s very self-depreciating and very gay – I’m not just saying that, HE told me that in the book – repeatedly (which might be a little over the top to be honest). Having said that, his gayness makes the book. Without him sashaying outside dressed in $400 worth of clothes simply to take the trash out and getting attacked by a raccoon… yeah. His stories are only accentuated by the fact that he doesn’t mind the rest of thinking he’s a real big idiot.

This will most definitely NOT be my last book by this author. I’m trying to figure out which of his I want to read next. It also left me wanting to invite this guy over for dinner one night. Not because he was funny (well, not only because of that) but because he also shows that he has quite a big heart. At the end of the day, the heart is what needs to show through and despite his best attempts to cover it up, we find out that Wade is one heck of a guy. Gary is one lucky man.

This goes on my must read list for the year. I seriously laughed out loud so much that I was really glad I had pain meds to blunt the stitches pulling from the rolling.

I recommend this for just about everyone. It’s damn funny and we all could use a good laugh now and then.

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Book count for 2011: 41

10 years ago few and far between were the fantasy novels for young kids. Luckily, things have changed quite a bit since then and now there are many series and stand-alone novels in the fantasy genre for pre-teens to choose from. Of course, this can make it easy to miss some real gems.

Born to be a Dragon is one of those gems that I plan to share with my own kids. Set in a sort of “Alternate Reality” where dragons and magic are real, Eisley Jacobs has crafted a story that is on one hand pure fantasy, but on the other easy for children to identify with. The dragons are as big and as powerful as in any series, but what sets this book apart is the protagonist, Meia, is so likeable and easy to identify with that it was hard for me to put this book down.

You see, Meia is different in a lot of ways. But two things really set her apart from the other kids at school: 1.) She is a foster child that never knew her parents at all and 2.) All she talks, thinks, or even dreams about are dragons. And everyone knows, there is no such thing as dragons! Her last foster family definitely didn’t understand, and this new foster family doesn’t even seem to want to give her a chance, they’ve already called her case worker at least once. But soon Meia comes to realize that for her dragons are not just her obsession, they are her destiny.

This first book in the series is really promising and I’m looking forward to more. The book is completely stand-alone; it is a complete story with a great climax. However after reading, I’m sure you’ll be just like me, waiting to continue the journey of Meia and her friend Deglan.

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I believe this author was giving this book and I saw it on Twitter. Maybe I bought it. I don’t remember how I found it, but I did earlier this month and grabbed it because… okay, because I liked the title, okay? I mean, seriously!

These are a few short stories and all were fun and light and would be perfect to sit out on the beach or by the pool, chill out and read for a bit while ignoring your children and trying to lose yourself in something that makes you forget that you have sand creeping in places that it doesn’t belong.

I won’t go into each story except to say that the title one was my absolute favorite. They are all a little far-fetched, but you get exactly what you are expecting in this quirky little book of short stories.

The only real problem I saw was that a couple of the stories seemed unfinished, even for short stories. I wanted just a little bit more.

I recommend this one for the ladies that can laugh, smile and not take their reading too terribly serious. This is fun.

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Book count for 2011: 40

My only complaint about the Complete Alpha Dreamer is that it was the most addictive anthology I’ve ever read. Each and every story left me wanting more from each author. The stories are diverse, interesting, and most of all, fun to read.

There is probably something in this book for everyone, and for most people, a whole lot! There is time travel, space opera, alternate realities, life on the moon, and even on the future of preventing terrorism. Did I mention even a little bit of fantasy starring Sherlock Holmes?

Truthfully, I didn’t realize how long this book was when I sat down to read it. Every story is a page turner, and I went from one to the next. 527 pages of amazing stories.

I loved this book and am ready for more!

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Book count for 2011: 1

How many short stories can truly say that they cover trillions of years, even from a limited perspective? Even fewer can say that they’ve done it in an interesting, fun, and all together different fashion. 329 is one of those that have done this tremendous task and has done it well!

329 starts at the beginning of time. Well, actually, it starts .000001 seconds AFTER the absolute beginning of time, but I think the beginning of time is close enough. 329 is a love story of sorts, with the main character being 4 times 10 to the 36th power. As one of only 10 to the 93rd power protons in the universe, 4 times 10 to the 36th leads a pretty interesting life.

It all starts when he meets, bonds, and falls in love with 329. Unfortunately, after a scant 718 million years they are separated. 329 is the story of 4 times 10 to the 36th power life after 329 and his search for her.

Is the story funny? No, not really. Is it exciting? I wouldn’t say so, no. However it is extremely well written and includes situations that will be very familiar to everyone. This story is highly recommend for lovers of science, or science fiction, or for anyone who knows what it is like to be separated from a loved one.

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Being 16 is hard, even if you are the most popular, pretty, out-going girl in the school. And it is especially hard when you are taller than the other kids, shy, and in a strange country. The latter is the situation that Molly Lenzfeld finds herself in, in this book.

The story takes place in 1989, two weeks after the toppling of the Berlin Wall. It is a type of coming of age story, as well as a tale of how one can find themselves in the strangest of places. What starts off as a mission to visit her dead mother’s childhood home becomes so much more. Heart ache, loneliness, and a desire to fit into a world that doesn’t seem to have a place for her are all mirrored in the stark, distrustful backdrop of an East Berlin coming to terms with the changes history has bestowed upon it.

Holly-Jane Rahlens has written a wonderful story that will be hard for anyone to put down. The entire story takes place over only 4 hours in one person’s life, but the affect it had on me has lasted much longer. This is a Must Read for girls 16 and up, and any adult that remembers how hard adolescence can be but also the joys that came with it.

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