Long Absence

So I haven't posted to this blog in more than a year.

Excuse:  School, life, etc.

I don't really every get a chance to read anything other than school texts these days so I'm going to attempt to post reviews for books I've read in the past and say favorite things about series and such.

Exciting, right?  Let's see if it really works.

-- Dragon

Review: Audition by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Summary:

When high school junior Sara wins a coveted scholarship to study ballet, she must sacrifice everything for her new life as a professional dancer-in-training. Living in a strange city with a host family, she's deeply lonely-until she falls into the arms of Remington, a choreographer in his early twenties. At first, she loves being Rem's muse, but as she discovers a surprising passion for writing, she begins to question whether she's chosen the right path. Is Rem using her, or is it the other way around? And is dancing still her dream, or does she need something more? This debut novel in verse is as intense and romantic as it is eloquent.


Review:

This book is was a quick read, but also very emotionally deep.  A lot of times with novels in verse the reader loses the feeling of the characters of the dialogue that we are used to, but this book keeps all of that and adds a layer that we only get through the lyrics.


4.5/5.0

Review: Billy Girl by Vickie Weaver

Summary

Abandoned as in infant because of her incessant crying, Billie Girl is raised by two women who are brothers. Her life, a gender-bending puzzle filled with dark humor, is a series of encounters with strangers who struggle along with what they are given: a bigamist husband, a long-lost daughter named after a car, a lesbian preacher's wife, a platonic second husband who loved her adoptive father. Twin themes of sexuality and euthanasia run throughout. In a journey from hard-dirt Georgia farm to end-of-life nursing home, Billie Girl comes to understand the mercy of killing.

Review

This book was in no way what I expected.  We follow Billie as her life never ceases to change.  Billie rarely seems to gain any happiness through her years, but few reoccurring characters bring her peace.  Though it seems whenever she gets too comfortable something happens and/or someone dies.

The book spans seventy-some-odd years, beginning with Billie's birth and ending with her death.  You feel for her and I personally found myself attached to various characters that may not be conventionally likable characters.

I wouldn't recommend this book to those who are squeamish or shy away from dark themes.  It is thought provoking and well crafted.

4.0/5.0

Review: Quiver by Stephanie Spinner

Summary

Cast off and abandoned at birth, Atalanta– saved by a she-bear and raised by hunters–proves herself to be a superior archer and the fastest runner in the land. But her skills and independence anger many, including her father, the Arcadian King, who suddenly reclaims her and demands that she produce an heir to the throne. Atalanta has pledged herself to Artemis, goddess of the hunt, who has forbidden her to marry. Unwilling to break her promise, Atalanta suggests a grim compromise: she will marry the first man to beat her in a race, but everyone she defeats must die. All the while, Artemis, Apollo, Aphrodite, Eros, and Zeus himself watch–and interfere–from on high.

Review

Normally I am not a person who enjoys fantasy books in any way (save for Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl), but I do have a weakness for the Greek Gods and Goddesses.  While this book is straight forward, it is not always easy to follow if one is not the least bit familiar with mythology.  We follow Atalanta, but the banter between the Gods is interspersed and highly amusing.

It is a quick, satisfying read.  For those of you who like when books have a map in them that is required to figure out the setting, this book is for you.

3.5/5.0

Review: Knifepoint by Alex Van Tol

Summary

Jill is enduring a brutal summer job on a mountain ranch, guiding wannabe-cowboys on trail rides. On a solo ride with a handsome stranger she ends up in a fight for her life with no one to help her.

Review

One of many in the "Orca Soundings" Series.  It's not so much of a series as it is a collection of books by various authors that are quick, interesting, and interesting reads.  Out of the few I've read so far this has been my favorite.  While it was less than 150 pages, it had such a fast-moving pace and great description that I felt it was even shorter than that.  It was amazing.

You follow Jill through her last day at a summer job as it goes from bad to worse.  By the end of it you are as out of breath as she is.

5.0/5.0