Review: Hannah (Daughters of the Sea) by Kathryn Lasky

Book Details:
Hannah (Daughters Of The Sea)
by Kathryn Lasky
Genre: Young Adult
Published 2009, Scholastic Press
Hardback, 310 pages
ISBN: 9780439783101

Synopsis:

Daughters of the Sea tells the story of 3 mermaid sisters who are separated at birth by a storm and go on to lead three very different lives. Book 1 is about Hannah, who spent her early days in an orphanage and is now a scullery maid in the house of rich, powerful family. She is irresistibly drawn to the sea and through a series of accidents and encounters discovers her true identity. Hannah realizes that she must keep the truth a secret but she also knows that soon she will have to make the choice - to be a creature of the land or the sea.

This book was both mysterious and sweet, as Hannah very slowly discovers what she is and where she truly comes from. Even though I found the whole process of discovery rather drawn out, I didn't mind the slow pace because of the age of the girl and setting that she lived in, at a time in which women were never even given the opportunity to go to college and the wage of a few dollars was considered good income. How the orphans were handled, some even being "adopted" into households in the midwest, had me wondering just how common this practice was at the time and how it played into geneologies. The intricacies of how the household is run that Hannah works in is enlightening, as I had no idea there was such a heirarchy among the servant class of that time period.
Hannah is only 14 when she goes through these changes to become a mermaid, but if that had happened to me at that age, I don't think I would have had the courage to abandon what security I could find for the great unknown of the vast ocean. What I found greatly disappointing was how her budding romance with the painter was just left hanging, with no resolution or explanation of what he was and why he left the ocean. I can only assume that since this is the first of three books, that his character will be further explored in future books. I also worried for the household that Hannah had been working in and what happened to them in the impending storm, but that loose end was not resolved either. The nuances of Hannah's revelation that give me clues as to what she is are interesting, such as the changing nature of Hannah's hair, her ability with the harp, and the way she sheds salt and scales. I always love when the author gives such attention to details. I look forward to reading about Hannah's two long-lost sisters and their own revelations.

The Cover: The cover is simple but accurate in its presentation of the main character, Hannah, as she is depicted in the book to swim in her nightgown and her hair seems to have a life of its own. I like it.

First Line: "They say the sea makes some people sick."
It's not the most original first line, and it gives very little clue as to what is happening in the plot, other than something to do with the sea. But it does make me wonder where the author is going from here, so it's not the worst first line, either.

Favorite Quote: "I don't flatter. I only tell the truth."

Read For: Pages Read Challenge, Support Your Local Library Challenge, Fantasy Challenge, Celebrate the Author Challenge

Teaser Tuesday: Hannah (Daughters of the Sea)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read.
2. Open to a random page.
3. Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.
4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!).
5. Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


My Teaser:

Mr. Wheeler coughed slightly. 'Lila, as a painter it is my job to create a palette that tells the truth about the subjects of the paintings, that reflects the deeper currents running through their natures. At the same time, I must create a balance in the tonalities despite your and your sisters' individual characteristics.'
Lila sighed, and then began to speak in a flirtatious, almost chirpy voice. 'Well, I hope with all this talk of balance and tonalities, it will be flattering.'
'I don't flatter. I only tell the truth," Mr. Wheeler said quietly. He slid his eyes toward Hannah. - pg. 144, Hannah (Daughters Of The Sea) by Kathryn Lasky

What are you reading this week?

Marking in Style

For the Love of Books is my very own weekly Sunday meme dedicated to the wacky, weird, and wild world-wide-web finds related to the world of books. Topics can be anything ranging from unique bookcases, sculptures of books, and odd bookstores, to interesting uses for books, book quotes, bits of book news, etc. I love web-surfing and I have come across so many ideas that the possibities for this meme are nearly endless! If you would like to join in the fun, snag the image on the left and post the link your specific blog post in comments so that others can read about your internet find!
Here is a collection of unusual and unique bookmarks that I have found across the web. As I well know, a bookworm never has too many bookmarks!

Puffy Bookmark / Abracadabra
This "bookmark" is actually made of recycled PVC, is filled with air, and is adhesive on one side. It functions by squeezing one side to enflate the other side, which has been previously pressed between the pages of your book. This lifts the pages where you last left off, making it easier to open the book. The picture on the bookmark... well, I'm sure you can draw your own conclusions! Designers: Jung-Hyun Lee, Won-Sik Chae & Rhea Jeong

A Leaf
Designed by the same team that did the previous bookmark, this one is also rather simple. The Leaf is a metal version of a leaf and it functions by twisting to open the book at the designated page. I have used metal bookmarks before, and they seem more appropriate to big, heavy hardbound books than the more commonplace paperbacks.

Page Chaser
This design streamlines and simplifies the work that goes into marking your place in a book(oh, instant gratification, my beloved frienemy) into a bookmark that does the work for you! The page chaser stays attached to the book and follows the pages as you turn them, automatically marking the page you are on and staying there when you close the book. No lost bookmarks and no removing or replacing the bookmark! Designed by Lee Hyeon Joo.

Liquid Bookmark
This bookmark is remeniscent of paint dripping or blood splatters, depending on your taste in literature. It is flexible enough to be folded over the book, and it creates a nice visual effect for curious onlookers, too! The Liquid Bookmark sells in sets of three - red, white, and grey - and each one is unique. It is available at Designboom.

The MARK Bookmark
This bookmark is like the booklight - reimagined. No more clunky attachments or dead batteries, the MARK bookmark glows to illuminate your pages via FOLED (Flexible Organic Light Emitting Diode) technology. While I haven't got a clue how a piece of plastic can emit light, I still think this is space-age-cool! Oh yea, and it still functions as a bookmark in the daytime. Designed by Avnish Priya Gautnam.

Literati Bookmark
This bookmark is an elastic cord that wraps snugly around the book to mark your place without damaging the book itself. The cord can also be strung with beads and charms without compromising its functionality. This bookmark is available here.



My personal favorite has to be the Page Chaser. Which do you prefer?

Another Way to Get Free Books

I have recently begun using NetGalley, despite the lack of a proper e-Reader away from my desktop pc. According to their site:

"NetGalley is an innovative and easy-to-use online service and connection point for book publishers, reviewers, media, librarians, booksellers, bloggers and educators.
NetGalley delivers digital galleys and promotional materials to professional readers and helps promote new and upcoming titles. Using NetGalley, publishers can build communities, invite contacts to view galleys and promotional materials, and track who has viewed their titles.
Professional readers--reviewers, media, journalists, bloggers, librarians, booksellers and educators--can join and use NetGalley at no cost."

Basically, the publisher puts digital copies of their galley proofs - that is, the preliminary versions of their publications - on NetGalley along with appropriate marketing and promotional information, and professional readers (I love this designation!) can search through the database of titles and request permission from the publisher to read them. The reader is under no obligation to read and/or review anything, either. And did I mention that it's free?
I currently have only one title that I have begun reading through NetGalley, but if I like this format, then I will use it more often. I use Adobe Digital Editions to read digital galleys on my pc, and so far I don't mind it so much. Digitally reading a book will never be my preferred method, but it comes in handy for a professional reader such as myself, (heh, heh) especially since I have three ebooks that have been sitting in my inbox for months, thanks to LibraryThing Early Reviewers, that I am beginning to feel guilty about not getting to.

Have you checked out NetGalley yet?

Bloggity Hoppity

It's Friday, which means the Book Blogger Hop at Crazy For Books. So welcome to all of my new visitors and followers, take a look around and enjoy your stay.

If any of you have experience with HTML, perhaps you could check out my little problem, it would be greatly appreciated!

 These are the blogs I have discovered through the Hop:

1. The Books of My Life
2. Books, Books, the Magical Fruit
3. Book Lovers' Delight
4. amused, bemused, and confused
5. The Bodacious Pen

Please Help!

So I am having major problems with my HTML Layout of my blog, and I have reached a dead end in trying to solve the problem myself. I put together the design of my blog piece by piece, learning as I went and using various sites' directions on how to achieve my goals.
Once upon a time, every element of my blog design operated as expected. Then Blogger changed the template system, and now several elements of my design simply don't work anymore. I used to have dividing lines between each of my sidebar elements, now the bar is missing and all of my sidebar elements are smooshedtogetherveryannoyingly. I even tried substituting a picture in place of the plain line, but it made no difference. Also, I am supposed to have a 4-tab widget on the right bottom side, but instead all of the "tabs" are separate widgets lined up down the right column and I don't like it one bit. I went over all of the html that originally worked just fine with the site that I obtained it from, and even though I have not changed a thing, it just flat won't work anymore. I tried messaging the website's owner, but he has never emailed me back.
So what I am asking is if any of my wonderful readers can help me with my HTML Layout problems. I do NOT want to change over to a new layout, since I worked so hard to get this far.

So Please Help!

Review: Not a Sparrow Falls by Linda Nichols

Book Details:
Not a Sparrow Falls
by Linda Nichols
Genre: Christian Fiction
Published 2010, Bethany House
Paperback, 350 pages
ISBN: 9780764207471

Synopsis:

Two Desperate People-- One With All the Answers... One With None Mary Bridget Washburn is tired of running, tired of being haunted by the empty shell her life has become. How in the world did the little girl she once was become a woman on the wrong side of the law? Determined to make a new start, she escapes to the quaint city of Alexandria, Virginia, where she takes on her mother's identity and finds sanctuary in the shadow of a decades-old church. But a little girl's plea proves to be her undoing, and the reverend...well, someone's got to open his eyes before disaster comes calling. Can Mary Bridget and her tainted past stay hidden long enough for her to bring hope to a family falling apart?

When I first began reading this book, I was a bit hesitant about reading it because it does not fall into the categories of books that I prefer to read. What propelled me to keep reading was my curiousity about the grandmother of the main character, as well as how the plot seemed to sort of verge to the right of what I tried to predict would happen next as I read. I enjoy reading books that are not completely predictable, but not so unpredictable that the events are absurd. This would definitely fall under that heading.
With this book, I got a peak into a lifestyle (of drugs) that I have blessedly never experienced first hand, and it opened my eyes to the desperation and hopelessness that accompanies it. I also got a look into the polar opposite of that lifestyle - that of a pastor and the politics within a specific denomination. Along with these two heavy topics, Nichols also seamlessly weaves the equally heavy topics of depression and suicide beautifully, albeit bittersweetly. I found myself shedding tears over the book, not once, but twice. The wisdom addressing these topics was right on target and fit very naturally into the plot without the book coming across as "preachy." Each of the characters, no matter how small his or her part in the plot, was well-defined and unique, and I appreciated each one. All of the "loose ends" were accounted for and tied up, and every character seemed to reach a place of redemption in their own way.
This book was very satisfying and I am glad I decided to read it.

The Cover: I assume that the woman on the cover is the main character, Mary Bridget Washburn, simply because the book is mostly told from her point of view. The coloring of the cover makes her hair appear darker than the platinum blonde she has towards the end of the book, but too blond to be the brunette that she disguises herself as through most of the plot.She also does not show the scar on her neck that is described in the book, which I think would have been a great addition to the cover. In short, the cover shows little more than the artist's talent for photography.

First Line: "Hattie didn't know exactly what she was praying for."
This first line definitely fits the genre of Christian fiction and it also lends an air of mystery to the beginning of the story, as the reader immediately wonders why the character is praying and if the reader will get to discover who she is praying for, even if the character does not. In short, it's a good first line.

Favorite Quote: "You can't out-sin the cross."

 


Read For: Pages Read Challenge

*I received this book free of charge from the publisher for review purposes.*

Teaser Tuesday: The Proper Care and Feeding of Marriage

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read.
2. Open to a random page.
3. Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.
4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!).
5. Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


My Teaser:

My three decades of experience dealing with people struggling with intimacy tells me that too much of marital therapy is dealing with marital structure, disappointments, and disenchantments with one's spouse, and not enough on understanding the dueling inner dynamics of spouses. By "inner dynamics" I mean the complex web of the impact of their earlier family experiences tangled up with their repetitive, and largely unproductive, ways of handling real and/or imagined fear and hurt. - pg. 50, The Proper Care and Feeding of Marriage by Dr. Laura Schlessinger

What are you reading this week?

First Lines Do Matter!

For the Love of Books is my very own weekly Sunday meme dedicated to the wacky, weird, and wild world-wide-web finds related to the world of books. Topics can be anything ranging from unique bookcases, sculptures of books, and odd bookstores, to interesting uses for books, book quotes, bits of book news, etc. I love web-surfing and I have come across so many ideas that the possibities for this meme are nearly endless! If you would like to join in the fun, snag the image on the left and post the link your specific blog post in comments so that others can read about your internet find!

Today I found 100 Best First Lines of Novels as chosen by the editors of American Book Reviews. I found this interesting because, even though I definitely have not read most of these books, many of the beginning lines are familiar to me. It just goes to show that the first line of a book is very important, and can often make or break the success of a novel. Here are a few of the first lines from the list - what titles can you name?

"Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show."

"Call me Ishmael."

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

"I had the story, bit by bit, from various people, and, as generally happens in such cases, each time it was a different story."

"It was a pleasure to burn."

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair."

"You better not never tell nobody but God."

"There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it."

"The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the hills, resting."

"In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains."

C'mon and Hop Along

It's Friday, which means the Book Blogger Hop at Crazy For Books. So welcome to all of my new visitors and followers, take a look around and enjoy your stay. You can even help me decide on an apron from CSN Stores to review!

 These are the blogs I have discovered through the Hop:

1. For What It's Worth
2. Larissa's Bookish Life
3. Fangs, Wands, and Fairy Dust
4. Never Fading Wood
5. Lisa Loves (Books of Course)

Review: My Fair Lazy by Jen Lancaster

Book Details:
My Fair Lazy: One Reality Television Addict's Attempt to Discover If Not Being A Dumb Ass Is the New Black, or, a Culture-Up Manifesto
by Jen Lancaster
Genre: Memoir
Published 2010, Penguin Group
Hardback,  370 pages
ISBN: 9780451229861

Synopsis:

It's a JENaissance! The New York Times bestselling author of Pretty in Plaid gets her culture on.
Readers have followed Jen Lancaster through job loss, sucky city living, weight loss attempts, and 1980s nostalgia. Now Jen chronicles her efforts to achieve cultural enlightenment, with some hilarious missteps and genuine moments of inspiration along the way. And she does so by any means necessary: reading canonical literature, viewing classic films, attending the opera, researching artisan cheeses, and even enrolling in etiquette classes to improve her social graces.
In Jen's corner is a crack team of experts, including Page Six socialites, gourmet chefs, an opera aficionado, and a master sommelier. She may discover that well-regarded, high-priced stinky cheese tastes exactly as bad as it smells, and that her love for Kraft American Singles is forever. But one thing's for certain: Eliza Doolittle's got nothing on Jen Lancaster-and failure is an option.

I laughed from cover to cover while reading this book - seriously, I laughed out loud so much while reading this book that both my husband and my best friend were giving me dirty looks! Now, once in awhile a book will make me laugh out loud once or twice, but this was a first for me. I was familiar when Jen Lancaster's titles from my bookselling days, but I had never bothered to actually read any of her books before since I don't really go for anything in the Bibliography genres. I only made an exception for this one because the author claimed to be a reality television addict, which I can sadly relate to. While I was not a fan of every single show that she referenced in the book, I was familiar with all of them and could appreciate her sense of both humor and sarcasm. At times, I was amazed that this person actually exists, since her behavior in polite society, especially under the effects of either alcohol or caffeine, could be termed as attrocious, but that was part of the focus of the book, so it works. The things she says and the way she behaves are ways that I am sure most of us have wanted to do at times, but had too much self-control to do so. Jen Lancaster seems to have little to no self-control, which she gains as the book progresses, but even her lack of self-control is strangely appealing and endearing.
It has been a few days since I finished the book, and I feel like I am having Lancaster-withdrawals, so it looks like her other books will be going on my wishlist!

The Cover: A pair of very girly pink-and-leopard-print slippers perfectly illustrates the theme of laziness that permeates this hilarious memoir. I would not change a thing about this cover.

First Line: "Sipping wine out a paper cup, I'm perched on a tall stool across from my literary idol, Candace Bushnell, who's interviewing me for her Sirius radio show."
For one sentence, this line does a good job of drawing a picture of the author, which is ideal since this is her memoir afterall.

Favorite Quote: "Not only was my ice bucket already filled when I got here, but then my doorbell rang - my room has a doorbell! - and a staff member delivered a copy of my book made out of chocolate.
This? Is so much better than Disneyland."

Read For: Pages Read Challenge, New Author Challenge, Twenty-Ten Challenge

*I received this book free of charge from the publisher for review purposes.*

Choose Your Vanity

I must confess I have a secret vanity - I surf the web like many window shop, spending hours clicking from site to site examining and reading about all the various things that I want, but do not have the resources to obtain. (Food and power outrank books and kitchen toys!) Sometimes my husband indulges my fantasies, and sometimes I must relegate it to a virtual wishlist for future use.
Today I was fortunate enough to be offered the opportunity to do a product review for CSNstores.com! I was so excited I spent several hours perusing all they had to sell in their 200+ CSN Stores until I finally decided to pick from their selection of kitchen aprons, since I am well overdue for one myself. I have a bad habit of marking my clothing with whatever I happen to be cooking afterall. I have yet to settle on just one, so I need your help!
I narrowed my favorites down to eight (yes, eight) aprons, and I need you, my most loyal readers, to tell me which apron would suit me the best! Each apron picture is numbered 1 through 8, so just comment with the number you like. If you feel up to it, you can even tell me why! Then stay tuned for the winning apron!

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Perhaps I will even post a picture of myself wearing the beautiful apron for you to gawk at!