Monday, December 31, 2012

End Of Year Review



This year has not gone exactly like planned.  The fact is that I haven't completed any of the challenges that I signed up for.  I am kind of disappointed.  But then I realize that I have read more this year than last year.


Top Three Favorite Reads (fiction):
     I find it interesting that while I gave The Keepers of The House the best star ratings (5 stars) but it is number 3 on the list.  When I think about it, while The Keepers of The House, had a high rating The Farming of The Bones is more memorable.  The characters, setting, and writing made it a raise to the top.  With Silver Sparrow,   I think the reason that it is higher on the list than The Keepers of The House is because Jones was not afraid to let the story come to it's natural ending without wrapping up everything in a nice happily ever after bow.

     Just a side note that both Farming of The Bones and Silver Sparrow were books that I picked for my book club Mocha Readers.

Books That Fell Victim to the 20% Rule:
     Out of these three books the one that I, if I had to, most likely try to read again is The Fifth Vial by Michael Palmer.  Out of the three it was the most well written and I am sure that after the slow start and character introduction the pace would have picked up.  If I'm Only Human After All was edited more and reworked some it would come in as a close second.  

Completed Challenges in 2012:
  • None
     That is right I did not complete a single challenge this year.  Mostly because I slacked off towards the end only completing about 5 books between September and December.  Which sucks and I could have made it work but I was being lazy.  In fact, if I had kept up with my reading schedule like I had planned I would have completed most of the challenges.  

Challenges Run Down:
  • 1% Well Read - 0 out of 10 Books (0%) *Perpetual Challenges*
  • Unread Book Challenge -5 books *there was no goal so this is not so bad*
  • Self-Published Reading Challenge - 4 out of 10 Books (40%) *almost halfway*
  • Why Buy The Cow? Reading Challenge - 1 out of 12 Books (8%) *this should have been an easy one*
  • Battle of The Prizes - 1 out of 3 Books (33%) *runs until January 2013 still time to win*
  • The Pulitzer Project  - 2 out of 5 Books (40%) *Perpetual Challenges*
  • 2012 Reading Challenge - Completed 26 out of 50 Books (51%) 

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Sunday Shorts #1

Sunday Shorts is a new feature that I am adding to The Little Reading Nook.  I have seen on several other blogs where reviewers feature short stories.

Sunday Shorts is my version. Where I review short stories that I have read.  I had originally intended to start this in 2013 but I started reading shorts from a collection and wanted to share.

For the next couple of Sunday's I will be featuring shorts from 16 Bars:  A Short Story Mixtape by Ran Walker.

Description (GoodReads):

Ran Walker's first "short story mixtape" pulls together a varied collection of stories about black men and how they are shaped by the relationships they enter. With topics ranging from break-ups to awkward first dates, 16 Bars is a bold, unflinching, and even humorous take on what goes on in the minds of black men when romance enters the picture.

A Night with Nina Simone:  

In "A Night with Nina Simone," Jasper hopes to find one last connection with his ex-girlfriend.
Part of me wants to say that I really enjoyed this story.  I am not a huge Nina Simone fan but I have recently started listening to her music.   Which had me excited to read this short story.  Nina Simone's music is deep and soul.  When I sat down on the bus and opened this story to read, I sort of wished that I had brought my iPod along to set the mood.  Honestly, when I was finished it didn't think listening to Nina Simone would have helped any.

This story just fell flat to me.  Jasper came off emotional discontented and I don't think this was Walker's intent.  The story is all about a guy searching the house to find the prized CD collection of a woman that left him and then trying to find some connection by listening to her favorite artist.  The only thought that ran through my mind when I read the last page was "I would have left him to".  Not because he did anything wrong but because Jasper was so flat.

While I didn't care for Jasper I did like Walker's description of Simone's music. This passage jumped out at me and it was prefect.
Her voice was heavy and intoxicating, like a cognac swirling restlessly around an empty belly.  For a moment, I imagined a woman standing in the back of an old church house nestled in the woods off of some gravel road, her voice like warm molasses blanketing the starving souls of the congregation.

Discovering Charles Buckner:

Charles, a guy with low self-esteem, learns that there is more to him than meets the eye.
It is important to point out that all the character of 16 Bars are male and the stories are in first person.  The male first person perspective has always been hard for me to connect to.   I don't know why, but it has always been a challenge for me to connect to male characters.  I first noticed it with Catcher in the Rye and then later with The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Which made me feel that it would be a challenge for me to truly enjoy the stories in this collection.

I did not have this problem with Charles Buckner.  I enjoyed his character a lot.  In fact, I found him adorable in that awkward, nice guy kind of way.  Part of the reason was because there was that Charles provided a little bit of background about himself and his life situation.  It provided a simple connection and allowed for me to see where he was going and his motivation.

My favorite quote came at the end when Charles said:
I have never heard those words before, but now I find myself wanting to expand to fit them. The funny thing is that I feel the process has already begun.

Sunday Post #8




The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
~this meme was inspired in part by - In My Mailbox~
It's a chance to share News.
A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.
This is your news post, so personalize it. Include as much as you want or as little.
Be creative, it can be a vlog or just a showcase of your goodies.

So, there are only two days to go and 2012 will official be over.  I love the start of a New Year, it is so full of possibilities and a prefect time to plan.

Over the next couple of days, I will be wrapping up 2012 on this blog and planning for the upcoming New Year.

One of the things that I am most excited about (regarding this blog), if changing my rating system.  I have been using a star system since I started this blog years ago and have always been dissatisfied with it.  The only reason that I have continued to use it is because it is easier to translate my ratings to the various sites that I review on.   I am not going to worry about that starting in 2013.

While I am not going to stop review on other sites, for The Little Reading Nook.  I am going to start giving letter grades.  For some reason, I think letter grades will be more reflective for how I feel about a book.  And now that I review there elements of each book (plot, character, and writing) I can give grades for each element separately and an overall grade.

What Happened Last Week (light week):
What's Happening This Week:
  • Monday: Review of  The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore
  • Teaser Tuesday:  A quote from Little Bee by Chris Cleave  and a bunch of post about challenges.
  • Wednesday: Wondrous Word Wednesday
  • Thursday:  Booking Thur Thursday
  • Friday:  Weekly book finds
  • Saturday:  New Books

Happy Reading,
MoniqueReads

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Stacking The Shelves #14


From Tynga's Reviews:

We are all book lovers and the need to share our enthusiasm is sometimes overwhelming. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! 
If you’re anything like me, you are probably hoarding books and even though you are excited about your latest book arrival, it might be a while before you get to review it and Stacking The Shelves is a good way to express your undying enthusiasm for those titles!

Another set of books that I brought from the Miami International Book Fair.  This time I did not buy the books.  Author Solutions had a booth at the fair and they were giving away books at author signing events.  I snatched up a few that caught my eye.







What did you add to your shelves this week?

Friday, December 28, 2012

Friday Finds: December 28th

Friday Finds hosted by Should Be Reading ask:

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!

This weeks finds are from Bite My Books.

(Clicking on the image will take you to the books GoodReads page)




What Did You Find This Week?

Monday, December 24, 2012

Review: Christmas in the Bottoms by Charles Harvey

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Pages: 28 pages
Genre: Short Story (Fiction, Christmas)
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Version: eBook (ePub)
Publication Date: October 2012
Publisher: Self-Published
Source: Personal Collection

Synopsis (Smashwords):
Christmas in the Bottoms--you’ll laugh like the Dickens. A very soulful and satirical version of the classic: A Christmas Carol. Narrated and commentated by a pair of jive talking "Dozens" Players named Madd and Dog2020 aka Maddog2020. It's a bit of fantasy and a bit macabre. Scrooge is the miser Ebenezer Jenkins who owns Glad Wrappings Funeral Home and BBQ joint. What's Cooking you may ask. 

Review:


*Quick confession:  I have never read Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol but I have seen several movie versions.  So, this will not be a comparison of the two.

Plot:

I came across Harvey's Chirstmas in the Bottoms by accident.  I was at Smashword purchasing another book that was on sale and since it was only $0.99, I decided to make my whole transaction around $5 and so I needed to find more books.  Since I had not read any Christmas themed books this year, Christmas in the Bottoms seemed like a good choice.  And I was curious to see what a hood version of A Christmas Carol would look like.

I found Harvey's retelling overall enjoyable.  There were many moments when I had to hold back a laugh. Mostly, through the first part of the book and during Madd2020's interruptions.  I think Harvey did a good job of creating a funny unique version of a holiday classic for the first section of the short story.

Where the story failed and why it only got 3 stars was in the dream sequences.  They were overall short and weak.  Again, since I have never read A Christmas Carol, I can only use movie version as a comparison   So, I am use to the three dreams taking up the majority of the story, being elaborate and overall setting the tone for the overall story.  It seemed that Harvey just throw in the three dreams.  There weren't three different ghost and I couldn't figure out how the dreams played a part in Jenkins overall redemption at the end.

Characters:

Madd and Dog2020 were hilarious.  In fact, their back and forth was one of the best parts of the story.  For me, they were the highlight.  I could just envision them sitting on the steps, watching people pass by and drinking out of a brown paper bag.  Old harmless drunks, wasting away the days.

Ebenezer Jenkins, was a trip.  He did the worst thing to save a dollar.  Like combine his three business (Funeral Home, BBQ Restaurant  and Pawn Shop) to save money.  And rumor had it the meet for his BBQ was probably from his deceased clients.  He was also mean and stingy to his only employee Bob Crutchet, a felony having trouble finding a better job.  But while Jenkins was memorable for his action, his character overall was one dimensional.

I think my overall favorite character was Ebenezer Jenkins gay nephew.  He was flamboyant and a bit of a stereotype but for the brief scene that he was in.  I loved him.

Writing:

The true strength of Christmas in the Bottoms is displayed in Charles Harvey's writing.  It is clear that he knows what he is doing and knows how to tell a story.  I honesty wish that this had been longer and more flushed out.

Explanation of Rating:  

I struggled with trying to decided if this should be a 3 star or a 3.5, unfortunately the flaws in the story (mostly the bad dream sequences) outweighed the excellent writing and humor.

Overall Recommendation:

Recommended for a light humorous Christmas read, and an interesting take on a Charles Dicken's classic.

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Stacking The Shelves #13


From Tynga's Reviews:

We are all book lovers and the need to share our enthusiasm is sometimes overwhelming. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! 
If you’re anything like me, you are probably hoarding books and even though you are excited about your latest book arrival, it might be a while before you get to review it and Stacking The Shelves is a good way to express your undying enthusiasm for those titles!

Another set of books brought at the Miami International Book Fair.  This time from Murder on the Beach Bookstore.





What did you add to your shelves this week?

Friday, December 21, 2012

Friday Finds: December 21st

Friday Finds hosted by Should Be Reading ask:

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!

This weeks Finds come from Libereading.

(Clicking on the image will take you to the books GoodReads page)


What did you find this week?

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Review: Flight of the Blackbird by Faye McDonald Smith

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Pages: 352
Genre: Fiction (Women's Fiction)
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Version: Hardcover (ISBN: 9780684829715)
Publication Date: November 1996
Publisher: Scribner Book Company
Source: Personal Purchase

Synopsis (GoodReads):
In her remarkable debut novel, Faye McDonald Smith gives us a portrait of American family life in the nineties that is at once startlingly realistic and superbly entertaining. In it we meet the Burkes, an upwardly mobile, attractive, near-perfect family made up of Mel, an accomplished Atlanta executive who is beloved by her friends and family; her husband Builder, a hard working entrepreneur who is also a loving husband and a wonderful father; and their twelve-year-old daughter, Sasha, an only child who is an excellent student, popular and happy. All appears well in this African-American household, whose inhabitants have pretty much achieved the American dream. But one day Mel walks into her boss's office at the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and by the time she walks out again everything has changed; she is told that the office is being downsized and that her position will be eliminated. This event triggers a downward spiral in the life of the Burke family and it soon seems that the foundation upon which their American dream has been built is not very solid. Mel and Builder begin to question everything about their heretofore seemingly idyllic lives and it is on this journey that we accompany them.

Review:

Plot:

Flight of the Blackbird was published in 1996 but the topic was relevant to financial instability that the world is experiencing today and that was the thing that intrigued me the most about this novel.  It's about a family's struggle with financial hardship and how it takes a toll on the relationships they have in their social/economic circle and also the toll it takes on the family as a whole.

One of the things that I like most about Flight of the Blackbird was the plot.  It was interesting to see how the downturn of the Burkes finances accelerate the already deteriorating relationship between all the family members.  Once Mel loses her job, and she finds out that her husband's Builder has basically been robbing Peter to pay Paul for months, and then things get interesting.  It was completely believable and what I enjoyed watching it happen (that sounds bad).

On the other hand, when I finished the reading Flight of the Blackbird, I got the feeling that McDonald Smith took the easy way out.  McDonald Smith brought up some heavy issues in this book.  Issues that would have made for a great emotionally touching read.  But in the end it seemed that she was not prepared to handle these issues and provide solid solutions.  So, she just avoided them or took the easy why out.

(Warning Spoiler Alert)

For example:

Mel's mother sent her to a mental facility after the death of her father.  It tainted their relationship forever.  Because of her action, Mel and her mother had not spoken in years.  And the fact that her mother had sent her away instead of helping her deal with her father's death left Mel to  believe that her mother favored her brother.  There is a scene in the book where Mel and her mother have this confrontation on this issue.  About how her father died and how it affected Mel.  It was a chance for mother and daughter to finally connect.  But basically, it fell flat.  While Mel's mother told her that she loved both of them equally it did not ring true.  When the moment was over, it was over.  Like nothing had happened.

Characters:

Another place where Flight of the Blackbird, failed to meet my expectations was the characters.

The main character Mel was a bit confusing.  Her family seemed to think of her as a unyielding bitch, who bulldozed over the wish of others and the only way to stop her was to gang up on her and make her feel ashamed.  In reality (at least to me) Mel was a push over.  She allowed her family to manipulate her in everything.  Even when it came down to her daughter, she allowed herself to be manipulated. She never stood up for herself, even when her husband committed a crime (that I felt was unforgivable), she allowed herself to be railroaded into going back home and trying to make it work.

On the other hand, there was Builder.  Builder was a selfish, whinny baby at the start of the book.  He allowed the mismanagement of his building to threaten the happiness and safety of his family.  While in the end I felt indifferent about his character.  He did grow and learn from the error of his ways.  He tried to make himself a better person.

I just wish that both Mel and Builder's characters were equally balanced out and both of them had learned the lessons that they needed to grow.

Writing:

Faye McDonald Smith's writing showed promise.  My research (Goodreads and basic Google Search) uncovered that Flight of the Blackbird was her first and only novel ever published.  While I didn't find her writing spectacular, I did enjoy it enough to be engaged in the novel and did not encounter any serious issues.


Explanation of Rating:
     
While the premise of Flight of the Blackbird was interesting the characters, plot issues, and average writing weren't enough to carry the novel to it's full potential.  It was rather, Meh.

Overall Recommendation:

I don't know if I would recommend this book.  It was just okay and forgettable.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Teaser Tuesday: The Darkness


TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
  • Grab your current read.
  • Let the book fall open to a random page.
  • Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
  • You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!
This weeks teasers is from The Darkness by L.A. Banks


"I know we are not suppose to leave the house without alerting the others, so that no one is lost to the enemy.  It was not my intent to violate the hospitality of the Neterus or this team on the very first night of my sanctuary..."

page 230 (trade paper back)


Don't forget to post a link to your teaser!

I want to read it.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Reviews: 32 Candles by Ernessa T. Carter

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Pages: 335
Genre: Women's Fiction
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Version: Hardback
Publication Date: June 2010
Publisher: Amistad
Source: Library

Synopsis (GoodReads):

Davie--an ugly duckling growing up in small-town Mississippi--is positive her life couldn't be any worse. She has the meanest mother in the South, possibly the world, and on top of that, she's pretty sure she's ugly. Just when she's resigned herself to her fate, she sees a movie that will change her life--"Sixteen Candles." But in her case, life doesn't imitate art. Tormented endlessly in school with the nickname "Monkey Night," and hopelessly in unrequited love with a handsome football player, James Farrell, Davie finds that it is bittersweet to dream of Molly Ringwald endings. When a cruel school prank goes too far, Davie leaves the life she knows and reinvents herself in the glittery world of Hollywood--as a beautiful and successful lounge singer in a swanky nightclub.

Davie is finally a million miles from where she started--until she bumps into her former obsession, James Farrell. To Davie's astonishment, James doesn't recognize her, and she can't bring herself to end the fantasy. She lets him fall as deeply in love with her as she once was with him. But is life ever that simple? Just as they're about to ride off into the sunset, the past comes back with a vengeance, threatening to crush Davie's dreams--and break her heart again
Review:

Plot:

     I came across 32 Candles when it was initially in 2010, I loved the cover and that got me to read the synopsis.  I am not new to women's fiction or chick lit.  I have read a few chick lit books in the past.  I normally don't review them, but I do read and enjoy them.  32 Candles was unique to me because it is the first chick lit book that crossed my path that had an African-American main character (Davie).  And the fact that Davie was a little nerdy black girl as a child reminded me of myself.  I was sold and 32 Candles was placed on my TBR List.

     Did Carter pull it off?  

     Yes and No.

     Yes, because 32 Candles was a engaging and funny read.  Everything seemed to fit perfectly (which not a bad thing in this case), it was kind of like watching a movie about the nerdy girl and the mean girls.  In fact, it was exactly like that.  The reader knew what was going to happen but when it happened it an emotional reaction was still achieved.  There were an few unexpected twist, but I think they made the story more interesting and gave it a darker tone.  I liked the darker tone, because it gave the book more depth and explained some of the characters reactions.

     The No part of the answer is because of the darker tone.  Some major issues were brought up in 32 Candles and they were just sort of swept up under the rag.  They were just sort of thrown in as a way of saying "this is why Davie and her mother's relationship is awful" on to the kick scene.  I can see this being done in order to keep the overall feel of the book light and funny, but I wish it had been executed better.

Characters:

The real strength of 32 Candles is the characters.  All the characters were unique and well rounded.  Carter was really successful in giving each character a distinctive personalities which readers where able to see through Davie's eyes.

Davie's character was very likable   She was quirky and funny, yet smart. She came off as a real person, very three dimensional.  What I like most about Davie is that just when the reader thinks that they know her, she hits them with another side of her personality.   Which was great because I ended up liking her even more.

While Davie was the main character, I think the one that I enjoyed most was Nicky.  Mainly because he provided great laughs.  He was completely comfortable with him and without even trying was hilarious.

The one character that I thought could be a little bit more developed was Davie's love interest, James.  He just seemed to stay the same throughout the book.  Never really growing or changing.

Writing:

For a debut novel, this was well written.  It is clear that Carter has a talent for writing and has a great sense of humor.  I found her writing to be so engaging that I read this book in two days.  I just could not put it down and I had to see what was going to happen next.

Explanation of Rating:
     
Because of some of the unexplored, glanced over dark topics of this book and the fact that James was sort of flat.  I took off half a star.  I understand that as a chick lit book, the atmosphere is suppose to be a light and funny, but I would rather have had the dark topics not brought up at all instead of glanced over.

Overall Recommendation:

If someone asked me if I would recommend this book.  I would tell them yes.  In fact, I am looking forward to reading Ernessa T. Carter's future works.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Sunday Post #7




The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
~this meme was inspired in part by - In My Mailbox~
It's a chance to share News.
A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.
This is your news post, so personalize it. Include as much as you want or as little.
Be creative, it can be a vlog or just a showcase of your goodies.

 [Insert Text Here]

What Happened Last Week:
What's Happening This Week:
  • Monday: Review of the 32 Candles by Ernessa T. Carter
  • Teaser Tuesday:  A quote from YA Sci-Fi novel The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor.
  • Wednesday: Review of the The Flight of the Blackbird by Faye McDonald Smith
  • Friday:  This weeks finds will highlight books I found on other blogs.
  • Saturday:  A spotlight on my haul from Miami International Book Fair.

Happy Reading,
MoniqueReads

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Stacking The Shelves #12


From Tynga's Reviews:

We are all book lovers and the need to share our enthusiasm is sometimes overwhelming. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! 
If you’re anything like me, you are probably hoarding books and even though you are excited about your latest book arrival, it might be a while before you get to review it and Stacking The Shelves is a good way to express your undying enthusiasm for those titles!

One of my most favorite events in Miami is the Miami International Book Fair.  It's a truly amazing week long event that I have taken part in every years since I arrived in Miami in 2009.  I enjoy the author presentations and especially the book buying.

One of the booths that I always buy from is the Friends of The Library Booth.

My New Finds:









What did you add to your shelves this week?

Friday, December 14, 2012

Friday Finds: December 14th

Friday Finds hosted by Should Be Reading ask:

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!

I don't think I have every mentioned this but I love Google Reader.  It's one of the ways that I pre-sort books that may one day get a coveted spot on my TBR list.

The two new books added to my TBR list this week I found via The 3 R's Blog.
(Clicking on the image will take you to the books GoodReads page)


What did you find?

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

20% Rule: The Family Business by Carl Weber with Eric Pete

Genre: Urban Literature
Series/Standalone:  Series
Version: Hardcover (ISBN: 9781601624673)
Publication Date: February 2012
Publisher: Urban Books, LLC
Source:  Library

Synopsis (GoodReads):
By day, the Duncans are an upstanding family who run a thriving car dealership in Queens. By night, they live a dangerous secret life! Carl Weber and Eric Pete deliver a thrilling underworld drama in The Family Business.L.C. Duncan, patriarch of the family, is at the age when he’s starting to think about retirement in sunny Florida. But the recession is taking a bite out of the business and, worrying more, he has to decide which of his children should take over. When his workaholic son Orlando gets the nod, Orlando’s siblings—including the favorite son Vegas, conniving daughter London, glamorous party girl Paris and flamboyant nightclub owner Rio—are up in arms. But so are the Zunigas, a rival family whose fragile business alliance with the Duncans may explode at any moment.When Vegas suddenly breaks away from the family, London’s lawyer husband, Harris, makes a play for the company and all hell breaks loose. Selling cars, it turns out, is only a small part of the Duncans’ family business. Each member of the family has a secret expertise to reveal. And now, under siege from the Mafia, Mexican drug cartels and the Zunigas, the Duncans will have to stick together—or die separately!
Why I Quit:

The Family Business and I started off on the wrong foot and it just went down hill from there.  The first chapter introduces you to the youngest member of the Duncan Family, Paris.  And she was annoying  as a toddler throwing a fit in the middle of Walmart.  Really, she was just one huge giant ghetto stereotype.  Then Weber and Pete introduces you to the other members of the family and while they are not as bad as her.  They are uninteresting and really hard to connect to.  By the time I got to Chapter 3, which I believe was narrated by London (the oldest sister), I knew that I would not care what happened to anyone in the story.

One of the things that sometimes saves books from bad characters is good writing.  The only word that I can think of to describe the writing style in this book is basic.  The sentence structure had no depth and there was no style.  Nothing to keep me wanting to turn the page.  Combine that with the fact that Pete and Weber decided to write in the first person point of view, and it was a complete fail.

This is not my first time reading Carl Weber (but I stopped a long time ago) and Eric Pete is new to me.  I don't think I will be reading anything but either of them any time soon.

Completed:  21% (79 out of 370)

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Teaser Tuesday: The Shadow Speaker


TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
  • Grab your current read.
  • Let the book fall open to a random page.
  • Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
  • You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!
This weeks teasers is from The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu


Ejii nodded, rubbing her shoulder and saning up.  All of them even Onion, had stringing. bleeding abrasions from the stand.  "Oh, Onion, are you okay?" she said when she noticed the red patches on his sandy brown fur.
page 106 (hardcover)

Don't forget to post a link to your teaser!

I want to read it.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Review: Lucretia and the Kroons by Victor LaValle

Rating: 4 Stars
Pages: 104 Pages
Genre: Young Adult (Fantasy)
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Version: eBook
Publication Date: July 2012
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Source: NetGalley (Advanced Reader Copy)

Synopsis (GoodReads):

Lucretia’s best friend and upstairs neighbor Sunny—a sweet pitbull of a kid, even as she struggles with a mysterious illness—has gone missing. The only way to get her back is for Lucretia to climb the rickety fire escape of their Queens tenement and crawl through the window of apartment 6D, portal to a vast shadowland of missing kids ruled by a nightmarish family of mutants whose designs on the children are unknown. Her search for Sunny takes Lucretia through a dark fantasyland where she finds lush forests growing from concrete, pigeon-winged rodents, and haunted playgrounds. Her quest ultimately forces her to confront the most frightening specter of all: losing, forever, the thing you love the most.

Lucretia and the Kroons is a dazzlingly imaginative adventure story and a moving exploration of the power of friendship and the terror of loss. This all-new novella serves as the perfect companion piece to The Devil in Silver, a thrillingly suspenseful work of literary horror that continues the story of Lucretia.
Brief Review:

The first thing that came to mind after reading Lucretia and the Kroons was that it reminded me of Alice in Wonderland, but darker and in the hood.  I read Alice in Wonderland as an adult and while I liked it, I did not like it enough to pick up the sequel.  But I will be reading the follow up piece The Devil in Silver.

(this review is shorter because it has been a while since I read Lucretia and the Kroons and I can't remember everything I wanted to say about it.)

Overall Recommendation:

I would recommend giving it a try.  Since it is a novella depending on reading speed it can be read in one or two sittings.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Sunday Post #6




The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
~this meme was inspired in part by - In My Mailbox~
It's a chance to share News.
A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.
This is your news post, so personalize it. Include as much as you want or as little.
Be creative, it can be a vlog or just a showcase of your goodies.

It's official, I am back from my unplanned break.  I was burned out and could not find anything that I was interested in reading.  And I did not feel like writing reviews.  Boo...Anyways in other news.

What Happened Last Week:
  • Teaser Tuesday:  I highlighted The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore.  There was a great quote in the book that I just had to share.
  • Friday Find:  The theme was foreign locations where I found four books that would take me out of Florida.
  • Stacking The Shelves:  I highlighted a little bookstore that has been stealing my money and invading my book shelves.
What's Happening This Week:
  • Monday: Review of the novella Lucretia and the Kroons by Victor LaValle
  • Teaser Tuesday:  A quote from YA Sci-Fi novel The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor.
  • Wednesday:  Why The Family Business by Carl Weber and Eric Pete fell victim to the 20% Rule.
  • Thursday:  I'm back in action with Booking Thur Thursday
  • Friday:  This weeks finds will highlight books I found on other blogs.
  • Saturday:  A spotlight on my haul from Miami International Book Fair.

Happy Reading,
MoniqueReads

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Stacking The Shelves #11


From Tynga's Reviews:

We are all book lovers and the need to share our enthusiasm is sometimes overwhelming. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! 
If you’re anything like me, you are probably hoarding books and even though you are excited about your latest book arrival, it might be a while before you get to review it and Stacking The Shelves is a good way to express your undying enthusiasm for those titles!

The second set of finds from my favorite local second hand book store Biscayne Books

Fiction:





What did you add to your shelves this week?