The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel

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I picked up this book in a sale at the library. It seemed like it might be pretty fun. Well, as much fun as you can have in a war. Nazis steal treasure (from pretty much everywhere) and Allied soldiers get a wiggle on and go after it. The narrative starts prior to World War II with members of the art community saying that war is bad for art and that we should remember that if fighting ever happens again. It followed the stories of a couple of museum people and some art conservators. One of them actually writes out a plan on how to preserve monuments and art during wartime. Then, World War II breaks out, the Allied forces have some pretty disastrous PR following the destruction of some monuments and so decide that maybe they should do something to preserve the cultural heritage of Europe. This turns out to be a great idea because Hitler is obsessed with art and has his surrogates all over Europe cataloging and seizing all kinds of property.

So, this book follows six of the folks assigned to Monuments duty during World War II. The bulk of the narrative focused on the recovery of the Ghent altarpiece, the art at Neuschwanstein Castle and all of the art that was stored at the salt mine at Altausee. It was really interesting hearing about all of these pieces of art. It was also interesting hearing about the storage, transportation and care of the art. (Spoiler Alert: pieces often didn’t get the treat they deserved.)

I’m not going to lie to you, some of this book was a little boring. But, overall I’m glad that I read it.

So, if you’re interested in war, treasure hunting and the Allied forces defeating the Nazis, you may want to pick this up.

Quick Review: Adulthood is a Myth by Sarah Andersen

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adulthoodIt’s the universal truth that being an adult sucks.  Even though today is my day off, I should be working.  I have staff reviews to write, sales data to analyze and what am I doing?  Flipping through Sarah Scribbles tumblr because as I said, being an adult sucks. You have probably seen Sarah’s work on Facebook because I’m sure one of your friends has shared it.  It seems like Sarah has taped into all the stress, anxiety, and fears of what it’s like to be an adult right now and probably ever.  How we all rather sleep or read then go to work or go outside.  That it would be so much easier if we just didn’t have deal with things but we do. At Book Riot Live this past weekend, Sarah was there to play a little game of Pictionary and since her publisher was a sponser they gave out her book for free.  It was a wonderful surprise.  Before the game started I sat in my seat giggling at all the comics and thinking this is all too real.  Some of the comics I have read before but there was a couple of new ones.  They were all great and wonderful and another reminder that I’m not alone.  There are so many others out there that feel the same way as I do.  It just makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.  Adulting is hard but at lease with Sarah Scribbles we can all laugh at it.

#bklynbookmatch

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One of the vendors at the Book Riot Live was the Brooklyn Library. They had librarians on had to do what librarians do best.  Suggest books.  They invited con goers to fill out sheets about books, genres and authors they are looking for and then they play book match.  In the spirit of our Diverse Lives, Diverse Stacks Reading Challenge that I’m failing about horribly, I decided to try them out. I asked for.

YA books with diverse voices, especially POC, LGBTQ or disabled folks. I’m looking for authors like Maggie Stiefvater, genres like fantasy and Historical Fiction.

Here are the books I was matched up with.

1.Girls Mans Up by M-E Girard

All Pen wants is to be the kind of girl she’s always been. So why does everyone have a problem with it? They think the way she looks and acts means she’s trying to be a boy—that she should quit trying to be something she’s not. If she dresses like a girl, and does what her folks want, it will show respect. If she takes orders and does what her friend Colby wants, it will show her loyalty. But respect and loyalty, Pen discovers, are empty words. Old-world parents, disintegrating friendships, and strong feelings for other girls drive Pen to see the truth–that in order to be who she truly wants to be, she’ll have to man up.

2. Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis

Amara is never alone. Not when she’s protecting the cursed princess she unwillingly serves. Not when they’re fleeing across dunes and islands and seas to stay alive. Not when she’s punished, ordered around, or neglected.

She can’t be alone, because a boy from another world experiences all that alongside her, looking through her eyes.

Nolan longs for a life uninterrupted. Every time he blinks, he’s yanked from his Arizona town into Amara’s mind, a world away, which makes even simple things like hobbies and homework impossible. He’s spent years as a powerless observer of Amara’s life. Amara has no idea . . . until he learns to control her, and they communicate for the first time. Amara is terrified. Then, she’s furious.

All Amara and Nolan want is to be free of each other. But Nolan’s breakthrough has dangerous consequences. Now, they’ll have to work together to survive–and discover the truth about their connection

3. Pinned by Sharon Flake

Autumn and Adonis have nothing in common and everything in common. Autumn is outgoing and has lots of friends. Adonis is shy and not so eager to connect with people. But even with their differences, the two have one thing in common–they’re each dealing with a handicap. For Autumn, who has a learning disability, reading is a painful struggle that makes it hard to focus in class. But as her school’s most aggressive team wrestler, Autumn can take down any problem. Adonis is confined to a wheelchair. He has no legs. He can’t walk or dance. But he’s a strong reader who loves books. Even so, Adonis has a secret he knows someone like Autumn can heal.

In time, Autumn and Adonis are forced to see that our greatest weaknesses can turn into the assets that forever change us and those we love.

Told in alternating voices, Pinned explores issues of self-discovery, friendship, and what it means to be different

4. The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry

Dolssa is a young gentlewoman with uncanny gifts, on the run from an obsessed friar determined to burn her as a heretic for the passion she refuses to tame.

Botille is a wily and charismatic peasant, a matchmaker running a tavern with her two sisters in a tiny seaside town.

The year is 1241; the place, Provensa, what we now call Provence, France—a land still reeling from the bloody crusades waged there by the Catholic Church and its northern French armies.

When the matchmaker finds the mystic near death by a riverside, Botille takes Dolssa in and discovers the girl’s extraordinary healing power. But as the vengeful Friar Lucien hunts down his heretic, the two girls find themselves putting an entire village at the mercy of murderers.

So I am going to add these to the my to-read list and for anyone else who are looking for books to complete their own reading challenge, check them out for yourselves.  Any great books you’ve read for the Diverse Stacks, Diverse Lives Challenge?

 

Book Riot Live Day 2

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Day two of Book Riot Live started off with a bang. Rebecca Joines Schinsky and Liberty Hardy did a live recording of their podcast All the Books. Discussing all the best books released this week. Including Born a Crime  by Trevor Noah and Anna Kendricks new book whose title escapes me. The two are friends and their chemistry is undeniable.

I decided that after this week I needed some levity and light so I went to the Bookish Broadway Sing-along. All songs were loosely based on books one way of another. Classics like Phantom of the Opera to Annie to Les Mis and of course Hamilton. They did a request and we all sang the Circle of Life from The Lion King. I really wish I took better photos and a video.


Next was Live Pictionary with Sarah Anderson and Valentine De Landro. Sarah writes Sarah’s scribbles and Valentine draws for Marvel, DC and cocreator of Bitch Planet. I’m amazed both at the drawing and people able to guess.


After a little donut break. I checked out Slash Live with a Alyssa Cole, Michael Strother and Zoraida Córdova. Slash is sort of like apples to apples and cards against humanity in which everyone had a set of cards with a name and description of a pop culture character. Each person takes turns picking a character and making a situation and everyone else must pick a character from their own stack and create story based on the situation. Like Xander from Buffy falling for Big foot. It’s very fun to play.

The final panel of the night was Nerd Jeopardy with Mara Wilson, Mark Osborn and Sara Farizan. It was like real jeopardy but without Alex Trebeck and all clues were about shoes. Book nerds are the best. If the panelist didn’t know the answer someone in the audience did. It was very amusing and for those who are curious, Mara won.


So that’s it for this year. I’m looking forward to what Book Riot will do next year.

Review: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

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This was a book I read for my book club. It is about Merricat, Constance and Uncle Julian Blackwood. They are the last the illustrious Blackwood clan. They live in the family manor. Constance has not left the house in six years and Uncle Julian is in a wheelchair because of a terrible incident that has befallen the family.

Merricat goes to the store and the library once a week. But, everything is about to be turned on its head.

The incident that befell the family is that the rest of the family was poisoned and Constance was put on trial for their murders. Uncle Julian is in his wheel chair because of the poisoning incident. They are visited by Cousin Charles, who befriends Constance. They start to talk about Constance trying to reintegrate into society. From here a chain reaction of sorts leads to the revelation of who really killed the rest of the Blackwood Clan and why. This all leads up to a second incident that changes their lives forever.

 

At first, I wasn’t into this novel. But, the more I read it, the creepier and more interesting it got. It was a fun little read.

 

So, if you’re interested in families with secrets, sympathetic magic, and creepy narratives, I recommend you pick this one up.

 

 

Book Riot Live Day 1

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Famed book website Book Riot is hosting their second Book Riot this weekend in New York. Like the website the panels are diverse and talk about books, authors and genres that are often overlooked in the mainstream media. 

The first panel I attended was Nobody Asked Us with Amanda Nelson, Jeff O’Neal and Rebecca Joines Schinsky. Basically it was them talking about everything about how the website is run. The stories they write and the how they go about bringing different voices to their site. 


The second panel was a live recording of their podcast Get Booked wth Nelson, Jenn Worthington and author Jade Chang. If you are not familiar with the podcast is personalized book recommendations. Readers write in to ask for ideas for their next books. It’s was super fun and very informative. For one I didn’t realize Meg Abbott had a new book about gymnasts. Yes please! The podcast goes live next week. 


The last panel was with Schinsky interviewed author Walter Mosley. I confess I haven’t read any of his book and the only I could name was A Devil in a Blue Dress and mostly because Denzel is in the movie. Mr. Mosley is one funny funny man. He made many good points about the relationship between literary and genre authors. We praise literary authors as great novelist and score genre but let’s be honest. We all read more genre then anything else. I’ll be adding his books to my to-read list. 


More tomorrow. 

Quick Review: The Midnight Star by Marie Lu

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midnight-star This series was different in that it billed itself as having the villain as the protagonist.  I argued in my review of the last book, The Rose Society that Adelina wasn’t really the true villain of the story.  While she does commit several villainous acts on her way to power she is just as much a victim as anyone else. I also argued that Teren, in his religious fervor was the character to be most feared then any of them.  After finishing The Midnight Star, I feel a little justified and also not.  It starts out with Adelina and her Roses conquering another country by fear.  She is merciless in her rule.  She has taken all the power away from the un-marked and given it to the marked.  She kills anyone who speaks out against her and punishes her family. She is by no means a heroine to be worshiped.  She is also a young girl who has been bullied, abused and marginalized her whole life.  In her mind she is righting the wrongs.  Taken power and given it back to the powerless.  I’m not saying it’s justified or what she did was right but I can also understand her too.  A crisis bigger then her own fears aligns her once again with the daggers and gives her a path of redemption.  Raffalle has figured out the origin of the blood fever that lead to the Young Elites powers. They was a rift in the mortal and the immortal world that allowed the powers of the Gods to effect the mortal world.  It’s now poisoning them.  Their powers are turning against them. Lucent, who could fly, bones are hallowing out.  Violetta’s power to block others including her own is not overcoming her.  Adelina’s voices in her head are her own illusions overtaking her.  The only way to save them and the world is to go to where the rift occurred and offer to give their powers back. Now these enemies will have to work together but how can there when there has been so much blood already spilled and the body count in this book is pretty high as well.  I wouldn’t say it had a happy ending but really the only ending that it could have.  It was bittersweet.  I will miss the lush atmosphere of this book.  Stylized after a medieval society, Marie Lu gave her settings life and beauty.  It was a good series and enjoyable read but year not going to lift you up.