The Eternal Ones, by Kirsten Miller

THE ETERNAL ONES
by Kirsten Miller
Razorbill, Penguin Group(August 10, 2010)
432 pages
ISBN 9781595143082
Ages 12 and up
$17.99/$22.50

Synopsis from the bookcover:

Haven Moore has always lived in a tiny town of Snope City, Tennessee. But for as long as she can remember, Haven has experienced visions of a past life as a girl named Constance, whose love for a boy called Ethan ended in fiery tragedy.
One day, the sight of notorious playboy Iain Morrow on television brings Haven to her knees. Haven flees to New York City to find Iain an there, she is swept up in an epic love affair that feels both deeply fated and terribly dangerous.

My thoughts:

The Eternal Ones arrived in my mailbox on Friday. I sometimes peruse through books I receive for review just to get a sense of the book. When I read the first few paragraphs, I became engrossed, planted in my chair for hours. The skeptic in me says there is no such thing as love at first sight. The woman in me says perhaps there truly is. With my daily schedule put on hold, I was held captive by this romantic suspense. Kirsten Miller creates the perfect mystery with surprise twists in this tantalizing story that keeps the reader engaged, crazy with curiosity. A menagerie of memorable characters offer just the right humor to move this story forward at breath-catching speed. With refreshing originality, this YA novel will no doubt slip quickly to the top of booklists everywhere. Lends well for sequel possibilities. Don’t miss it!

About the author from the bookjacket:

Kirsten Miller grew up in a small town in the mountains of North Carolina, At seventeen, she hit the road and moved to New York City, where she lives to this day. Kirsten is the author of the acclaimed Kiki Strike books, which tell the tale of the delinquent girl geniuses who keep Manhattan safe.

In a Nutshell:

My rating: Very good-excellent-(quick enjoyable suspenseful)
First time reading this author: Yes
Chances I would read more by this author: High

Disclosure: The copy of this book was sent to me by Penguin Young Readers Group. My review is my honest opinion without bias.


© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2010].

Friday Finds-Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins to be released by Scholastic on August 24, 2010!

The release of the third book in the widely popular Hunger Games is set for August 24, 2010. This day will coincide with her North American book tour that will take her throughout the United States. I'm looking forward to her visit in Connecticut and the New York City area.

I came across this interview series with Suzanne Collins on the Scholastic Website. This is only part one of a five part interview with the author. She talks about where her ideas to write this series came from, classical and from our lives today. I teach media literacy to young children. I share her concerns about reality TV versus reality in the world. Are we becoming desensitized from viewing a blurred crossover of reality TV and the real world images of war and other violence in the world?

I learned a lot about this writer and her books from watching her interview segments. I hope you enjoy it too!

Classical Inspiration



Desensitization





For those of you who have not read The Hunger Games, here is a synopsis from Scholastic:

More About The Hunger Games
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capital surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capital is harsh and cruel and keeps the other districts in line by forcing them to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight-to-the death on live TV. One boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and sixteen are selected by lottery to play. The winner brings riches and favor to his or her district. But that is nothing compared to what the Capital wins: one more year of fearful compliance with its rules. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her impoverished district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to death before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. Acclaimed writer Suzanne Collins delivers equal parts suspense and philosophy, adventure and romance, in this stunning novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present. For more information about The Hunger Games and to download digital images, visit http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/hungergames.

Friday Finds is hosted by Should be Reading.

Review-A Reliable Wife, by Robert Goolrick

Happy weekend to everyone. I've settled back into the teacher role, now that I have reacquainted with all my students from last year. It always amazes me how 10 weeks can make such a difference in their growth. Some of my students are taller than me. They just love trying to out height me. LOL What you probably don't know is that I am only 5' tall.

Some kindergarten students are still apprehensive and others are taking the leadership role seriously. Looking back to this second week of school there were the occasional tears coupled at times with trips to the nurse for sympathy and hand holding. Most surprising and at times astonishing were my conversations with kids that never cease to amaze me.

I read The Reliable Wife back in June and I am just posting it to my blog as it was pending publication elsewhere. I really enjoyed this book. There were a few slow parts in the middle that I remember thinking, ok lets move on, but otherwise it was a great read. Hope you like it!

Review

A Reliable Wife
Robert Goolrick, Algonquin Books, March 31, 2009, $23.95,HC, 291pp,978-1410417381.



Ralph Truitt and Catherine Land meet at a train station in rural Wisconsin in 1907.
Ralph’s ad for a reliable wife has brought them together. They’re both looking to make a change in their life but it may be more than just a simple marriage.
She hungers for more in life as money and social standing utmost in her sights.
She is not who she seems. She is hiding more than the precious gems sewn in her dress hem and a small blue bottle she carries. When she steps off the train, Ralph takes one look at the well worn photograph of Catherine and clearly she is not the woman he has been corresponding with. Furious at her subterfuge she will still suit his purpose. Although he feels deceived, he has plans for Catherine that with any luck will bring his wayward son home to him. Detectives do locate this lost son, now a man who plays piano in a bar. HIs name is the lascivious Tony Moretti, but on approach he denies Ralph is his father. Meanwhile, Catherine sets in motion a plan to kill her husband with arsenic from her small blue bottle. Why would she jeopardize her new charmed life style married to the rich Mr. Truitt?

The characters of Ralph and Catherine are carefully chiseled and polished. Robert Goolrick creates a clever labyrinth of deceit, guilt and forgiveness. The story is racked with tension as he slowly manipulates his readers through the twisted maze of plot complexity. Goolrick’s writing is embraceable, warm and comfortable with an occasional electric shock. Suspense is this storytellers magic.

Tuesday's Tablet-Debut Novel by M.F.Bloxam

Welcome to my first issue of Tuesday's Tablet. I will post reviews here that are the new releases, upcoming releases, debut novels and less familiar titles out on store bookshelves. Books falling below the rating scale will not be featured on this blog, rather in my Library Thing collection. I really like your comments, whether you have read the book or not. If you agree or disagree, please add your thoughts. Thanks for reading....Wisteria

The Night Battles

by M.F. Bloxam

A brief note about the author from the jacket of the book:
M.F. Bloxam has lived in Sicily and on both US coasts. She is the author of prize-winning short fiction and creative non-fiction. A background in anthropology and museum work informs her writing. She lives with her husband and two cats on New Hampshire's seacoast. This is her first novel."

My Review

The Night Battles by M.F. Bloxam
The Permanent Press
$28.00
260 pages,hc
ISBN1579621716

Reading The Night Battles, evokes dark forgotten memories from the past when monsters lived under beds and in closets. Psychologically awakening this book will stimulate your neurons to that time long ago when fantasy fogged reality.

Joan Severance, an anthropology professor at Brown University has reached an impasse in her career, her future in academia tenuous. Granted a sabbatical, she accepts a position in Valparuta, Sicily, to work as an archivist under the tutelage of Signor Chiesa. She soon becomes engrossed in her work, unearthing historical records. She begins reading about Piero Quagliata his life and then his untimely, unnatural death in 1552. Abruptly the files she sifts through lead no where, something is missing.

Joan becomes attracted to Chiesa. As their relationship deepens, she comes to know his horror with the night battles. In Valpurata you are either benandanti or malandanti, the workers of evil. The benedanti spend four times a year battling the witches. One morning she witnesses the leftover carnage from one of these night battles. Joan senses her appearance in Sicily is not coincidental.

The thrill of The Night Battles is reading the book and imagining the fantasy. It is illusion, mystical, magical and personal to the reader. Valpurata becomes Joan's rabbit hole, with fantasy and reality obscured as she learns the history of Piero and his relationship with the benandanti.

The author’s strength is her beautiful poetic phrasing. For example:

“Outside, the wind saws against the building like a train taking a curve.(103)
“I miss him so terribly that it seems he must have only set like a moon, gone below a certain horizon. I still feel the pull of his body.” (238)

The Night Battles commands your attention with mesmerizing intrigue and alluring appeal. M. F. Bloxam's novel is distinctly unusual, a thriller, tightly taut with tension. Bloxam is a sensualist with an acute sensory awareness that makes this book live.


Wisteria Leigh

Thanks to The Permanent Press for the ARC of this novel.
This review was first published on Blogcritics.org