REVIEW: Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley

Relish is a food-themed memoir that reveals a young woman's love of good food through fond memories. Lucy Knisley grew up in both New York City and rural Hudson Valley, New York with a chef mother and gourmet-loving father who both exposed her to a wide variety of luxurious foods from babyhood through young adulthood. In this graphic novel, Lucy explores her relationship with and love of food through a series of vignettes and anecdotes from various stages of her life and several international trips as well, all of which instilled in her strong connections between food, places, and people. Her stories are honest and open, often laced with humor and sentimentality to which readers can relate well such as a grandmother's famous pickle and a mother's perfect chocolate chip cookie. Although Lucy clearly developed a gourmet palate like that of her parents, she still has a fondness for processed junk food every now and then, something that I think helps dilute the level of privilege that runs through this novel.

A few months ago I read Knisley's earlier work, French Milk, another food-themed graphic memoir that chronicled the author's month long visit to Paris with her mother, which I found to be a boring and pretentious recount of what should have been a trip of a lifetime for a college-aged girl yet instead was a whiny recollection of a trip of complaining and examples of how to be an ungrateful brat and treat your mother poorly. Anyway, I'm pleased to report that Lucy has matured a bit since she wrote French Milk and it shows in Relish. Each chapter of Relish visits a different place, phase and food experience of Lucy's life and each ends with a delightfully illustrated recipe (probably my favorite part of the book). As Knisley reflects on some striking food memories, she shares them with a fond affection for her family and friends connected to those experiences. I would have liked to see Knisley share more about other people's connections to foods, especially relating to her international travels. I was disappointed that Knisley never attempted to learn about or connect with any local people and their culture during her trips. Or if she did do those things on her travels, she doesn't share them in her book, which is a shame because I think those experiences would be a huge asset to her books.

In the future, I'd like to see Knisley develop a more heightened awareness of the world around her and write with a little less self absorption. I realize Relish is a memoir and therefore focused on the individual, but I still think a well written memoir includes some attention to the rest of the world and Kinsley's writing could be stellar if she wrote with a bit more substance and depth overall.

In the meantime, Relish is a quick, fun graphic memoir to read. The drawings are well done and I found the human expressions are accurately expressed as well as charming. Again, the recipes at the end of each chapter are great and a special touch to this food-based book. I also have to admit I particularly enjoyed reading the chapters in which Lucy was living in the Hudson Valley since I'm familiar with that area and have visited it regularly over the years.. both downtown Rhinebeck and Grieg Farm as a very close friend of mine lives in that same area.

GRADE: 3.5+ out of 5 stars. Maybe 4 stars. I really did enjoy it. :)

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Weekend Cooking, a weekly blog event hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food related post to share--a food related book review (fiction or nonfiction), cookbook review, movie review, a recipe, random thoughts, gadgets, food quotations, photographs, etc. Please visit Beth's blog for more information and join the fun!

Library Loot LXXII

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! 


Hello friends, how is everyone?
Things have been busy around here.. when are they not, right? Anna's in her second week of high school now and we are already counting the days down to summer! Oh yes, we are having that much fun. It's actually not that bad.. I think overall she's just not one of those kids who likes school and so far she says she's not crazy about any of her teachers and she barely has friends in any of her classes. She only has time go to her locker at the beginning of the day, at lunch time and at the end of the day, so she has to carry a lot of her books and notebooks around all day and up and down flights of stairs. Hey, at least it's exercise, right? Tonight is back-to-school night for parents, so husband and I will walk through her schedule and meet all her teachers. Maybe leave a little mommy & daddy love note in her locker.

In other news, Maria came home last weekend! Yay! Those two weeks were the longest we've ever been apart since she was born (since I was pregnant with her?) but frankly she was more traumatized by the three weeks she had been apart from her boyfriend for the first time in 3.5 years. Oh how their love-priorities change so quickly yet a momma's love never does.. sigh. Her boyfriend, Nick came home this weekend, too (he goes to school in NYC), so we had to share her with him, but we'll take what we can get! Actually, Nick wanted to come hang out at our house so he could visit with us, too, which was very sweet.

I picked up a pretty neat mix of books at the library in the last week or so, including an art how-to book, some cookbooks, a health and nutrition book, several graphic novels, and one novel.

a stack of library books

nonfiction: 
nigellissima by Nigella Lawson
VB6 by Mark Bittman
One Zentangle A Day by Beckah Krahula

graphic novels: 
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle adapted by Peter B. Gillis
The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle adapted by Ian Edginton
Amulet: Prince of the Elves by Kazu Kibuishi
The Girl Who Owned A City by O.T. Nelson
One Hundred Demons by Lynda Barry

novel: 
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

The last one is a re-loot from last year. Planning to read it for R.I.P. VIII along with The Sandman graphic novel.

I also picked up (on a separate trip) three other books:

 

Another cookbook and graphic novel:
What Katie Ate by Katie Quinn Davis (not pictured - this is a re-loot)
What's For Dinner by Curtis Stone
A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel adapted by Hope Larson


See anything interesting in my stack?

I've skimmed through all of the nonfiction already and read a couple of the graphic novels. If you have any questions about any of them, please ask!

What are you reading from your library right now?

Library Loot LXXI

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! 


I returned a whole bunch of library books before going on vacation, but as soon as we got home, I hit the library! I already had (have) several books on my reading queue right now, so I didn't get too many books. I didn't read much in July and because I've been doing some re-reading lately, I've fallen at least 10 books behind in my 2013 goodreads Reading Challenge to read 101 books by the end of the year. I really wish goodreads would allow us to count re-read books to our annual stats. I mean, I read the whole book again.. it should count! Anyway, to help me along a little bit, I decided to check out the graphic novel section for some quick reads. I was psyched to find some pretty awesome--and fairly grown-up-- newly released graphic novels at my library! Check it out:

Primates by Jim Ottaviani & Maris Wicks This one is a nonfiction book about three scientists who dedicated their research efforts to studying primates! Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Biruté Galdikas.

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation by Tim Hamilton So psyched about this one. I read and loved The Illustrated Man when I was maybe in 8th grade but never read Fahrenheit 451. I figured this was a great but sneaky way to catch up with this classic.

The Kite Runner Graphic Novel by Khaled Hosseini I know, I know... I should just read the full book. I even have it! My daughter read it this spring, loved it and implored me to read it, too. And I should. But when I saw the graphic novel I couldn't resist the temptation of a short cut.

The Pickled Pantry by Andrea Chesman Finally, as always I had to visit the cookbooks in the new book section where I found this delightful book on pickling. I'm planning on making at least one of the recipes and posting a review, but in the meantime, know that it is fabulous!


What do you have borrowed from your library?


Do you like pickles? Not just cucumbers.. pickled anything?!

Library Loot LXVIII

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! 

Well it appears my blog has turned into a simple string of Library Loot posts. I guess it's time I admit to myself that I'm a horrible juggling act lately. There's only so many bowling pins one gal can juggle--especially an uncoordinated one like me---before letting a few drop, I suppose. I need to think of a plan to get back into the groove because I miss it. Got any ideas?

In the meantime, here's a quick look at what I brought home from the library this week:

Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness.
This is May's book club pick. One that has been on my tbr list for quite some time, but at the same time, not the one I voted for. Only because it is a long one. I'm still working on The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle which is very long and one in which I'm very much behind for the Read-Along. I worry that I won't finish it at all and that will leave me unsettled. However, I will still make a valiant attempt at finishing both of these books this month.

   

The Dark-Hunters, Vol. 1, 2 and 3 by Sherrilyn Kenyon.
I spotted these manga-style graphic novels of Sherrilyn Kenyon's first couple of Dark Hunter novels at the library and just had to borrow them. I read through all three in 24 hours and had so much fun revisiting this series that I read years ago when I first discovered romance novels. Sadly, my library doesn't have Vol. 4, but I will try to hunt it down at another library. Or just buy it and then donate it to my own library so they have the complete set. It doesn't look like any other volumes have been published in a couple of years. Too bad. They're a cute PG-13 version of the Dark Hunter stories.

Have you read any of these books? 

What have you borrowed from the library lately?

Library Loot LXIII

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! 

I haven't had a library loot in a while. Here's a look at what I've brought home in the last couple of weeks.  

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

I saw this book all over the place for a while late last year and when fellow readers lead by Joy of Joy's Book Blog expressed interest in reading and discussing it together, I decided to check it out, too. I only read some parts of the book and intend to share my thoughts within the next couple of days. Overall, I think this book contains a lot of valuable information and insights to the undervalued role of introverts in our society. 


 

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka graphic novel adapted by Peter Kuper

A Game For Swallows by Zeina Abirached 

I thought these graphic novels sounded quite fascinating. I really have very little knowledge about Franz Kafka - his life or his writing. I did read his wiki entry after bringing The Metamorphosis home so I'm curious now. 

I saw someone (I'm afraid I forgot who it was!) post a photo of A Game For Swallows on instagram with a quick rave assessment so I grabbed it off the shelf when I saw it at the library. It's a memoir inspired story about a family in Beirut during the civil war. 

A Rogue By Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean 
This is the first book in the author's The Rules of Scoundrel's series and it's been on my TBR for quite some time. I've read a lot of great buzz for MacLean's latest in this series, One Good Earl Deserves A Lover, but I am a stickler for reading these things in order so it was time to get this one at the top of the book pile!

 

Wild About Greens by Nava Atlas

A plethora of recipes for cooking those greens that are so healthy for you! I made a modified version of the Pad Se Ew in this cookbook tonight. I thought it was a very attempt at the authentic Thai dish, but it didn't quite pass the critics test, i.e., my family. We thought it was decent, but not as good as another recipe I've tried which is yet not as good as the local Thai restaurant. Lots of other recipes to explore in this one. 

What Katie Ate by Katie Quinn Davies

A cookbook with mouth-watering recipes and photos that are candy for the eye, this one is written by the award winning Australian based food photographer, Katie Quinn Davies. It's a visual delight. A culinary one as well, I'm sure. I need to experiment in the latter with this one.  Visit Katie Quinn's website at  http://www.whatkatieate.com/ 

A rather eclectic mix of books on my coffee table this month! 

Have you read or are you interested in any of these? 

I'd love to know your thoughts or comments on any or all of these titles. 

What books do you have out on YOUR coffee table? 

Library Loot LX

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! 

If I haven't screwed up my roman numerals along the way, this is my 60th Library Loot post since I started participating in this meme in August 2009. I promise you I've been to the library way more times than 60 in that time span, though. Sometimes I go just to return something and then look but don't borrow. Sometimes I go with my daughters who borrow books but I don't. Sometimes my library loot post includes books from three different libraries that I've visited in a week's time. In any case, I've become a huge fan of looting libraries in the last few years and I don't plan on stopping!

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
I'm down to the wire with less than a month left to wrap up a few of my reading challenges for this year. I chose to read this book for the last requirement for the What's In A Name 5 Reading Challenge. I started reading it already and will likely finish it tomorrow. It's acclaimed by critics and even considered a modern classic, but I'm not exactly sure why yet.

Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami 
This is my second year participating in the Haruki Murakami Reading Challenge and this is the book I chose to read this year. (I'm participating at the one book level.) Last year I read after the quake: stories and liked it, but didn't feel it was quite enough to say I've really sampled Murakami's writing. I hope I like Sputnik Sweetheart!

Great Expectations: The Graphic Novel by Charles Dickens, 
       adapted by Jen Green
Go ahead and laugh at me for reading this classic novel in graphic novel format, but at least I'm reading original text and learning about a classic that I know nothing about and would probably not read otherwise. My motivation to read this one comes from the fact that my daughter is reading the novel in her high school lit class right now and I thought it would be fun to read it along with her. In my modified, short cut version, anyway. I highly recommend the Classical Comics line of graphic novels for reluctant high school readers or busy grown ups like me who want to be enlightened but don't have the time or interest to read the original novels.

Head Over Heels by Jill Shalvis
I grabbed this one on the way out of the library the other night. This is the third book in the Lucky Harbor contemporary romance series. I read the first two a while back and while I'm not sure I want to continue with the series (there are at least five books now), I at least want to finish this one to complete the original trilogy. The first three books feature three sisters who have been reunited in Lucky Harbor after growing up separately who all find love and happily ever after as adults. This is Chole's story. If I don't finish this one by the end of the year, it will likely be one of my first few books of 2013.

Food in Jars by Marisa McClellan
I re-looted this great little cookbook on home preserving. I'm kind of hoping Santa brings me my own copy, but in any case, I wanted to check out Marisa's marmalade recipes because I'm thinking of making up a batch or two to give as Christmas gifts to friends. Let's see if I can make that happen.

Have you read any of these books? 

What are YOU reading from your library [or bookshelves]? 

Are you cramming to read any particular books to meet your 2012 Reading Challenge goals? 

REVIEW: Fever Moon by Karen Marie Moning

Fever Moon is a graphic novel story from Karen Marie Moning's popular urban fantasy Fever series featuring Mackayla "Mac" Lane. Fever Moon is basically a short story that takes place during the events of Shadowfever, which is the fifth and last book in the Fever series. There is a new spin off series, however, The Dani O'Malley series that starts with the newly released novel, Iced.

Fever Moon was written with the fans of the Fever series in mind, and I do believe those are the readers who will enjoy this novel the most. The author does provide some background information in the series in the first few pages of the graphic novel, but it's really difficult to set the stage of the world building and character development that has already taken place in five full length fantasy novels in just a few pages of a graphic novel. Hence, I'm not really sure if someone who hasn't read the series and picks up this graphic novel will really get what's going on in the Fever world. Maybe it's not critical, anyway, as the plot for this story is not necessarily complex.

The villain in Fever Moon is The Fear Dorcha, a being who was created when the Unseelie King was experimenting in creating his own Soul Song--the power to create immortal life. The Fear Dorcha is a faceless being who steals parts of people's faces in order to create his own face. Once he has completed his created face from all the pieces of his victims, the victims die. Mac races to find the Dorcha and figure out a way to stop him from finishing his face before the last victim is claimed so she can save the lives of these innocent people, among them some of her friends. I thought the conflict was resolved a little too easily and actually ends rather open-ended. Perhaps things will be re-visited in future books in the Dani O'Malley series.

The illustrations in Fever Moon are vividly detailed and effectively evoke the tone and setting of the Fever series very well. I think I prefer the images of the characters that I already had in my head after reading the series than the ones portrayed by the illustrators of the book, but I suppose that's normal. I thought Mac was drawn excessively voluptuous and Barbie-doll like, but perhaps I just visualize her as more wholesome for my own preferences.

Overall, Fever Moon is an okay read. Fans of the Fever series will likely love it because it's a fun, unique way to visit Dublin AWC, or After the Wall Crashes, giving a graphic glimpse of their favorite characters--Mac, Jerricho, Dani and plenty of others including the Seelie Prince Velvet, Dreamy Eyed Guy and Ryodan. Everyone else will likely think is just okay.

I give Fever Moon 2.5 out of 5 stars.

GRADE: C-

Library Loot LVII

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! This week's Library Loot is at Marg's. 

Here is my latest library loot. This is from two different visits to two different local libraries--my town library and the library from the next town over which is actually closer to my house! Oh, plus a new release from the latter mentioned library that I asked my friend to get me because they don't allow out of town residents to borrow their new releases. And books are considered new releases for a whole year! Kills me. Thank goodness I have a few friends in that town who don't mind getting on the hold lists for me. ; )
 
Deep Kiss of Winter by Kresley Cole and Gena Showalter
Pleasure of A Dark Prince by Kresley Cole

I've been on a roll re-reading and catching up with Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark (IAD) series, filling in the gaps of the books I don't already own with trips to the library. Omg this series is like candy! You stick your hand in the jar and you just want more, more, more! You can't stop eating. It's such a fun series. It's FUNNY and fun and lovable and adventurous and the characters go through hell for each other and their loved ones and get so torn up over their promises, their allegiances and their desires. It's oodles of alpha fun mixed with some seriously kick ass modern women who know what they want, or at least have a wild time figuring it all out. Anyway, I read Deep Kiss of Winter last week. LOVED the IAD story of Daniela the half Valkyrie and half Ice Fey Maiden and the vampire Murdoch Wroth. I wasn't crazy about the Gena Showalter short which is from her Alien Huntress series. The characters fell kinda flat for me and it just seemed everyone's motives were all just based on sex and instant desire without a whole heck of a lot of emotion. You can read my review of this book on goodreads HERE.

Next up is Pleasure of A Dark Prince, book NINE (!) in the IAD series. This one is the story of the Valkyrie named Lucia the Huntress [the Archer]--and Garreth MacRieve, Prince of the Lykae [werewolves]. This story is taking place around the same time as the other stories in this series, so in the beginning, Garreth doesn't yet know that his brother and the true King of the Lykae, Lachlain MacRieve still lives and is in fact in hot pursuit of his mate, the darling and timid half vampire, half Valkyrie Emma. That's book two. Anyway, I've already over a hundred pages into this story and really enjoying it. I like Lucia a lot and love the way Garreth is just over the moon for her. They're pretty darned adorable. I put it down, though, to read my September TBR Challenge book which I ended up not finishing in time anyway. Can't wait to get back to Pleasure of A Dark Prince soon!

Dream Lake by Lisa Kleypas 
This is third book in Ms. Kleypas' latest contemporary romance / chick lit Friday Harbor series. I'm looking forward to reading this one. The main character, Sam Nolan has some serious problems that will require a woman with patient and generous heart.

I haven't borrowed graphic novels in a while, so I browsed the shelves hoping to find some that might be fitting for the RIP VII reading event going on now. Here's what I brought home:




The Arrival by Shaun Tan.
Critically acclaimed, this one.

Fables: The Dark Ages 
by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Peter Gross, Andrew Pepoy, 
Michael Allred and David Hahn.
Winner of Twelve Eisner Awards! Saw this one on Marg's blog and I know Kelly reads them, too, so when I saw this one at the library, I grabbed it. I couldn't tell which book it is in the series, but it was the only one of the series my library had. Turns out it's the 12th one! Ho hum. Think I might like to hunt this series down and start with the 1st book.

Edgar Allen Poe's Tales of Death and Dementia
by Edgar Allen Poe, Illustrated by Gris Grimly
This is a re-loot. Borrowed it earlier this year and never got around to reading it. Thought it would be a great RIP book. It's actually a picture book for teens! I hope to review it and maybe post some images of the illustrations and text inside.

You just KNOW I had to go check out the new cookbook shelf, too. I do that every visit. Here's what I'm reading in cookbooks right now:

 
Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round
by Marisa McClellan.
Written by a popular food blogger. So many food bloggers are writing their own cookbooks these days. Such an awesome opportunity for the home cook. Really fantastic. Anyway, if you visit my blog regularly, you know I love making food from scratch, including jams and more recently canned tomatoes. Looking forward to finding some inspiration and recipes to try with this one.

Preserve It! by Lynda Brown
This cook was right next to Food in Jars, so I thought it would be a nice complement to my cookbook reading this week.

What are you reading from your library right now?

What was the last cookbook you bought or borrowed from the library?

REVIEW: The Amulet Series by Kazu Kibuishi [Books 1-4]

Published by Graphix an imprint of Scholastic Books. 

The first graphic novel I ever read was Amulet Book One: The Stonekeeper in February 2011. Although the premise is not completely original, the artwork and storyline easily captured my attention and drew me in. The artwork is wonderfully detailed and evokes the tone of each scene very well. At the time, I was impressed by the quality of the story and artwork, but since it was my first foray into the genre, I had nothing to compare it to, and was therefore hesitant to declare my newfound fandom of the Amulet series.

Over the next fourteen months I would read nearly two dozen more graphic novels ranging from fantasy stories like this one, contemporary stories, classics such as Frankenstein, Jane Eyre and even some Shakespeare, as well as a few nonfiction memoir type graphic novels. Now a bit more seasoned in the genre, I think back to my first impressions of The Stonekeeper and I'm delighted to know that it wasn't just an overzealous first impression that led me to adore the Amulet series, but a genuine appreciation for a really great fantasy adventure series for middle school aged kids and their parents. Okay, okay! I confess! My middle schooler read the first three around the time I did, but it turns out I'm continuing the series on my own. Hey, don't knock it! If you like the fantasy animated films by Hayao Miyazaki you'd probably get a kick out of the Amulet series. The Amulet series isn't nearly as deep with social and moral implications as Miyazaki's films, but it will certainly entertain you for a couple of hours with your kid. Or by yourself. I won't tell. ;)

I recently read the latest book in the series, Book Four: The Last Council and decided it would be nice to write a little series review so far on this gem of fantasy series.

Book One: The Stonekeeper [2008]
The story begins with a family tragedy that literally brought me to tears within the first few dozen panels of the book. I admit I'm a sap to begin with, but this event sets the tone for the sadness that consumes the family there on in. Circumstances drive the family to move into a distant relative's old home in a remote town, where Emily, the oldest child, finds an amulet that later starts to reveal some special powers.

On their first night in the house, the power goes out and later they hear a noise coming from the basement. The mom goes down to the basement to investigate and you guessed it! She gets abducted by a strange creature into the depths below the house. Now it's up to Emily and her younger brother Navin to rescue her as they travel into an alternate world below their great grandpa Silas' house with nothing but their courage and resolve to get their mother back.. plus the amulet, of course!

And so begins Emily and Navin's fantasy adventure into a world that is as exciting as it is scary and beautiful as it is frightful. Emily and Navin become aware of an evil elf who is stalking them and they meet some robotic friends--Miskit, Cogsley, Morrie, and others who help them out. Strong family elements help keep Emily and Navin on course, and thanks for that because but it's not always clear if the power of the amulet will help or hurt them on their quest.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CAUTION: Spoilers from Book One!

Book Two: The Stonekeeper's Curse [2009]
Emily and Navin have rescued their mother, but she has been poisoned by the creature who abducted her. They venture to the City of Kalanis with their new friends in search of a cure for their mom. Once in Kalanis, they make some new allies with members of a resistance who are trying to stop the Elf King from taking over the kingdom of Alledia. The leader of the resistance, Leon Redbeard, tells Emily that they have been waiting for her to join their fight. The Elf King's son, Trellis, is the elf who has been stalking Emily since she and Navin entered this world and he's still hot on their trail, only now he is joined by Luger, the Elf King's ruthless second in command. Interestingly, Trellis' motives for stalking Emily become more complicated as his story is elaborated upon, which adds an interesting twist to the evil component of the series.

In the meantime, Emily continues to struggle with understanding and controlling the powers the amulet give her. Not only that, but now she is faced with the pressure of being 'the one' the resistance has been waiting for, when all she wants to do is cure her mom and go home.

This story is possibly more adventurous than the first book and definitely maintains a high level of suspense that will keep readers flipping the pages to find out what happens next. The path Emily is on is not an easy one and she's forced to make a lot of tough decisions in a world she barely understands and where others have put a lot of pressure on her to help their cause.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CAUTION: Spoilers from Book Two!

Book Three: The Cloud Searchers [2010]
The adventures of Emily and Navin continue in this book when they set off with the resistance leader Leon Redbeard and two pilots--Enzo and Rico, in search of the lost city of Cielis which some believe is on an island hidden in the clouds. It is in Cielis where they hope to find help from the powerful Stonekeepers who make up the Guardian Council so that they can stop the Elf King.

Trellis and Luger have been somewhat humbled since the events at the end of the previous book and they appear to be allies to Emily and the resistance now. Their trust is still somewhat tenuous, which adds some much welcomed complexity in the relationships between the characters. Added to the mix are some new enemies to contend with--some blatantly obvious and others a bit more elusive, as well as a new ally with an interesting past.

The adventure and danger runs high yet again in this installment as Emily's quest takes her to new places in this world, all the while challenging her courage and discipline to do the right thing and not let the amulet control her. There are some fun, sweet moments as well, so do not be alarmed that it's all doom and gloom if you are reading this with young children.

The artwork continues to be amazing, carefully portraying full ranges of emotions of characters and the magnitude and majesty of this fantastical world.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CAUTION: Spoilers from Book Three!

Book Four: The Last Council [2011]
After barely surviving the culminating events of the last book, Emily and her friends finally arrive in Cielis where the Guardian Council resides. They have high hopes of finding the help they need to defeat the Elf King, but they soon find out that the city of Cielis and the Council are not at all like they expected. Emily, Navin and their mom are separated from their resistance friends and escorted into the Academy where Emily is taken from her room and forced to compete for her spot on the Council with other young Stonekeepers. It is there that she begins to learn the dark truths about the state of affairs among the Stonekeepers and it does not bode well for the resistance or any of the people in the kingdom of Alledia.

In the meantime, Emily's resistance friends are also learning firsthand how wrong things are in Cielis. Trellis and Luger are imprisoned and Leon, Enzo and Rico are in the streets where they soon discover the people are practically living in hiding, in fear of the Council. Miskit and Cogsley have been missing since the previous book, but they are rescued by a new ally with a very interesting past, giving the resistance some hope. If they can make their way to Cielis in time to help, that is.

Once again this series continues to captivate me with its wonderfully rich and detailed artwork, ever expanding plot, continued character growth and overall suspense and intrigue. We learn more about the history of Alledia and the Guardian Council in this book, which helps set the stage for what promises to be the precipice of great change in this world. This book ends with some unfortunate losses, but also leaves the reader with hope that Emily and her friends can work together for the greater good of Alledia.


GRADE: A

Library Loot XLIV

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! This week's Library Loot is at Claire's. 


These two books will be the last few I plan on reading in 2011. I have a specific list of books I want to read by the end of the year in order to meet a couple of Reading Challenges. I'm going to be cutting it close, but I think I can do it! Among the last few books I hope to read in 2011 are these two books I recently borrowed from the library:

After the Quake by Haruki Murakami
Translated by Jay Rubin

After the Quake is a collection of six fictional short stories set in Japan after the devastating Kobe earthquake in 1995. Reading this book will meet the challenge to read one of Murakami's works in 2011 as per the Haruki Marakami Reading Challenge I joined back in February. After much internal debate, I had finally decided to read Sputnik Sweetheart--partly based on the story premise, partly on the length of the book and partly on which book was currently available at the the library! As I was about to reach for Sputnik Sweetheart on the shelf, I spied this little book right next to it and decided straight away that it was an even better choice for me. A collection of short stories in under 180 pages would give me a sampling of Murakami's style without the commitment to read one of his longer, more involved novels. I understand 1Q84 comes in at 925 pages! I'm looking forward to reading After the Quake and am curious to find out if I'll enjoy Murakami's writing.

Macbeth : The Graphic Novel by William Shakespeare
Plain Text version

Script Adaptation: John McDonald
Character Designs & Original Artwork: Jon Haward
Coloring & Lettering: Nigel Dobbyn
Inking Assistant: Gary Erskine
et. al.

My 16 year old is reading Shakespeare's Macbeth right now in Honors Brit Lit and while I recall having read it myself when I was in high school, I remember very little of the play. Reading the Classical Comics' graphic novel version of Macbeth will be a quick and fun way to refresh my memory of the play and invoke some Shakespearean discussion with my daughter.

Other Classical Comics graphic novels I read in 2011 include Jane Eyre and Frankenstein.

Library Loot XLI

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! This week's Library Loot is at Claire's.


This is my first library loot post since June (!),  but I promise you I have been to the library in between. Mostly to borrow and return books for my youngest and I did some browsing, but I didn't borrow many books for myself over the summer. Instead, I actually read books from my own shelf!

Aside from Grave Sight, which I borrowed, read and returned in July, here is what I have out from the library right now:






Grave Sight
Grave Surprise
An Ice Cold Grave
Grave Secret

These are the books from the Harper Connelly mystery series by Charlaine Harris. Grave Sight was the book selection for the Authors by the Alphabet Book Club for the month of July. I enjoyed the book--and Harper's character in particular, that I decided to continue with the series. I've already finished reading the second book, Grave Surprise and am reading An Ice Cold Grave right now.

Murder on the Eiffel Tower by Claude Izner

This one caught my eye when I was browsing the mystery aisle of the library just days after returning from a vacation in Europe that started in Paris. I read the first couple of pages and wasn't feeling it, but I'll try again.

Anne Frank:
The Anne Frank House authorized Graphic Biography
by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón

I came across this while browsing the graphic novel shelves and of course wanted to read it since I had just visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam last month.

Beowolf adapted and illustrated by Gareth Hinds

Would you believe I am not familiar with the story of Beowolf at all? I've discovered graphic novels are a great short cut education to some classics and with beautiful artwork to boot. I read Hinds' adaptation of The Odyssey earlier this year and thought the illustrations were so detailed, rich and expressive. I'm looking forward to reading Beowolf.





Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa
The Iron Fey series, Book 3

My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent
The Soul Screamers series, Book 4

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for one of my local libraries to get these two books in. I've been sitting on a cliff hanger in both of these series for months and months. Now I can finally find out what happens next!

Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

I spotted this one on the shelf next to Kagawa's book and remember seeing a review for it on the Book Smuggler's site. It's an urban fantasy story about an anorexic seventeen year old who is named Famine--one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I'm not sure what to expect. I forgot what Ana or Thea said in their review. O_o

So many books I can't wait to read!

Any thoughts on these? 


What are you reading right now?