City of Ember

I had honestly never heard of Jeanne DuProu's Books of Ember series before the movie came out recently. I was pretty intrigued with the premise though so I thought I'd check the first book, The City of Ember. I was pleasantly surprised at what a great little story it is.

Doon and Lina are two twelve-year olds who live in a city that has no natural light. The city is illuminated by lights from a large generator. Generations have lived in this manner and no one knows of any different sort of life. But the generator is slowly going out. Blackouts are becoming more common. And the food supply is starting to dwindle.

When Lina finds a box with cryptic instructions (cryptic because her baby sister chewed on them) for "egress", Doon and Lina hope they have found a way out of their city to a better place.

I thought this was a wonderful story for children and it was very well written. I also thought it was a bit more accessible (simpler writing) than say The Golden Compus. But then again I don't have kids so... But it was good enough for me to probably pick up the next couple of books in the series and possibly see the movie.

The movie poster:
Doon and Lina:Have you read the book or seen the movie? What are your thoughts?

Also Reviewed By:
Today's Adventure

Dewey's Books Reading Challenge

When I returned from our trip to Egypt I was saddened to hear that a fellow book blogger, Dewey, had passed away. Her blog, The Hidden Side of a Leaf, was/is very popular. She was such a huge member of this community.

So when I heard about the Dewey's Books Reading Challenge for reading some books Dewey had read and reviewed, I thought this would be a great way to remember her.

Here's the link for posting the Challenge Reviews.

So I am going to read six books, one from each year she posted.

Amanda's Dewey Books

2003: Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer

2004: The Inner Circle - T.C. Boyle

2005: Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood

2006: Outlander (Book 1) - Diana Gabaldon

2007: Einstein's Dreams - Alan Lightman (Finished May 23, 2009)

2008: The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes - Neil Gaiman (Finished Nov 20, 2009)

Sci Fi Experience

If you haven't checked out Carl's blog, Stainless Steel Droppings before, you should now. He's got some great posts and great challenges. Remember the R.I.P. III one?

Well his new one, the Sci Fi Experience for 2009 is one I'm going to join as well. The experience runs from January 1st through February 28th, 2009. There is really no rules except to enjoy the genre of sci fi. But if you want to read some sci fi books, you can join up the Sci Fi Experience Book Review site.

I personally love sci fi. My dad always had a ton of books lying around that I'd grab and read. And I always loved watching sci fi movies and shows. Some of my favorites?

So here's a list of books I will try and read:

Dune - Frank Herbert
Paul of Dune - Brian Herbert
Dune Messiah - Frank Herbert
Children of Dune - Frank Herbert
The Mirror of Her Dreams - Stephen R. Donaldson
A Man Rides Through - Stephen R. Donaldson
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein

Books Read:

1. A Princess of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs (Finished January 28, 2009)

2. Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood (Finished January 30, 2009)

3. Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut (Finished February 06, 2009)

4. Life As We Knew It - Susan Beth Pfeffer (Finished February 05, 2009)

5. The Mirror of Her Dreams - Stephen R. Donaldson (Finished January 19, 2009)

6. A Man Rides Through - Stephen R. Donaldson (Finished January 28, 2009)

7. Dune - Frank Herbert (Finished February 9, 2009)

8. Paul of Dune - Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson (Finished February 16, 2009)

9. World War Z - Max Brooks (Finished February 18, 2009)

10. The Host - Stephenie Meyer (Finished February 22, 2009)

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict

I was recently wanting a pretty light and easy read since the end of the year is wrapping up. I had just won a copy of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler from the lovely people at Jane Austen Today. So I thought I'd give it a try.

And it was exactly what I needed. It wasn't mind blowing or my favorite book but it was a fun little read. Here's the synopsis:

Courtney Stone is nursing a broken heart (cheating fiance) by reading a copy of Pride and Prejudice (her favorite book). She falls asleep and wakes up in nineteenth-century England. But she wakes up as a lady named Jane Mansfield. So...no worries you die hard Austen fans...she doesn't ruin a Jane Austen novel. But she looks, talks, and has a few random memories of this Jane Mansfield. So she must figure out why this happened, what happened to the real Jane Mansfield, and what she has to do to get herself back to her own time period.

What made this novel a pretty fun read was the fact that the nineteenth-century wasn't as glossy and romantic as Courtney realized. She had to get over the smells, the once a week bathing, the clothing, everything Jane Austen didn't write about. And I liked that Courtney didn't pop into an Austen novel (but for fans there is an Austen cameo appearance).

So this may not be a book for everyone, but it was a quick fun read which was perfect for the end of the year.
Also Reviewed by:
Socrates' Book Reviews
She is Too Fond of Books
Bookroom Reviews
Booking Mama
A Girl Walks Into A Bookstore
The Written Word

Oh, and for those of you who've read or want to read this, there is a sequel-ish book coming out soon called Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict.

The Reason Why

Happy Almost New Year!

I have been very horrible at updating this blog recently but that will soon come to an end. My days of having no computer will be fixed in the next few days with the addition to our household of this:
Whoopie!!!

I will also have Microsoft Office for the Mac (very cool) and will be entering into the world of Photoshop (I know I know!).

Oh...and good news. My mom is coming to visit on New Year's Day and spending the weekend with us. It's her first time to NYC and I haven't seen her since our wedding.

So stayed tuned!

The Cloud Atlas - Liam Callanan

I picked up a copy of The Cloud Atlas by Liam Callanan at the library right before my trip to Egypt. I had thought at the time that it was the Cloud Atlas listed on the 1001 Books List. But no. Apparently there are two different books. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell is a whole different book.

But I also picked up this book because the premise sounded good. Here it is:

Alaska: World War II. Louis, a young soldier on the bomb defusing squad is sent to Alaska on a top secret assignment. Find Japanese balloon bombs and disarm them. Oh, and make sure the public never hears about them.

Wow! Interesting, right? And it's actually based on true events. The Japanese did send balloon bombs across the ocean during World War II. Crazy, huh?

Not only is Louis supposed to deal with the balloon bombs, but his superior, Gurley, is one crazy guy. And...Louis falls for his Gurley's lady...Lily, an Yup'ik native who has secrets of her own.

I liked it. I wanted to really love it though. But at points in the middle the book dragged a bit (my husband agrees, he read it as well). But it was a good story and I really liked Louis. The story is told through an elderly Louis telling the story in a confession-like manner to a dying friend. So we see things unfold through the eyes of an older, wiser Louis...and the young inexperienced Louis. I really liked that aspect. And Lily's story is just heart-wrenching. And I even felt for Gurley. Ok, looking back maybe I liked it a bit more than I thought.

I didn't find any other covers for this book, which is ok since I loved this cover. So I thought I'd add photo of a real Japanese balloon bomb:

Have you read this book? I'd love to know your thoughts!

The Sunday Philosophy Club

I was mulling over what to read next when I came across a book I've been wanting to read for a while now. Actually, I've been wanting to read some of Alexander McCall Smith's stuff since I've heard his series the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series is pretty good. The Sunday Philosophy Club is the first book in a different series revolving around the heroine Isabel Dalhousie.

I really hoped that I'd like the book more. I mean I love detective mysteries. I love heroines who are pretty smart. Isabel Dalhousie's job is to review philosophical articles and she loves crosswords. This should be right up my alley right? But the "mystery" was pretty lame. And the ending was just, well just not satisfying. And Isabel kind of annoyed me. I mean for being a smart philosophical lady, she really had messed up relationships. She's hung up on some past flame who treated her horribly and then moved on. And then she has a semi-crush thing on her niece's ex-boyfriend which is just kind of bizzarre to me.

Oh. And supposodly the title comes from the fact that she has a Sunday philosophy club that meets to discuess philosophical stuff. But they never met during the whole book and I don't even think it mentioned who was in the club. Hmm.

So that's all I am going to say about that. It wasn't bad enough that I didn't finish it but I am not going to read any more of the series.

I almost forgot the different covers! I prefer the one above but here's a few others: