The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

From Goodreads: IT TAKES THE WISDOM OF YODA TO SURVIVE THE SIXTH GRADE Meet Dwight, a sixth-grade oddball. Dwight does a lot of weird things, like wearing the same T-shirt for a month or telling people to call him "Captain Dwight." This is embarrassing, particularly for Tommy, who sits with him at lunch every day. But Dwight does one cool thing. He makes origami. One day he makes an origami finger puppet of Yoda. And that's when things get mysterious. Origami Yoda can predict the future and suggest the best way to deal with a tricky situation. His advice actually works, and soon most of the sixth grade is lining up with questions. Tommy wants to know how Origami Yoda can be so smart when Dwight himself is so clueless. Is Yoda tapping into the Force? It's crucial that Tommy figure out the mystery before he takes Yoda's advice about something VERY IMPORTANT that has to do with a girl. This is Tommy's case file of his investigation into "The Strange Case of Origami Yoda."

I've been wanting to check this series out for awhile now, so when I saw the audio available at the library, I decided it was just the thing I needed. I was looking for a quick and fun listen, which it definitely was. The concept is hilarious, getting advice from an origami puppet of Yoda, with an apparent mind of his own. It's treated like a case file with interviews from all those who had an interaction with the puppet, trying to decide if there's something more there, if the puppet is special. That being said, I think it was written at a little bit younger of a level than I can truly enjoy any more, I just wasn't the kind of kid this speaks to, but it was a quick and enjoyable listen, as I'm sure it would also be to read. I'm not sure if I'll read more in the series, maybe some day if I'm again in need of a super fast and light listen. I love the covers and the titles, they are great!

Read for the 2016 Library Challenge

Heir to the Jedi by Kevin Hearne

From Goodreads: Luke Skywalker’s game-changing destruction of the Death Star has made him not only a hero of the Rebel Alliance but a valuable asset in the ongoing battle against the Empire. Though he’s a long way from mastering the power of the Force, there’s no denying his phenomenal skills as a pilot—and in the eyes of Rebel leaders Princess Leia Organa and Admiral Ackbar, there’s no one better qualified to carry out a daring rescue mission crucial to the Alliance cause. A brilliant alien cryptographer renowned for her ability to breach even the most advanced communications systems is being detained by Imperial agents determined to exploit her exceptional talents for the Empire’s purposes. But the prospective spy’s sympathies lie with the Rebels, and she’s willing to join their effort in exchange for being reunited with her family. It’s an opportunity to gain a critical edge against the Empire that’s too precious to pass up. It’s also a job that demands the element of surprise. So Luke and the ever-resourceful droid R2-D2 swap their trusty X-wing fighter for a sleek space yacht piloted by brash recruit Nakari Kelen, daughter of a biotech mogul, who’s got a score of her own to settle with the Empire. Challenged by ruthless Imperial bodyguards, death-dealing enemy battleships, merciless bounty hunters, and monstrous brain-eating parasites, Luke plunges head-on into a high-stakes espionage operation that will push his abilities as a Rebel fighter and would-be Jedi to the limit. If ever he needed the wisdom of Obi-Wan Kenobi to shepherd him through danger, it’s now. But Luke will have to rely on himself, his friends, and his own burgeoning relationship with the Force to survive.

I had been eagerly awaiting getting my hands on this from the library as soon as I learned it existed. I love Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid series so much that he's catapulted to one of my favorite authors.   What better combo could there be, a favorite author writing in one of the most iconic Sci-Fi worlds of our time, which I admittedly have not read many books set in, I think two previously to be honest.  So I was ready for greatness, but then the other reviews started rolling in, and they weren't all glowing.  Many were disappointed, I think basically expecting Iron Druid IN SPACE! and that wasn't what they got.

So I adjusted my sights, much like Armada in my previous review, and decided to appreciate it for what it was, because again, how could it possibly measure up to our expectations?  Here's why: Star Wars for crying out loud.  Like our expectations aren't already over the moon and out of the galaxy?  Especially with the Force Awakens looming on the horizon. Iron Druid is fabulous, because it's Kevin's world and he can do whatever he wants in it.  But Star Wars, whoa, not so fast.  Star Wars is this sacred, untouchable behemoth that must follow rules, with already established characters who must act a certain way.  Not only that, but this book is entirely from the point of view of one of the BIG THREE, Luke Skywalker.  I can only imagine Kevin's excitement and terror at writing this.  OMG Luke!  OMG What if I get it wrong?  Thinking about all of the constraints, Iron Druid isn't Sci-Fi by the way, it takes place on good ol' Earth, and also some meta physical planes, but NOT SPACE, I think he did a fine job and I really enjoyed it.  Luke seems a little goofy at times, but come on, he was goofy!  This takes place right after the first movie, when he's blown up the Death Star, but still has no real idea how to use The Force.  He's still young, and a strange mixture of seasoned from all the people he has lost, and the battles he's fought, but still naive in many ways.

I actually listened to the audio read by Marc Thompson and it was a lot of fun!  He does the different voices very well and I look forward to listening to more Star Wars books read by him.  There was also ongoing background noise, of the space ports, of the battles, and also R2-D2, because he's such a character in his own right.  It was sometimes distracting, and silly, like the dramatic music playing during the noodle episode, but I overall I liked it and it helped add to the Star Wars atmosphere.

I think we have a tendency to judge too many books by their predecessors in other genre's or content that isn't fair, it's judging apples and oranges.  I am also admittedly not a stickler for following canon, or getting the image exactly right.  I just want a good story in a world I enjoy and that's what I got here.  So right on Kevin, *high five* to you for getting to write a Star Wars book, I'm excited for you that you did and for me that I got to share it with you!

The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron

The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was deeply drawn into this amazing and secret world that Katherine found herself in. Almost immediately I became attached to Uncle Tully and his toys, and completely sympathetic to Katherine and her plight. The dark richness of the grand but decaying house and complex grounds, and the family secrets which came to light all gave vivid depth to the world. An interestingly set teen mystery with a gothic feel and a satisfying resolution, though with an open end that leads to a second book which I'm definitely looking forward to! I definitely recommend to the historical, steampunk, mystery fan.

View all my reviews

The Next Always by Nora Roberts

From Goodreads: The historic hotel in Boonsboro has endured war and peace, changing hands, even rumored hauntings. Now it’s getting a major facelift from the Montgomery brothers and their eccentric mother. Beckett is the architect of the family, and his social life consists mostly of talking shop over pizza and beer. But there’s another project he’s got his eye on: the girl he’s been waiting to kiss since he was fifteen. After losing her husband and returning to her hometown, Clare Brewster soon settles into her life as the mother of three young sons while running the town’s bookstore. Busy, with little time for romance, Clare is drawn across the street by Beckett’s transformation of the old inn, wanting to take a closer look . . . at the building and the man behind it. With the grand opening inching closer, Beckett’s happy to give Clare a private tour - one room at a time. It’s no first date, but these stolen moments are the beginning of something new - and open the door to the extraordinary adventure of what comes next . . .

This is my first Nora Roberts book, I know, hard to believe. It's possible I'm the last person on Earth that hasn't read one, and I guess I can't really say it's truly my first since I have listened to the first In Death book written under J. D. Robb. It is my first of her contemporary romance novels though. I loved it, pure and simple. It was just what I needed when I needed it, a sweet, fairly light palette-cleansing romance, after the intensity of Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, with just a smidge of paranormal. The characters are easy to love and identify with and I loved the interactions between them all, especially Beckett and Clare's three boys. Man Night cracked me up. There is also some suspense to offset the sweetness of the romance, and the paranormal touch, while not central, is important. I definitely look forward to the rest of the trilogy and seeing Beckett's gruff brother Ryder fall in love!

Being one of the most prolific writers ever it seems, I'm sure you all would be able to find Nora, but just in case, here's her website. ;)

A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon

From Goodreads: A Breath of Snow and Ashes continues the extraordinary story of 18th-century Scotsman Jamie Fraser and his 20th-century wife, Claire. The year is 1772, and on the eve of the American Revolution, the long fuse of rebellion has already been lit. Men lie dead in the streets of Boston, and in the backwoods of North Carolina, isolated cabins burn in the forest. With chaos brewing, the governor calls upon Jamie Fraser to unite the backcountry and safeguard the colony for King and Crown. But from his wife Jamie knows that three years hence the shot heard round the world will be fired, and the result will be independence — with those loyal to the King either dead or in exile. And there is also the matter of a tiny clipping from The Wilmington Gazette, dated 1776, which reports Jamie’s death, along with his kin. For once, he hopes, his time-traveling family may be wrong about the future.

I am continuously amazed by the depth of detail and character building in these books. There is so much packed in here, from historical events to medical knowledge and beyond, it exhausts me to think of how much research has to take place for each and every one. The Outlander novels stand apart for me on an untouchable pedestal of their own, spotlighted in my mental museum of all time favorites. You know that question of what books would you take with you if you were stranded on an island? I would take these, because it would take many many re-reads before you might remember everything and connect the dots, AND because with all the things that Jamie and Claire and their family go through, being stranded on that desert island would seem like a vacation in comparison!

I highly recommend the audiobooks read by Davina Porter. They are long, this one was 57 hours and took me just under two months (with a break for another audio in the middle) but so very worth it. The characters come alive with Davina's amazing performance. It's very difficult to come back to reality after finishing one. It seems to be a series you either love, or just can't get interested in, but I am firmly in the love category! I hope to get to the next book before the end of the year, as part of the Seriously Series Challenge, it's about 10 hours shorter, which is the length of a regular book in some cases! Just another reason to be in awe of Diana Gabaldon!

The Outlander Series on Audible.com

Diana Gabaldon's Website

Another Challenge Down!

I've listened to some fantastic audios this year, and have just today completed the Audiobook Challenge hosted by J. Kaye. I have a few more audios in mind, but luckily they'll fit in with the 2nd's challenge which I may be struggling to complete. I've got the Young Adult Challenge sown up as soon as finish Extras by Scott Westerfeld, but the Erotica Challenge is just going to have to go by the wayside I'm afraid. I did finish a second one (that's right, only a second one in the whole year so far!) this past weekend, but I really don't see me finishing enough to complete the challenge in less than a month and a half. I guess I just don't have that much naughtiness in me this year! :D

There is not a single one of these audios listed below that I wouldn't recommend, they've all been great and I really do need to review a few more of them! Thanks again for hosting J. Kaye!




The 2009 Audiobook Challenge: Listen to 12 Audiobooks between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009

1. Wedding Season - Darcy Cosper - finished 1/28/09
2. The Valley of Secrets - Charmian Hussey - finished 3/5/09
3. The Seduction of the Crimson Rose - Lauren Willig - finished 5/1/09
4. The Egyptologist - Arthur Phillips - finished 7/10/09
5. Magic Study - Maria V. Snyder - finished 8/4/09
6. Fire Study - Maria V. Snyder - finished 8/19/09
7. One for Sorrow, Two for Joy - Clive Woodall - finished 9/3/09
8. Skullduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy - finished 9/26/09
9. Bartimaeus #3: Ptolemy's Gate - Johnathan Stroud - finished 10/12/09
10. Wicked Lovely - Melissa Marr - finished 10/26/09
11. 12 Sharp - Janet Evanovich - finished 10/29/09
12. The Well of Lost Plots - Jasper Fforde - Finished 11/23/09

Challenge completed 11/23/09!

Audiobook: The Valley of Secrets by Charmian Hussey

Stephen Lansbury is an orphan who receives a letter informing him of an inheritance. After his meeting with an odd lawyer, Albert Postlethwaite, who is extremely reluctant to answer any of his questions, Stephen travels to the mysterious estate to take possession.

The estate is strangely deserted, yet somehow things keep happening that make Stephen realize he's not quite alone. His exploration of the secrets Lansbury Hall contains is enchanting and often humorous, while his discovery of a family he would have liked to have known, just after his Great Uncle Theodore's death is poignant. The more he learns of them as he reads the Theodore's journals, written as a young man, the more he misses what could have been, but a great surprise still awaits him out in the lush wilderness of the estate.

The author is clearly also concerned very deeply about environmental protection, and works this into the story very well. She brings these issues to life by creating characters we can sympathize with, and demonstrating the destruction of the rainforest and it's indigenous peoples through their story.

Charmian Hussey trained as an Archaeologist at the University of London. So far I do not see any other novels, but hope there are some in the future!

Charmian Hussey at Simon & Schuster

Audiobook: Wedding Season by Darcy Cosper

Can you even imagine going to seventeen weddings in six months? I sure can't, but Joy Silverman, who really doesn't believe in marriage, is getting to spend her entire spring and summer doing just that. Even her parents are getting remarried, but not to each other. With a rainbow of bridesmaid dresses in her closet, and a bulletin board of sticky notes to keep her on track, Joy faces wedding season bravely, watching just about everyone she knows walk down the aisle.

As the weddings of the year are cataloged, we get to see Joy's struggles with what it is about marriage that she disagrees with, all the while believing that her boyfriend Gabe shares her views. Does she want to spend her life with him? Absolutely! But why does that have to include marriage vows? No marriage could possibly live up the ideal, and is doomed to be a disappointment, right? So why is everyone so keen on the idea?

Wedding Season is at times humorous, painful, uplifting, and sad, but altogether an enjoyable read. I wish it had ended differently, but then, we don't really know how it truly may have ended, so I can write my own end end in my imagination. ;) The characters are lively, especially Joy's best friend Henry (a lesbian, but also getting married). The narrator did a good job bringing each character to life, so we can laugh, cringe, or want to share a hug at each of Joy's experiences.

This seems to be Darcy Cosper's only title so far, but I wouldn't hesitate to check out another by her.

Audiobook: Ireland by Frank Delaney

Ronan O'Mara is 9 years old the first time a travelling story teller visits their home. He is so enthralled by the old man's stories of ancient and medieval Ireland that he becomes obssessed with finding the old man after he is forced to leave the area rather abruptly.

Throughout his young life he seems to be just a step behind the storyteller, but never quite catching up to him. He collects the stories the man has told, and eventually becomes a student of history at college. As he grows older and becomes more aware of the adults around him, he begins to feel that people are keeping secrets from him, that they always seem to change the subject or veer away whenever he's just about to find out more about the old man that so affected his life.

He reaches a breaking point one night when his aunt Kate informs him that they will take in a boarder at the home the two have been sharing while he's been going to school and she's been teaching. Finally having had enough of the secrets he feels are being kept from him (and there is much more going on, but I don't want to spoil the read for anyone!) he leaves after a blowup, and walks, with no real purpose in mind except to get away.

For the first time in his life he's on his own with no one dictating his every move, and is amazed at the freedom he feels. He travels the country of Ireland, visiting many of the places that the storyteller told of, meeting many people, and continuing to search for the old man. During this trip he learns and grows, tries his own hand at some story telling. He does finally return home, and eventually learns the secrets that it seems were only kept from him. He also learns how to fit these into his life, and goes on to become a top student and then professor of history. There is one last surprise for him though in his continued search for the storyteller, who by now he is not even sure is still alive...

This was an amazing story. The copy I had was actually read by the author himself, and his voice was perfect, very resonant and colorful. I enjoyed this very much. To me the beauty of this story was not so much the plot line, but just the imparting of the stories, and what they and the storyteller meant to the people he shared them with. He really brings Ronan's struggle to life, and you feel the frustration of the boy becoming a man as he always seems to be one step behind the elusive old man that he longs so much to be like. You also feel the closure of everything coming full circle in the end, and how everything fits together. It was beautifully done, there's just no other description of it for me.

I will definitely be looking for more of Frank Delany's novels, preferrably audiobooks if he's read them himself! You can check out his website HERE.

Audiobook: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

In Twilight Bella goes to live with her father in Forks, to let her mother travel with her new baseball playing boyfriend (husband? I can’t remember, it’s audio, so I can’t look it up! LOL!). Feeling kind of like she’s been exiled to the gloomiest place on earth, Bella tries to get used to her new life, and make new friends. She seems to fall into a ready made group of friends without any effort on her part, with boys falling over themselves to get her attention. She’s really just fascinated by the Cullens, a “family” of kids at the school that seem to keep to themselves, not associating with the other kids, who have beautiful clothes, expensive cars, and look a little too perfect to be believable. She’s immediately drawn to Edward Cullen, but he seems to be angry with her from the start, even though she’s done nothing, and didn’t know anything about him. Edward finally admits to and stops fighting his attraction for Bella, and that’s when we begin to learn more about him and his family. Their love story develops in between episodes of danger to Bella, which Edward is alternately amused and terrified by, and he’s afraid to leave her alone for too long, figuring she’ll get hurt somehow! LOL! There is a sad edge to this first book though, as you get Edward’s feeling that ultimately Bella would be better off without him, as much as she adamantly disagrees with that sentiment. I’m interested to see where the next books take their relationship.

I very much enjoyed the story, and liked the characters a lot. Meyer did a good job of making Bella somehow very attractive, but seemingly completely unaware of how much or why she was. Meyer’s twist on vampires was a little different, plenty of the traditional aspects but with some new ideas thrown in. I’m looking forward to book two, and would recommend the series to YA and Vampire fans.

The reader for this one was ok, though it seems as if she was reading a bit slow to be comfortable for me, it didn’t detract from the story, and I got used to the style after awhile.

Here is Stephenie Meyer's Official Website if you're interested.

Twilight is apparently being made into a movie! Darnit, guess I'll have to see it! ;)

Book: Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder originally came out under Harlequin’s Luna line, but has been reissued under MIRA it appears. I actually listened to it from an Audible download, and was very impressed.

Yelena is imprisoned for murder, and next in line to be executed, when she is offered the chance to live by becoming the food taster for the Commander. She agrees, and begins her schooling in how to detect different poisons. Kept from escaping by having been poisoned before she realizes it, she must be present every day to receive the antidote that will keep her alive.

She befriends some of the castle help, and is tormented by others, and is especially in danger whenever in the vicinity of General Brizelle (sp? I listened to it, so I’m not sure how names may be spelled) as it was his son, Rayahd that Yelena had murdered. She begins to learn how to defend herself, and continues to impress Valek, the Commander’s right hand who trained her as the food taster, and who has responsibility for her.

Soon it becomes clear there is a plot afoot, and that all is not as it seems, and it’s up to Yelena and Valek to discover what is happening. They must learn to trust each other in order to make it through.

There are several twists in the story that I don’t want to give away, so I’ll stop here on the plot line!

I really enjoyed this one, and look forward to listening to the next two, Magic Study, and Fire Study. The story kept me interested, and I really felt for the characters, primary and secondary. I wasn’t sure for about ¾ of the story whether Valek was good or bad, though I desperately wanted him to be good, as I liked his character very much! I’m not going to tell you how he turned out, because I want you to read it for yourself! ;)

The setting is a bit militaristic, as the land of Ixia is divided up into Military Districts, and magic has been outlawed, punishable by death, with no recourse, though to the south in Citia, magicians are quite common. So while I would consider it a fantasy novel (as is suggested by the fact it was originally published in the Luna line) it has a sterile feel to it (not as in clean, but as in sans fantastical elements) because of this. Everyone in Ixia has a particular uniform according to their station and the structure is very rigid, with an industrial factory playing a key role in one piece of the plot. This factor was a little different than what I initially expected, but didn’t detract from the story at all, in actually enhanced the differences between countries.

Give it a try, I recommend it!