In the News!

My library was mentioned in a recent TIME article about how libraries are re-inventing themselves to keep up with the current technology trends!  The Gimme Engine is our invention in the mobile app world as we try to connect customers with reviews and recommendations made by our very own staff members.  I feel very proud (and lucky!) to be part of a library system that is as forward thinking as Scottsdale.

Also, interestingly enough, my library did try to the "Text-a-Librarian" option a while back, but found that it was under utilized and therefore stopped using it.  I wonder if there's a secret that other libraries know to encourage usage that we haven't found yet.

Book Review: "The Girl in the Park"

The Girl in the Park

by Mariah Fredericks

Goodreads Summary: When Wendy Geller's body is found in Central Park after the night of a rager, newspaper headlines scream,"Death in the Park: Party Girl Found Strangled." But shy Rain, once Wendy's best friend, knows there was more to Wendy than just "party girl." As she struggles to separate the friend she knew from the tangle of gossip and headlines, Rain becomes determined to discover the truth about the murder. Written in a voice at once immediate, riveting, and utterly convincing, Mariah Frederick's mystery brilliantly exposes the cracks in this exclusive New York City world and the teenagers that move within it.

Review: I very rarely read mysteries but synopsis for The Girl in the Park seemed promising enough for me to risk it (also, I checked the book out through Overdrive for my Kindle, so the urge to peek ahead was pretty much gone).  I'm glad I did since it proved to be thoroughly enjoyable.  The unraveling of the mystery was done just right, and Fredericks does a good job at managing the pacing so that it wasn't extremely slow but didn't race through to the end.  Rain is an extremely fascinating character: a teenage girl who has her own personal problems but struggles through them to find the killer.  She's resilient and intelligent, which I was glad to see in a character.  I was a little bit disappointed because I was able to guess the identity of the killer fairly early, but the book did make me question my guess here and there.  All in all, The Girl in the Park was a solid and satisfying read.

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Book Review: "Painted Blind"

Painted Blind

by Michelle A. Hansen

Goodreads Summary: Seventeen years old and agoraphobic, Psyche Middleton vows her dad will never see the risqué photos she took during a summer modeling stint abroad, but one of them ends up on a billboard in her Montana hometown. Now everyone—especially her dad—can see it. And yet, somehow, those are the mundane things in her life because she is about to fall unexpectedly, head-over-heels in love with Erik, a mysterious young man who rescues her from a crowd of admirers, and who she’s never actually seen because…he can make himself invisible.

As strange as this may seem, it’s about to get even stranger. Erik takes her to his palace in an idyllic kingdom, and she is swept into the beauty and culture of his world, but his affection has one condition: she may not see him. Overtaken, intrigued, and still not wholeheartedly believing he’s real, Psyche is going to have to decide if she can love him blindly; because if she can’t, she may lose him forever.

Review: Painted Blind is a wonderful adaptation of the myth of Cupid and Psyche.  It remained faithful to the original story while mixing in some new elements that made it exciting and fun to read.  Psyche is an admirable female lead.  She knows she has her flaws and problems, and despite her beauty, she has been able to remain humble and level headed.  Her beauty is left to our imagination, and I only wished that Hansen had spent more time detailing the problems she's had with her appearance as well as her agoraphobia.  The relationship between her and Erik felt real, unlike some YA books I've read, and Hansen deals with the more mature parts of the relationship very well.  Erik himself was a great character.  He's not a typical male lead and I loved his mischievousness.  Hansen does a fantastic job developing the side characters as well, and the plot and main story was nicely balanced with the character development.  This is a must read for anyone who enjoys mythology!

Our library doesn't have a copy of the book, but I've put in a staff suggestion to purchase it.  Hopefully we'll get it soon so I can start raving to my co-workers and teens!

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

This book was obtained as an eGalley from Createspace Publishers. 

Book Review: "Heartless"

Heartless

by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

Goodreads Summary: Princess Una of Parumvir has come of age and will soon be married. She dreams of a handsome and charming prince, but when the first suitor arrives, she finds him stodgy and boring. Prince Aethelbald from the mysterious land of Farthestshore has traveled far to prove his love--and also to bring hushed warnings of danger. A dragon is rumored to be approaching Parumvir. Una, smitten instead with a more dashing prince, refuses Aethelbald's offer--and ignores his warnings. Soon the Dragon King himself is in Parumvir, and Una, in giving her heart away unwisely, finds herself in grave danger. Only those courageous enough to risk everything have a hope of fighting off this advancing evil.

Review: It's not often that I come across a book that I really couldn't stand to read (of course, most of the time it's because I'm able to flip to the end - with my Kindle, unfortunately, I had to read through it if I wanted to know the ending).  Unfortunately, Heartless falls into this category.   

None of the characters were likable, especially Princess Una.  She was rude, shallow, and juvenile, with absolutely no redeeming qualities.  She's not very intelligent, courageous, or kind, and this doesn't change throughout the entire book.  For this reason, I have no idea what Prince Aethelbald was so in love with her.  Aethelbald himself could have been such a great character, but instead was reduce to a somewhat bland personality.  The evil Dragon King was fairly one dimensional too, and both Una's father and brother were not very interesting (the brother was somewhat of a whiny brat, to be honest).

The plot itself was okay, but there were things that are brought up but never mentioned again or explained.  It annoys me when authors throw in seemingly important hints but then never bother to fully address them later on, and unfortunately, this happens quite a lot in Heartless, both with plot and with other characters.  

I would have a very hard time recommending this book to anyone.  Una ruined the book for me, and unfortunately, the plot couldn't redeem her character.

Overall Rating: 1/5

Note: Apparently, this book was a giant Christian allegory.  I found this out after I had already written my review, so I'd like to put in a disclaimer that my rating and review have nothing to do with my personal beliefs.

Book Review: "Dark Companion"

Dark Companion
by Marta Acosta

Goodreads Summary: When foster teen Jane Williams is invited to attend elite Birch Grove Academy for Girls and escape her violent urban neighborhood, she thinks the offer is too good to be true. She's even offered her own living quarters, the groundskeeper's cottage in the center of the birch grove.

Something's not quite right about the school -- or is it Jane? She thinks she sees things in the birch grove at night. She's also beginning to suspect that the elegant headmistress and her sons are hiding secrets. Lucky is the gorgeous, golden son who is especially attentive to Jane, and Jack is the sardonic puzzling brother.

The school with its talented teachers and bright students is a dream for a science and math geek like Jane. She also loves her new friends, including hilarious poetry-spouting rich girl, Mary Violet. But the longer Jane stays at Birch Grove, the more questions she has about the disappearance of another scholarship girl and a missing faculty member.

Jane discovers one secret about Birch Grove, which only leads to more mysteries. What is she willing to sacrifice in order to stay at this school...and be bound to Birch Grove forever?

Review: Dark Companion is an interesting re-telling of Jane Eyre that combines Gothic elements with subtle magical undertones. Acosta brilliantly develops the eery atmosphere of Birch Grove Academy, as well as the strangeness of the Radcliffe family. The book had a lot of surprising twists and turns, and wasn't as predictable as I originally thought it would be. I enjoyed the character of Jane, who was intelligent and steady, but not naïve at all. Her bluntness was refreshing to see in a character. The side characters were wonderful as well, most notably the flamboyant Mary Violet and her fabulous poems. While it lagged somewhat during the middle and the magic was a bit out of place, the clever humor, witty dialogue, and creepy mystery held my interest to the end.

Overall Rating: 3/5

This book was obtained as an eGalley from Tor/MacMillian Publishers.  It's expected publication date is July 3, 2012.

Double Feature Book Review

Anna and the French Kiss

Lola and the Boy Next Door

by Stephanie Perkins

I'm doing something a little different with these two books by reviewing them at the same time, mostly because I didn't have time to write an actual review of Anna and the French Kiss before finishing Lola and the Boy Next Door.  They're companion novels and written by the same author.  Anna comes first, but it's not necessary to read them in order.  The summaries for each of these can be found here and here.

Another first for me is that I actually have two different ratings for each of these books.  They differ because one is my own personal enjoyment of the book and the other is based on a more professional level.  Sound confusing?  I'll try to explain.  As a librarian, I would recommend these two books to any older teens looking for a fun romance story.  They were well written and full of awesome characters, and they did a great job at talking about the confusion that comes with love at that age.  They also did a good job at addressing issues like alcohol, drugs, and sex, but because those do make an appearance in both books, these books are definitely for the older age group of teenagers.  Overall, both these books got a 4/5 rating on a professional scale.

Personally, however, I did knock both of them down a full point.  I would have loved both of these books ten years ago!  They are perfect for teenagers - they address love, and finding yourself, and the confusion that comes with both.  For someone in her late 20's, however, not so much.  It was hard for me to relate on a personal level.

But like I mentioned before, it's only based on a personal bias that these books didn't score higher on my rating scale.  They're a lot of fun to read, and they're filled with quirky, lovable characters, and the best part is that Anna, Lola, and the boys they love feel like real people with their flaws and imperfections. 

Overall Rating: 3/5 (for both books)

Book Review: "The Last Boyfriend

The Last Boyfriend

by Nora Roberts

Goodreads Summary: Owen is the organizer of the Montgomery clan, running the family's construction business with an iron fist - and an even less flexible spreadsheet. And though his brothers bust on his compulsive list-making, the Inn BoonsBoro is about to open right on schedule. The only thing Owen didn't plan for was Avery McTavish

Avery's popular pizza place is right across the street from the inn, giving her a first-hand look at its amazing renovation - and a newfound appreciation for Owen. Since he was her first boyfriend when they were kids, Owen has never been far from Avery's thoughts. But the attraction she's feeling for him now is far from innocent.

As Avery and Owen cautiously take their relationship to another level, the opening of the inn gives the whole town of Boonsboro a reason to celebrate. But Owen's hard work has only begun. Getting Avery to let down her guard is going to take longer than he expected - and so will getting her to realize that her first boyfriend is going to be her last.

Review: The Last Boyfriend is the second book of the Inn Boonsboro trilogy, and while I enjoyed it, it's a very sleepy book with little plot.  The book focuses on the things that happen in life - the holidays, opening of a business, relationships - and it plods along slowly with little to no direction.  While I enjoyed the main characters as well as all the other side characters, this book was definitely one that was devoted to the complexities of a relationship rather than a plot.  Honestly, it was a little bit boring for my taste.  I'm someone who needs a little bit of excitement along with the romance aspect.  The next book, due out later this year, seems promising though, so we'll see.

Overall Rating: 2.5/5