BOOKS

Reviewing books on the blog is only one of the things that make our blog fabulous.  But I do just want to set something straight now; if you've come to the blog looking for a review of a book that was bad, you won't find it.  Look at our reviews more as recommendations as to what we love.  If we read a book we didn't like, we stopped, put it up on www.paperbackbookswap.com and moved on.  Maybe one day we'll make a list of the books that we couldn't stand, but what's the point in writing a big review about it?  We'd rather focus our energy on what we LOVE, like this book!

Elantris

by Brandon Sanderson

I love, love, LOVE this book.  It is science fiction and takes us to a world where magic is gifted to only a chosen few, that are given their powers randomly by an unknown source.  But this book starts at a time when the magic has been broken and instead of a person being bestowed with wondrous powers, the would-be magicians wake up to a nightmare.  They cast-off from society to rot in the very land they used to dream of.  

I'm not a huge science fiction reader but this one is worth stepping out of your comfort zone for.  It is very smart, interesting and gripping.  The heroin is humble, smart, funny and flawed.  The villains are layered, and complicated.  I love that in a bad guy!  The author does a great job of painting a picture without becoming tedious.  I pretty much guarantee, this book is worth the time.


Extra Normal is Extra-Ordinary

Hi everyone, thanks for visiting our blog for the tour!  Get comfy, take a good look around, and stay for a while.  We have actually been up and running for a grand total of four weeks now, so if our blog looks a little empty, just stay tuned, there is so much more to come!

I love it when I find a book that is the total package.  Fun, smart, and original with just enough romance to make you remember what it's like to fall in love for the first time (or wish you had).

The number one thing I loved about this book is that it is a dystopian society book without actually being in the dystopian society.  Basically, the term dystopian has cropped up lately in literary circles to describe books that have a society that it trying to be utopian but in that pursuit fails and has major societal flaws.  Uglies, Matched, and Hunger Games all qualify as dystopian society books (and are all fabulous) but Extra Normal is unique in that it takes place on Earth in our time, but the main character, Mira, comes from a society that we slowly get to see painted as dystopian.  It is interesting to see Mira's perspective on a very flawed American society having come from a world that is supposed to be so far advanced in ever way.  But don't worry, it's not geeky, there's just enough explanation to make it compelling.  Rumor has it there will be a sequel.  Can't wait to get more info about Mira's world.

The characters are interesting and mysterious without being frustrating or vague.  It is an absolute joy to read the story from the main character's point of view.  She is witty and smart.  Any part of the book explaining her experience eating food made me laugh out loud.  I had to keep chocolate on hand just to make it through!  Jesse is also well done.  He is a mysterious bad boy with a heart of solid gold.  It is so fun to watch their relationship unfold.  Everett, well, what can I say.  You love to hate him...that's a great antagonist in my opinion.

On top of all of that, the plot is spellbinding.  I could not put the book down.  One connection leads to another and you just have to find out what it all means!  It has a great flow and builds to a very exciting and climactic ending.  The pace of the book is perfect.  I love the moment in a book when you are so stunned by what happened that you actually have to stop reading and absorb for a moment before you go on.  There were at lease three of those moments in this book.

One of my favorite things to do is bully my friends into reading books that I loved, and I think I may just buy 10 copies to keep on hand just for that purpose!

I know Suze has done a few author interviews, and they have all been great.  I think we can all easily see that she is an incredibly gifted writer, as well as an amazing woman, mother, grandmother, and wife.  So, I thought it might be fun to do a different kind of interview, one with the main character, Mira...So here she is;

         1.  So, Mira, besides Geery, what do you miss the most about Earth?

I assume you mean Nreim? Which, yeah, is called Earth. But you know how dumb I think that is. 

2.  What would your dream meal on Neo-Earth be?

Ooh, dream meal? I haven't had one yet that I wouldn't call a dream meal. Except the salad and seed ones. But if I were to design my own, it would have to include chocolate, and cheese, and meat. And gelatin of course. 

3.  Do you feel the media you memorized in research for coming to Neo-Earth was accurate in portraying what the customs and people are like?

Ha! Ha! That's a good one. Give me second to stop laughing. Okay. 

No. The people in the media always know the perfect thing to say. And they never bother with little things like dialing a cell phone or going to the bathroom. I mean, those things are important but they just skip right over it. 

4.  What is your favorite tradition on Earth?

Again your talking about my Earth? Nreim. Our traditions are very different, I think mostly because we don't have meals. But we do have them. Probably my favorite is when a child turns ten. That's they age that they're no longer considered little children. Basically from ten to twenty are the equivalent of your teen years. So at age ten we get a big party with all our friends. Parents put together a media presentation of our lives so far, and everyone at the party shares some kind of memory. That day was the happiest of my life...until coming to your planet. 

5.  What is the weather like on Earth?

It's very similar to the weather here. The main difference is that our clothing and shelter have been designed so perfectly that we hardly notice the changes, especially since we rarely go outside. 

6.  It was fun to see how you treated Becca.  Do you wish you had siblings and if so would you want a brother or sister and how many? 

That's a good question. I can't say I've thought about it. There is no such thing as siblings on Nreim. And I didn't even realize I liked little kids until I came here. But if I could have Becca as my little sister, I'd take her in an instant. 

7.  Do you think that having your Em Field realign with your life long partner on Earth is the same as falling in love on Neo-Earth?

Well, I can't say for sure. But I bet it's very similar.

8.  What is the most reckless, irresponsible thing you have ever done?

I wish I could say it was the cheeseburger. But I guess I've done a little worse than that. I think I should stay silent however, just in case (someone) is watching.

9.Would you rather spend you life living on Earth or Neo Earth?  Why?

Oh, that's another funny one! There's no choice. But you'll have to read my story to find out.

10.  Do you believe that you have personal freedoms on Earth?  Why?

Freedoms? That's rough. I thought so. I mean, it's not like we're told what we can and can't do very often, except when we travel to Neoearth. It's more a matter of having very limited choices. Those have expanded since the discovery of your planet. People can see what amazing things are available to you guys  and they're starting to demand more. Like they've started having rock concerts. But they're so lame. A bunch of machines making music. Seriously? Machines? And you know about the stupid food choices. As in, there are none. Yeah. We have a lot to work on.

Hey, thanks for having me here! It's kind of fun feeling like a celebrity for once! (Just don't tell, cause that's totally frowned on where I'm from.)

Seriously, could she be any more fabulous?  Thank you so much to Suze for allowing our blog to be included on her tour.  We are honored and thrilled!

<3, Amy M, Amy A, and Sharla

Ok, one of my favorite things in the world to do is read (you know, when I'm not sewing, cooking, cleaning, driving car pool and generally chasing my tail while ripping out my hair...) so naturally we had to include a monthly book review on the website (fabulous)!

I am especially excited about this book because I feel very "in-the-know" on this one.  The name of the book (drum roll, please) is... 

Extra Normal by Suze Reese

Check out this gorgeous cover...

I had the opportunity to read this book as a sneak peak and I have to say, I loved it!  It's a young adult fiction (fun) that is a very different spin on the "dis-topian" society.  As in, if you liked the Uglies series, Matched, and Hunger Games, yes, you will like this book.  The fun part is that it actually takes place on Earth in our time, but the main character hails from a planet that reeks of government rule for the "good" of society (in other words, there is pretty much no personal freedom).  It's got a great love story and, what's a good "dis-topian" society book without some action (the run-for-your-life kind, not the get-pregnant-with-a-vampire-baby kind)?  

Here's the blurb on the back cover (just in case my review wasn't clear enough for ya):

Mira Johns is pretty much like any other teenage girl.  Except that she knows how to harness electro-magnetic energy to communicate without words.  And she's really, really far from home.  Her assignment as an emissary to Earth sounds fairly simple: blend in, observe, and stay away from the planet's primitive males. But after she finds one mysterious boy too irresistible for stupid rules, she realizes the real reason she's supposed to keep her distance: mates from her world can die if separated.  But a series of serious accidents make it clear that someone wants to force her return.  Mira decides her only hope is to uncover the truth to why she, the most mediocre of candidates, was actually chosen for this assignment-before the agency discovers her secret and sends her back home.

Some cool factoids about this book is that it is on the Most Anticipated Books of 2012 book list, Most Exciting Upcoming Young Adult Books list, and the Can't Wait Books of 2012 list.  It is currently on 2,000 bookshelves on goodreads.com and is also on the list for Breathtaking Book Covers of 2012 (I'm sure you can see why).  

Now that you're all crawling out of your skin to get your hands on a copy, you can't!  Well, that's only partly true, the book is scheduled to be release for digital purchase on April 5th, 2012 or you can order a paperback copy as of April 26th, 2012.  The best way to order is to visit the author's website at www.suzereese.com.  While you're there you can enter a contest to win a free copy of the book and maybe get a sneak peak at the second book coming out in this series (ugh, I just love a good series)!

Keep an eye out for the Extra Normal Blog tour that will be visiting our blog on April 27th.  Follow the tour and win free stuff from this author!

So curl up on the couch, bust out the bon-bons and get to reading!

<3, Sharla