I'm super excited to have a blog where you can read my opinions and recommendations for books. Tell me what you think! You can leave comments here, or email me at rtierney@bostonma.gov. Either way, I'll respond back to you soon!





Monday, February 28, 2011

Bait & Switch

So...I wanted to fit one more entry in for the month of February, but I have been such a slacker with my reading that I only have one new book to discuss....but I would like to discuss several book-related topics, hence the bait & switch. Here we go. I finally watched the movie adaptation Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. I originally posted about this back in February 2010 (Yikes!). I can't believe it took me that long to see it. Anyway, long story short; I liked it. As a movie. As an adaptation, it fell pretty short, but what are you going to do? I wonder if they're planning a sequel. Does anyone know?


And, speaking of the end of February/beginning of March, I'm putting together a display for the Main Level of the library entitled, Marching Towards Destruction: Dystopian & Post-Apocalyptic Novels. Whew-that's a mouthful. But, there are some fantastic Young Adult novels in this genre, and it seemed like a fun way to highlight them, so make sure you check it out (before the world ends, hurry 2012 is coming)!

Last but not least, I did finish The Watsons go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis. I hate to say it, but while there were parts of it I liked,  I didn't love it. I think I just wasn't crazy about the writing style, the exaggerations and tall-tales. Or maybe I'm just not used to reading books geared towards younger readers. The next selection for the Middle School Book Club is The Last Wolf of Ireland by Elona Malterre. I'll make sure I read it well before our meeting date on March 17th!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Another Classic Down!

I finally finished East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Good Lord, it took me forever! I managed to lose it under my bed for about a week. Then I found it, but left it at work with like 10 pages left to read. Yikes! I thought I would never finish it. So, long story short, John Steinbeck; you are a genius. I mean really. A 600 page, epic novel about two families, spanning two centuries that managed to stay interesting. Well done indeed. Now I want to see the movie adaptation, starring James Dean and Julie Harris.



Sidebar...I had a moment of panic yesterday. The Middle School Book Club is meeting this Thursday (2/17) and we are discussing The Watsons go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis. Guess who hasn't read it yet? Yup. That would be me. So, I checked it out last night, and I am on a mission. I've heard that it's a great book and a perfect read for Black History Month. So Hunted has been put on the back burner. Sorry House of Night!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Going Viral

I just finished Virals by Kathy Reichs, and my review is mixed. The main charcater is Toby Brennan, niece of Temperance Brennan (from the adult series by Kathy Reichs & the TV show Bones). Virals is a fast-paced book with a lot of action & science. I really enjoyed the setting and some of the characters, but there are a few things I didn't love....



Besides Tory, who I liked (who can not love a strong, smart heroine?), the main complaint I have is the use of so many sterotypical characters. Let's see. To name a few, we have the brainiac kids of the scientists, the snobby rich kids, the overweight, distrustful-of-kids cop, the inept security guards, you get the idea. But the worst for me? This is going to sound petty, but I hate the way Reichs depicts the librarian, Brain Limestone. First, there's her description of this character, "...small, rat-faced guy. Skinny, maybe thirty-five, he had black hair, oiled and razor parted. His brown sweater-vest covered a tan shirt hung with a yellow paisley tie. Brown corduroy pants completed perhaps the most boring ensemble ever conceived." Thanks a million, Kathy Reichs. In one paragraph, you manage to embody and reinforce the sterotype of a "typical" librarian. But wait, the description isn't even the worst part. Reichs also has "Librarian Limestone" annoyed that he has to stop reading his book to help patrons. Now, I'm not sure which library Reichs had such a bad experience in, but I invite her to come here, where patrons are the priority, and I never get to just sit here & read books!

There were times when the voice and tone of the book didn't seem very authentic to me, especially for many of the adult characters. I find this ironic because this is Reichs first YA novel, so you would think her struggle with creating an authentic voice would come from her teenage protaganists. While some of that struggle is evident, the actions and behaviors of the adult characters in response to the teen characters was so much more jarring and off-putting for me.

Now, I like to think of myself as a generous, forgiving person, so I'm willing to overlook some of my issues with this book and give the next one a chance (I'm positive a sequel is in the works as I type this). Maybe Reichs will develop a more authentic teen voice, and the parts of her book that were well done will outshine the parts that fell flat. In the meantime, I will be with content with Bones (hello David Boreanaz).    

Up next? I'm slightly embarrased to admit, but I'll be reading Hunted, the fifth book in the House of Night series.

Monday, February 7, 2011

A little bit of January in February!

So, this is my first official post in my new blog. I'm kind of nervous-but here goes! Even though I didn't get to post one more time in January, I did finish Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler on January 27th. So, what did I think? The author has an interesting way with words, and I’m not totally sold on it. Sometimes I feel like she’s trying too hard, but then there are times when I appreciate that she’s trying to use unique phrases and imagery. What do I mean exactly? Well, here are some examples, tell me what you think…..

"She's her and I'm me and surrounding us is an ocean of mess and misunderstanding, full of pirates and sharks just waiting to see who slips in first."

"The sun is fully up now, bleaching the sky from orangey-pink to a pale, sad white. Corpse white."

"...the same blood flowing through their veins and a thousand pounds of unspoken words between them."

"All around us along the wide, dirt path, white stones stick out from the grass like loose teeth in a bright green mouth, chomping at the earth."

"The weight of my own heavy heart drags me down; I want to carve it out and leave it in the basement in one of the old canning jars..."


You get the idea. Very descriptive, decent imagery, but sometimes it's just too much. Overall though, I would recommend this. It's a light, easy read, but not in a bad way.There is still a lot of content and depth throughout the story, and it's hard not to empathize with the characters. And, it's nice to read about the summer in the middle of all this cold weather and snow!

Kicking off February, I finally read Days of Little Texas by R.A. Nelson. Hm. I did not like this book as much as thought I would. It wasn't bad, just different from what I was expecting. The main character, Ronald Earl aka Little Texas, became an evangelical child preacher and faith healer at the age of 10. He is now sixteen, and starting to question his life as a itinerant preacher, while dealing with a changing body, hormones and doubts about his faith and ability to heal. At one of his services, he heals a young girl in a blue dress named Lucy. Or does he? As he is healing her, he feels a different power than he's ever felt before. After that, he starts seeing the girl everywhere. Is she a ghost? Is it his imagination? Or is Little Texas losing his mind? I don't want to give too much away, but this novel touches on so many different topics, including religion, faith, good and evil, family structure, slavery and ghosts, to name a few. It's a coming of age story, a romance, a ghost story and more all mixed up in one book. This isn't a book for everyone, but it will make you think, and may even make you question what you believe. While it's not necessary to have a religious background, or an understanding of evangelical beliefs, it might help when reading this book. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a multi-faceted novel that gives no easy answers.

I just started Virals by Kathy Reichs. She is the best-selling author of the adult novels featuring Temperance Brennan, and the creator of the Fox TV show, Bones. This is her first Young Adult novel, and the protagonist is Toby Brennan, niece of Temperance. So far it has science, action, animals, and a deadly virus. I'm already hooked!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Welcome to our new blog!

Reba Recommends now has its very own blogspot! I'm excited to have my own page where you can read my opinions and recommendations for Young Adult books. Please tell me what you think! You can leave comments here, or email me at rtierney@braintreema.gov. Either way, I'll respond back to you soon.
                - Reba, Thayer Public Library's Young Adult Librarian

January 24, 2011

I’ve been so busy reading, I’ve been forgetting to post. Sorry! OK, I have lots to catch up on. Here we go. I zipped through reading I, Drakula by Bekka Black. I know another vampire book. I can’t help it, I’m weak! Anyway, this book was a retelling of the classic Dracula, told entirely through e-mails and text messages. I think it was a format that worked, especially for this retelling. It added to the sense of urgency and panic when phone calls, messages and e-mails went unanswered, or people became unreachable. There are some differences from the original novel, and while having read the original is not required, it helps a lot with understanding this book. (Similar to reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies).

In keeping with my little mystery theme, I also read the book Suspect by Kristin Wolden Nitz. This book was about a girl Jen, who is now 17 and will be spending the summer helping her Grandmother run her Victorian Bed & Breakfast. Sounds simple, right? But Jen’s mom disappeared when she was young, and her Grandmother has planned a mystery weekend, hoping to recreate the past, and jog the memories of several participants, trying to solve the mystery of Jen’s mother’s disappearance. Does it work? What really happened to Jen’s mom? Add a little dash of romance, and you have an enjoyable, entertaining read. I really liked Jen as a character, which made me eager to find out what really happened to her mom. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery/suspense novels.

Thanks to snow days, I’ve been able to read more than usual, so I also had time to finish The Daughters by Joanna Philbin. Yes, Philbin, the daughter of Regis and Joy. This book? Okay, and that’s about it. Nothing new. Not a bad story, and the characters were relatively likeable, but it was so predictable.

And my last update, I just finished Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride. I LOVED it! Everyone should read it now. Loved the writing, the plot, the characters. It was just so much fun to read. And even though yes, it was a paranormal story, it didn’t seem trite and played out, it seemed fresh and interesting. I also love that the title and all the chapters relate to songs. It’s kind of like playing a little game while you read, trying to identify all the songs. I’m so hoping for a sequel!

I just started a book called Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler, who wrote Twenty Boy Summer (which I read in February). I really liked Twenty Boy Summer, and Fixing Delilah sounds good, so I’m really looking forward to reading it.

Oh yeah…I’m also still reading East of Eden. I kind of have this method for tackling the classics. So, I figure out the date that I have to have the book read by. Then, I count the number of pages, and whatever number I come up with, I divide by the number of days that I have to read it in. This gives me how many pages I need to read per day. I know it sounds crazy and kind of complicated, but with the classics, sometimes I need a method to tackle them. Anyway, I’m reading around a chapter a day and I’m still really liking it. That’s it for now, hopefully I’ll get one more post in before the end of the month!