Teaser Tuesday

I forget where I originally lifted this picture from - probably a facebook post. But it's funny!  I would love to use it for my next rant, kind of a rant button/badge thingy.  (that's internet lingo)

Teaser Tuesdays! The weekly meme that lets us tease each other with snippets of our current reads.  Hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading, this is a weekly book meme.  We go to a random page, find two sentences to tease with.  No Spoilers, of course (duh!)  Since I've just finished a book, I'll tease with one or two of my possible reads. 

Roil 

Trent Jamieson

page 11

     David lost his grip and dropped onto the dead tree beneath his window, its rotten limbs snap-crash-snapped under his weight.  He landed in a heap on the soft mud beneath and clambered to his feet - no bones broken as far as he could tell.

The Probable Future

Alice Hoffman

page 6

     Jenny hadn't particularly wanted a baby; she hadn't yearned for one the way some women did, hadn't gazed longingly at rocking horses and cribs.  Her stormy relationship with her own mother had made her wary of family ties, and her marriage to Will Avery, surely one of the most irresponsible men in New England, hadn't seemed the proper setting in which to raise a child.

It's Monday, and it almost snuck up on me again.

This past week, the baby in my It's Monday button has turned six years old. Six.  And now she's in kindergarden, reading to me and learning all kind of things.  AND she just asked to get her ears pierced, used some of her b-day money to get them pierced.  According to her dad, she swindled him.  haha.  She had $20 left of her Disneyland money (they went to Disneyland for her birthday).  So she asked if she could get her ears pierced.  Her parents said sure, especially when she wanted to use her money. According to dad, though, the whole thing costs a little over $50.  He's laughing as he's telling us, so I don't think he really minded too much.  ;)  She is their only child, seems to have been a miracle that she was even conceived, much less born (all kinds of trouble)  She's here and a spirited yet sweet young thing.  Full of piss and vinegar and sugar, all mixed together in one little package.  :)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is the weekly bookish meme hosted by Ms Sheila of Book Journey - and it really did almost sneak up  on me again.  I missed quite a few weeks lately, and I'm trying not to miss again.  It used to be that the Monday meme kept be grounded, it's a good way to keep on track with reading, to remember to list my books (this blog and my Books Read page are the only way I can keep track of what I've read, bought, tried to read, etc.) so it's more important than it would seem to me.  Even though I spent the week watching my daughter's house when they went on their trip to L.A.,  I didn't get much reading done at all.  I fully expected to read a lot, since they don't have cable.  I even brought three books with me, and figured that she had a shelf full of books I could read if I finished what I brought.....HA!  They had NetFlix, and so I spent many hours watching episodes of the BBC version of Shameless (not as good as the Showtime's version) and the beginning episodes of Supernatural (omg!  Why did it take so long for me to even FIND this show?)  Supernatural is a fun  and spooky show;  and I've only gotten through a few episodes...

The one novel I finished reading this week was ...

The Trouble With Fate

by Leigh Evans

Hedi is half fae, half were, stuck in the human world, trying to blend in and stay out of notice of the weres while living and caring for her full fae, crazed Aunt Lou.  Aunt Lou has been invading her dreams and subconcious...or is there something else going on?  Aunt Lou is abducted, and Hedi needs to go find her..  Good story.  Good writing, good dialogue and I want to read the next novel - **BTW the blurb for sequel contains spoilers for the first novel, which I didn't know, then I read the blurb and thought...WTF? WHY?  give some warning for those of us who don't read the first book fast enough for it not to matter if you give an ending away in the blurb for the second novel...even if it's not considered a spoiler by the publisher, it's something that I would have liked to have been surprised about.  But NOOOOooooo, I ended up knowing a certain thing was going to happen before I read it because I became curious and looked up the second novel before I finished reading the first, without realizing they were going to go there.  Damn!  The Thing About Weres. (don't click if you haven't read the first novel,really)

Current Reading is a toss up.

Choices are...

The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman

Turbulence by Samit Basu

Roil by Trent Jamieson

                    

Is it just me, or does anyone else see the strong resemblance of the cover model to Kiera Knightly's character of Domino?

Or...I might just do a re-read, or one of my Terry Pratchett novels...or Nylon Angel...

Green Angel Review for Colorful Reading Challenge

Recently I began the Colorful Reading Challenge (more information here) It's a fun challenge, hosted by a blogger ( Rebecca of Lost In Books) who loves reading challenges.

Today I finished a book called Green Angel, by Alice Hoffman (of Practical Magic fame). I picked up this book almost by accident. It was in a give-away pile, and since I really like Alice Hoffman's books (well, most of them) I snagged it right away. No hesitation. Alice Hoffman writes on a large spectrum of human faults and strengths. Not all of her books are for all readers, but no matter what her current subject you can be sure that you are reading a book with quality writing, strong plots, and you will learn something in each book, without even realizing that you are learning.

Alice Hoffman's books usually read like a timeless fairytale. Fairytale might not even be the right word, but there is usually some hints of magic in her stories. Green Angel has no mention of year, city or country, it could be any place, at any time, in any country. It is a short young adult book (116 pages)
written in the first person point of view. The main character is a teenager called Green. The book is divided into 5 sections; Heart, Soul, Treasure, Rain and Sister. It is about grief and loss and how one teenager goes through her process of grief and recovery, at the same time surviving with no obvious support. I found it interesting that Ms Hoffman divided the book into 5 sections, and there is a strong theory that there are 5 stages of grief that humans go through during the loss of a loved one, or disaster.

Green has a way with nature, plants and animals. She has a father, mother and younger sister. Green and her family live across the bridge from a large silver and gold city. They grow fruits and vegetables they they sell in the large city. Usually only two family members at a time go, such as Green and her mother. In the city is the only place that Green does not feel awkard or as if people are judging her for her actions, (like hugging linden trees). The book opens with her anger at her family because this market day, she has to stay home while the rest go to the city, and she looks forward to her trips to the city, where she can blend in with the crowds.

Ms Hoffman's writing is almost poetic, and at the same time there is no unnecessry prose. The writing is wonderful, once I started the book I just kept reading until I was done. There is almost no dialogue, as most of Green's time is spent by herself, or with animals and plants.

While she is angrily tending the family's garden a disaster hits the city. Fire burns, the bridge is burnt and embers and ashes fly over to their home. Green comes to realize that she has lost her whole family. She is only left with her sister's dog, who only tolerated her before, and the garden that has been devastated with ashes and embers; the vegetables and fruit has been burned.

Green never really knows what has caused the fire, only that the city burned, she lost her family, many died and her own village was devastated. Since the townspeople assumed she was with her family during the disaster, no one comes to check on her. Green goes through her own stages of grief on her own, with few souls around to help her. She's angry at herself, riddled with guilt at the way she behaved when she last saw her family. She had always been a little jealous of her younger sister's carefree, easygoing ways with everything and everyone. She punishes herself. When she finally starts to do what she has to to survive, she avoids treating her burned eyes (burned the day of the fire, when embers flew into her eyes). She refuses to cry.

As the year progresses, she gets a little stronger emotionally and physically. She slowly makes friends as one by one, different animals and three people come into her life.

This is a wonderful story of grief, anger, guilt, strength, and finally forgiveness. Green's way of punishing herself, and at the same time keeping her pain at bay is totally believable for a teenager. She notes how the townspeople are either helpers,(helping the less fortunate) or opportunists (charging as much as they can for necessaties, profitting off misfortune). These are important observations in real life. Green also learns to let go of each soul that entered her life during the year that follows the disaster, it's hard for her but she lets go, emerging a stronger person herself.

I would definitely recommend this book for middle school age and up, even adults. A 6 *, on my rating system. It makes me want to read more of Alice Hoffman's books, both young adult and adult.