Thursday, April 23, 2009

Bluestockings April Book Review "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society"


The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

The group absolutely loved this book. It got a rating of 4 stockings!!
The book is a series of letters, which normally I find disjointed, hard to read because I don't ever get a feeling for the characters. Not so with this book. I think I can speak for the group in saying that you feel like you know the characters. It also seems like this really happened rather than being a work of fiction. The letters are between an author facing writers block and an island community who formed a book club during the German occupation.

Here are some pics from the meeting.



Watch the video below as co-author Annie Barrows discusses the book.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Mark Your Calendar!!!


The incomparable Dolores Hydock will be performing in the Mt. Laurel community at the Double Oak Community Church! If you have never had the opportunity to see one of her shows, I highly recommend you see this one. You won't be disappointed!

Friday, April 24: Short Stack ~ Stories About, From, and For Libraries.
7:30 - 9 p.m., Double Oak Community Church, 115 Olmsted Street, Mt. Laurel, AL. Tickets are
$15. Proceeds benefit the Mt Laurel Public Library Building Fund. For information or directions, call 981-9772 or e-mail mtlaurelpubliclibrary@gmail.com

Lament by Maggie Stiefvater - Book Review


So, I've been trying to expand my knowledge of Twilight-like books. I've read a few that rate as "fillers" so it was truly great to read Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception. This is for fans of Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely and also for adult fans of Karen Marie Moning's Fever series. The heroine, Deirdre, is a gifted harpist with a crazy bad case of stage fright and a bagpipe playing best friend named James. She meets Luke, a mysterious flutist, when he holds back her hair while she ever-so delicately throws up before a performance. The story unfolds with an abundance of four-leaf clovers, the realization that Deirdre can see the fae and is being targeted by the Faerie Queen, and that James may have feelings for Deirdre. Stiefvater does a good job of developing layers of Luke's character, not entirely the good guy and not entirely a bad guy either. The sequel, Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie, will be released in October.


Product Description:
Sixteen-year-old Deirdre Monaghan is a painfully shy but prodigiously gifted musician. She's about to find out she's also a cloverhand—one who can see faeries. Deirdre finds herself infatuated with a mysterious boy who enters her ordinary suburban life, seemingly out of thin air. Trouble is, the enigmatic and gorgeous Luke turns out to be a gallowglass—a soulless faerie assassin. An equally hunky—and equally dangerous—dark faerie soldier named Aodhan is also stalking Deirdre. Sworn enemies, Luke and Aodhan each have a deadly assignment from the Faerie Queen. Namely, kill Deirdre before her music captures the attention of the Fae and threatens the Queen's sovereignty. Caught in the crossfire with Deirdre is James, her wisecracking but loyal best friend. Deirdre had been wishing her life weren't so dull, but getting trapped in the middle of a centuries-old faerie war isn't exactly what she had in mind . . .
Lament is a dark faerie fantasy that features authentic Celtic faerie lore, plus cover art and interior illustrations by acclaimed faerie artist Julia Jeffrey.