Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s theme is a fantastic one: the best blogs to follow. I tend to follow several different kinds of blogs. I like finding other blogs that review clean books or which list content information. I think in part it makes me feel validated, and it’s always interesting to see the ways other sites break down the content information. I also like to follow what I’ll call a specialty blog, one that steers readers toward specific types of books– books about characters with disabilities, books by minority authors, etc. Then there are the good old trusty review sites where I find myself reading the reviews of books I’ve read and saying, “I know, right?!” and reading reviews of books I haven’t read and immediately adding the titles to my reading list. I should add lots of others to this list, but these are the ones far and above all others that I find myself returning to for inspiration, recommendations and ideas:
I’ve probably been following this blog the longest out of all the others on this list. I’m not sure how I found Reading Teen, but I really love this site. I guest-posted a review of Panic by Lauren Oliver which you can find here. One of my FAVORITE posts by Andye is this one about sex in teen fiction.
Compass Book Ratings
When I first discovered this site, it was called Clean Teen Reads. I don’t visit as often as I’d like, but I’ve recommended it several times to readers who are looking for more specific content than I tend to give. For instance, regarding profanity, this site will tell you which words and how many times they’re used whereas I tend to give a more general overview.
Brown Books and Green Tea
This is a recent favorite of mine. I love the focus on multicultural books, but also the way the blogger breaks down her reviews and thoughts on books. She makes me think, promotes really interesting books for deep reasons, and when she recommends something, it’s top notch.
If I’m going to be honest, I have a real love/hate relationship with this blog. I LOVE the idea: books featuring characters with disabilities reviewed by someone diagnosed with the disability. This gives a really insightful look at what a story looks like from a very specific angle. And a lot of the time, I find myself thinking, oh, wow. I never considered that. However, sometimes I get frustrated because it feels like so many of the reviews are very negative and really expect authors to capture these disabled characters with absolute perfection, and the hammer falls hard on those who fail. I think it’s truly important that we have stories that feature disabled characters, but as an aspiring writer, sometimes I wonder if blogs like this might scare writers out of trying to include them in their stories? I don’t know. Honestly, I love having the perspective the bloggers bring to the table. I think it’s a really important perspective, and I think authors should strive to accurately represent their characters, disabled or not.
I often find myself encouraged and inspired by these posts. Like her writing, Laura’s posts are very authentic, but they still manage to pull us toward beauty and wonder. I love that. I need that in my life. She’s awesome. Go read her books, too!
Sorry. Between Spring Break (which was lots more SPRING than BREAK, to tell the truth) and Easter and illness in our house, I’ve let blogging fall to the wayside for the last couple of weeks. I’m hoping that this weekend I’ll be able to get caught up on the things I’ve missed and get into reading some of these awesome books– because FOUR of them come out in less than a week!
Not listed here, but on my agenda to review is Life Animated by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Suskind (which I HIGHLY recommend.) As a reminder, I do not accept requests to review non-fiction, but occasionally, I do read and review some non-fiction here.
Now, to business! Here are some of the books you can expect to find here at The Story Sanctuary in April 2016:
A city divided into Light and Dark. A girl from the Light side, whose boyfriend has a Dark secret. Can’t wait to read this one. I’m new to Sarah Rees Brennan’s work, so I’m eager to check out this book and hopefully add her others to my ever-growing To-Read list.
Suspense. Mystery. World War II Europe. I’m so in. A girl who runs black market items to paying customers receives a request to locate something beyond coffee or meat: a missing Jewish girl.
Monica Lee Kennedy approached me about reviewing her novel The Land’s Whisper a couple of months ago. In this story, the land is alive, though only a few can communicate with it, a power which proves consuming and dangerous. Such a fascinating premise.
This book seems to be getting a lot of buzz lately. Ashley Royer gained a lot of notice on Wattpad for this story. I’m always interested in books that deal with grief and emotional trauma (which sounds really dark… I promise I’m a pretty happy person) so I’m eager to get into this one.
I’ve read the first two books in this series, and at last at last, I’m ready to sit down with the third. CAN’T WAIT to see if Nym is able to wield control over her abilities, defeat her enemies and be with the one she loves. Eee!
As a long-time Jill Williamson fan, I’m super excited about this book. If you read the Blood of Kings books, you’ll recognize this story as taking place in the same story world, but much, much earlier. So it’s like getting to hear all the backstory of a series I really enjoyed already.
Irish Banana Tours Presents: The Door by the Staircase Tour
Today I’m participating in a book tour arranged by the beautiful Hannah at Irish Banana Blog Tours. Please check out the other stops on the tour (see below!) and enter the giveaway for a copy of The Door By the Staircase by Katherine Marsh. Also, check out Katherine Marsh’s top ten facts about Baba Yaga, a character from Russian folklore who inspired Madame Z in the book!
About The Door By the Staircase by Katherine Marsh
Twelve-year-old Mary Hayes can’t stand her orphanage for another night. But when an attempted escape through the stove pipe doesn’t go quite as well as she’d hoped, Mary fears she’ll be stuck in the Buffalo Asylum for Young Ladies forever.
The very next day, a mysterious woman named Madame Z appears at the orphanage requesting to adopt Mary, and the matron’s all too happy to get the girl off her hands. Soon, Mary is fed a hearty meal, dressed in a clean, new nightgown and shown to a soft bed with blankets piled high. She can hardly believe she isn’t dreaming!
But when Mary begins to explore the strange nearby town with the help of her new friend, Jacob, she learns a terrifying secret about Madame Z’s true identity. If Mary’s not careful, her new home might just turn into a nightmare.
Top Ten Facts about Baba Yaga of Russian Folklore from Author Katherine Marshall
Baba Yaga, a witch from Russian folklore inspired some elements of Madame Z in The Door by the Staircase. Today, Katherine Marshall joins me here to describe some of the lore surrounding this mythical character and gives us some hints about what we might see from the folk tales in her novel.
1. She eats children…but she sometimes also helps them.
If you’ve heard of Baba Yaga at all, you’ve probably heard that she’s a fearsome Russian witch who eats men, women, children or anyone else who wanders into her kingdom. But this is not completely true. Every once in a while, Baba Yaga helps someone. Often that someone is a child who lacks a mother and who is brave, kind of heart, and deserving of some magical intervention. This capacity for good makes Baba Yaga unique among fairy tale witches and is one of the qualities that attracted me to her.
2. She may be the oldest European folktale witch.
Baba Yaga has her roots in the pagan beliefs of the original tribes that populated Russia. Some even believe she originated as a Paleolithic nature goddess. In some tales, Baba Yaga has the power to control the weather; in others she is a protector of the forest and the animals who populate it; in yet others, she is a weaver with the power to spin the thread of life, somewhat like the Greek Fates. (In my book, she does versions of all three).
3. She doesn’t actually live in Russia.
This one is really a surprise to most people because she is known as a Russian witch! But technically, Baba Yaga lives in a magical kingdom next to Russia. In my book, this kingdom is mobile and can be parked next to other countries—such as America—as well. This way Baba Yaga can sample some international cuisine…
4. She has a frighteningly strong sense of smell.
In the folktales, Baba Yaga can tell when a hapless soul has crossed into her forest kingdom using only her very long nose. “Fie, fie, I smell the Russian scent,” she typically says. In my book, Baba Yaga can even smell a child’s fear, which makes running away from her pretty tricky.
5. She lives in a house on chicken legs.
Imagine living in a house with a personality of its own. Baba Yaga lives in a house on chicken legs that spins around and reveals its door on her command. In some tales, the house can even move around. In my version, it does some other things that a part-chicken, part-house might naturally do.
6. She has three pairs of magic flying hands that help her in the kitchen.
Long before the Adamms Family and their disembodied hand “Thing,” Baba Yaga was assisted in her daily tasks by three pairs of bodiless hands who she sometimes called my “soul friends.” Of course, I had to work these creepy magical servants into my book as well.
7. She bakes her meals in a giant oven.
For centuries, Russians did their cooking in an enormous multipurpose oven called a pech. The pech was at the center of the house and was used to prepare food, provide warmth and even as sleeping space (peasants would sleep on top of it, especially in winter). Baba Yaga’s pech is naturally just the right size to cook up anyone she might find appetizing.
8. She would never be caught riding a broomstick.
Unlike Western witches, Baba Yaga makes her nightly journeys not on a broomstick but in a mortar, which she steers through the sky with a pestle. She is not completely adverse to brooms though—she uses a birch broom to sweep the clouds and hide traces of her passage from human eyes. Driving a mortar, as you’ll find out in my book, is an acquired skill.
9. Her servants are not always faithful to her.
In addition to her magical friends, Baba Yaga has other servants—including a talking cat, a magic horse and, for a time, the wizard Koshchey the Deathless (all of whom play a role in my book). Sometimes they disobey her and assist her victims for purposes of their own.
10. She is a mother.
Well, actually, there’s some debate over this. Some tales claim Baba Yaga has a daughter named Marynka or Marina. But even if she is not a biological mother, she is a figure that represents the wisdom and power of women, even marginalized ones. In that sense, I always felt she had potential as a mother…if just the right type of child arrived at her door.
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a list of the hottest books on my To Be Read List for this spring. I’m not sure if this means books coming out this spring I can’t wait to read or books I am most eager to read in the next couple of months, so I’m going to include both, because I’m a rebel like that.
Books Actually Coming Out This Spring That I’m Crazy Eager to Read
1. The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater: This series is probably my guiltiest pleasure. I review a pretty broad range of YA here on The Story Sanctuary, but I don’t often make my way through every book in an entire series (notable exceptions: The Tales of Goldstone Wood by Ann Elisabeth Stengl and The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer.) but Stiefvater’s writing has held me captive. Also, dude. I NEED Blue and Gansey to kiss. Seriously must have this. Except not keen on the part where he’s supposed to die after. So… fingers crossed for a loophole there! Also, Ronan. <3 <3 <3
2. Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare: Okay, so I may have fallen disastrously far behind in reading The Mortal Instruments (see above note about series reading…) but I’m excited to get into this one. I’ve heard great things about it from other bloggers oh-so-fortunate as to get review copies, and I’ve already got me a glossy new ebook version which I can’t wait to get into.
3. The Siren’s Song by Mary Weber: Apparently I should take back my above comment about series reading, because here’s another series I might actually finish! Yay! I’ve enjoyed the story world and characters of the first two books, and I’m super excited to see how things play out in the final chapter. (Thanks, BookLook Bloggers for my review copy!)
4. King’s Folly by Jill Williamson: I’ve read several books by Jill Williamson, but this one is bound to be something special. It’s a return to a beloved story world Williamson created in the Blood of Kings series, which I read long long ago. Okay, maybe not THAT long ago. But long enough in the past to justify intense nostalgia. So I’m excited for this one.
5. Remember to Forget by Ashley Royer: This is a contemporary YA novel about a boy recovering from the tragic loss of his girlfriend. I’ve been on a bit of a roll with reading stories about grief and trauma lately, and apparently I just haven’t had enough. I’m a huge fan of Laura Anderson Kurk, and the premise of Remember to Forget reminds me a teeny bit of Glass Girl. I’m always nervous to compare a new author with a fav, so hopefully that goes well.
Books That I Want to Push to the Top of My TBR Pile When No One Is Looking
6. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys: Sometimes I feel like the only person who hasn’t yet read this book. I’ve seen SO. MANY. amazing reviews of this book. I wouldn’t list historical fiction among my favorite genres, but when I stop and think about it, I’ve liked almost every historical YA novel I’ve read, so I should probably reevaluate that.
7. Pax by Sarah Pennypacker: Don’t judge me, but seriously every time I see the cover of this book, I REALLY want to drop whatever else I’m doing and immediately start reading it. I’m not usually a huge fan of books told from the POV of animals (she said, despite the fact that she LOVED The Underneath by Kathy Appelt) but there’s something really compelling to me about this sweet story about a boy and his pet fox.
8. Bone Gap by Laura Ruby: This is another book that I feel like everyone else has read and raved about. I’ve got my very own copy, but it continues to languish while I read all these other books demanding reviews in a timely manner. Boo. Bone Gap, I will read you soon!!!
9. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas: Because I really can’t resist a good fantasy series, and I hear really good things about this one. I think I have both the ebook and audiobook versions of this novel, so I really have no excuse for not diving right in. Maybe this week…
10. Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky: If you’re not familiar, this was originally a serial fan-fiction in which Harry is a Ravenclaw from a Ravenclaw family. So his approach to problems stems from a much more rational, methodical outlook, and of course, that alters much of the story. You can read it here. My husband RAVES about this probably at least once per week. We once agreed that if he read my favorite book (To Kill a Mockingbird. Yep.), I would read this one. I still have time because he’s only actually read the first chapter of TKaM, and by read, I mean he listened to me read it to him. But still. Promises and such.
Top Ten Tuesday is a Weekly Meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s theme is controversial characters. These are characters I loved, but everyone hated, or I hated, when everyone else loved. So I’ve split my list into my top five from each category.
Controversial Characters Part One: Top Five Characters I Couldn’t Get Into, but People Rave About
Heathcliff/Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte – I remember reading this book in high school and wishing I could drop into the story and be like, Catherine, honey. Lose this guy, please! I just did not get the fascination with him. He seemed dangerous and violent, and I definitely thought she could do better. But a lot of people seem to think of him as one of the top romantic heroes ever. So maybe it’s just me?
Mal/The Grisha Series by Leigh Bardugo – I didn’t start the Grisha series until after falling head-over-heels in love with Six of Crows, also set in the Grisha world. I tried Shadow and Bone soon after, and to be honest, I just couldn’t get into it. I could not understand why Alina pined for Mal. Sure, he’s a childhood friend, but he just seemed, I don’t know. Too immature for her. I was pretty excited when the Darkling was introduced, but er… yeah. That’s not going where I’d hoped, either. Can’t win ’em all I guess!
Aspen/The Selection Series by Kiera Cass – Okay. This one is a tough one for me, too. I’m Team Maxon all the way. I don’t know what the holdup is. Aspen seems like a selfish jerk to me. (Caveat: I’ve only read the first two books so far.) He doesn’t seem to care that America could be severely punished if she’s caught with him. He really only thinks about his own feelings for her. I’m not a fan.
Mare/The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard – I REALLY wanted to like this book so much. It was okay. There were things about it I did enjoy. But I found it really difficult to connect with Mare. She complains a LOT about the way the upper class Silvers treat her lower class Reds, but at the beginning, who is she stealing from? That’s right! Her own people! Uhhhh…..???? I had a hard time respecting her convictions. Plus, dude. The way she treated her childhood bestie? (Sorry, I forget his name.) I was like come on, please let him be his own man already. Grrr.
Bella/Twilight by Stephanie Meyer – This one might not be quite fair. I liked Bella okay for the first few Twilight books. It really wasn’t until the last one in which she sort of stops having any weakness ever that I kind of wished I was reading a story about Jacob and this tribe instead. (And I was largely Team Edward prior to that.)
Controversial Characters Part Two: Top Five Disliked Characters I Loved
Noah Falls/Away We Go by Emil Ostrovski – As I’ve worked up my own review to this book, which I really enjoyed, I’ve read some other reviews that were far less favorable, many because they expected the book to be a dystopian adventure about finding a cure to the fatal Peter Pan Virus, when in fact, it’s more a personal story about the way a terminal diagnosis affects a group of teens largely cut off from the rest of the world. Whatever the case, I loved Noah and spent so many pages rooting for him to find his way.
Ed Kennedy/I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak – It seems like many people take issue with the ending of this book, which isn’t quite the same as the character, but I really love Ed. I love that he’s kind of this unlikely hero who’s sort of clumsy in love and life and really at a loss as to how to find his place until the mysterious cards show up in his life.
Shinobu/Seeker Series by Arwen Elys Dayton – This is another book that had some really strange twists and turns in it. Shinobu’s story isn’t without its own darkness, but it has probably the most hilarious suicide attempt I’ve ever read. That sounds weird. Yeah, it’s as weird as it sounds. But I laughed out loud. Not in a cruel way. Just… oh, nevermind. It was supposed to be funny, and that humor juxtaposed against the seriousness of his death wish was, for me, somehow endearing.
Clarice/Mistwood and Nightspell by Leah Cypess – You know those really snarky characters who turn out to move the story along in unexpected ways? Clarice is like that for me. I loved her in Mistwood and was delighted that she also appeared in Nightspell. She’s sneaky and conniving, but fiercely loyal, which definitely endeared me to her.
Nell Golden/We Are the Goldens by Dana Reinhardt – Again, looking at reviews, it seems like the end is the point people gripe about with this book. I actually loved that it ended the way it did. That moment was Nell’s triumph, her facing down the huge unspeakable thing she spends the entire story working up to. I think really understanding her character helps the ending make sense. Also, as a sister myself, I can identify with the worry for a sister and the grief over the changing level of closeness. Sister relationships aren’t like any other. I’d have just as a hard a time as Nell, I think, were my sister to go through something like hers did.
Who are your best loved or most hated characters from literature? Do other readers seem to agree or disagree with you?
So far this year seems to be speeding by. I still haven’t managed to finish the remaining books languishing on my To-Be-Read list from last year, but I’m trying to get to a couple each month. So, you know, by summer or something I’ll actually be finished?
Here are the books I’ve scheduled for review this month. There are some new ones and some recent releases as well. Hope you’re as excited about reading them as I am!Seven Ways We Lie by Riley Redgate – A story of teens who have secrets to keep. When they discover a secret too big to keep, they have to figure out what to do about it. I like books about dilemmas such as this one.
The Girl in the Well is Me by Karen Rivers – When Kammie falls in a well, she’s forced to rely on the girls who put her there to get help before her oxygen runs out. I love that this whole story takes place in this tiny space.
Finding Hope by Colleen Nelson – Hope is a girl caught between her new life at a prestigious boarding school, with a cool roommate and online boyfriend and the life she meant to escape. When her drug addicted brother shows up at school, she’s frantic to keep the two worlds from imploding. Sounds like all kinds of teen angsty stuff. Yay!
Just My Luck by Cammie McGovern – A fourth grader having a rough time wonders if his father’s accident is his fault. He tries to take one day at a time and focus on helping others. Sounds like a hopeful tale about rallying in spite of hardship.
Cleo Edison Oliver, playground millionaire by Sundee T. Frazier – A fifth grader with an entrepreneurial spirit launches a business in her town. When the business faces challenge after challenge, Cleo isn’t sure she can manage it all alone. This sounds like a really fun read.
Belzhar by Meg Woolitzer – A girl works through the loss of her boyfriend through visits to a realm where she can be with him. I have a huge soft spot for books about grief, and in fact it’s a huge issue in my own novel-in-progress, so I’m eager to read this novel.
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven – A boy and a girl find who feel they have nothing to live for find solace and hope in each other’s company. I feel like I read a spoiler about this book that has made me hesitate to pick it up. I’m going to do it though. Really. This time.
