January in Review & What’s Coming Up in February

Already the new year is starting to look promising!  While I started with a few bumps in the beginning of January (being sick) I think (or at least hope) I started the new year off pretty good. 

Young Adult Books Read and Listened to

* Immortal City by Scott Speer   [Review]
* Entice by Carrie Jones    [Review]
* When The Sea Is Rising Red by Cat Hellisen   [Review]
* I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore   [Review]
* Infinity by Sherryiln Kenyon   [Review]
* Burned by Ellen Hopkins  – – saving review for a later date
* Love & Leftovers by Sarah Tregay  – – saving review for a later date
* Easy by Kerry Hoffmann  – – saving review for a later date
* A Beautiful Need by Suzanne Young  – – saving review for a later date
* Origins by L.J. Smith  – – saving review for a later date

Children’s Books Read
* Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport   [Review]
* Madame for President by Lane Smith – – saving review for a later date
* Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio – – saving review for a later date
* The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson – – saving review for a later date
Next month is going to be CRAZY!  The 2012 YA Saves Reading Challenge is really kicking off, with a new co-host (Andrea from The Busy Bibliophile), who has been a life saver.  With February’s focus being “Love” there is going to be plenty of fun to be had!  Reviews, Interviews, Guest Posts, Book Excerpts, Surprises, and Giveaways!  You don’t want to miss this!!

On top of co-hosting the YA Saves Reading Challenge I am hosting my first ever book tour for J.F. Jenkin’s new novel, Legend of the Inero Dragon (The Dragon Saga #2) along with partaking in many book tours myself.  And I can’t forget my own meme, YA Saves Sunday; every Sunday in February is full of informative yet fun facts, coinciding with our Reading Challenge.  I almost having something going on every day of the month.  Phew that was tiring to just type that all. 

Audiobook Review: Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Publisher: Macmillan Young Listeners
(May 19th 2010)
Audio CD
Source: Library
Series: Chronicles of Nick, #1
Challenges: Audiobook

At fourteen, Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything about the world around him. Streetwise, tough and savvy, his quick sarcasm is the stuff of legends. Until the night when his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior who has more fighting skills than Chuck Norris, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters: immortal vampire slayers who risk everything to save humanity.

Nick quickly learns that the human world is only a veil for a much larger and more dangerous one. A world where the captain of the football team is a werewolf and the girl he has a crush on goes out at night to stake the undead.

But before he can even learn the rules of this new world, his fellow students are turning into flesh eating zombies. And he’s next on the menu.
Like starting high school isn’t hard enough. Now Nick has to hide his new friends from his mom, his chainsaw from the principal, and keep the zombies and the demon Simi from eating his brains, all without getting grounded or suspended! How in the world is he supposed to do that? 

Well that is a long synopsis… but it needs to be – there is plenty going on in this book!  Can I just say I was very pleasantly surprised by this book.  I am not sure is Sherrilyn Kenyon meant to do so or not, but I couldn’t help from laughing while listening to this novel.  Not only are you given zombies, vampires, werewolves, shape shifters and much more, you are treated to a level of sarcasm and wit that is played off perfectly between all the characters.  While I’ve read many reviews of this book, I have to say that this series has become a new favorite!

Nick is 14. He is not what you would call popular – his father is in jail for gruesome murders, his single mother is a ‘dancer’ of who he lives with in a one bedroom apartment, that can barely be called home.  Having to wear second hand cloths everyday, Nick knows he does not belong with the popular crowd.  But that doesn’t bother Nick.  Having a hard life doesn’t bother Nick either.  He actually has a solid head on his shoulders.  And then his world starts to become very interesting…. his world finds itself full of unnatural creatures and an unnatural ‘destiny’ that literally can save or destroy mankind.

I couldn’t get enough of Nick’s sarcasm and wit.  I fell in love with many of the characters, their Southern wit and charm – – don’t even get me started on Nick’s mother.  I loved her ups and downs in her over-protectiveness of Nick.  The only downside to this novel (or audiobook in my case) is the vast amounts of characters – Sherrilyn Kenyon has created wonderful and interesting characters, but at times it was very difficult to determine who was who.  However, this at the same time is wonderful since each character is crucial to Nick’s ‘destiny’ and each one is a hoot in themselves. 

Having learned that The Chronicles of Nick are actually prequels to Sherrilyn Kenyon’s adult series the Dark Hunters, I actually can’t wait to read the rest of this series and even read her adult series (which hardly ever happens).  I found this novel to be nothing short of extreme fun. 

Find Sherrilyn Kenyon

WebSite | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

Read More About This Book & Buy It

GoodReads | Amazon | Book Depository

Random Reads with I’m Loving Books – February

At the beginning of the year I found a lovely blog that I’ve been following daily: I’m Loving Books.  Not only are her reviews and posts a delight to read the blog is just fun to meander through!  Sarah has created a perfect Meme challenge for every book reader – – we all have way too many books on our TBR list.  I know I do (as of now its at 2,013!!) and of course there is no way I can go through all of these books let alone choosing one.  So… this is why I am participating in I’m Loving Books’ Random Reads!

So for February I am going to be reading:

#609 – What They Always Tell Us by Martin Wilson

(on my TBR list since August 20th 2010 – -ouch!)

JAMES AND ALEX have barely anything in common anymore—least of all their experiences in high school, where James is a popular senior and Alex is suddenly an outcast. But at home, there is Henry, the precocious 10-year-old across the street, who eagerly befriends them both. And when Alex takes up running, there is James’s friend Nathen, who unites the brothers in moving and unexpected ways.

Children’s Review: Mr. Badger and His Rose Petal Cake by Francesca Ariadne Harvey Lilley

Mr. Badger and His Rose Petal Cake by Francesca Ariadne Harvey Lilley
Illustrated by John Watling
Publisher:  Chess Publications
Published:  April 4th 2011
Paperback, 24 pages
Reading Level: 4 and Up

GoodReads | Amazon

 Mr. Badger and His Rose Petal Cake is a fast paced story featuring a busy badger who, whilst making a cake takes a bump to his head and imagines himself as a snail, pony, and lastly a frog. As the badger slithers, gallops and jumps through the countryside bewildered and confused, his friends try to help him, and bring him home to his set. (But can they rescue the badger? without waking the creature who sleeps, who must never be disturbed!) This beautifully illustrated book is a pleasure to read, with a exciting twist in the tail, and recipe for Rose Petal Cake at the end too.

Mr. Badger and His Rose Petal Cake is a fun adventurous book that any child would love. Mr. Badger lives in Dingley Dell, a place that is peaceful and quiet. That is, until one day Mr. Badger bumps his head and causes the peaceful balance to waver. After bumping his head Mr. Badger believes he is a snail, a horse and a frog. However, along the way the other residents of Dingley Dell help Mr. Badger return home to safety. Meanwhile, this wavering peaceful balance causes the towns’ monster to wake and stir until a faerie casts a spell to save the day.

Mr. Badger and His Rose Petal Cake almost has 3 plots going on at once: Mr. Badger is making a cake, getting help from his friends, and the towns’ monster awakes. For adults this is easy to understand; however, for children there might be too much going on at once for complete comprehension. However, readers are engaged by being asked questions and gorgeous drawings that are relateable to children as they look like crayon drawings.

There is even a nice surprise at the end – a recipe for for Rose Petal Cake, the same cake Mr. Badger makes!

Releases This Week: January 29th – February 4th

Tangled (Torn #2) by Erican O’Rourke (1/31/12)
Destiny and Deception by Shannon Delany (1/31/12)

Moonrise (Low Red Moon #2) by Ivy Devlin (1/31/12)
Incarnate (New Soul #1) by Jodi Meadows (1/31/12) ** 2012 Debut Author

Lenobia’s Vow (House of Night Novellas #2) by P.C. Cast & Kristen Cast (1/31/12)
The Edumacation of Jay Baker by Jay Clark (1/31/12) ** 2012 Debut Author

Article 5 by Kristen Simmona (1/31/12) ** 2012 Debut Author
Infamous (Chronicles of Nick #3) by Sherrilyn Kenyon (2/1/12)

Shift (The Protector #2) by M.R. Merrick (2/1/12)
Until Next Time (The Angel Chronicles #1) by Amy Lignor (2/1/12)

The Boy on Cinnamon Street by Phoebe Stone (2/1/12)

The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker (2/1/12)
Harbinger by Sara Wilson Etienne (2/2/12) **2012 Debut Author

Young Adult Giveaway Hop (International)

As you can tell, I love Young Adult Novels! So what better way to share this love than give away a Young Adult novel?

But I’m going to let you pick one out!
A book up to $10 (US dollars) to Book Depository

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Don’t forget to check out the other blogs in this Giveaway Hop!

Finding A New Book Lover!

I know I say this a lot, but I can never say it enough to tell you how much this is true! One of the best things I love about the Book Blogging world is the support and love offered by fellow Book Bloggers.  I love finding a new Blog and becoming “obsessively” addicted to their blog, their reviews, and all their posts really. One of the most recent being Rachelia @ {Booksih Comforts}. If you haven’t seen her blog you must!  While she may not have been blogging long she has started off with a bang, even reviewing one of my favorite books, C.J. Omololu’s Dirty Little Secrets!

We all have our own reasons for Book Blogging… What made you decide to start a book review blog?
I wouldn’t say it was any one thing – I didn’t just wake up and decide to start one, let’s put it that way! I’d been playing with the idea of starting my own book blog for a little less than a year but I just wasn’t sure if I could do it. My perfectionism always seem to get in the way and I was nervous about stepping into an already established community. However, I was reading some AWESOME books and really wanted to discuss them with other bookworms. Around this time a lot of book blogs I read keep reiterating the point that anyone can be a book blogger, that the community was really friendly and that it was a great experience. One of my online friends Katy was also really supportive, and so I decided in December to put all my fears aside and just jump in. So far, I’m glad I did 🙂

There is a quite a bit of fear in starting and maintaining a Book Blog – you are really put yourself out there in a completely different way.  It takes strength and you certainly show you have that!

What types of genre(s) do you read the most?
I read a variety of different genre(s): YA (is that even a genre – or is it a larger category? haha), paranormal, contemporary (YA or adult), and some historical fiction and mystery/suspense. I also enjoy some non-fiction too. I try and rotate what I’m reading so I’m not always reading from the same genre as sometimes it gets a bit too repetitive.

What are your hopes for your book review blog?
I would love to start some amazing, thoughtful discussions on my blog between me and my fellow readers. That’s why I started the blog after all! I’m not expecting to become a big blogger and I don’t expect myself to post a review each day of the week. I want to have fun reading and it doesn’t matter to me if that book is an ARC, brand new release or a book that’s been sitting on the shelves for a few years. I guess then my hope is that the blog will connect me with other bookworms and give me a place to call my own on the internet where I can share my love of books. It sounds like I am already half way there!
  
You are definitely already half way there!!

How have you found the book blogging community so far?
I feel like I didn’t join at the greatest of times, haha. I was just starting to post when I began reading about all the author/reviewer/Goodreads drama and frankly, it scared me! I can also be really shy and socially awkward so sometimes I find it hard to reach out to other bloggers. I may really want to jump in on a conversation but feel awkward and don’t want to be rude. Most of the bloggers I follow and have met on Twitter are really nice, even if it’s intimidating because they have a huge following and post amazing content, etc. Making genuine connections and feeling less socially awkward are something I am working on. But generally everyone seems supportive and nice!

Who are some of your favourite authors?
I actually don’t have a ton of favourite authors like when I was younger because I’m just getting back into reading more often. My three big ones are J.K Rowling, Ann Brashares, and Jodi Picoult. I’m really liking Myra McEntire and Maureen Johnson right now – they are hilarious on Twitter!

There you have it folks! A lovely new Book Blogger you must check out! 

Find Rachelia on her Blog | Twitter | GoodReads

YA Saves Sunday – Banning Ethnic Books in High Schools

There has been a bit of a resurgence of #yasaves on twitter – and I’m not talking about the normal tweets about tshirts and book reviews (which are all wonderful, don’t get me wrong – – a few of those are mine).  I am talking about one article in particular that caught my attention right away:

* Tucson Schools Bans Books by Chicano & Native American Authors *

Tucson Schools Bans Books hits home, literally – I live in Tucson! So beware this is not going to be a ‘short’ post…

But first a little background: there has been a long debate about changing the curriculum of the Mexican American Studies within the Tucson Unified School District schools (ignited by the superintendent) starting in 2006.  His reasoning for this: they create segregation instead of individualism, they promote the overthrow of the US Government, and they promote resentment.  Having not been in high school for a very long time, and in a different city, I cannot tell you if these findings are 100% accurate.  But that is not the point.  To make a long debate short the schools were under so much presser that instead of changing the curriculum to “fit” what the superintendent deemed appropriate, on January 10th they abruptly shut down ALL Mexican American Studies within the TUSD.  In a place you live right next to the Mexican border, this just doesn’t make sense to me…. but before I go on a tirade about the schools’ decision I should get back on track…. the banning of books.

After these programs were ‘shut down’ all the schools literally SEIZED all books written by Chicano and Native American authors.  And if this couldn’t get worse… IT DOES!  There are numerous reports of these books literally being taken out of the students’ hands!!  

 (one of the books that have been “banned”)

According to The Sun, here are some books that have been banned (even though they are supposedly still in the schools’ libraries [saying this with sarcasm] and/or the “district storage facility”:

• Rethinking Columbus by Bill Bigelow
• 500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures edited by Elizabeth Martinez
• Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Frire
• Chicano! The History of the Mexican Civil Rights Movement by F. Rosales – – he was one of my professors in my undergrade!!

Speaking Out

Students been speaking out, hosting their own rally on Martin Luther King Day.  Many respected authors and poets have been speaking out as well:

• Simon Ortiz, poet and regents professor at Arizona State University’s English Department and American Indian Studies said:
  “I am very stunned and very shocked and very pissed off the Tucson Unified School District would ban Mexican American Studies and books like Rethinking Columbus: The Next Five Hundred Years that includes works by Indigenous (Native) authors Leslie Marmon Silko, N. Scott Momaday, Winona LaDuke, Buffy St. Marie, Joy Harjo, Wendy Rose, Joseph Bruchac, Jimmie Durham, Peter Blue Cloud, Luther Standing Bear, Gail Trembly, Jose Barreiro, Phillip Martin, Suzanne Shown Harjo. The banning explicitly and pointedly shows it is not only Mexican American Studies and people and so-called illegal immigrants that are targeted but Indigenous studies and people as a whole”
• One of the nation’s top Chicano authors and professor at University of Arizona (in Tucson), Roberto Rodriguez, said:
  “The attacks in Arizona are mind-boggling. To ban the teaching of a discipline is draconian in and of itself.”

Ripple Effects

It is hard to not believe that this is going to, if it has not already, have ripple effects within schools, libraries, communities and homes.  If Mexican American Studies can be banned, what about other cultural studies? What about topics such as feminism and Black History Month?  Already you can see how students are being affected NOW:  “Students, describing the trauma, said it was as if they were in Nazi Germany“ (source).  But it is not just books that have been “banned”: “It’s everything…ever created.” This means posters, slide shows, and those fun things that help bring more students into such programs (source).  The same teacher that said this also said that she was “told that she cannot teach the Aztec Calendar to her students. ‘Nothing related to Mexican history or culture.’ “

Final Thoughts

There are soo many things to be said about this….I could go on a never-ending tirade about this.  But to make sure I stay on track I’ll break it down:

• Restructuring the programs – Instead of getting ride of such programs, why not restructure them!! Put in the work.  As I’ve said, its been a very long time since I was in high school, and if some of these programs are promoting un-civil things then restructure the program so it promotes peace and understanding (I know how cheesy that sounds but seriously!)
• School Libraries – because of budget cuts today most schools NO LONGER have libraries… so I’m curious how many schools actually have their own libraries today? According to TUSD Spokeswoman these books where moved to the libraries…. but if the schools do not have their own library, are they staying on site or have they been completely removed from the school site??
• Deleting History – I personally see all of this as taking out a large part of American (and Arizona) history out of the curriculum for schools.  I am not sure if related historical events that were taught in these Studies have been or will be taken out as well.  Honestly, I would not be surprised if this did happen.
• Defining “Ban” is not important – it doesn’t matter if these books were “banned” or placed in a different location; they have been removed from the classrooms, thus making it less likely for students to read them let alone know of their existence (especially as the program is now non-existent).   In the end THIS IS A FORM OF CENSORSHIP!! (ironically, the superintendent is supposidely against censorship… umm doesn’t that contradicts itself??…)

“For us here in Tucson, this is not over. If anything, the banning of
books will let the world know precisely what kind of mindset is
operating here; in that previous era, this would be referred to as a
reduccion (cultural genocide) of all things Indigenous. In this era, it
can too also be see as a reduccion.”
 

Make sure to come back tomorrow for a List of Native American & Chicano Books!

Releases This Week: January 22nd – 28th

Diabolical (Tantalize #4) by Cynthia Leitich Smith (1/24/12)
Getting Over Garrett Delaney by Abby McDonald (1/24/12)

Forbidden by Syrie James & Ryan James (1/24/12) ** 2012 Debut Author
The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe (1/24/12)

Havoc (Deviants #2) by Jeff Sampson (1/24/12)
Everneath (Everneath #1) by Brodi Ashton (1/24/12) **2012 Debut Author

YA Saves Reading Challenge UPDATES

Guess what!? I have a wonderful new Co-Host to the YA Saves Reading Challenge.  You might have seen you around the Blogsphere… her name is Andrea and she is the creator of the amazing blog 

The Busy Bibliophile!

We have been working hard this past week in creating a fun yet informative Challenge for everyone.  Having a new co-host means new buttons!

<a href=”http://www.patriciasparticularity.com/2011/12/introducing-ya-saves-reading-challenge.html&#8221; target=”_blank”><img alt=”Red Button” src=”http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i116/PelicanJL/2012-YASRC-blue.jpg”/></a><br />

<a href=”http://www.patriciasparticularity.com/2011/12/introducing-ya-saves-reading-challenge.html&#8221; target=”_blank”><img alt=”Red Button” src=”http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i116/PelicanJL/2012-YASRC.jpg”/></a><br />

You can sign up at either site and link up your reviews on either site.

Again I am very excited about the new updates… speaking of we have 1 more update:

A Twitter Hashtag for everyone to use

#yasaveschallenge

Why use this hashtag? To share your reviews & to participate in the many giveaways we will be having!!

Make sure to keep an eye out for many new and exciting posts soon to come!!