Books and Sensibility

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This Star Won’t Go Out by Esther Earl with Lori and Wayne Earl

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  • Release Date: January 28th 2014
  • Genre: YA Nonfiction / Memoir
  • Pages: 428
  • Publisher: Dutton (Penguin)

Synopsis: In full color and illustrated with art and photographs, this is a collection of the journals, fiction, letters, and sketches of the late Esther Grace Earl, who passed away in 2010 at the age of 16. Essays by family and friends help to tell Esther’s story along with an introduction by award-winning author John Green who dedicated his #1 bestselling novel The Fault in Our Stars to her.

This book debuted around the time I finished Fault in Our Stars (I know… super late to the party) but I had no intention of reading it. Then  I saw it on the shelf at the library and decided why not? I had seen some of Esther’s videos on YouTube, visited her family’s foundation website when she first passed, and I thought I knew most of  Esther Earl’s story. 



Well, that turned out to be completely wrong.…

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Book Review: Anna and The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

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  • Release Date: December 2, 2010
  • Publisher: Dutton (Penguin)
  • Pages: 372
  • Genre: Contemporary

This book has been on my to-read list since I saw this video where John Green practically gushed about it. I finally bought it in 2012 and its one of those books that sat on my shelf for  so long I forgot about. I ended up picking this out of the TBR book jarand I figured it was about time, especially since book three in this series comes out later this year. 

The titular Anna is the daughter of a Nicholas Sparks expy who decides that for Anna’s senior year she is going  to The School of America in Paris, an American boarding school right in the city of love. There she joins up with a close knit group of friends and Étienne St. Clair, the American boy with a French name and English accent. Yes, you read that right.

Now, I’ve read a lot of contemporary YAs and Anna and The French Kiss hits all the usual marks:

Girl who is pretty, but doesn’t see it ? Check

Nice, hot guy, everyone likes ? Check

Mean girl ? Check

References to literature and philosophical concepts that call back to the plot ? Check

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Audiobook Reviews: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. and The Raven Boys By Maggie Stiefvater

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The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

I’ve reviewed a few sequels this year and though I usually have a pretty good idea of what to expect but Maggie Stiefvater really surprised me with her approach to The Raven Boys sequel.

The Dream Thieves is the sequel that’s not trying to be a sequel (and I guess it’s not since it’s the second book in a four book series.)  It wasn’t trying to set up for an overarching plot or wrap up loose ends from book one, it just told a story. The complicated and dark story of The Raven Boys resident bad boy  Ronan Lynch.

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Audiobook Review: Will Garyson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

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Join Kat as she reads and reviews the works of David Levithanfrom his debut novel to his National Book Award shortlisted novel, Two Boys Kissing

“It’s hard to believe in coincidence, but it’s even harder to believe in anything else.” 

― John Green, Will Grayson, Will Grayson

“I think the idea of a ‘mental health day’ is something completely invented by people who have no clue what it’s like to have bad mental health. the idea that your mind can be aired out in twenty-four hours is kind of like saying heart disease can be cured if you eat the right breakfast cereal. mental health days only exist for people who have the luxury of saying ‘i don’t want to deal with things today’ and then can take the whole day off, while the rest of us are stuck fighting the fights we always fight, with no one really caring one way or another, unless we choose to bring a gun to school or ruin the morning announcements with a suicide.

 

― David Levithan, Will Grayson, Will Grayson

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  • Release Date: April 6th 2010
  • Pages: 304
  • Genre: Realistic Fiction
  • Publisher: Dutton’s Children (Penguin)

Will Grayson, Will Grayson is probably David Levithan’s most well-known co-authorship and served as my introduction to David Levithan 2 years ago. I’d liked John Green’s vlogbrothers channel and decided to start reading his books. I got what I expected from Green’s writing, but Levithan’s just blew me away. It reminded me of how unique and diverse the voices in  YA writing can be. For Days of David Levithan, I did a re-read of Will Grayson, Will Grayson, but decided to switch it up with the audiobook

Will Grayson,Will Grayson  is told in the alternating perspective of two 16-year-olds named WillGrayson,each leading separate lives unknown to each other. Until faith and a little bit of bad luck has them cross paths. From that moment the story unravels as each Will Grayson is forced to examine everything they thought they knew about love, relationships and coincidence….

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Audiobook Review: Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

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“We all laced together—a brothel madam, an English professor, a mute cook, a quadroon cabbie, and me, the girl carrying a bucket of lies and throwing them like confetti.” 

― Ruta Sepetys, Out of The Easy

  • Genre: Historical
  • Audiobook Length: 9 hour 51 minutes
  • Publication Date: February 12th 2013
  • Publisher: Penguin Audio / Philomel Books

Summary: It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. 

She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street. Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.When a book  opens with the line ‘my mother’s a prostitute’ it is a sure sign this is something very different from the usual YA. Out of Easy is a historical novell that takes usto New Orleans’ French Quarter in the 1950’s. 

This book is one of a kind for me. I’ve noticed that even with the popularity of YA , most non-romance based historical novels with teenage girl narrators are either sold as adult or literay fiction. Just a few this year include She Rises by Kate Worsley , The Yonahlosee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafani and  The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty. It’s actually kind of nice to see more historical books represented in the YA category

 

Our protagonist, 17-year-old Josie Moraine’s life in 1950 isn’t like the usual nostalgia we associate with the 50’s.  With a flighty  prostitute for a mother, the only  parental figures in Josie’s life are the strict hard as nails brothel madame,Willie Woodley and Cokie, the brothel’s quadroon (mixed race) cab driver. Despite her upbringing Josie wants nothing more to attend a prestigious college in  New England, even if she is “salted peanuts” among all the “petit fours”. But before she even begin to dream up a new life for herself a few events stand in her way; including a murder.

Throughout the story, Joise has some amazing character development as she deals with all the trials she is put through. Despite what challenges life has handed her she  has such a strong resolve to not be a working girl in the Quarter. Josie is accompanied by a great group of supporting characters. Sepetys side characters felt so authentic and each gave  a different perspective and take on the time.

Josie even has a few potential love interests in Patrick Marlowe, who works with her at the bookstore and Jesse Thierry, the leather-jacket-wearing-motorcycle-riding college student who calls her Motor City because he knows Josie was born in Detroit. But don’t worry, there is no love triangle here. I think Patrick and Jesse are  used more to show two different sides of college boys in the 50’s and don’t necessarily compete for Josie.

This book touches on so many issues of class, identity, mental illness and of course prostitution in New Orleans. Sepetys talks about prostitution in this book in an way that isn’t vulgar or inappropriate for YA. I can imagine the topic may be hard for someone to let a 14-year-old read, but Sepetys handles it in a smart way.  She does lean on theHooker With a Heart of Gold at times, but keeps most of the discussion on the effects and representations of prostitution meaningful.

Lauren Fontgang is the perfect narrator for this audiobook, she hits all the Southern accents and New Orlean’s drawl perfectly.Willie, the brothel mamdame is probably the strongest character in this novel and Lauren speaks life into her. I see on Audible that Lauren has over 250 audiobooks to her credit so she will definitely be a go to narrator for me in the future.

As with most historical fiction, I find myself in awe of the research Septeys puts into her novels, she has such an amazing approach to writing historical fiction. She visits the places she talks about, she spends time interviewing peopel and going through old news clips. Much of this book is based on the non-fiction book The Last Madame: A Life In The New Orleans Underworld by Christine Wiltz and Sepetys even went as far as to meet Wiltz and the pair have done book events together

This is a beautifully done audiobook–I didn’t want it to end. Sepetys mixes a  historical and near literary writing narrative with all of the qualities of modern YA fiction creating an emotional and evocative story told by an expressive and talented voice narrator.

Audible | Amazon|Barnes and Nobles

 

Audiobook Review : Days of Blood and Starlight

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” . . . Whatever went on in the ash fall landscape and blood crusted world of war where her creations went forth to do violence.  It wasn’t her concern. She conjured the bodies. That was all. What more could she possibly do ?“

“It was the deed that matter not words. Do the thing. Kill the monster. Change the world”

– Laini Taylor, Days of Blood and Starlight

  • Release Date: January 16th 2013
  • Length : 15 Hours 25 Minutes
  • Genre: Fantasy
  • Publisher : Hachette Audio

Synopsis: An art student and monster’s apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is—and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it. . . While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope. But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?


 Laini Taylor’s  Days of Blood and Starlight is the stunning continuation of the Daughter of Smoke and Bone story. I started this audio book the day it came out and I seriously did NOT want to finish it. Taylor’s beautifully written sequel continues the tumultuous tale of war, love and hope.

Placed on different  sides of a thousand-year-old war, Karou and Akiva have made their choice and now must  find some way of peace for their people, but a war this old doesn’t die so easily. Resurrections must continue, war must continue, but is their a place in this world for the  hopes and dreams of two lovers ?

Days of Blood and Starlight  is one of the most epic love stories you will read. Initially I was caught of guard by the insta-love in the first book, but the conflict and obstacles faced by Akiva and Karou will have you constantly wondering if love can prevail.

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