Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Everyone seems to be in love with Daughter of Smoke and Bone, the new book by Laini Taylor, and I have to say it’s with good reason. It’s been on my list for awhile, namely because of all of the great reviews, but once I actually started to read it,  I couldn’t put it down.

The story centers around Karou, a seventeen year old art student who lives in Prague. Karou is a little strange and mysterious. Her hair grows blue, she’s covered with tattoos, and she fills dozens of sketchbooks with creatures that could surely only exist in the imagination. Karou never talks about herself and deflects all questions from friends so that they don’t find out the truth. See, Karou isn’t really from Prague. She’s not from anywhere, actually. She’s from Elsewhere. Karou grew up in a shop with four chimaera and was raised by the Wishmonger, Brimstone. Brimstone, like all of the chimaera, is part animal, part human with the head and horns of a ram, eyes of a crocodile, torso of a human, legs of a lion, and feet of a dragon. Brimstone sells wishes to any who can pay the price, but instead of cash and coins, Brimstone’s currency is teeth, and only the best teeth will do.  He gives Karou small wishes and provides her with money and a place to live in the outside world, and even a fake grandmother to enroll her in school. In return, Karou runs errands for Brimstone, errands that are often very dangerous and even life-threatening, but Brimstone is the only family she’s ever known. Karou doesn’t even know who she really is, but a chain of events that starts with handprints scorched into the doors to Elsewhere leads her to find that the chimaera are not the only ones in Elsewhere, and her family is under attack by beautiful, winged creatures.

Laini Taylor creates a world – two worlds, really –  that is complex and rich in detail. Karou is the perfect, fierce heroine, good enough to rival Katniss of The Hunger Games  by Suzanne Collins and Katsa of Graceling by Kristin Cashore.

Here’s an insider tip for all of you: Read the book now before it starts getting a huge hold list! The movie rights have been acquired by Universal Pictures, and the second book is due out September 2012. I predict that this book is only going to get even more popular.

- Heather Botelho, South Branch Library

Could Monsters Be Real?

The central question, the thing that woke me in the dead of night shivering in a cold sweat, the notion which haunted me as I fought to go back to sleep . . . could monsters be real?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the question posed in the preface of Curse of the Wendigo, the sequel to The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey. Just what if creatures more terrifying than your most horrific nightmares actually existed? In the first book, Dr. Pellinore Warthrop and his young assistant, Will Henry, encounter a pack of Anthropophagi, a headless monster whose eyes are located on its shoulders and its mouth of sharp teeth where its stomach should be, and oh yeah, it likes the taste of human flesh. Of course, the people-eating monsters don’t end there. In Curse of the Wendigo, Dr. Warthrop is not convinced there is a monster at all. Rather, there is a madness affecting people, including one of his oldest friends, that turns them into cannibals. Bodies keep piling up, and Dr. Warthrop and Will Henry must either save the wendigo or save themselves.

These are not books for the faint of heart. Yancey’s descriptions are detailed and graphic, but they make the horror come alive. Yancey’s books are reminiscent of classic horror, such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or Bram Stoker’s Dracula, as they are set in the late 19th century and are written as if they actually originated in that era. Yancey elevates the horror genre, such as it is now in young adult fiction, far above sparkly vampires.

Be on the lookout for the next in the series, The Isle of Blood, coming soon to a branch near you.

-Heather Botelho, South Branch Library

Read Like a Zombie

The living dead will rise tonight at 6 p.m. at the South Branch Library to put on their faces (zombie makeup), practice their pageant walk (walk and dance like zombies), and throw brains around (zombies obviously don’t have very good manners).

If you really want to join the ranks of the reanimated, here are some last-minute reads to help you become the best zombie you can be:

Fiction:

Zombie Queen of Newbury High – Amanda Ashby

Zombies vs. Unicorns - Holly Black & Justine Larbalestier

The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks - Max Brooks

Play Dead - Ryan Brown

The Undertakers: Rise of the Corpses - Ty Drago

Zombies Don’t Cry - Rusty Fischer

The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology - Christopher Golden

The Smoky Corridor - Chris Grabenstein

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Seth Grahame-Smith

Split Screen: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Zombies - Brent Hartinger

Dawn of the Dreadfuls - Steve Hockensmith

You are So Undead to Me - Stacy Jay

Undead Much - Stacy Jay

Zombie, Ohio: A Tale of the Undead - Scott Kenemore

Infinity – Sherrilyn Kenyon

Gil’s All Fright Diner - A. Lee Martinez

Strange Angels - Lili St. Crow

Zombies: The Recent Dead - edited by Paula Guran

 

Non-Fiction:

Real Zombies, the Living Dead, and Creatures of the Apocalypse - Brad Steiger

How to be a Zombie: The essential guide for anyone who craves brains - Serena Valentino

The Zombie Survival Guide - Max Brooks

Every Zombie Eats Somebody Sometime - Michael Spradlin

It’s Beginning to Look a lot like Zombies - Michael Spradlin

 

Beauty Queen… of the Flies

Honestly, when I saw this cover, I was a bit dubious if I would like the book. She is, after all, almost beheaded and in a bikini (implications?), but the cover is saved by the bandolier crossed by her beauty queen sash.

Of course, Beauty Queens is by Libba Bray, author of Going Bovine, which won the Michael L. Printz Award last year, as well as the Gemma Doyle books, so I had high hopes. She definitely did not disappoint. The book is in turns both horrifying and hilarious (hilarifying?). She starts the book with a plane full of Miss Teen Dream contestants on their way to compete for this illustrious title. It’s too bad that everything goes down from there, and I mean down literally. The plane crashes on a deserted (or is it?) island, killing off all of the adults and most of the contestants. Only a handful are left, and it’s true that at first, most of them seem like shallow airheads who are only concerned with continuing their choreography practice while they wait to be rescued (yes, that would be Miss Texas). Eventually, they realize that rescue just isn’t going to happen, and they set about using what they’ve scavenged from the wreck to provide food, fresh water, and shelter (and still practice their choreography). It turns out that most of these girls are not dumb and actually have hidden talents, like the one who is pre-pre-med, or the one who is on her way to becoming an electrical engineer. Miss Texas is a member of Femmes and Firearms, and she goes first militant and then out-in-the-field-too-long crazy when the girls start to find out they aren’t alone on the island.

In the midst of all this character development, Bray introduces pure satire that makes fun of everything from reality TV to product advertisements to politics to religion. This is not a book to be taken too seriously (see Bray’s Q & A with herself on the book’s Amazon page). True, there is no cannibalism to make this really Lord of the Flies-esque, but you can’t read this book without a healthy appreciation of its absurdity.

And speaking of… Bray creates a playlist for each book she writes, so if you’d like a soundtrack for Beauty Queens, here are a few tracks taken from her self-conducted interview: Beauty Queen/Roxy Music, Mystery Girl/The Yeah YeahYeahs, Guyana Punch/The Judys, Paper Planes/M.I.A., Diamonds Are Forever/Shirley Bassey, Porpoise Song (Theme from “Head”)/The Monkees, Teenage Dream/T-Rex, and Ladybird/Nancy Sinatra in honor of Ladybird Hope (you’ll meet her in the book).

- Heather Botelho, South Branch Library

Mother’s Day Madness

Take a look at all of the fun we had at our Mother’s Day programs.  We had a StoryTime all about mom’s and also made Mother’s Day cards.  It was the Mother’s Day motherload!

See the rest of the images at our Shutterfly page:

Mother’s Day StoryTime: http://cityofdentonlibrary.shutterfly.com/pictures/1528

Floral Mother’s Day Cards:   http://cityofdentonlibrary.shutterfly.com/pictures/1544

Neil Gaiman Supports Libraries

Download eBooks to your smartphone!

 

You can now download eBooks from the Denton Public Library to your iPhone (iPod Touch or iPad), Android or Blackberry using the free Overdrive Media Console app. This optimized app enables users to wirelessly download and enjoy eBooks and digital audiobooks from the Denton Public Library. Popular and best-selling titles in genres such as romance, mystery, thriller, and virtually every subject can now be borrowed from the library and enjoyed on most smartphones.

To browse the titles available at the Denton Public Library check out our download center at: http://denton.lib.overdrive.com/ . For specific instructions for your device click on the “My Help” button at the top of the page.

The free OverDrive’s app gives users wireless access to the Denton Public library’s EPUB eBook and MP3 audiobook catalog without a PC. Users can find their library using the app’s “Get Books” feature, then browse for titles, check out with a valid library card, and download directly to the device. Brightness and text-size controls allow them to customize their eBook reading experience. Users can also create bookmarks and resume from the last point accessed. The eBook and audiobook titles from the library automatically expire in the app, so there is never a late fee.

If you have questions about downloading these titles to your iPad, smartphone or eReader (such as the Nook or Sony Reader) please call the Denton Public Library at 940-349-8752.

For more information, contact Kimberly Wells at 940-349-8796, or kimberly.wells@cityofdenton.com, or visit .  

Teen Lit Scene – Shiver & Linger – The Wolves of Mercy Falls Books

Welcome to the Teen Lit Scene!  Every month we will feature a review from an actual teen.  These reviews are meant to be short blurbs about books teens want to share with others.  Feel free to add your comments about reviewed books. Interested in writing reviews or want more information? Email your reviews or questions to Juli Gonzalez at juli.gonzalez@cityofdenton.com.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

It is said that the eyes are the reflection on one’s soul. When Grace saw Sam’s yellow eyes, she knew he was her wolf. For Twilight lovers, Shiver will be the icing on the cake. Beautifully written, this love story will stick to your heart and loosen you from reality through the very last page. Truly captivating, I’ll name it the Book of the Year.

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

In Shiver, Sam and Grace found each other. Now they must fight to be together. Then there’s Cole, a brand new wolf, whose past brings danger to the whole pack, and Isabel, who lost her wolf-brother, and is now in love with Cole. Romantic, dramatic, charming, and captivating, this is a book that will surely make you cry. For all teenagers or anyone with a thirst for a good story from beginning to end. Linger, is another book you will not be able to put down. Stiefvater writes another winner and I can’t wait for the final installment in The Wolves of Mercy Falls series, Forever, coming July 2011.

 Reviews by Coraline Bronwyn, 15

New eBooks at the Denton Public Library

Did you know you could download books from the library website and read them on most ebook readers, such as the Nook and Sony Readers?

Check out our Digital Download Center

What’s New in ebook Fiction?

 The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Steig Larsson

 Search by Nora Roberts

The 9th Judgement by James Patterson

61 Hours by Lee Child

 …and many more!

What’s New in ebook Non-Fiction?

Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain

Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chlsea Handler

Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull and the Battle of the Little Big Horn by Nathaniel Philbrick

The Profiler: My Life Hunting Serial Killers and Psychopaths by Pat Brown

…and many more!

If you have any questions about our downloadable ebooks and audiobooks please contact a librarian at 940-349-8752 or send us an e-mail at library@cityofdenton.com.

~Kimberly

Vote for the Best Thrillers

NPR is letting readers decide what are the 100 most pulse-quickening, suspenseful novels ever written. When they first asked for readers suggestions they were given over 600 titles to consider.

Then, with the input of a panel of thriller writers and critics they have  narrowed that list down to 182 novels. That group, which is availble for final voting, draws from every known thriller sub-genre — techno, espionage, crime, medical, psychological, horror, legal, supernatural and more.

So how did NPR decide to define a “thriller”? Everyone has an opinion.

For the purposes of this contest, they decided to stick with the answer James Patterson once gave, which is that thrillers are defined by the “intensity of emotions they create … of apprehension and exhilaration, of excitement and breathlessness. … By definition, if a thriller doesn’t thrill, it’s not doing its job.” If the closely related mystery genre is about discovery, then thrillers are more oriented towards action and suspense. The villain may be known from the start; the fun comes from finding out how the hero will foil whatever evil plans are afoot.

Help them decide what makes the top 100. Everyone gets 10 votes.   The winners will be  announced on August 2.

Vote Now!

~Kimberly