Small Fry Saturday #2: Duck & Goose Find A Pumpkin by Tad Hills

This installment of Small Fry Saturday calls for a seasonal read.  My Small Fry has been carrying this book around the house with him all week!

Duck & Goose Find A Pumpkin by Tad Hills

I found this book on sale at B+N after last Christmas, and I figured I would buy it and stockpile it for the next time fall came around.  Now, Small Fry is at a stage where he's paying more attention to his books, and this one has been a lot of fun for pumpkin-picking time!  Duck & Goose actually have a whole series of books that follow their adventures, and we like this one so much that I'm sure we'll be seeking out more.  In this one, Duck and Goose see their friend Thistle walk by with a pumpkin, and they set out on a search to find one of their own.

This one immediately got a thumbs-up from me because Duck and Goose are freaking adorable.  I mean, LOOK at the cover.  Too cute.  But the rest of the illustrations are great too.  The book itself is not long, but Small Fry likes it because it's got a nice rhythm ("Is our pumpkin up in the apple tree Goose?  No!  Is our pumpkin under the water Duck?  No!" etc).  I like how it teaches different action and place words (over vs under, up vs down, etc).  Definitely a good book for the younger kiddos.

This is a short, cute read, and perfect for the season.

Have you read any Duck & Goose books? Do you have any other fall favorites for kids?

Book Review: Feed by Mira Grant

First off--apologies for not being a very good comment responder the last few days.  I'm home with a sick little boy, so things have been crazy around here!  I promise I will come back to Earth soon.

Title: Feed
Author: Mira Grant
Publisher: Orbit
Publication Date: May 1, 2010
Source: borrowed from the good ol' public library

Plot Summary from Goodreads:

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED. Now, twenty years after the Rising, bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives - the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will get out, even if it kills them.

My Review:

First and foremost, I will take this opportunity to share a zombie joke.

What do vegetarian zombies eat?

Graaaaaaaaaaaaaains.

Okay then.  Now that you've survived my poor attempt at humor, on to the book.  I love zombies.  I'd heard good things about this novel (the first in the Newsflesh trilogy) for a while, and with Halloween coming up, I figured I could use some zombie-chomping goodness in my life.  However, despite what the description sounds like, this is not a book about the zombie apocalypse, per se.  It takes place 20+ years after the zombie horde has arrived--so the world has already had ample time to fight and contain the infection.  That's not to say the zombies aren't a threat anymore (because they are...oooooh yes they are), but the world's survivors have had time to figure out how to live around it.  There's an entire generation that never even remembers going about their lives without zombies.

That's the generation that Georgia and Shaun are a part of, and they come equipped with a cynical worldview to match.  Georgia is the primary narrator, and I quickly took a liking to her voice.  She's persistently sarcastic and skeptical, which is a POV that could easily get annoying as the sardonic one-liners start piling up.  But I thought that Grant wrote it well, and I appreciated Georgia's humor paired with her overall bitterness towards...well, everything except her brother, and the pursuit of truth.

On top of that, the world-building in this book is phenomenal.  Grant thought through every part of what this post-infection life would include, from the virology behind the disease, to the social ramifications of its containment.  I got caught up in it early on, and it's a big part of why I'll be looking for the next two Newsflesh books soon.

As for the action--DUH, there's zombies.  Biting, moaning, flesh-hungry zombies.  So you will get your fill of that.  But there's also political corruption, media wars, and conspiracies.  (Oh, and fellow bloggers will be happy to hear that bloggers have taken over the media in 2040, so there is hope for us yet!)  It's important to realize that the zombies are not always center-stage in this book--they are the reason for everything that's happening, but the actual story here goes far beyond that.  I could see how that might throw people off, given the description.  But I liked that Grant took the often-done zombie idea and put a new spin on it.

There is one ginormous "OMG, WTF" twist that had my jaw hanging open and my eyes glued to the page.  I don't want to give anything away, but I think Grant did something very risky there.  I'd love to chat about it with anyone who's read the book.

Overall, this one was a win in my book.  Great narrator, non-stop plot movement, and a dystopian world that's believable enough to suck you in within the first few pages.  I'm excited to see what the second book of this trilogy has in store!

What are some of your favorite zombie reads?

(And hey, don't forget my audiobook giveaway is still going on, HERE!)

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Time to hit you with some knowledge!

Wondrous Words Wednesday is hosted by Bermudaonion each week.  It's an opportunity to share new words you've encountered in your reading, or highlight words that you particularly enjoy.  I run into new words while I read ALL THE TIME, so I decided to start keeping track and sharing them with you.  #vocabnerd!

Here are three of my favorites new-to-me words from recent reads.  All definitions from Dictionary.com.

1. uxorious. "Men capable of being uxorious."  (From Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn)
adjective

doting upon, foolishly fond of, or affectionately submissive toward one's wife.

(That's a great word!!)

2. ungulate. "Assuming you're talking about the incident last August and I didn't somehow miss an ungulate attack?"  (From Feed by Mira Grant)
adjective

1.

having hoofs.

2.

belonging or pertaining to the Ungulata, a former order of all hoofed mammals, now divided into the odd-toed perissodactyls and even-toed artiodactyls.

3.

hooflike.

3. petards.  "There will always be people for whom hate is easier when it's not backed up by anything but fear.  And I will always do my best to hoist them by their own petards."  (From Feed by Mira Grant)
Idiom
hoist by / with one's own petard: hurt, ruined, or destroyed by the very device or plot one had intended for another.

What are your new words this week?

Teaser Tuesday!

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.  Here's the rules:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teasers:

“It's always best to question the survivors before they can start deluding themselves about the reality of what they just went through.  After the adrenaline fades, half the people who survive a zombie attack turn into heroes, having gunned down a thousand zombies with nothing but a .22 and a bucket of guts, while the other half deny that they were ever close enough to the undead to be in any actual danger.”

~ p.154, “Feed” by Mira Grant

I can't wait to give you my full review on Feed later this week!

Audiobook Review + GIVEAWAY!: Rogue by Mark Sullivan

Title: Rogue
Author: Mark Sullivan
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publication Date: October 2, 2012
Source: audio CDs provided by the publisher for an honest review

Plot Summary from Goodreads:

Two years ago, Robin Monarch was maybe the best black top level CIA operative. But one day, in the middle of an operation, with his team around him in the field, Monarch walks away, leaving his old life and friends behind without a word of explanation.
 
Now this ex-soldier, ex-operative, and orphan with a murky past is a thief, stealing from the super-rich and has surfaced in St. Tropez. But when a complicated, high profile jewel heist goes wrong, Monarch is led into a carefully woven trap designed to force him to complete the very same mission he walked away from years ago. 
 
It will take all of his skills (as well as those of the team he burned) and all of his cunning, if Monarch is to thwart the violent and deadly goals of the very powerful cabal who will do whatever it takes to bring the very dangerous "Green Fields" technology under their control.

My Review:

This book easily caught my attention, because most other reviews I found mentioned similarities to Jason Bourne.  Whoa now--big expectations there!  Who doesn't think Jason Bourne is the ultimate action hero?  So after all that hype, I wanted to see if Robin Monarch really matched the bad-assedness of Bourne.

Early on, I realized that that was not a fair comparison--and not because Monarch fails to hit the bar.  Oh no!  His action sequences are great, and I could definitely envision him kicking some arse on the big screen.  (I give Sullivan a lot of credit for this--it can't be easy to write out a complicated fight scene and have it come off as both unconfusing and believable.)  

It's just that Monarch is a very different sort of character than Bourne.  First of all, he's less 'lone wolf' and more 'team player' (think Bourne meets A-Team?).  Monarch has a group of CIA operatives that stick with him through thick and thin in this novel, and are ready to back up his every ninja-like move.  (And their own action sequences will keep you on your toes, as well.)  He also has a more personal, Robin-Hood-esque backstory, which slowly unfolds throughout the novel and adds a lot to the plot as a whole.

After the first part of the book, I just decided that Robin Monarch holds his own as Robin Monarch--not Bourne, or Bauer, or anyone else.  No comparison necessary.

Beyond my thoughts about Monarch, I found this book to be a solid espionage thriller: you get everything that you'd expect from the genre.  The action starts early and doesn't let up.  There are lots of two-faced villains, mobsters, terrorists and (duh) spies.  Technological innovation and weaponry abound.  Plus, Monarch and his team end up all over the globe--from the foulest slum of Buenos Aires, to the high-class resorts of St. Moritz.  And contrary to Bond-style spy stories, while Monarch does have a few lovely ladies on his arm along the way, there are no strong romances in the novel--which for me, is a plus.  I wanted to focus on how Robin was going to evade the next baddie, not whether he would bed every female along the way.

There were some downsides.  The biggest one was the unveiling of the "Green Fields" technology.  This is kept secret for the majority of the novel, and is built up to be a world-ending, catastrophic sort of technological advance.  As a result, I was expecting something that would truly make my mind go numb.  Maybe I don't have enough appreciation for what Sullivan was trying to describe, but I just wasn't wow'ed when the reveal finally happened.  Green Fields is a question mark from the very beginning, so having this be a disappointment was a bit of a letdown.

Also, I found Monarch's constant repetition of his "rules" to be a bit cheesy.  The story behind the rules he lives by is explained as part of his history, but that didn't make it less odd when he answered a question with "Rule number four: no sudden moves" or something of the sort.  I see how Sullivan was trying to make this a unique and cryptic part of his character, but it didn't work for me.

I can't forget to mention the audio: Jeff Gurner is a fantastic narrator for this book!  His voice is intense, perfectly matching the tone of the novel.  Plus, he had to handle an amazing array of accents (everything from Argentinian women to Russian men), and he jumped into all of them seamlessly.  I'd say the only voice I disliked was that of CIA agent Agatha Hayes (she sounded more man than woman), but given the range he exhibited with everyone else, the voice of this side character didn't ruin the experience (it made me laugh, more than anything).  Gurner makes this worth a listen for sure.

Overall, if you like the spy-thriller genre, you should add this one to your list.  It keeps a fast pace, and Monarch is more than just your typical CIA operative.  I was disappointed in the reveal of the much-sought-after Green Field technology, but there are enough other twists at the end that it still felt like an explosive conclusion.

Sound interesting?  Then enter a chance to win a copy!

I am giving away 1 audiobook (CD format) of Rogue by Mark Sullivan.  It's only been listened to once (by me!), so it's in great condition.  This book made my commutes fly by, and I'd like to pass that on to another lucky reader.  (And thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing it in the first place!)

Just enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below for your chance to win!  Giveaway closes on October 22 at midnight and winner will be contacted by October 25. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Deja Vu Review (2)

The Deja Vu Review is hosted every Sunday by Brittany at The Book Addict's Guide.  It's a chance to mini-review books that I read pre-blog.  This week's topic is to choose some of the longest books you've read.  I was tempted to jump right to Stephen King (The Stand and Under the Dome?  Hello!).  But I read a lot of King, so I mixed it up.  Instead, I have 2 very different books to contribute!

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Yes, I read this monstrosity a few years ago.  It was my ultimate reading challenge for a long time; I had a vision in my head of completing W&P and automatically receiving a bejeweled crown and years of adoration from all that came into my presence.  Instead, I received looks of genuine puzzlement ("Wait...you didn't do it for a class or anything?") and carpal tunnel after holding up that heavy tome for 3 months.

Okay, it wasn't as bad as all that.  It's actually a pretty decent novel (English professors the world 'round are keeling over at me calling War and Peace "pretty decent").  There are a lot of intersecting storylines, all sorts of romantic drama, and hello!  War!  With Napoleon!  Good action there.  It's hard to keep all the Russian names straight, and the second epilogue made me want to cry (it's very philosophical, and I may have skipped it), but otherwise, if you have the time, it's not the boring trudge that everyone makes it out to be.  The bonus is that it will make you interesting at cocktail parties.

I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe

I told you I had two very different books to review!  I Am Charlotte Simmons is actually on my all-time favorites list.  It follows the title character as she begins her freshman year at fictional Dupont Univerity (a thinly-veiled Duke).  Charlotte is a bit sheltered, having been raised in a small North Carolina town.  She does not expect that she will so quickly have to deal with things like sex, drugs, and other debauchery when she reaches campus.  The book follows her throughout her first year, as her innocence and values are continually challenged, and she tries to discover herself through a new lens outside of her small town.

I read this book not long after I graduated from college, and I think that is a lot of why it spoke so loudly to me.  If you had the "traditional" 4-year university experience (living on campus, away from parents for the first time, etc), I'm sure at least some part of this book will resonate.  Wolfe does an awesome job of fleshing out Charlotte's character, and paints a realistic portrait of university life (as much as parents and college administrators probably wouldn't want to admit it).  Yes, it is long--but Wolfe takes his time telling Charlotte's story, and it's worth the extra pages.  I've been meaning to re-read this one for a while, because it's worth savoring again!

What are some of your longer reads?

Small-Fry Saturdays #1: Pouch! by David Ezra Stein

These days, in between the many novels I read for fun, I read a heck of a lot of children's books!  My 15-month-old has an enormous stash of books that nearly puts my own collection to shame.  At this age, he tends to cycle through them (one week he loves Goodnight Moon; the next, he won't look at it), but when he has a favorite, it must be read ALL THE TIME.  So I get pretty familiar with some of his selections.  I may or may not have Chicka Chicka Boom Boom committed to memory (stop getting out of bed, A.  Just stop.).

So, I decided to put this to good use.  Every Saturday is now Small Fry Saturday here at The Well-Read Redhead.  Each week, I'll feature a current favorite of my very own small fry (which, by the way, I think is a fun new nickname for him here on the blog), and look for suggestions from all of you for any future favorites I might be able to introduce.  Sound good?

I'm not going full-on meme with a linky and all that just yet, but if you do want to jump in on your blog, feel free (and let me know in the comments!).  This first one is posting a little late, but I will be earlier next time around, promise.

My very first selection is going to be Small Fry's current favorite:

Pouch! by David Ezra Stein

We received this book in the mail through the Imagination Library.  It is ADORABLE.  It's about Joey, a little kangaroo who is just starting to explore the world outside his mama's pouch.  Every time he comes out to explore, he meets something new (bees, birds, etc), and gets nervous, yelling, "POUCH!" and jumping back to his mama.  (I told you, cute, right?)  But he keeps getting back out there to explore again, going a little further each time...until he gets an unexpected surprise.

This is a cool kids' book for so many reasons.  Obviously, it has positive messages (don't be afraid to explore your world, your parents are supportive, etc).  Small Fry loves it every time we get to yell "POUCH!" as Joey goes back to his mom.  It's also fun to do different voices for the various animals that Joey meets.  Plus, the illustrations are great.  Small Fry loves to flip through this one on his own and just stare at the pictures.

I had never heard of this book before we got it in the mail, but it's definitely been a hit so far!

Have you read Pouch!?  Do you have any new suggestions that are similar to this book?