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Friday, April 27, 2012

I am in the process of migrating my blog to WordPress, so there will be some downtime and changes to the layout over the next week or so. Please bear with me!

For the next few days, my domain (www.loganeturner.com) will not be working. This blog will be accessible via the Blogger domain, at loganeturner.blogspot.com.

Review: Spellcaster by Cara Lynn Shultz


Book: Spellcaster
Author: Cara Lynn Shultz
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release date: March 27, 2012
Source: eARC from NetGalley
Series: Spellbound #2

Summary from Goodreads: Finding your eternal soulmate - easy.

Stopping a true-love-hungry evil - not so much...

After breaking a centuries-old romantic curse, Emma Connor is (almost) glad to get back to normal problems. Although...it's not easy dealing with the jealous cliques and gossip that rule her exclusive Upper East Side prep, even for a sixteen-year-old newbie witch. Having the most-wanted boy in school as her eternal soul mate sure helps ease the pain-especially since wealthy, rocker-hot Brendan Salinger is very good at staying irresistibly close....

But something dark and hungry is using Emma and Brendan's deepest fears to reveal damaging secrets and destroy their trust in each other. And Emma's crash course in über-spells may not be enough to keep them safe...or to stop an inhuman force bent on making their unsuspected power its own.

First impressions: I was really happy to get back into the lives of Emma and Brendan and Angelique. Starting this book felt like slipping under a favorite blanket - warm and comforting. I appreciated the quick recap that Shultz was able to work in so I remembered where everything left off last time, and it didn't feel out of place or like an interruption of the narrative.

Lasting impressions: With a lightning-quick pace and lots of action, I tore through this one. I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. A pure joy to read.

Conflicting impressions: There were two big things that kept me from loving this one as much as last year's Spellbound. The first was the too-obvious villain, and the second was the narrative jump at the climax.

Overall impressions: Cara Lynn Shultz has a definite knack for engaging the reader. She doesn't just make you want to read the book. She makes you want to devour it. The last few months have not been good reading months for me, and very few books made me excited to pick them up again - until this one. As soon as I started it, I settled easily into the story and the pages flew by.

Emma and Brendan are such a likable pair, it's hard to not enjoy reading about their lives. Private school wealth with down-to-earth personalities, these two are further kept in check by Angelique's snarky barbs and the good humor of bright and bubbly side characters. Everyone in this series feels like a real person, and someone I would want to spend time with.

The witchcraft gets an expanded role in this book, with Emma starting to explore her own powers with help from Angelique. She's under attack again, and the suspense of this plot keeps things chugging along. Lots of obstacles and fights, as well as the usual teen angst about relationships and intimacy. It reminded me a bit of one of my favorite guilty pleasure movies - The Craft.

Perhaps because of this familiarity with that movie's plot of witch-gets-power-and-turns-evil, I found the antagonist in this book very easy to spot. Since it takes Emma and crew a while to wise up to this, I got a bit impatient in the middle sections of the book. When it started to snowball toward the ultimate showdown at the climax, I was excited to see it all play out nevertheless.

But.

***POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD! (Highlight text to read)***

In a frustrating move, Shultz interrupts a pivotal decision-making moment for Emma during this climactic battle to transfer the narrative reins to Angelique. We wind up backtracking and following Angelique's experience of the events, leading up to her reuniting with Emma after the battle. Only then do we find out what happened and what Emma decided - we get it told to us instead of experiencing it.

***END SPOILERS***

The narrative switch happens one other time at an earlier point in the novel, so it wasn't completely out of left field, but the placement of this one really bothered me. If the story needed the benefit of multiple viewpoints, perhaps a move to a close 3rd person narrative would have been better. I felt like the voices between Emma and Angelique weren't distinct enough, and would have enjoyed the story just as much if we'd been freed from Emma's limited perspective. Since Shultz chose to stick with 1st person, however, I really wanted to see the ending play out in full. I felt cheated by the decision to take us out of Emma's head at such a crucial point in her story.

If you liked Spellbound, this is a great follow-up story. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and hope this isn't the last I see of Emma and Brendan.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Click the stars for a description of my rating system

Winner of the Ruby's Reads Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Ruby's Reads


There were 75 entries in my Ruby's Reads Birthday Givewaway for $20 worth of books (gift card or Book Depository), and after running them through Random.org, the winner is...


Congratulations Birgit! Be sure to check your email so I can get your prize to you as soon as possible. Enjoy!

Review: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Monday, April 23, 2012


Book: The Name of the Wind
Author: Patrick Rothfuss
Publisher: DAW Books
Release date: March 27, 2007
Source: Bought ebook
Series: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day 1

Summary from Goodreads: Told in Kvothe's own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen.The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature. A high-action story written with a poet's hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.

First impressions: I'm not generally an epic fantasy fan, but after hearing everyone and their mother rave about this book, I had to try it. I'm so glad I did! The first few chapters had just enough mystery to suck me in, and once the story-within-a-story kicked in, there was no turning back.

Lasting impressions: Parts of this book were so beautiful I could hardly breathe, but there were times I wanted the pace to pick up a bit. You have to commit for the long haul with this one.

Conflicting impressions: The story Kvothe tells is meant to span three days, and this novel is the first of those. At times, because of the length of this tale, I felt the story lost its focus. I got swept up in the adventures Kvothe undertook, but occasionally got impatient wondering where this was all headed.

Overall impressions: There can be zero doubt that Patrick Rothfuss is a masterful storyteller. His patience and attention to detail, combined with a clear love of words and the beauty they can create, make it obvious that storytelling runs in his blood.

It should be no surprise to see a family of storytellers at the heart of this book. Kvothe is the son of a traveling band of performers, and learns most of life's major lessons from plays, literature, and stories. As he grows up, and suffers a devastating series of losses, he vows to research the history of his world's most dangerous stories - those surrounding the mysterious and deadly Chandrian.

Rothfuss juggles between Kvothe's present and past, with the past related to the reader by Kvothe himself as he recounts his journey to a transcriber known as Chronicler. In the present, Kvothe is a man of many secrets, and the action is nailbitingly tense. I was desperate to know how this man's life had shaped him into the innkeeper so many refer to as a "king killer." Meanwhile, as we listen to the incredible tales from his childhood, I rooted for this boy of poverty and heartache to find his way in the world and realize his strengths.

Kvothe has remarkable abilities - his intelligence is quick and sharp, he can make music that causes even the most hardhearted men to weep - and at times he has an ego to match. He's grounded by his extreme poverty and a hard life, however, and as often as his mouth gets him into trouble, he usually has the sneaky grace to get himself out of it. As he starts to learn magic, make friends, and fall in love, we get the pleasure of seeing how the smallest of stories can create a hero. Intentions do not generally find a way into history books, and though Kvothe may have reasons or circumstances that affect his actions, the stories quickly become larger than life. Actions speak louder than words, remember?

This is a dense book that took me nearly two weeks to finish, but it was absolutely worth it. Rothfuss has a gift for words, and he can spin them into scenery that fills the mind. Rarely have I felt so transported into the world of a book. Though the story is long, it is certainly not boring. I had the feeling that I was simply experiencing one part of a long journey, that would come to a full and satisfying resolution by the end of the trilogy. That doesn't mean there was not a definite conclusion to this part, which had a great ending of its own. Instead, I was being prepared for an epic tale that required the patience of a good setup to give me the payoff of a glorious ending.

Well, if this book is any indication, that ending is going to be magnificent. I wouldn't miss it for the world.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Click the stars for a description of my rating system

Cheater!

Friday, April 20, 2012

Last month, when I participated in Bloggiesta, I had a couple of comments from people wondering about my task to update my cheat sheet.

"Cheat sheet?" they said. "What the heck is that, and where can I get one?"

Fear not, dear friends. I am happy to pass along the wisdom that has helped me out immensely. (Click any of the photos to enlarge them for a closer look.)


When I joined my first Bloggiesta in 2011, I was very new to blogging. I did tons of the mini-challenges, hopped around, and soaked up some really valuable advice. One of the links I stumbled across was for a mini-challenge on creating a cheat sheet. At this point my memory fails as to whether this was the original post I found, but There's A Book has a great post on how to make a cheat sheet. She even has a mock-up you can use for reference!

There's no need for me to recap all of her terrific explanations, but essentially the cheat sheet is an easily accessible document you create to store links, codes, and other info you want to keep handy while blogging. I have mine stored in a Google Doc, and it has html codes I copied from how-to posts on other blogs, a list of my page links and social media links for quick copying, and sidebar/design codes that I know look nice on my blog. Since I always compose my posts in HTML view, having these codes handy is a big time saver.


The sheet keeps me from having to reinvent the wheel every time I want to do some editing. Although my primary default these days is to just copy from old posts and sidebars, I'm trying to train myself to get in the habit of using the cheat sheet so I'm not constantly mucking around in my blog. It's also nice to know I've got most of the codes I need in a separate place from my blog, in case something happens and it goes down.


So there you have it. I'm a cheater. Maybe now you can be one too.

Do you already use a cheat sheet? Do you find it helpful?

Ruby's Birthday Giveaway Hop!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Ruby's Reads

It's time for another giveaway! My dear friend Ruby over at Ruby's Reads is celebrating her birthday by hosting a giveaway hop for bookish goodies. Of course I had to join the fun!

Since birthdays are all about getting what YOU want, I'm giving away $20 in books of the winner's choice. This giveaway is open internationally, so the giveaway will be in the form of an Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card where possible, or up to $20 in books from The Book Depository. You're the winner - you choose!

This giveaway, and all of the giveaways in the hop, run from April 12-24. Winner will be announced on April 25 and notified by email. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, I reserve the right to pick a new winner. 

Ready? To enter, fill out the FORM HERE

When you're finished, be sure to hop around to visit the other giveaways!

Review: Ashfall by Mike Mullin

Wednesday, April 11, 2012


Book: Ashfall
Author: Mike Mullin
Publisher: Tanglewood Press
Release date: October 11, 2011
Source: Borrowed from a friend
Series: Ashfall #1

Summary from Goodreads: Under the bubbling hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park is a supervolcano. Most people don't know it's there. The caldera is so large that it can only be seen from a plane or satellite. It just could be overdue for an eruption, which would change the landscape and climate of our planet.

Ashfall is the story of Alex, a teenage boy left alone for the weekend while his parents visit relatives. When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts unexpectedly, Alex is determined to reach his parents. He must travel over a hundred miles in a landscape transformed by a foot of ash and the destruction of every modern convenience that he has ever known, and through a new world in which disaster has brought out both the best and worst in people desperate for food, water, and warmth. With a combination of nonstop action, a little romance, and very real science, this is a story that is difficult to stop reading and even more difficult to forget.

First impressions: With regard to how I came to read this book, the phrase "borrowed from a friend" is not entirely accurate. Let's call a spade a spade - I was book bullied into reading this. One of my pals in our writing group went on and on about how scary and awesome it was, so she happily pushed it into my hands. I'm so glad she did!

Lasting impressions: This book could actually happen. Which is definitely equal parts scary and awesome (as a reading experience, not as life).

Conflicting impressions: Alex may have needed to know how to kill and skin animals. I didn't. Too real for me.

Overall impressions: Have you heard of the supervolcano underneath Yellowstone? You haven't? You should Google it. It's terrifying. I first learned of it through another fiction writer, James Rollins, and it is not outside the realm of possibility that it could blow in my lifetime. That kind of real, impending natural disaster is ripe for the picking when it comes to good stories.

Mike Mullin does not disappoint. Our young protagonist, Alex, is home alone when the volcano erupts and his neighborhood is quickly decimated by falling ash. Determined to try and escape the deteriorating conditions, Alex heads east across Iowa trying to reach his family across the Mississippi in Illinois. He straps on a pair of cross country skis and heads out.

This version of post-disaster American life is dark, frightening, and full of danger. It quickly becomes dog-eat-dog, and Alex runs into his fair share of unsavory characters out only for themselves. He does all he can to survive, relying on his own skill, luck, and occasionally the kindness of strangers. Just when you think he's found a bit of peace, something else goes wrong and he's forced to move on. It's gut-wrenching.

It would be unfair to give away too much. Will Alex find his family? Will he figure out how to survive in this new and dangerous landscape? What will happen to the U.S. in the aftermath of this horrific eruption? We get a great story full of action and terror, and the promise of more with the reveal at the end. I can't wait for the next installation in this series!

Rating: 4/5 stars

Click the stars for a description of my rating system

Silly Sunday - American English

Sunday, April 8, 2012



While abroad last month, the hubs and I had a discussion about what American English sounds like to non-speakers that may be in earshot. He informed me there was a video about this on YouTube, and showed it to me back at our hotel.

AND I CAN'T STOP WATCHING IT. It's a hilariously odd video from an Italian television show where he's singing gibberish that sounds like American English. It's so bizarre, but catchy, and it makes me laugh.




OLL RAIGTH!

Review: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Wednesday, April 4, 2012


Book: Pandemonium
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release date: February 28, 2012
Series: Delirium #2

Summary from Goodreads: I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.

Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.

**slight spoilers for book one contained in this review**

First impressions: I had no clue what to expect with this book. I liked Delirium, but had some major issues with the premise of a society that views love as a disease. It kept me from fully enjoying Lena and Alex's story, despite beautiful writing. I went in to this one with some hesitation as a result, which turned out to be completely unnecessary.

Lasting impressions: This may be one of the only times I recommend reading a first book just so you can read the second one. This sequel was a thousand times more enjoyable for me than Delirium, and no matter what your feelings on the first book, this is a fantastic read that nearly stands on its own.

Conflicting impressions: I thought Julian changed his ideals and morality a bit too quickly and conveniently. It definitely added tension to Lena's storyline, but I found it hard to swallow that he would be so afraid and disgusted by Lena's affliction of delirium, only to fall victim to it a few days or weeks later with no internal conflict.

Overall impressions: When we left Lena at the end of Delirium, she had made it past the wall into The Wilds, and her love Alex had been captured in Portland. This book picks up immediately after, with Lena injured and heartbroken at the assumed death of Alex. She is saved by a group of people on the outside, who take her into their community and nurse her back to health. As she gets stronger and more determined to live life free of the cure, she begins to take on more advanced assignments within their group's resistance efforts.

Lena experiences some major growing pains in this book. She is alone in spirit, fending for herself for the first time. She makes some acquaintances with her new family in the wilderness, but on the outside people are harder and have been through so much pain that they build emotional walls to fill the place of the physical ones of their old lives. Raven, the mothering leader, is tough as nails while holding tenuously to her desire to care for others. She and Lena have an interesting dynamic that is at times competitive and at times friendly. It's hard to fully trust her, despite the fact that she seems to do what's best.

Things really ramp up when Lena is sent to a public rally to spy on a young uncured named Julian. Lena winds up being kidnapped with him and despite his fear of her as a delirium victim, he feels drawn to her. They share some touching moments during captivity and Julian begins to fall for Lena. As they work to escape, navigating their feelings becomes equally treacherous as their harrowing situations. Lena is conflicted about her remaining feelings for Alex, and Julian has been brought up to despise everything that Lena stands for. It's an interesting dynamic ripe with tension.

The book is full of exciting action and beautiful prose. I appreciated the chance to follow Lena outside the contstrained life in Portland, and following her through the wilderness and into New York City brought a fresh perspective that was so much fun to read. The story is told through chapters that alternate between a 6 month timeframe, labeled "now" and "then." In the now chapters, we follow Lena and Julian's exploits, and in the then chapters we see how Lena made her way from Portland to Raven's crew. When the stories ultimately collide at the end, Lauren Oliver drops another bomb on us (though ultimately not that surprising) and leaves us with another uncertain ending that begs for continuation. It was an appropriate end to this section of Lena's story, but I anxiously await the third book to see what comes next for Lena.

Rating: 5/5 stars

Click the stars for a description of my rating system

Book Blogger Confessions: Spoilers

Monday, April 2, 2012


Book Blogger Confessions is a new(ish) meme run by Tiger at All-Consuming Media and Karen at For What It's Worth. Every first and third Monday they post a new question to open up discussion about common frustrations to book bloggers. Link up your post on either blog and hop around to listen to and learn from your fellow bloggers!

This week's question is:

Spoilers in reviews: Do you read them, do you include them? How do you describe (or avoid describing) spoilery parts of a book?

I generally do not care about reading spoilers, but I am super sensitive to people who vigilantly avoid them. It's because I don't have much personal animosity toward spoilers that I'm always paranoid I'm going to accidentally let one slip.

Sometimes it's difficult for me to perceive what is a true spoiler. If it's something revealed by reading a cover jacket, I'm not sure that's a spoiler, but some reviewers hide sequel summary descriptions for fear that someone may happen across a spoiler. I don't go that far. Most regular readers of this blog know the books I'm discussing, or at least know if it's a part of a big series that they want to avoid for fear of spoilers.

That said, I'm also not out to ruin anyone's fun. If people want to be surprised, they should be surprised, regardless of my thoughts on the matter. That's why I don't post spoilers - simple common courtesy. It may mean cutting short a review or dancing around an issue, but I always know at least one or two other bloggers who have read the same book, so I'll take to Twitter or email if I really need to discuss a spoilery issue.

What do you do about spoilers in your reviews?

Bloggiesta II Wrap Up

Sunday, April 1, 2012


Founded by Maw Books Blog, Bloggiesta is a three day marathon of blog prep and catch-up work. This year it was run by It's All About Books and There's a Book. Thank you for another great year!

Here's my (partially) completed list:
  • Update review and other templates
  • Create new feature/meme buttons - Not imperative, but it was a good thought
  • Update review and challenge pages - Still need to update my challenge page
  • Update Goodreads
  • Add name attribution jumps to review pages - Thank you Small Review!
  • Catch up on outstanding reviews
  • Do WordPress switch research - Did get some great links!
  • Practice/learn CSS/HTML coding - Does doing my name attribution jump pages count?
  • Participate in mini-challenges - Major fail here!
  • Update policies Didn't really need doing after all
  • Prep event posts already scheduled - Still needs urgent attention
  • Update cheat sheet
  • Write guest posts - Still needs urgent attention
I ended up spending all day Saturday relaxing and catching up on my massive comic book pile. They needed some TLC with regard to organization and I feel like a weight has been lifted now that I gave that project some attention. It did mean, however, that I didn't get to my Bloggiesta tasks until this afternoon. The limited time frame meant some major tasks did not get tackled, but a lot of the general clean-up stuff got taken care of and that's good news.

I consider this a successful year, despite the fact that I didn't get through some of the bigger items on the list. I'm just happy I have some reviews scheduled, my pages are looking more organized, and I feel a bit more caught up.

How did you do?
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