Heist Society by Ally Carter

Kat used to be a thief (it's the family business) but she decided she wanted out and conned herself into one of the most prestigious boarding schools in the United States. But now Kat's dad is being accused of a robbery he didn't commit (mainly cause he was busy committing another one somewhere else) by a pretty scary guy. With Interpol hot on her dad's trail Kat needs to clear her dad of the second crime, or else. So Kat sets up her team and breaks into one of the most well protected museums ever.

This was an extremely fun read, think of it as Ocean's Eleven with teens and girls. Kat and her compatriots are incredibly likable characters. While technically they are criminals, they do have a code of honor that is highly important to them and their own sets of morals that are important to them. This goes a long way to making them likable. A lot of this book focuses on that code of honor and on righting previous wrongs and contextualizes an important part of how theft can sometimes be justified. (Yeah I know that sentence was really ambigious but I am trying not to be spoilery.)

It's Monday What Are You Reading?

So I have decided to participate in my first meme. This one is hosted by Shiela at One Person's Journey Through a World of Books, and I want to give credit where credit is due so I want to let you know I heard about it through Bookworming in the 21st Century. The point is basically to share what you've reading, what you're reading and what you think you're going to read.

Read This Week:
Terrier (Beka Cooper, #1)by Tamora Pierce
Rex Libris Volume 2: Book Of Monsters by James Turner
Ôoku: The Inner Chamber, Volume 1 by Fumi Yoshinaga
Ôoku: The Inner Chambers, Volume 2 by Fumi Yoshinaga
The Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Kim Deitch
Crogan's March (Crogan Adventures 2)by Chris Schweizer
Blood Song: A Silent Ballad by Eric Drooker
Buzzboy Volume 2: Monsters, Dreams, & Milkshakes by John Gallagher
Antique Bakery, Volume 4 by Fumi Yoshinaga
Black Jack Volume 3 by Osamu Tezuka
Children of the Sea, Volume 1 by Daisuke Igarashi

Currently Reading:
The Sorcerer King (Faerie Path, #3)by Frewin Jones
Bittersweet: The Story of Sugar by Peter Macinnis
Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Children's Book by Anita Silvey
Essential Moon Knight, Vol. 1 (Marvel Essentials)by Doug Moench, Bill Sienkiewicz, Bill Mantlo

To Read:
The Dead-Tossed Waves (The Forest of Hands and Teeth, #2)by Carrie Ryan
Would-Be Witch (A Southern Witch Novel, #1)by Kimberly Frost

I linked everything to Goodreads although I had a little more time this week so I have actually reviewed some of it, and you can check out my thoughts if you want. I read a ton of graphic novels this week in my effort to reduce the amount of stuff I have out from the library. Unforunately it didn't help that much, as I still have 40+ items out (why does everything you requested months ago on interlibrary loan come in at the same time?). I think sometime this week I may have to make a difficult decision and return some things either unread or half read to be taken out again at a future date in time, so basically this list is kind of tentative. Wish me luck and good luck to everyone else.

Ooku The Inner Sanctum by Fumi Yoshinaga

What a phenomenal concept. In fuedal era Japan, men have died off to only a quarter of their numbers from a mysterious plague. Women now do everything that men did, including run the country. The changes in how society is run and how people behave just kept me entranced. The illustrations are great and I always really love Fumi's characters, they are just so likable.

Each volume follows different characters and shows how these changes have affected their lives. The first volume gives a brief explanation of how society has been changed by the plague and then follows Yunoshin as he joins the Ooku, the inner sanctum in the shoguns home. Unfortunately that means Yunoshin from the first volume will not be returning as a main character, but I know he will be replaced with new interesting characters. I really loved Nobu, she is a very fair and interesting ruler and most likely one of the few characters that will return.

The second volume (which I am about half way through) follows the beginning of the change over of how society is run extremely closely. I can't wait to find out how the fact that women were basically running the country became an acknowledged fact in Japan.

Pursuing the Lioness Challenge & Terrier by Tamora Pierce

Tempting Persephone is holding a challenge called Pursuing the Lioness. All you need to do to participate is read at least one of Tamora Pierce books between January 2010 and June 2010. As a bonus part of the Challenge you can also read something off of Tamora Pierce's Ultimate Ever Fantasy List. My original plan was to read the Song of the Lioness Quartet, but when I saw the cover of Terrier the first book in the Beka Cooper Trilogy, I just had to read it. I still plan on reading the the Song of the Lioness Quartet and something off of Tamora Pierce's Ultimate Fantasy List, but I don't know if I can get it done by June so I decided to post this for now.

Beka is a Puppy (or Dog in training) which is basically like being a police cadet. She works in the worst part of the city but since this is where her life started she is happy working here. She wants to help the community where she was raised and make it better for those that are stuck living a difficult life in a hard world. Instead of going for glory, she picks difficult cases to work because she wants to help people. The cases of the diggers and the shadow snake went ignored for a long time because they were happening to people that are often ignored by those of authority. Beka with her special connection to those living in the Lower City makes it a point to help those that would otherwise be ignored. She isn't a perfect heroine either; she suffers from crippling shyness and has special abilities to talk with the spirits of the dead. What really makes me lover her is her strong desire to help people and to hurt those that make life harder for people who's lives are already exceedingly difficult. She is not in it for the glory and in an organization where bribery is actually what makes the police system work she doesn't get greedy either.

Beka isn't the only fantastic character in this work. The two dogs she is assigned to Goodwin and Tunstall are also interesting. There personalities are opposites and allows Ms. Pierce to play them off of each other. It also showcases two different styles of working and provides us with yet anothers fabulous strong female character. Rosto the Piper and his freinds Aniki and Kora were other favorites of mine and Rosto the Piper maybe my new literary crush, so I really hope he makes an appearance in the next book in the series. They come from another country and even though they are Rats, they have a strong sense of honor. They also see the importance of helping those who are weak and can't necessarily take care of themselves. (I could go on forever about these characters and others but I assume you have other things to do with your day.)

While there is alot of world building in this book I really feel that what makes Tamora Pierce's work stand out are her fabulous characters. I always find myself loving them and they are just so easy to connect to. The more I read, the more I like her work so I think eventually I will read all of it.

Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

This is a very strong retelling of the traditional fairy tale. It takes a while to get into this book though. Initially Ani is such a weak person (not a weak character but a weak person, there is a difference) that it was very difficult for me to really care about her. How could I care about her if she wasn't willing to take better care of herself (i.e. care about herself)?

However as she starts to grow and change I really came to like her and enjoy her tale. When she allowed herself to explore her abilities and make friends with her fellow workers. I also love that the things that her family thought made her weak, are what really made her strong. There are alot of other things I loved but I am afraid that I will start giving things away (I may have already given things away).

On a side note I am totally psyched that the next book is about Enna cause I really loved her as a character.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

So I have decided to participate in my first meme. This one is hosted by One Person's Journey Through a World of Books, and I want to give credit where credit is due so I want to let you know I heard about it through Bookworming in the 21st Century. The point is basically to share what you've reading, what you're reading and what you think you're going to read.

Read This Past Week:
Challengers of the Unknown Must Die! by Jeph Loeb
Antique Bakery, Volume 3 by Fumi Yoshinaga
Buzzboy Trouble in Paradise by John Gallagher
Black Jack, Volume 2 by Osamu Tezuka
Rock and Roll Love by Misako Rocks!
The Poison Eaters and Other Stories by Holly Black
The Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore

Southern Witch #2: Barely Bewitched by Kimberly Frost

Books of Bayern #1 The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
Nightschool: The Weirn Books, Vol. 2 by Svetlana Chmakova

Currently Reading:
Beka Cooper #1 Terrier by Tamora Pierce

Rex Libris Volume 2: Book of Monsters by James Turner

Everything I Need to Know I Learned From a Children's Book by Anita Silvey

Essential Moon Knight, Vol. 1 by Doug Moench, Bill Sienkiewicz, Bill Mantlo

Upcoming Reads:

Faerie Path # 3 The Sorcer King by Frewin Jones

I linked everything to GoodReads so people could add to their to read lists if they wanted. Someday I hope to be able to post reviews of everything I read, but I know while my boss is on maternity leave it's not going to happen. And in case anyone was wondering all of these books (and the 25 others I have out) are all from the library.

The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy, and the History of Comic Book Heroines by Mike Madrid

My post earlier this week on what famous person I would want to be made me think of this book which I read last week, so here's the review.

I really loved this book. It gave a great overview of the place that women have held in comics over the last 70 years. The author writes in a very personable style that makes the book easy to read and enjoy. For each decade since comics have been popular, the author addresses the changes occurring for women in the society and how these changes were reflected or not reflected in comic books. There are also chapters devoted to specific characters or even arch-types within the comic book industry.

My biggest problem now is that I want to go out and read all of these comics he talks about and some of them just aren't available. The only negative thing I will say is while it would be completely inappropriate to have a book on female superheros without devoting a chapter to Wonder Woman; the author also covers parts of Wonder Woman's background in other chapters so by the time you get to that chapter, you do kind of feel like "okay I read alot of this already." But stick it out because it's totally worth it to get to the chapters on the superheroes of today. Otherwise this is a great read for any girl that's into comics and graphic novels or anyone who want's to see how womens issues are reflected in different types of media.

This post will eventually be cross-posted at Reviews for You

What Celebrity Would You Be?

Over on Green Been Teen Queen they are holding a contest for Runway (An Airhead novel). You could win a $50 gift card to American Eagle Outfitters and the first three books of Meg Cabot's Airhead series.

As part of the contest you get extra points for saying what celebrity you wish you could trade bodies/lives with. This got me thinking about what celebrity I would want to be, which somehow led me to think of Wonder Woman and Lynda Carter. I have always loved Wonder Woman in pretty much any incarnation and Lynda Carter is still pretty damn gorgeous as evidenced by 1-800- Contacts commercials. I wish I looked that good now, lol.

Anyhow head over to Green Been Teen Queen, a fellow teen/tween librarian's site and enter the contest. If nothing else it will be fun to think about what celebrity you would want to be.

Flow: The Cultural Story of Menstruation by Elissa Stein and Susan Kim

This book was such a brilliant idea, and the authors did a great job. I read Presenting Lenore's blog post about Flow and she just had such a strong reaction to it, not positive or negative really just strong, that I thought it was definitely worth reading. Flow tells the cultural history of the period and how woman's status and health care have changed over time. It's written in a friendly, personable style. While many reviewers feel like this means the book was geared at the younger set, I think what the authors were really going for was making the book readable, and to try and make a topic that makes many people uncomfortable a little bit friendlier. The book isn't couched in a bunch of scientific jargon that most of us will never understand. Everything is in language that is respectful and completely understandable.

Some of the information in this book is definitely scary. It is absolutely terrifying to see how woman's bodies have been mistreated over the years due to lack of scientific study and information. While there is a lot of good explanation in this book regarding fertility and how a woman's cycle really works, the most important thing I think a woman can take away from this book is too make sure that you are well informed about exactly what it is you are doing to your body when you use medications or how you handle your period.

Pixels

I haven't posted in a while cause life has been super hectic and busy. But I saw this video on The Fire Wire and it was just so cool I had to put it up. If you are a fan of old school video games or just love silly creativity check this out.


PIXELS by PATRICK JEAN.
Uploaded by onemoreprod. - Arts and animation videos.