Bloggin' 'bout Books: 08/03/12

2025 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama

- Alaska

- Arizona

- Arkansas

- California

- ~~Colorado~~ (1)

- Connecticut

- Delaware

- Florida

- Georgia

- Hawaii

- Idaho

- Illinois

- Indiana

- Iowa

- Kansas

- Kentucky

- Louisiana

- Maine

- Maryland

- Massachusetts

- Michigan

- Minnesota

- Mississippi

- Missouri

- Montana

- Nebraska

- Nevada

- New Hampshire

- New Jersey

- New Mexico

- ~~New York~~ (1)

- North Carolina

- North Dakota

- ~~Ohio~~ (1)

- Oklahoma

- Oregon

- Pennsylvania

- ~~Rhode Island~~ (1)

- South Carolina

- South Dakota

- Tennessee

- Texas

- Utah

- ~~Vermont~~ (1)

- Virginia

- ~~Washington~~ (1)

- West Virginia

- Wisconsin

- Wyoming

- Washington, D.C.*

International:

- England (1)

- France (1)

- Puerto Rico (1)

A Hoppin' Good Time -- It's BACK!

10:09 AM

I don't know if I'm the last to hear the big news or not, but the Book Blogger Hop is back in business! Or, rather, it has returned in its original form. Squee! I understood why Jen had to change the Hop from a monthly thing to a weekly thing, but I was really sad about it. My participation lagged, then stopped altogether. A monthly meme was just too hard for me to keep up with. But, now that it's back to weekly, I'm excited to join up again.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, let me explain: The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly (YAY!) meme hosted by Jen over at Crazy For Books. It's an opportunity to discover new book blogs, find new readers, and just show the love to others in this big, glorious book blogging world. Fun, right? If you want to join in (and, trust me, you do), you can find all the details here.

For those of you who are visiting Bloggin' 'bout Books for the first time, welcome! I'm so glad you're here. Please take a look around, leave me a comment (or two or three) to let me know you stopped by. I will absolutely return the favor. Also, check out my right sidebar—I've got two great book giveaways going on right now. I don't have a lot of entrants, which means you have an excellent chance of winning. So, please, enter and feel free to spread the word.

For my long-time readers, a heartfelt thank you. Interacting with you all is what makes blogging so much fun.

Now, onto this week's question:

When a book goes “viral” (Hunger Games, Fifty Shades, Twilight), do you rush out to read it like everyone else, even if it’s not in your typical genre?

- Not necessarily. It really depends on what the book's about. I don't mind reading outside my usual genres, but there are some novels that I'll never read no matter how many people rave about them (ahem, Fifty Shades). Even if I do want to read a gone-viral novel, I won't necessarily rush right out and get it. I'll stick it on my TBR list and get to it when I get to it. What about you?

Happy hopping, everybody!

Good Sister/Bad Sister Murder Mystery Leaves Me Feeling Duped (and that's not a good thing!)

1:00 AM

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Abby Goodwin has spent her whole life defending her screw-up little sister. At least that's how it seems. She's stuck up for 15-year-old Maya when she broke curfews, came home drunk, fooled around with boys, experimented with drugs—everything. Even the girls' parents have given up on Maya. Not Abby. She'll always be there for sister, no matter what.

Then, Abby stumbles across the dead body of one of the most popular boys at her high school. When she finds Maya's cell phone near the corpse, she's stunned. Since Maya hasn't been home in weeks, Abby's not sure where to find her—she just knows she has to get to her sister before the police do. Determined to protect Maya, regardless of what she may have done, Abby vows to find the real killer. Maya has her problems, but she couldn't have murdered the guy she loved, could she? As Abby investigates the crime, she's less and less sure of her sister's innocence ...

For me, The Deadly Sister by Eliot Schrefer is one of those like-the-premise-not-the-execution type of books. Novels about sister relationships always intrigue me and one played out against the backdrop of a murder sounded even more interesting. And it would have been, had it been done well. But, Schrefer's story got very unrealistic very fast. The characters weren't developed enough, the plot gets seriously contrived, Schrefer tells more than shows and there's a twist at the end of the story that literally made me grind my teeth in irritation. I can't say much without being spoiler-y, but the phrase "cheap tricks" comes to mind. Making me feel duped is so not the way for an author/book to win my eternal love. Hence the "D" grade. Yeah, 'nough said.

(Readalikes: Um, I can't really think of anything. Suggestions?)

Grade: D

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for language (no F-bombs), sexual innuendo/content, and depictions of illegal drug use

To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of The Deadly Sister from the generous folks at Scholastic. Thank you!