Wildwing by Emily Whitman

Wildwing by Emily Whitman
When Addy is swept back in time, she couldn't be happier to leave her miserable life behind. Now she's mistaken for Lady Matilda, the pampered ward of the king. If Addy can play her part, she'll have glorious gowns, jewels, and something she's always longed for—the respect and admiration of others. But then she meets Will, the falconer's son with sky blue eyes, who unsettles all her plans.
From shipwrecks to castle dungeons, from betrothals to hidden conspiracies, Addy finds herself in a world where she's not the only one with a dangerous secret. When she discovers the truth, Addy must take matters into her own hands. The stakes? Her chance at true love….and the life she's meant to live. (summary from Author's website)

I do not know if I like the fact that the author wrote a time-travel novel that basically ignored the fact that going back in time changes the future. Fun to enjoy her historical medieval world without worrying about complications of a distorted time-line, but on the other hand how can you not logically assess the implications of telling people about agricultural innovations that happen 50 to 100 years later? Eh, I’m sure opinions will vary widely on the treatment of time travel stories. Just know that this time travel novel is very light handed with the science involved and gauge whether you are a reader that will enjoy it anyway.

The romance was kind of so-so for me. It was little bit sappy and I was really annoyed with how unprincipled the main character was when she discovered she loved William, thehawking boy. She basically asked him to get involved with her when she was betrothed to marry someone else, and wanted to turn the relationship into an affair after she got married, which was just an stupid idea all around. Not to mention how that is a horrible way to treat the guy she truly loves. He totally deserved better.

Still I was caught up in the story enough to wonder how exactly she was going to get out of her betrothal to Sir Hugh so she could be with William without getting half the cast of characters tortured, maimed, or killed in battle. Those are some pretty severe consequences for your choices and so made for good reading. It was interesting to learn more about hawking, as it seems it was sort of a medieval sport.


I think Whitman has beautiful prose and I loved reading many of her descriptions in the book. Despite, my few little nitpicks I found the book to be entertaining and enjoyable.

Visit the author's website

The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh

The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh

"Jack Perdue, a ninth grade classics prodigy, lives with his father on the Yale University campus. Smart and introverted, Jack spends most of his time alone, his nose buried in a book. But one winter evening, a near-fatal accident changes Jack’s life forever.

His father sends him to see a mysterious doctor in New York City—a place Jack hasn’t been since his mother died there eight years ago. In Grand Central Terminal, he meets Euri, a girl who offers to show him the train station’s hidden places, the ones only true urban explorers know about. Eight floors below the station, however, Jack discovers more than just hidden tracks and mysterious staircases..." (summary from author's website)

I don’t remember just how I came upon the summary for this title, but once I did I knew I wanted to read it. I put it on my to-read list and found it while browsing at the library two weeks ago.  Essentially, this could be cast as a retelling of the classic Greek myth about Orpheus and Euridice. This tragic tale about Orpheus tells of his quest into the underworld. While there he is permitted find his love Euridice and bring her back to the world of the living on the condition that he not look back while he leads her out. As in all tragedies Orpheus fails in his quest and looks back before they exit the underworld. Euridice is lost to him and Orpheus mourns greatly and is never the same again.

This novel put a new spin on the tale by changing the setting of the underworld  to the streets of New York City. Those who are familiar with the city’s many landmarks will be amused and delighted to experience them anew from a ghosts perspective—flying and swooping through the air and disappearing through walls. This version of the story becomes less a tragedy and more a mystery novel of sorts as Jack has to discover exactly why he was allowed to enter the Underworld in the first place while avoiding the three-headed dog Cerebus and other underworld guards. Jack finds companionship and love with Euri as they search the underworld for his mother. Each of the characters must face the conflict of finding closure with the finality of death.  I really enjoyed this read.  While not action-packed as most myth retellings these days, it gives a strong sense of place, complex conflicts, and characters that are worth rooting for. 

Also, the Latin didn’t hurt. There are lots of fun Latin phrases scattered throughout, and as a former Latin teacher I had lots of fun reading and enjoying familiar and new phrases. Also, I think I have mentioned before that I have an obsession with underworld fiction, as I find it fascinating. So, this also increased my enjoyment of this book.

Please check out Katherine Marsh's website.

Notes on books read in 2011

So, this list doesn’t have everything I read in 2011 as there are about a dozen more picture books that I didn’t bother to write down.

Overall, I was disappointed that I was unable to read many novels but I did have a lot of fun exploring the new medium of picture books. I also read a lot of short stories on daily science fiction.

I am also slightly disappointed that I only read three LDS Fiction novels. . (Paint Me True, Cross My Heart, Bumpy Landings)This depresses me, as that was the main purpose of this blog when I started out.  I will have to try and change that in 2011. I miss getting my LDS fiction from the basement of the HBLL. In fact, looking at those numbers makes me feel LDS fiction starved.  Sigh.

But perhaps I shouldn’t be too hard on myself as I read seven other novels by LDS authors. 

One thing that has brought me excitment this year is the announcement of the Mormonlitblitz short story contest. ( I submitted my story yesterday. Why don't you submit too? All the cool people are doing it.)  I have loved reading so many blogs discussing how we should renew our efforts to create a more authentic and rich Mormon culture through our writings. I also love how many have rejected the polarity between the sugary sweet fiction and the edgy fiction that just leaves everyone feeling uncomfortable.  I am really happy that we are asking ourselves and others to step up to the plate and create more options for readers and writers alike. We have been moving in this direction for a while now and I am glad to see it continue.   

I also read about hundred picture books and curiosity lead me to an interesting reading path. I feel as if there is a lot of information about LDS novelist out there, but I could not find one list or blog post about LDS picture book authors. I found this not only unacceptable but annoying and started out on a quest to find and read picture books written by LDS authors. Those savvy enough to know something about LDS picture book authors can see that I spent a lot of time this year reading (and writing reviews) of picture books by LDS authors.

So this year I will launch the LDS picture book project. Frankly, I am busy and don’t know how much I can devote to this project, but by the end of the year I will feature at least 12 LDS Picture Book authors and their books on this blog. See, now I am accountable and committed. I have hedged and hedged on this project probably because I don’t know how long I can sustain it. But at least there will be more out there on the internet about this topic.

So, if you want to help me out I’d love for you to tell me about your random aunt who is LDS and just happens to publish picture books. That’d save me hours of searching the internet. Also, I’d love to hear about your college roommate that now publishes picture books, and your Relief Society president, or anybody really. Seriously, I’m at the bottom of the barrel. Send more names fast.  

Books Read in 2011

List of Books read in 2011
183 Enchanted Ivy by Sarah Beth Durst

184 Bumpy Landings by Don Carey

 185 The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

186 Cross My Heart by Julie Wright

187 The Gurensey literary and Potato Peel Pie  Society by Annie Shaffer and Annie Barrows

188 Prisoners in the Palace by Michaela MacColl

189 The Aenied by Virgil 

190 Sean Griswold’s Head by Lindsey Leavitt

191 Sapphique by Catherine Fisher

192 The True Adventures  of Hector Kingsley By Kindal Debenham

193 Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet b y Jamie Ford

194 The Wretched of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler

195 Tounges Of Serpents by Naomi  Novik

196 Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming

197 Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury

198 Witch Song by Amber Argyle

199 Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George

200 The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke

201 Goliath by Scott Westerfeld

202 Wolves, Boys and Other Things That Might Kill Me by Kristen Chandler

203 Paint me True by E.M. Tippetts

204 Badger by Kindal Debenham

Picture Books:

Eric Carle

1 A Very Hungry Catapilar

2 The Very quiet cricket

3 Will you be my friend

4 The grouchy ladybug

5 Papa, please get the moon for me

Ian Falconer

6 Olivia by Ian Falconer

7 Olivia form a band

8 Olivia goes to venice

9 Olivia helps with Christmas

Mem Fox
10 Where is the Green Sheep

11 Hattie and the Fox

12 Hunwick’s Egg

 Candace Fleming

13 Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! By Candace Fleming

14 Tippy Tippy Hide

15 Sonny Boy the Life and Times of a Tortise

16 The Hatmaker’s sign

17 This is the baby

18 Clever Jack Takes the Cake

19 Imogene’s Last Stand

20 Seven Hungry Babies

Lois Elhert

21 Waiting for Wings by Lois Elhert

22 Nuts to you by Lois Elhert

Rick Walton

23 Baby’s first year

24 6000 rats a tale of conjunctions

25 The Fox Chased the Mouse a prepositional tale

26 So many bunnies

27 How can you dance

Caralyn Buehner

28 Snowmen all year

29 Snowmen at night

30 Fanny’s Dream

31 The Queen of Fashion

Emma Dodd

32 I don’t want a cool cat

33 What pet to get

34 Just like you

35 No matter what

Trudy Harris

36 The clock struck one

37 Tally cat keeps track

38 Splitting the herd

39 20 hungry piggies

40 Jenny Found A Penny

Cambria Evans

41 Bone Soup

42 Martha Moth Makes socks

Lezlie Evans

43 The bunnies Trip

44 The Bunnies Picnic

45 Can you count Ten Toes? Count to ten in 10 different languages

46 Who loves the little lamb

 Tana Hoban

47 A children’s Zoo

48 Cubes, Cones Cylinder and Spheres

49 Shadows and reflections

50 Let’s count

51 More Fewer Less

52 Let’s Count

53 Shapes, Shapes, Shapes

54 Is it red? Is it yellow? Is it blue?

Neil Gaiman

55 Blueberry Girl

56 Crazy Hair

Mo Willems

57 Knuffle Bunny

58 Knuffle Bunny Too

59 Knuffle Bunny Free

60 Don’t let the Pigeon Drive the bus

61 Don’t let the pigeon stay up late

62 The Pigeon finds a hot dog

63 The Pigeon wants a Puppy

64 Hooray for Amanda and her Alligator

65 Time to say Please

Brandon Doorman

66 Pirates of the Sea

67 Santa’s Stowaway

Kristyn Crow

68 Middles Child Blues

69 Bedtime in the Swamp

70 Cool Daddy Rat

71 The Really Groovy Story of the Tortoise and the Hare

Sharlee Glenn

72 Just What Mama Needs

73 Keeping up with Roo

 Misc authors

74 The Night Pirates by Peter Harris

75 Mail Harry to the Moon by Robie H. Harris

 76 The Duchess of Whimsy by Randall De Seve

77 Scapegoat by Dean Hale

78 Waiting for Mama by Lee Tae-Jun

79 The Wizard by Jack Prelutsky

80 Halloween night by Majorie Dennis Murray

81 The legend of the bluebonnet by Tomie De Patola

82 Bedtime for Bear by Brent Helquist

83 Heckedy Peg by Audrey Wood

84 Itsy-bitsy-babies by Margaret Wild

85 Baby Knows Best by Kathy Henderson

86 Baby Talk: a book of first words and phrases by Judy Hindley

87 City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems

89 Edwina: The dinosaur who didn’t know she was extinct

90 Absolutely Positively Alexander by Judith Viorst

91 Wild Witches Ball by Jack Prelutsky
92. Piggies by Audrey Wood

2011 was a VERY BUSY year

So, this year was kind of a huge one for me and my family. There were a lot of life altering changes.

In January I was still teaching Latin and struggling to get all my lesson plans done, my grades in on time, and expecting the small wiggling creature inside of my tummy to come forth in a few months. I thought I would go back, but ended up not going back. So, I changed my vocation to stay at home mom instead of Latin teacher.  

In March that wee little wiggling creature was born and I was immediately attached to her. She cried a lot, ate a lot, and slept a lot.  Now, holy crap, she eats cheerios on her own and crawls about to where her whimsical heart takes her. She is naughty and angelic not to mention the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen. I also tell her that she has got to stop this growing thing, but she refuses to listen. She cries less, laughs more but is still absolutely exhausting. She loves to go outside, and it is nice and convenient that it is still 60 degrees in Texas this week. Her favorite toy this month is the piano. It has superseded her love of bath time.  She loves to bang on the keys and since I have a fancy electronic one that has hundreds of different instrument sound options she has learned how to change the sound from grand piano to the oboe or some other strange musical instrument I haven’t heard of before and squeals happily when the sound comes out different when she pounds away again.    

This summer my husband and I launched our own ebook business by publishing two short stories, Killer and The Missing Figurine. We went on one of our long walks together and decided to name it Wandering Leaf Publishing. You can learn more about what we are doing with the company at its website www.wanderingleafpublishing.com

Most of my current efforts have been devoted toward this endeavor. I remember breaking down crying (in my defense I was very very VERY sleep deprived) over the fact that I could not figure out how to use gimp, a free photo editing software that was recommended to us by Joe.  Whereas this month I made an original cover, did a hardcover layout for another cover, and made some cool bookmarks using this formerly foreign program. Huzzah! I had some awesome help from my friend Aneeka. We are grateful for her support and proud of how she has blossomed her own business this year at Not A VillianComic.

This October marked the year anniversary of our online writing group that we host over skype every week. These people have blessed our lives and we are so happy to have them in our lives as friends and fellow writers. Thanks Andy, Ben, Kayla, Megan, Alisa, and Joe.

This year Kindal wrote Badger, (I read it and LOVED it) Iron Angels, and The True Adventures of Hector Kingsley part II(so excited to read it!). So, he’s been kind of crazy and writing his brains out, but this is what he wants to do, and so we are going to figure out how to make this writing thing work.

I had a good writing year strangely enough. I typed out Alderik’s Quest one painful sentence at a time as I nursed Sera.  She nested in the bobby pillow as I put the laptop in my lap in those early sleep deprived days. This lead to a short story kick, and I wrote Christmas Cars, Twin Swords, Christmas Gingerbread Man, The Shoe App, and Ruby’s Piano.  I also rewrote my Sleeping Beauty and the God of Death story. I also stared a novel called Boys, Bells, and Blessings and got 20,000 words written. Not too bad for a new mom right?

November my parents left for another mission. They are currently in south England, and I had fun last night planning to visit them there next year. I am excited that might get to go back! I will get to wander around castle ruins with Kindal. Seriously people, I made this a goal when we were first married. Take Kindal to a Castle and next year we might get to do it. Better yet, we get to take the wee one with us. Kindal and Sera at a castle together with me! Huzzah! November we also lined up some cover artists. Found an Editor, Tristi Pinkston. Did the final formatting and editing to Wolfhound. 

December we published Wolfhound and Christmas Cars. We sent the True Adventures of Hector Kingsley off to an Editor. Got the Cover Art for the True Adventures of Hector Kingsley. Best of all is that we are going to be with family for Christmas! PA here we come.  We are so very much happy with all the blessings that we have received this year, especially for our little Sera. We love to see her little smile first thing every morning and love to chase her around before she goes down for the night. She is a sweet and active little soul that makes our lives more exhausting but also more interesting. We are thankful for the support of family and friends and for the opportunities that we have had to grow. We are also grateful for the Savior, who has got us through the dark days and helped us enjoy the bright ones with peaceful hearts.

Heckedy Peg by Audrey Wood

Heckedy Peg by Audrey Wood
Seven children, all named after the days of the week, are left at home with two rules from their mother. The first is not to let any strangers in and the second is to stay away from fire. The children play while their mother goes to the market for food, but an old woman comes by and asks to be let in. They children refuse but she offers them a bag of gold. They let her in and are trapped in the witches spell. Their mother must come to their rescue and break the curse cast upon them.

I really loved this story. The illustrations are beautiful paintings full of light and life. The painting from the cover is what got me to pick this one up and take it home from the library. I also loved the fact that it has all the classic characteristics of a fairy tale story, yet I had never heard it before. So, if you love those fairy tale classics but want to read something new, then Heckedy Peg would be a delightful read for you.  This one was a bit long for the little Sera, but oh well. I liked it at least and so did the hubby. He kept peeking over as I read it.

After looking at this Audrey Wood's wonderful website I want to find and read more books by her!

Follow Friday

The Follow Friday Question is:
Q: Keeping with the Spirit of Giving this season, what book do you think EVERYONE should read and if you could, you would buy it for all of your family and friends?

I think I would choose Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld or Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. Both are awesome innovative books that have lots of adventure and good characters.

Don't forget to check out the Wolfhound Christmas Giveaway while you visit!
Everyone who enters wins an e-book christmas story!

Wolfhound Christmas Contest

Alright people! It is officially December 9^th and the Kickoff of my  Wolfhound Christmas giveaway!

The best part about this giveaway away is that everyone is a winner!  EVERYONE who enters will receive a coupon to download my Christmas story The Missing Figurine on Smashwords.

Two people will win copies of Anita Stansfield’s Chrismas novels Home for Christmas or A Christmas Melody.  Entrants will also we entered to win a free e-book copy of Wolfhound by Kindal Debenham if they participate next week also.

3 Ways to earn entry points:

Friend my blog

Post about this contest on facebook/twitter

Tell your blog readers about the release of Wolfhound

Feel free to snag one of these pics:

Remember to win a copy of wolfhound you must enter the contest this week and next week. Tell me how you entered and leave your email address  in the comments so I can send you a coupon to download a free copy of The Missing Figurine.

The prizes this week:

Note: I will not ship internationally, but if an international contestant wins the drawing I will email them an e-book copy of Wolfhound instead of the book prize.

Paint Me True by E.M. Tippetts

So a couple years ago I read a new release by E.M Tippetts. Loved the cover, loved the story, loved the writing. Then I discovered that she had a falling out with her publisher over some contract details and I was sad because it didn’t look like I was going to read any books by her for a long time. So, I was thrilled when E.M. Tippetts contacted me to let me know that she had a new book out, Paint Me True. This time she had decided to indie-publish.
Paint Me True by E.M. Tippetts

The story of Eliza a thirty-year-old looking for love in a singles ward begins as she is breaking up with Len, her boyfriend for the last six months. She thinks he was going to propose and instead he throws her a celebratory break up dinner instead. With her pride hurt, Eliza limps back to her life as an artist, paining in an empty house that her stepmother can’t sell in the housing market.

Then she receives a phone call from her Aunt Nora in England, who has broken her arm and refuses to get treatment because she doesn’t want an x-ray. Eliza, having lost her mother, two sisters, aunts, and grandmothers to cancer because of a genetic mutation that runs in the family, packs and leaves everything to help the last living female relative in her family. While dealing with her aunt’s stubborn attitude toward all medical institutions Eliza paints scenes for Nora of her deceased husband to keep her motivated and strong.   As in all good plot lines not everything about Nora’s life is as it seems, as her medical conditions complicate, and her noisy relatives reveal past secrets, Eliza learns about true love, friendship, and how to change after making a huge mistake. 

My Review:

The breakup scene was hilarious and I empathized more with Len than I did with Eliza, who really was a rather shallow thirty one-year-old. It was pretty obvious that she looked down on Len for some of his nerdy and sloppy habits. Still, despite the fact that it seemed like this guy hadn’t bought himself any new clothes since his mission his genuinely caring personality comes out. Therein lies the genius of this romance novel. Even when Eliza is in Britain dating a hot new doctor, the reader’s heart is commiserating with the lonely soft-hearted computer/gamer geek back in the states.

In fact, it becomes rather clear that Eliza has made a huge mistake but if she thinks it is going to be easy to get Len back she has got another thing coming. E.M. Tippetts turns romance tropes on their head by switching gender stereotypes as Eliza now has to be the one who wins the guy back after her huge lapse in character judgment. In this touching novel characters are painted with true and realistic personalities that make them memorable, lovable, and endearing.  I laughed out loud, felt the deep loneliness of the single life, and was strengthened by Eliza’s patient faith in the face incredible trial.

The formatting of the book is beautiful with lovely chapter headings and a professional cover. As I reader I didn't like Eliza at first, as she is kind of a jerk but I think the novel does a good job of making her sympathetic by showing that she is willing to grow and change. There were a few typos, and there was a mistake when Eliza’s home teachers gave her a blessing. They sealed the blessing even though it was only a blessing of comfort and counsel and not a healing blessing. Despite these mistakes I loved this book and I am thrilled that I get to read another LDS Fiction work by E.M. Tippetts again.

Her next book is coming out in December, Someone Else’s Fairytale. According to her blog it will be free the entire month of December. So be sure to pick it up and sample this wonderful author’s work. I hope you love her work as much as I do and purchase, Paint Me True.

And don’t forget! It is Whitney nominating season!

Visit E.M. Tippetts Website

Wolfhound Christmas giveaway!

It is time for a Christmas celebration this December and so I am going to host a few giveaways! What are we celebrating in particular you may ask? Well, my husband Kindal is going to publish his first novel this month and I've written two Christmas stories that I want to give to you this year in exchange for your super blogging powers.

There will be two weeks of celebration December 9th-23rd!

The first week 9th-16th I will give away two out of print copies of Anita Stansfield's Christmas novels Home For Christmas, and A Christmas Melody. Everyone who enters this week will get a coupon to download a free e-book copy of my short Christmas story The Missing Figurine at Smashwords.

The second week 16th-23rd I will give away an ARC of How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr, and everyone who enters will get a coupon to download a free e-book copy of my YA christmas story Christmas Cars at Smashwords.

Those who participate in both giveaways will be entered into a raffle to win an e-book copy of my husband's first book Wolfhound.

Entry details will be forthcomming on the 9th of December.