In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

FROM NETGALLEY AND FOR BLOG TOUR:

The Beauty Book by Nancy Rue

Here's Lily by Nancy Rue

Stay Tuned by Lauren Clark

Review: The Arctic Incident (Artemis Fowl #2) by Eoin Colfer

SUMMARY FROM GOODREADS.COM:

Artemis Fowl receives an urgent e-mail from Russia. In it is a plea from a man who has been kidnapped by the Russian Mafiya: his father. As Artemis rushes to his rescue, he is stopped by a familiar nemesis, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon Unit. Now, instead of battling the fairies, Artemis must join forces with them if he wants to save one of the few people in the world he loves.

MY TAKE:

This book is part 2 in the galley I received from NetGalley.

Picking up a year after the first book, The Arctic Incident finds Artemis Fowl trying to save his father from the Russian Mafiya. But before he does, he has to work together with the fairies to stop a rebellion that could make saving his father pointless.

I was looking forward to reading this and this book did not disappoint. Artemis remains as witty as ever and even better, he shows his vulnerability as well. Captain Holly Short, whom I didn't like in the first book, started to grow on me.

As usual, the plot is awesome. Not exactly unexpected, but interesting enough for me to continue reading. Mr. Colfer's writing style propelled the book forward, so to speak.

Thanks to NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion for the e-copy.

THE GOOD:

1. Interesting characters.
2. Fast-paced story.
3. Original concepts.

THE BAD:

1. The book is kind of short and packs maybe a little too much in one book.

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

When would people learn that a mind such as his could not be dissected?

READ IT IF:

1. You liked the first book.
2. You like war movies and books.
3. You like books with intelligent characters.

RATING:

SOUNDS INTERESTING?

Review: Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl #1) by Eoin Colfer

SUMMARY FROM GOODREADS.COM:

Twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl is a millionaire, a genius, and, above all, a criminal mastermind. But even Artemis doesn't know what he's taken on when he kidnaps a fairy, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon Unit. These aren't fairies of bedtime stories; these fairies are armed and dangerous.

Artemis thinks he has them right where he wants them...but then they stop playing by the rules.

MY TAKE:

I've been meaning to read the Artemis Fowl books for some time now but I've been putting them off because I still had plenty of books to read. However, when I saw that NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion were releasing special editions of the book, I immediately took the opportunity to get started on the series.

Artemis Fowl is the story of 12-year-old genius Artemis Fowl's attempt to divest the fairies of gold.

I enjoyed this book a lot. Artemis is a charming and interesting anti-hero and I was rooting for him the entire time. He's a clever kid and I liked how he was able to come up with such amazing ideas and deductions ala Sherlock Holmes.

Part of the reason I was cheering Artemis on was because I couldn't stand Holly Short. There was just something about her that rubbed me the wrong way. I did like the Root and Foaly, though. They were funny and not caricature-ish at all.

Thanks to NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion for the e-copy.

THE GOOD:

1. Artemis is clever but lovable.
2. The plot is interesting.
3. The world-building is incredible.

THE BAD:

1. Some characters can get annoying.

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

He cast his eyes upward, along the stairs. It had been too much to hope for that he could trust the fairy.

READ IT IF:

1. You like clever anti-heroes.
2. You like new takes on old mythologies or folklore.
3. You like thrillers.

RATING:


SOUNDS INTERESTING?

Review: The Get Yourself Organized Project by Kathi Lipp

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

Finally, an organizational book for women who have given up trying to be Martha Stewart but still desire some semblance of order in their lives.

Most organizational books are written by and for people who are naturally structured and orderly. For the woman who is more ADD than type A, the advice sounds terrific but seldom works. These women are looking for help that takes into account their free-spirited outlook while providing tips and tricks they can easily follow to live a more organized life.

Kathi Lipp, author of The Husband Project and other “project” books, is just the author to address this need. In her inimitable style, she offers

• easy and effective ways women can restore peace to their everyday lives
• simple and manageable long-term solutions for organizing any room in one’s home (and keeping it that way)
• a realistic way to de-stress a busy schedule
• strategies for efficient shopping, meal preparation, cleaning, and more

Full of helpful tips and abundant good humor, The Get Yourself Organized Project is for those who want to spend their time living and enjoying life rather than organizing their sock drawer.

MY TAKE:

I always say I'm going to keep the house clean, but after just a few days of cleaning, everything's a mess again.

For messy or disorganized girls like me, The Get Yourself Organized Project is definitely a useful read. This book gives you a room-by-room guide on how to organize your room and your life.

One of the best things I learned from this book is that you should try to work with your habits and not force yourself to organize according to how you think you should do things. It makes total sense. If you're used to dumping your shoes in one place, then creating a shoe rack in a whole other place is going to make it harder for you to keep organized because you're not used to it.

The content gets a little repetitive towards the end, but overall, this is still a good buy. Plus, there are some suggestions for projects you can do and guides you can download to help you get organized.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harvest House Publishers for the e-ARC. Publication date of The Get Yourself Organized Project is on May 1, 2012.

THE GOOD:

1. It has plenty of good tips.
2. There are plenty of light-hearted and funny stories.
3. The author's writing style is very easy to get comfortable with.

THE BAD:

1. It can get boring and repetitive.

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

Be kind to your family, and to yourself, and once a path appears, follow the path.

READ IT IF:

1. You find it hard to get organized.
2. You need some motivation to get organized.
3. You find most organizing books boring and useless.

RATING:

SOUNDS INTERESTING?

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• 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!

"Amazing," said Root.

"Tell me about it," agreed Foaly.

Review: Out of the Blue by Vanita Oelschlager

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

Out of the Blue shows children the magic of idioms - words that separately have one meaning, but together take on something entirely different. Children are curious about words, especially phrases that make them laugh ("Tickled Pink"), sound silly ("Shrinking Violet") or trigger images that tickle a child's sense of the absurd ("A Red Letter Day"). Out of the Blue uses outlandish illustrations of what the words describe literally.

MY TAKE:

I enjoyed this book.

Out of the Blue's strength is the hilarious drawings that take idioms literally. There are also explanations for each idiom that are written upside down at the bottom of the page. There's also additional information about idioms at the end of the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and VanitaBooks LLC for the e-ARC. Publication date of Out of the Blue is May 1, 2012.

THE GOOD:

1. Good learning tool for kids.
2. Cute illustrations.
3. Explanations are present.

THE BAD:

1. Too short.

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

In the pink

READ IT IF:

1. You want to teach your child about idioms.
2. You like cute picture books.
3. You want a book that you can read with your child.

RATING:


SOUNDS INTERESTING?

Review: Knees: The Mixed-Up World of a Boy With Dyslexia by Vanita Oelschlager

SUMMARY FROM NETGALELY.COM:

Knees shows the ups and downs of life with dyslexia. We have done this book in the style and size of a chapter book so that younger children and older children at low reading levels can read what seems to be an older child's book. We cover dyslexia's symptoms and the reasons school can be hard for dyslexics. We talk about some famous people who had or have dyslexia.

MY TAKE:

Most people already have a vague idea about dyslexia, but for children who have it, it's something that can be very frustrating for them.

Knees: The Mixed-Up World of a Boy With Dyslexia is told from the point-of-view of Louis the Third, a young, dyslexic 4th grader. Through rhymes, Louie brings up the symptoms of dyslexia

and examples of dyslexic people, such as Einstein, in a language that is easy for young kids to understand.

It has a very encouraging message for kids, dyslexic or not, so it's worth a read for any young child.

Thank you to NetGalley and VanitaBooks LLC for the e-ARC. Publication date of Knees: The Mixed-Up World of a Boy With Dyslexia is on May 1, 2012.

THE GOOD:

1. It's an important topic for kids to learn about.
2. Beautiful illustrations.
3. Easy to understand rhymes and storyline.

THE BAD:

1. The illustrations are not colored.

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

My mom understands me,

But that's a mom's job.

READ IT IF:

1. You or your child is dyslexic.
2. You know someone who is dyslexic.
3. You have young children.

RATING:

SOUNDS INTERESTING?