FAIL.

So we went to the National Book Festival today in DC. It was great for the first hour or so. We checked out books from all 50 states, got a free Maisy Mouse book for three year-olds, and watched someone talk about their new picture book, 14 Cows For America. And guess who showed up? Rick Riordan.
Haha. Yes, him. He was signing books, of course. I toted around my copy of The Last Olympian to the signing desk. And waited. Among tons of literally bouncing boys wearing Camp Half-Blood t-shirts. And girls wearing Yankees caps (Intu will get that one).
Then it started to rain.
I mean, AUGH.
It wasn't too bad, but water droplets add up fast. Most people got wet, except for those who were hiding under the umbrellas of smart people. I did that. We waited in the moshpit of a line for another hour, and when we finally got close enough to actually see the big "Book Signing" banner, the staff told us that Mr. Riordan was leaving to do his speech in the pavilion. Everyone left totally downcast. So my book remains exactly as it was before.
Well, maybe it got wet too.
Fail.

By the way...
Don't take this the wrong way, but Rick Riordan looked like his neck disappeared because his shirt collar was so big.

Suite Scarlett

How about an average chick lit book to conclude my two-week (or something) absence. I cringe.
So hopefully you remember Maureen Johnson, the author of 13 Little Blue Envelopes. This is one of her, ah, lesser-known books. I seriously could predict the basic plotline of this book, although a few times there was an unexpected twist or two. The characters also sometimes seemed a little too perfect, even though they're constantly described as having many problems. The high point for me was the to-the-point and funny narration. The low point, if there was one, is the high cliche level. I read the back of the book and I went, Gee thanks. Now I know what happens.

Sometimes Scarlett Martin and her large family (who each gets a suite when they turn fifteen) can't help but daydream of the time when the Hopewell, their New York hotel, was full of exotic guests, their family members each brought in tons of money, and everyone's relationships were simple. Now there's only three customers at a time, all the staff members have been laid off, and Lola, the oldest child, just broke up with her not-so-money-challenged boyfriend. And when Scarlett gets her very first guest in her suite (who happens to be a movie star who can pull a LOT of strings), she doesn't know what to make of her life. Not to mention her playacting brother just happened to bring his new friend/fight partner home. Scarlett likes him. Very much.

Related links:
• Author's website
• Author's blog

The Goodness Gene

For some reason, I found that it was a lot harder for me to actually get into this book than usual. Maybe the topic of genetics (which is usually interesting to me) was off, or maybe it was boring. Or both.
Yeah. Probably both.
So. Although The Goodness Gene got off to a slow start, the overall dystopian world was very different, and I like the eerie look into our future it provides. Technology played a big part in the storyline, but it sometimes got a bit tricky figuring out what everything is and what they do, especially in the beginning. The characters of the story were well-done, for the most part, and you could really see some changes in personality by the end of the book. The plot was kind of choppy and unfeeling, though, but I think it got much better later on. If cloning, heavy duty sci-fi, and humanity is something you like, this is probably a good read for you.

As the son of the Compassionate Director, Will has always been expected to follow in his dictator father's footsteps. He has been brought up in the spotless, uber-high-tech near-fantasy world of 2305. Then, when the Director feels it's time for Will to start learning how to lead a nation, Will is sent on a "pageant" around the not-so-wealthy world around him that he hardly knew about. There, among the actually organically grown food and the obsolete technology, he meets Leora, a beautiful girl who seems to know everything about the Earth, their history, and even a secret or two she's hiding from Will.
But maybe it's better if she never tells him about, well, him.

Related links:
• Author's website
• Wikipedia article on cloning

So Yesterday

Oh man. I feel so bad that I haven't posted for more than a week!!! The treacherous hand of homework is beginning to close upon me...
Hopefully this weekend will bring more stuff. Articles, if I can't review something.
Okay. Book. I have been on a Scott Westerfeld roll these days, and this is one of his older books. I absolutely love the main idea of his story, and the way he pictured being "cool". Apparently there is behind-the-scenes work done to shape the world's idea of popular things. The characters seemed a bit underdeveloped (except the narrator, of course), though. Also, the whodunit part of the book was clichéd (first half: ooh, suspense! Second half: huh? Where'd the mystery go?) Other than that, the descriptions were pretty nice, there were quite a few funny spots, and the witty dialogue was on the spot. A good choice if you like chick lit-ty, unique novels about fame and being cool.

It's very important for people like Hunter to keep their real life a secret. His coworkers, called "cool hunters", traipse around the New York City streets to look for random strangers who have something the cool hunters believe could be it. A picture is taken, and sent back to their boss (of a sort), Mandy. Then the whole group keeps it quiet, sending an Innovator to show off this newborn fad, and sooner or later, it becomes popular. So one day, Hunter spots Jen, a girl with some very neat shoelaces, and gets her picture and talks to Mandy. But when Hunter takes Jen to one of his cool hunting conferences, he realizes what an Innovator she would make. And that special leadership quality is put to the test when Mandy suddenly goes missing. Following a sure trail of clues, the two intrepid teens embark on an undercover mission to find who kidnapped Mandy. And everyone's looking suspicious.

Related links:
• Author's blog

Pretties

I'm not sure how he does it, but Scott Westerfeld somehow combined aspects of today's teen troubles (such as drugs and cutting) and stick them into a futuristic, dystopian-in-a-way world in a context that's different but still makes sense. For example, two of the characters starve themselves, but only to get clamped handcuffs off their wrists. Plus, the world he created even has its own unique language and cliques (something that he's pretty fond of, judging by his other books). In terms of plot, Pretties had a healthy dose of adventure and survival, plus some boy woes and recurring villains. Although I couldn't shake the feeling that it was staged so much like Uglies, the first book in the series. I mean, first half of the book, everything's fine and dandy, then something is learned, and then comes a survival part and then in the end, the main character is changed. Hmm.

Despite the constant parties, fun, and clothes in her new life as a pretty, Tally can't help but know in the back of her mind what her old life was like. Chopping trees, getting hoverboard scrapes, and outdoor toilets. I mean, ewww. But her faded memories are confirmed when she gets a letter from her past self telling her that being pretty is almost like living with an empty head, and follows the instructions to become real again. But now a secretive government group has figured out that Tally's mind isn't as blank as she and her boyfriend are pretending, and they're coming to get her. No matter what it takes.

Related links:
• Author's blog
• Official series site
• Series fansite

The Supernaturalist

Another book by Eoin Colfer, The Supernaturalist (or as one character mistakenly thinks, the Naturists) has a very interesting plot and cast. The story was full to the brim with out-of-the-box adventure and fighting scenes, as well as backstabbers, moody teenagers, and creatures made of gobs of blue. This book took on a more serious tone than Artemis Fowl, although Colfer seemed to still have a blast with heaps of sci-fi futuristic...stuff. The Supernaturalist was pretty much made of equal parts action, extraterrestrial life, and the consequences and reasons of misunderstanding.

For fourteen torture-filled years, Cosmonaut Hill has been recruited to the Clarissa Frayne Institute for Parentally Challenged Boys. Clarissa Frayne is an orphanage, a medical testing laboratory, and above all, a horrid place where the "caretakers", or marshals, get to vent their considerable anger at the working kids. So one day, when the vehicle they were being transported in was in an accident, Cosmo and his friend escape. Except...he, too, almost died in an accident involving rooftops, a broken nose, and a very, very angry marshal. And as Cosmo feels the life leaving him, he sees a small blue figure sucking the life out of him. Cosmo would've died, if it weren't for a raggedy group of three people armed with lightning rods, who blasted the little blue guys into smithereens. When the strange group realize Cosmo's potential, they decide to adopt him and introduce Cosmo to a behind-the-scenes world of real risks. And...Pigmobiles...?

Related links:
• Author's website

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Huzzah! It's my first book review since we moved!
The description on the back of this book says that "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read." I daresay that is a very true statement (daresay. Now I'M talking like the book)! Basically, Seth Grahame-Smith took Jane Austen's famous novel and added parts to it consisting of zombies and the like, actually making it hilarious and fun to read. I love the way the original old-fashioned (and slightly hard to understand) writing was intermingled with words such as "vomit", "ninja", and "brains". Sometimes, it was painfully obvious where Austen's writing ended and Grahame-Smith's started. Technically, this isn't his fault, because writers are supposed to have their own style and blah blah blah. Despite the characters lacking as much pizazz as the added writing, PaPaZ makes a rollicking read for anyone in pursuit of well-tweaked literature.

As a strange plague of zombies, or the "unmentionables", arrives in England, every man, woman, and child must learn how to defend themselves, whether by sword, karate, or musket. One family with five daughters, the Bennets, have prided themselves on their combined training and charming personality, especially their second daughter, Elizabeth.
In other words, they're crazy good.
The Bennet girls have attracted many young men as husbands, but there has never been one so skilled in fighting, odd in personality, and dashing in general as Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Who just happened to maybe fall in love with Elizabeth. As jealousy attacks, relationships flare, and zombies rage, will the Bennets be able to stick it out to the end?

Related links:
• Wikipedia article on Pride and Prejudice

Wikipedia is a lovely place, no?