CSN Bookshelf Product review

As I mentioned a few days ago, I was asked to select an item for review from the massively huge CSN Stores catalog. After looking around at all their fun stuffs, I finally decided on a much needed bookshelf for my little boy's room. Mostly due to my inability to stop buying books, the little turkey has long since outgrown his puny little shelf so I thought this was a perfect time for an upgrade.

The exact shelf I picked out is the KidKraft Avalon 46" Bookcase in honey wood. To my surprise the shelf actually arrived yesterday - since I only ordered it last week, that was some speedy shipping.

Here's what Mr. FedEx brought:

Inside, all the individual pieces were packed tightly with just the right amount of padding so that nothing got scratched or dented during shipping.

I took all the pieces out of the box (just like Christmas morning!) and was even more impressed. Each piece of the shelf is made from solid wood and the directions were really clear and concise with plenty of pictures for non-mechanical folks like me.

My little 'helper' laying out all the pieces.

Even better, all you needed to put the shelf together was an allen wrench - which was included - so setting it up was a breeze. In fact I have no shots of me putting it together because I was finished in like 15 minutes.

And here it is all assembled. It looks exactly like I thought it would and I'm pleasantly surprised to say that it's really quite sturdy. Considering it's go into a toddler's room, that's always a good thing. 

I'm really happy with the final product. It matches my little guy's other furniture perfectly and holds tons of books - they all fit in with plenty of room to grow! I am in love.

Although watching the little man immediately run over and begin pulling out books to read may have completely melted my heart. Just a little bit.

White Cat by Holly Black

Holly Black's dark and character-driven novels are not for everyone. Although popular, I never did find myself falling in love with her modern faerie tale novels Tithe and Valiant. So I was a bit hesitant to pick up her latest book, White Cat, knowing it again featured a dark, convoluted storyline starring a family of brothers with magical abilities, known as 'curse workers,' working in a mafia-esque empire of danger and revenge.

Wait a minute.

That sounds like something I'd be all over.

Bring it on Ms. Black.

In Cassel Sharpe's alternate reality, Curse Workers have the power to alter emotions, grant you luck, break your leg, or even kill you with a single touch of their bare skin. Although 'working' was outlawed in the early 1920s, curse workers have continued to thrive outside of the law under the direction of mafia-like families of magical users. Cassel hails from a long and impressive line of curse workers and con artists. And while he's not a worker like his brothers Phillip and Barron, he can definitely claim the con artist status. But Cassel is going straight. While his mom serves time in jail, Cassel is attending an exclusive private school and trying to act normal - even if he does run a small-time betting ring to cover his daily expenses. Yet the perfect image he has so painstakingly constructed begins to crumble when Cassel begins dreaming about a white cat asking for his help and sleepwalking at school. Confused with the jumbled snatches of memory from his past and the various versions of truth his brothers offer in explanation for their increasingly odd behavior, Cassel finds himself deep in the tangled web of a mysterious conspiracy spanning years and involving every person he has ever loved.

In White Cat, nothing is as it seems: from the 'public' image Cassel creates of himself, his relationship with his brothers and mom, or to his own perception of himself and his abilities. Compelling and gritty, Cassel finds truth spilling forward at the most unexpected moments from the unlikeliest of sources. I am utterly intrigued to discover where Holly Black will take the Sharpe brothers next. All three have this unique love/hate relationship with each other, tied up in knots alongside their conflicting loyalties and hopes for the future. Not to mention their own skewed perceptions of family and loyalty. It's some truly heady stuff. Then there's Cassel's grandpa who is decidedly old school but who everyone just sees as old. But wowza, the man is a killer. Literally. Although I do wish he wouldn't spend so much time being cryptic with Cassel - his insights could have saved him buckets of time.

Although it did take me a few chapters to really warm up to Cassel, sections like this one quickly helped me to see just what a unique and intelligent guy he really is.

Mom says that because she can make people feel what she wants them to, she knows how they think. She says that if I was like her, I'd have the instinct too. Maybe being a worker tempts you to be all mystical, but I think mom knows about people because she watches faces very closely. There're these looks people get that last less than a second -- micro-expressions, they call them, fleeting clues that reveal a lot more than we wish. I think my mother sees those without even noticing. I see them too.

Like, walking back toward the coffee shop with the cat in my arms, I can tell that Sam is freaked out by the con, by his part in it, by my planning it. I can tell. No matter how much he smiles.

I'm not my mother, though. I'm no emotion worker. Knowing that he's freaked out doesn't help me. I can't make him feel any different.

How could I not fall instantly in love with Cassel's profusion of con-man lingo and his obvious removal from anything remotely resembling a 'normal' relationship. Familial or friendly. In Cassel's world, a mother wouldn't hesitate to use her ability to manipulate her children's emotions or reward her kids for successfully pulling off a con. Heart-breaking but so incredibly engrossing. In this exceptionally character-driven novel, Holly Black has crafted a world so unlike any other YA book I've come across. White Cat is dark. Gritty. Intense. Just my kind of story.

series reading order:
~ White Cat
~ Red Glove (?May 2011?)

Because Everyone Likes a Second Opinion:
All Things Urban Fantasy review
Alpha Reader review
The Book Smugglers review 
The Compulsive Reader review
Dear Author review
Pure Imagination review

book source: my local library

Summer Break Reading Challenge #2: Wordle

For the second activity of the Summer Break Reading Challenge, Karin asked us to take one of our recent favorite reads and turn it into a Wordle. I practically died from an overload of awesomeness after reading Patrick Rothfuss' gorgeois fantasy debut The Name of the Wind so I knew that was the book I was going to choose if only to see how big the word 'cloak' was used. Pretty nifty.

Summer Break Reading Challenge

Since one of my main goals for this summer is to wade through the pile of books sitting unread and looking forlorn on my exploding bookshelves, I thought I'd have some fun and join in on the Summer Break Reading Challenge hosted by KarinLibrarian.








Here are a few of the books that I've been wanting to pick up for some time or that are giving me the stink eye from my shelf. I've got until the end of August, so hopefully I can make a dent in this pile:

The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs
Fallen by Lauren Kate
The Hollow by Jessica Verday
That was Then, This is Now by S.E. Hinton
Plus by Veronica Chambers
Gone, Hunger and Lies by Michael Grant
Maximum Ride series by James Patterson
Cry of the Icemark by Stuart Hill
Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
Firespell by Chloe Neill
Geek Charming by Robin Palmer
Invisible Girl by Mary Hanlon Stone
War on the Margins by Libby Cone
Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancy

That's all for now, I'm sure this list will change/grow as summer progresses but here's my starting point. Now I just have to decide where to begin.

Mistwood by Leah Cypess

Deep in the magical forest known as the Mistwood lives a creature known as the Shifter. Blessed with the ability to shift into any shape she pleases, the shifter has one purpose: to serve and protect the kings of Samorna. But no one has seen the Shifter for many years until Prince Rokan dares to enter the dangerous Mistwood in search of this almost-mythical creature, hoping that she will be able to keep him safe. Feeling an inexplicable urge to follow and protect Rokan, the Shifter Isabel follows him out of the forest and into a castle shrouded in danger, lies, and half-truths. Isabel herself has no memory of her existence before the Prince found her but understands deep within herself that her one duty is to protect Rokan from the threat he refuses to explain. A little at a time, Isabel begins to regain her memories of palace life and the past; clues that do more to confuse than to help Isable unravel the secrets surrounding Prince Rokan's court. Surrounded by those she cannot trust - including the Prince himself - and beset by personal doubts, Isabel strives to protect Rokan, someone she is bound to serve yet who she is also coming to see as something more.

There are so many wonderful things I would like to say about Leah Cypess' lovely debut Mistwood. First off the cover. Holy cow it is ever gorgeous! And I'm happy to report that the insides are just as pretty. Leah Cypess has crafted a compelling world with characters who utterly refuse to be pigeon-holed into any specific category. No one is completely good or evil, trust-worthy or disloyal - all of which makes Isabel's task of uncovering those seeking to harm the Prince that much more difficult. Isabel herself is even a bit of a contradiction. Although non-human, she is continually disturbed by the all-too human emotions of fear and worry and confusion. Emotions which she keeps tightly controlled, even thought it seemed as if on every page she was this close to erupting.

Then there is the cunning and devious Clarisse, Rokan's sister, who Isabel is wary of on sight. Clarisse is a strong female with brains to spare and Isabel is right to be suspicious of her since the reader never truly understands where her sympathies lie - even at the end of the book! I have a sneaking suspicion she is one of those people who end up on the winning side of any conflict, immaterial of the side she began on. She's a puzzle and I was glued to page every time she and Isabel would spar. Like this early scene (even though Clarisse doesn't really say anything), when Clarisse pays Isabel an unexpected visit for the first time.

She turned and walked away without waiting for a response, and Isabel watched her go with narrowed eyes. She did not like that smile. It was too smug. Clarisse had come here for a specific purpose and had accomplished it.

She came, Isabel thought with a flash of clarity, to see me. To decide what she thought of me, and what she could get out of me.

It had been an attack, of sorts, and people did fight who lived in castles like these. Not with fists and feet and claws, but with words and whispers and influence. Isabel couldn't remember having been here before, but she knew. It was a fight, or rather a game, with many players and many rules and many strategies.

She smiled suddenly, feeling her blood pump through her veins. She didn't know how, and she didn't know why, but she was suddenly sure it was a game she knew how to play.

And that's just the beginning. There is absolutely nothing predictable about the stunningly mysterious Mistwood. I was right there along with Isabel as she regained her memory piece by piece, constantly plagued by a nagging sensation that something important lay yet just out of her reach. I can only hope that Ms. Cypess has plans to return to the excellent world of Mistwood and Isabel and Rokan and Clarisse, as her creative and compelling characters made quite the impression on this reader.

Because Everyone Likes a Second Opinion:
Angieville review
The Book Smugglers review 
Chachic's Book Nook review
Library Lounge Lizard review
Steph Su Reads review
The Story Siren review

book source: review copy from the publisher

Dairy Queen to a Good Home! psst.. it's a giveaway!

Hello my pretties! So in my own obsessive-compulsive (if not highly predictable) book-buying way I've managed to obtain two copies of the ever-so funny YA novel Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock. I heart this book so much and would love to pass my copy along to another reader since I now have two gracing my shelves.

Alas, this book is not exactly in perfect condition which is why I'm offering it here in the first place. It's a former library copy so it has all the expected stamps etc. and the spine has been broken (see below pic). I can't donate it to a library due to the stamps and brokenness, but I didn't want it to just disappear into the land of lost books.

So.

I'm sure this isn't something everybody would be interested in, but if YOU would like a well-loved copy of the hilarious Dairy Queen, just leave your name in the comments (and a way to contact you) before July 1st and I'll send it off to you with lots of love. Sadly to say, this giveaway is only for US folks.

Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles

Small town life can be peaceful, even idyllic but for Maggie Armstrong or Caleb Becker, their quaint hometown of Paradise, Illinois has come to mean nothing of the sort. Their lives were forever changed the night Caleb, drunk, got behind the wheel of a car and hit his twin sisters' best friend, Maggie, and then fled the scene of the crime. For the past year, he's grimly paid for his mistake in juvenile prison but to Maggie, Caleb's debt to her is far from paid. In the past year, she's had surgery after surgery to reconstruct her leg, leaving her with some nasty scars and an awkward limp. Once popular and athletic, Maggie is now a freak, a loner and bitter. Hoping to return to his former life after being released from jail, Caleb returns to find his family a hollow shell and his once easy friendships, forced. Neither are ready to face the reality or the consequences of that awful night one year ago but it's not easy to hide in a small town like Paradise. The past, even one as painful as Caleb and Maggie's, has a way of catching up with you.

Wow. I am fast becoming enamored with everything Simone Elkeles. After interviewing here on the bloggy last month (and loving her personality), I became curious about her other novels and decided I needed to track them down immediately. And boy, am I ever glad I found Leaving Paradise. From page one, Ms. Elkeles had me captured with descriptions of Caleb's anxiety over leaving juvie and Maggie's desperation to get out of Paradise. Leaving Paradise was again told from alternating POV chapters between Maggie and Caleb, like her Perfect Chemistry novels, which might have sealed the deal for me. This is actually one feature that I am coming to desperately love about Ms. Elkeles' books. She shifts so flawlessly back and forth between her male and female characters that it makes the novel simply fly by. Both voices fairly explode off the page in honesty and vibrancy. I'm beginning to think this technique is becoming a favorite of mine because it can subtly underscore the differences between such disparate characters like Maggie and Caleb without ever making direct comparisons. I'm all about a little subtly going a long way.

Leaving Paradise is a distinct departure from Simone Elkeles' fun and flirty Perfect Chemistry world. That's not to say that their isn't a hint of very real danger in Perfect Chemistry (there is) but Leaving Paradise was more of a emotionally taxing read. Maggie and Caleb have been dealt a pretty raw deal, which has left them extremely frustrated with their circumstances and feeling powerless to change them. Understandably, the struggles Maggie and Caleb face are some truly scary hurdles. Forgiveness. Self-acceptance. Trust. All very delicate topics that were handled with such straightforward honesty in this gut-wrenching book. And yet there were moments of humor and joy - just don't expect the entire book to be one big happily ever after. Because truthfully, the ending absolutely tore me up. I'm not kidding when I say it's one that will wring your heart a million times over and then leave you hoping, hoping for a better future for Maggie and Caleb. Because if anyone deserves it, those two do.

series reading order:
~ Leaving Paradise
~ Return to Paradise (September 2010)

Because Everyone Likes a Second Opinion:
Angieville review
Pure Imagination review
Reviewer X review
Sophistikatied Reviews review
The YA, YA, YAs review

The Case of the Toppling Bookshelf

As a book-lover I have a problem. A BIG problem. See, I like to buy books. Lots of books. And then I'll sometimes go out and buy yet more books. Sound familiar anyone? For some reason, these books never seem to fit into the sorry excuse I currently have for a bookshelf and the result is stacks and stacks of my favorite things piled haphazardly in all directions. The insanity must stop!

So when I was recently contacted by CSN Stores about participating in a product review I, of course, agreed and immediately thought of BOOKCASES! But then I took a stroll on over to their site and discovered their millions of products available - everything, naturally, that I desperately need. Naturally. Like their new headboards for the currently-lonely mattress in the guest bedroom, or some lamps for the dining room (it has horrid lighting), or even some new bakeware that I have been salivating over for ages. Toughie. So what would you choose? Although due to the complete and utter chaos present in my current bookshelf, I'm thinking that might still be my number one pick...