Review: Sugarhouse: Turning the Neighborhood Crack House Into Our Home Sweet Home by Matthew Batt

Synopsis:  From Goodreads, "An improbably funny account of how the purchase and restoration of a disaster of a fixer-upper saves a young marriage

When a season of ludicrous loss tests the mettle of their marriage, Matthew Batt and his wife decide not to call it quits. They set their sights instead on the purchase of a dilapidated house in the Sugarhouse section of Salt Lake City. With no homesteading experience and a full-blown quarter-life crisis on their hands, these perpetual grad students/waiters/nonprofiteers decide to seek salvation through renovation, and do all they can to turn a former crack house into a home. Dizzy with despair, doubt, and the side effects of using the rough equivalent of napalm to detoxify their house, they enter into full-fledged adulthood with power tools in hand.

Heartfelt and joyous, Sugarhouse is the story of how one couple conquers adversity and creates an addition to their family, as well as their home."

Review:  Since I live in the Salt Lake area, I was intrigued by the premise of this novel when I saw it at the library, and am also a bit of a sucker for stories about grad students on a bit of a life journey.  In this case, it involved a major renovation.  In this area, those renovations can involve some major-league fixer-uppers, but worth a pretty penny if done correctly in the area of the valley he's written about.  In short, this novel was well worth the time and I will say up front that I really did enjoy it.

As an English major, Matthew Batt knows how to craft language.  His writing and observations about minute details in Salt Lake could be biting and funny at the same time.  Many of the chapters in his book stood out as individual short stories that I wanted to hang onto.  When he talked about searching for the perfect home in the valley, getting help at the local hardware store, or trends in construction he noticed in their home from 50 years ago, his storytelling really was so keen and spot on that I could hardly put the book down.  I'm not sure how he managed to make all of that so entertaining, but he really did.  I loved the details about ripping up the flooring to find lovely hard wood floors underneath that was riddled with nails from the laminate they had covered it with.  A nightmare that anyone who has restored an old home might recognize.  It was those details that made the story sing.

One strange part of the story that I didn't connect with was his detour into his grandfather's life.  That sounds odd, considering families generally shape a person's life and add interest to a story, however, I kept feeling like it was distracting from the story at hand.  I wanted the story to center more on his relationship with his wife and how she factored into this home they were working on.  Instead, the grandfather and family outside of Utah kept having this continued impact on the story that turned it into a type of "finding himself" journey that I hadn't expected.  Maybe that was the point, that they had been impacting this remodel more than anything else?  Since this was a true story, the author's family might have played just as much of a role in this remodel and in his marriage as anything else?  I simply felt my own curiosity pulling me back to his home and life he had "built" here in Salt Lake.  

The writing in this book was really top notch.  Certain sentences caught my attention, and I found myself rereading them,  and then marking them so that I could come back to them later on.  While I could understand the inclusion of the author's family, I would have liked more about his marriage that was started out in the beginning and in the title.  Overall though, a very interesting book with some great writing.

Re-Read Review: Austenland by Shannon Hale

As a BAD book blogger, I haven't been supporting Utah Book Month as I should.  We really do have a lot of great authors here in Utah, many of whom come out and support our local get togethers and local events.  They are really awesome!  Right now I'm in the middle of reading Bree Despain's third novel in her Dark Divine series and I'm getting ready to read Shannon Hale's Midnight in Austenland.  Before I pick up Hale's next novel though, I went back to re-read Austenland so I could remember some of the details, and it was even better the second time through!

Synopsis:  From Goodreads, "Jane Hayes is a seemingly normal young New Yorker, but she has a secret. Her obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, is ruining her love life: no real man can compare. But when a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-crazed women, Jane's fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become realer than she ever could have imagined.

Decked out in empire-waist gowns, Jane struggles to master Regency etiquette and flirts with gardeners and gentlemen;or maybe even, she suspects, with the actors who are playing them. It's all a game, Jane knows. And yet the longer she stays, the more her insecurities seem to fall away, and the more she wonders: Is she about to kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?"

Review:  This was a fun book to read from the get go.  I liked the it the first time, and I loved it on the second go around.  I distinctly remember not liking the Darcy-esque character in this novel, which is ironic, right?  Aren't we supposed to not like him and then realize how prejudice we were?  Yes, I do think that's the case.  The first time I read it, I just remember  being sucked into the re-enactment of our favorite, romantic read, Pride and Prejudice.  This time, I remembered some of what was to come and paid more attention to the characters that I knew were the nice guys--you know, the way you watch the romantic lead in a movie when you know that's how he'll end up?  You just seem to notice all the sweet things they do to show that they're not the person they are putting on.  That was the case in this re-read; I picked up on some fun interactions that I didn't the first time around.

As far as sweet escape reading goes, this is high on that list.  I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting Austenland and its twist on the Jane Austen tale.  The ending is very reminiscent of a great chick film, which I loved.  I'm in need of another one of these, so I hope the film comes out soon!  On the whole, this was just a real delight to dive into and relive all over again!  Now I'm ready for the movie to come out, which I'm hoping will come out before the end of the year.  

All right.  Now I can head off to read Midnight in Austenland!

By the way, here is a fun film exclusive if you're interested in the movie that will be coming out.

Review: A World Without Heroes by Brandon Mull

Synopsis:  From Goodreads, "Jason Walker has often wished his life could be a bit less predictable--until a routine day at the zoo ends with Jason suddenly transporting from the hippo tank to a place unlike anything he's ever seen. In the past, the people of Lyrian welcomed visitors from the Beyond, but attitudes have changed since the wizard emperor Maldor rose to power. The brave resistors who opposed the emperor have been bought off or broken, leaving a realm where fear and suspicion prevail.

In his search for a way home, Jason meets Rachel, who was also mysteriously drawn to Lyrian from our world. With the help of a few scattered rebels, Jason and Rachel become entangled in a quest to piece together the word of power that can destroy the emperor, and learn that their best hope to find a way home will be to save this world without heroes."

Review:  A quest doesn't begin to describe the journey that goes on in this book.  This is definitely a story that takes you through  the ringer.  Jason is just this kid, who is bizarrely transported to this new world where suspicion and fear reign.  To some degree I was taken off guard by the level of danger and fear that this young boy had to face.  Okay, so there are some big name heroes who faced big, scary challenges in a story, but that's hard to remember when you're watching this boy hide away from some evil characters.

There is a lot of adventure built into this first book in the Beyonders series.  I liked the idea of Jason and his friend Rachel searching out a mysterious word, piece by piece throughout the story.  I'm a word person, so of course I loved that concept.  Some of what happens over the course of the book takes it all to another level with this evil wizard Maldor, who scares everyone into complying with his rule. 

I'll be honest.  I got lost in the story.  I'm not always good with fantasy stories where I have to think about what something might look like or even what's going on.  Had I read it straight through in one sitting, I might have followed Jason's adventure better.  There was just so much going on, that I often had to try to get the context and keep plowing ahead.  I've finally figured out that it's just me though.  All that action is really appealing to the teens that I teach, so I think it's evidence of my own inability to imagine!  Yes.  I'm admitting that one.  There is a lot going on in this story, with more to come.  If you are looking for a journey-tale that is packed full of action, mystery, and adventure, then this story fits the bill.  Brandon Mull is a really good writer, so I think that with the right catch, you can dive in and enjoy.

*FTC Disclosure:  This review is based on a personal copy of the novel.

Utah Author Month: Book I've Read

This month is Utah Author Month.  As part of that, bloggers who are participating in this celebration are trying to read and highlight local authors throughout the month of May.  I have the book Wolves, Boys, and Other Things That Might Kill Me by Kristen Chandler that I'm currently reading and hope to finish up before the month is up.  It's a great book and really surprising.  Honestly, it's not really like any other YA book I've read in awhile, which is really refreshing.

In the meantime, I wanted to highlight some of the books I've read and reviewed here at One Literature Nut, since there are so many authors and books to talk about!  Here are some of the books I've read and reviewed:

Matched by Ally Condie

 Getting Away With Murder by Chris Crowe

The Dark Divine by Bree DeSpain

The Lost Saint by Bree DeSpain

The Christmas List by Richard Paul Evans

The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale

Rapunzel's Revenge by Nathan and Shannon Hale

Calamity Jack by Nathan and Shannon Hale

The Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum

There are a lot of other great authors that I still need to get around to reading.  Check out the Goodreads list that some of us joined in to compile.  Talk about a long list!

Review: Wings by Aprilynne Pike

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm participating in Utah Author Month.  In the book club I participated in this past school year, we read novels by local authors, which helps me to jump right in and share Wings by Aprilynne Pike!

Synopsis:  From Goodreads, "'Laurel was mesmerized, staring at the pale things with wide eyes. They were terrifyingly beautiful—too beautiful for words. Laurel turned to the mirror again, her eyes on the hovering petals that floated beside her head. They looked almost like wings.'

In this extraordinary tale of magic and intrigue, romance and danger, everything you thought you knew about faeries will be changed forever."

Review:  Before I read Wings, a small group of students in my Popular Fiction class read it in a reader's circle.  The girls thought it was a strange concept, for a girl to have the same cellular structure as a plant, and couldn't completely get over the odd facts about Laurel's life.  For instance, she was really only able to eat peach nectar and had the giant flower petals growing out of her back.  With that preface, I was a little nervous about my own response, but I can say that my own wasn't too far off.  The idea is original and pretty creative, to have a fairy be made of plant cells, and her wings really be the petals of a flower.  The creatures, therefore, are also interesting as we learn about Laurel's past and how she came to be with a human family.  My guess is that the second book might take off with a lot more action that the first book had to set up.  We find out that the faeries' land is being threatened by people who want to buy it, and other not so nice magical creatures that also come in to play.  The set up from this first book, as odd as it felt, might be leading to some more exciting story twists for Laurel and her new (and old) friends.

*FTC Disclosure:  Review is based on a personal copy of the novel.

Review: The Lost Saint by Bree DeSpain

Synopsis:  From Goodreads, "Grace Divine made the ultimate sacrifice to cure Daniel Kalbi. She was infected with the werewolf curse while trying to save him, and lost her beloved brother in the process.

Desperate to find Jude, Grace befriends Talbot, a newcomer to town. But as the two grow closer, Grace's relationship with Daniel is put in danger - in more ways than one.

Unaware of the dark path she is walking, Grace begins to give into the wolf inside of her - not realizing that an enemy has returned and a deadly trap is about to be sprung."

Review:  The Dark Divine series has been a surprising read, one that I wasn't expecting to get me so engaged in the unfolding story of Grace Divine, her family, and her boyfriend Daniel.  Having felt a bit burned out by paranormal stories recently, I wasn't sure that a book about a werewolf clan and curse would be up my alley, but I was wrong.  In The Dark Divine, the story left off with a bit of a cliffhanger.  The action was intense in the first book, so I was eager to dive into the second to find out what happened to Grace.  Once again, the action in the second book was also pretty intense in certain scenes, and Grace's anger at being cursed was more than evident throughout the story.  My feeling is that Despain really knows how to write action scenes that keep you flipping pages, because I'm not one to like drawn out action, but both books have had me eager to read more.

Obviously, there is a love story involved in both books; one that is developed mostly throughout book one.  In book two, as with many YA romances, a conflict is introduced in the second that pulls the couple apart.  Let me be honest in saying that putting a couple together, only to have the guy then turn moody because he's being protective but comes off going cold on the girl makes me want to scream.  When the love interest is pulled apart because one or the other acts like they no longer care just makes me want to smack one of them for not communicating!  Yes, it created a good deal of tension, and cast Grace out on her own to figure out how to deal with her curse, but it made me want to shake them at times.  I get that sometimes teens like these "I love you. No, I hate you" twists, and it did give the story a good bit of added tension that had you hanging on to figure out why they were being so stupid to one another!

Overall, I really have liked this series and thought it was really well written.  There is a lot of action, believable dialogue, and engaging characters.  I was pretty into the story and thought it really stood out from many of the paranormal books I've read recently.  

One funny side note to my review--I had my students in my Popular Fiction class read the first book in reading circles.  First off, I overheard them trying to figure out if the girl on the cover was wearing any underwear (they decided she must be), but secondly, the boys in the reading group said it wasn't just a "chick book."  I thought that was a pretty good two thumbs up for a bunch of teen boys to say they liked it and would recommend it to any reader!

*FTC Disclosure:  This review was based on a review copy of the novel from the publisher.

Review: Matched by Ally Condie

Synopsis:  From Goodreads, "Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow."

Review:   Although I'm not a dystopian fiction fan, I enjoyed Ally Condie's Matched.  There is a delicacy and precision in the writing that makes the read feel careful in its storytelling.  Strangely, the story itself is not careful, which then lends it an eerie tone that warns of looming danger. 

Cassia is a likable character, and although I will admit that I rolled my eyes a bit at the beginning theme that unfolded of people being: matched (designated a partner), singleton (sad lonely folks), and aberrations (who would want these folks anyway).  The basic premise here is that to be happy, one must fit in and be "matched" up with someone else.  (This seems to reiterate and play on people's fears of being alone.  Valid, yes.  Necessary, I don't think so.)  Even getting someone you don't know or yet love is better than having no one or being an aberration like Ky, which is where the tension in Cassia's curiosity about him after seeing him flash on her screen comes from.

Crossed comes out November 1st

The social repression of this dystopian society almost feels subtle if you don't think about it too much.  For the common good of all, they arrange your marriages, determine your calorie intake, provide you pills to alleviate all stresses, and even designate your death date.  Strangely, however, no one is taught to write, so they are dependent on computers and machines.

Ky is a rule breaker.  He silently resists their society by learning to write, and by determining his own path.  Part of that path involves Cassia, and the two become drawn to one another.  The problem here is that choice is not part of the plan.  This I found intriguing, along with the society Condie created.  Honestly, I can see where teens would love to see played out this all-important idea of choosing who you love and what you want to do with your life.  The storytelling was well done, the writing style clear and precise, and the creativity of the plot intriguing.  Overall, I really did enjoy Matched, and with a cliffhanger like this book had, I'm ready to read Crossed.

Review: The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

I'm ashamed to say that I've had The Dark Divine by Bree Despain for almost a year!  It wasn't until I realized that book two was coming out, and the fact that some of my students chose to read this for literature circles in my Popular Fiction class (and loved it), that I decided I had to get to it.  Originally, the boys in my Pop. Fiction class were leery of the "girlie" cover, but soon were sucked into the story and told all of the guys in the class that it was a good read for anyone.  I really wanted to see what they were talking about and just jumped in!

Synopsis:  From Goodreads, "Grace Divine—daughter of the local pastor—always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared and her brother Jude came home covered in his own blood.  Now that Daniel's returned, Grace must choose between her growing attraction to him and her loyalty to her brother.  As Grace gets closer to Daniel, she learns the truth about that mysterious night and how to save the ones she loves, but it might cost her the one thing she cherishes most: her soul."

Review:  The Dark Divine originally felt familiar, like something I had read before.  In a lot of ways, this did seem like a common paranormal teen read, but the complication in the story between Grace, Daniel, and Grace's brother Jude builds and builds and builds in such a way that you have to keep reading.  Why did Daniel disappear in the first place?  Why does Jude hate him so much?  How does he happen to appear to help Grace when she needs help?   Readers somehow get that Daniel is the bad boy that Grace should avoid, but we also see that there is a lot we don't know.  Daniel is definitely mysterious, but has this vulnerability to him that pushes the reader to find out why.  

There is a definite paranormal twist to the novel, and a big, bad monster on the loose that has you looking at many of the characters in the novel with a skeptical eye.  Thankfully, each plot point moves closer and closer to the conclusion, which is quite a page turner.  In fact, the climax of the story felt like an action movie that I could see inside my head with drama, romance, and a fight sequence that had me nervous.  Honestly, the story was well thought out, engaging, and actually felt new, regardless of the number of paranormal teen reads out right now.

One of the best recommendations I think I can give for the novel would actually have to be from my own students.  Some of the boys were reluctant to read what they perceived might be a "girlie" book, based on the cover; however, they quickly came back saying how much they liked it.  The action in the story wasn't erased by any over-sentimentality and romance on the part of the female protagonist, and so they liked it.  I can see why.  The Dark Divine is mysterious, emotional, and has me wanting to read the next book in the series so I can hurry and catch up with these characters!  For me, this was one of the better young adult novels I've read this past year. 

*FTC Disclosure:  This review was based on a personal copy of the novel.