By Golly, Ollie!

💾 a blog about books, tea, & geekery

Author: Jackie

  • Textual Healing by Eric Smith

    Textual Healing by Eric Smith

    First, there is Andrew Conner, or as he prefers, Ace. He was once a best-selling author, but now he suffers from a drought of inspiration. He’s neither the hyper-masculine brute nor the silent, brooding type that seems to plague too many novels (of the romantic sort). He’s dorky and quirky and witty and well-read, and even at his lowest, Ace still elicits some smiles—even a few chuckles. Then there is Hannah, a spunky gal from Montana, who makes me wonder why can’t more heroines be like her. She has an insatiable case of wanderlust, and she speaks her mind. She just might be the cure for Ace’s writer’s block. We have a setup for a story that I’m guaranteed to love.

    Even though I was a total sucker for Ace and Hannah, my actual favorite characters are the wonderfully written secondary characters. On one hand, I connected with Valerie, a young woman working in Ace’s bookshop. She’s shy, teetering on socially awkward, and she always has her nose buried in a book or her homework. But! She has a secret, which is revealed in time. On the other hand, I loved the Orchid, the ninja who owns the flower shop across from Ace’s bookstore. She only speaks in haikus and she (almost literally) kicks ass. I say almost literally because I don’t think she actually kicked anyone in the rump; she does tie up “evil-doers” though, and she chucks shuriken at people

    This only scratches the surface of all the incredible characters readers meet in Smith’s Textual Healing. I was in book heaven since I’m one of those people who crave well-written characters over intriguing plot and world-building and…other stuff.

    There were several pop culture references, which might be distracting to some readers. I thought they were tastefully done though and often hilarious. I especially loved the nod to the epic pirate vs. ninja debate. And, although often laugh-out-loud hilarious (seriously, it was), some of the humor was a little…overkill? For the most part though, Smith knew where to draw the line.

    I typically avoid romantic comedies/romance novels, but Textual Healing offered a fresh approach to a plotline that can easily become clichéd and full of one-dimensional characters. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it.

    Textual Healing by Eric Smith

    Textual Healing by Eric Smith

    Released: November 2010
    Genre: Romance
    Age Group: Adult

    [goodreads]

    Few people have to deal with a haiku-speaking flower-shop-owning ninja every day on their way to work. Unfortunately for Andrew Connor, he is one of those people. And poor Andrew, his week has been a rough one. His former bestseller, Chasing Fireflies, is on clearance at Barnes & Noble for $1.37, his girlfriend left him for a corporate America action figure, and he’s been tricked into joining Textual Healing, a support group for writers who can’t seem to write anymore. Dealing with his employees at his failing used bookshop, a strange new love interest from the Midwest, and a pet sugar-glider that has somehow managed to destroy his entire apartment… when will he ever find the time to put pen to paper again?

  • House of Dark Shadows by Robert Liparulo

    House of Dark Shadows by Robert Liparulo

    When I downloaded House of Dark Shadows by Robert Liparulo, I had the wrong impression of it.  I thought it was just a horror story.  I hate horror movies, but I love horror novels.  I thought I’d give it a go since I haven’t read one in ages.  But, I was wrong about House of Dark Shadows; it’s far from being just a horror story.  It’s a page-turner filled with time travel, adventure, spookiness, and suspense— the kind of suspense that made me subconsciously start reading faster.

    When Xander and David found themselves traveling through a portal in their linen closet to a locker in their new school, I thought I had everything figured out.  I thought I knew exactly who the perpetrator was, who left the big, bare footprints in the dust.  But, goodness was I wrong!  This novel has so many twists and turns that will keep the reader guessing all the way through.

    I loved the family dynamics in the story.  Reading about the interactions between Xander and his younger brother, David, was a joy.  The Kings have a healthy and realistic relationship with each other; they’ve just gotten in the habit of keeping some important secrets from each other, but what family doesn’t? Sometimes I did have trouble keeping track of the two brothers.  I thought more could have been done to develop the two characters, but perhaps this will come during the second book of the series.  I also found the father’s logic troubling.  Without it, there wouldn’t be much of a story, but it’s kind of unbelievable.

    I also loved the descriptions; they were so vivid in this novel.  I had a movie rolling in my mind the whole time as I read.

    The book also makes several pop culture references.  I mean a lot.  A few seemed relevant, even humorous.  But, after a while, I felt like there were far too many, and I didn’t think they were adding anything to the story.  I can’t imagine reading this novel many years from now since I think many of the references will be lost on readers.

    Overall, the story was great!  It’s perfect for reluctant readers because it’s fast-paced, full of action, and a relatively short read.  I think young readers will want to grab a copy of the second book of the series, Watcher in the Woods (out now) to find out what happens next!

    House of Dark Shadows (Dreamhouse Kings #1) by Robert Liparulo

    Released: May 2008
    Genre: Fantasy, Horror
    Age Group: Young Adult

    When the Kings move from L.A. to a secluded small town, fifteen-year-old Xander is beyond disappointed. He and his friends loved to create amateur films . . . but the tiny town of Pinedale is the last place a movie buff and future filmmaker wants to land. But he, David, and Toria are captivated by the many rooms in the old Victorian fixer-upper they moved into–as well as the heavy woods surrounding the house. They soon discover there’s something odd about the house. Sounds come from the wrong direction. Prints of giant, bare feet appear in the dust. And when David tries to hide in the linen closet, he winds up in locker 119 at his new school. Then the really weird stuff kicks in: they find a hidden hallway with portals leading off to far-off places–in long-ago times. Xander is starting to wonder if this kind of travel is a teen’s dream come true . . . or his worst nightmare.

  • Wandering Through North Dakota

    Wandering Through North Dakota

    Walking in North Dakota

    After reading Greyhound by Steffan Piper, I couldn’t help but reminisce about my most recent cross-country trip.  And by recent, I mean a trip I made in August 2008.

    I’d always wanted to ride a train.  There is something so fantastic about trains, assuming of course you don’t live right by a railroad where a train roars through at 3:00 in the morning as I did for the past three years.  Still, to me, they seem like magnificent, old relics of the past.  Or even better, they are full of magic and take people to places like Hogwarts!  But, who has time to take a train anymore?  With business meetings to attend or families to help take care of, taking a 23 hour train ride to a destination is preposterous especially when planes cut the travel time down by 21 hours.  So, when my brother invited me to visit him in Cavalier, North Dakota, I decided I’d make an experience out of it and take a train cross-country.

    The train was a mammoth!  I’d only ever seen the piddly Amtrak that came through town– from Chicago to Detroit.  But, the one I rode from Chicago to Fargo was a double-decker and incredibly spacious!  I’d packed all sorts of things to keep me entertained, but not once during the 23 hours trip did I get bored.  Looking out the window as we passed through each state was entertainment enough.  It was so beautiful.  I only wish I would have had the courage to find the lounge car with the big picture windows. What a thrill it would have been to see the land like this.

    I felt pretty accomplished knowing I could check North Dakota off my list of States to Visit Before I Die (unofficial name).  The land was so flat and sparse which made the North Dakota sky seem extra big compared to Michigan’s sky.  The only things that occupied the sides of the road were sprawling fields of sunflowers, abandoned farmhouses, power lines, and…well, actually, that’s it.  There was much more in Fargo, but I was hours north of any city that would be considered “big”; Pembina county only had a population of 1,500.  There wasn’t a whole lot to see or do, but I’d go back in a heart beat.  It was nice to be away from my hectic college town.

    My brother has since relocated to Colorado; he moves around a lot because he’s in the Air Force.  He much prefers Colorado over North Dakota since there is much more to do.  I’ll actually be visiting him at the end of March.  Sadly, I’ll be stuffed onto a plane instead of a train.  I dislike planes.  They fill me with such fear!

    Have you ever ridden on a train?  What did you think of it?  Have you ever made a cross-country trip before?

  • Greyhound by Steffan Piper

    Greyhound by Steffan Piper

    This is one of those novels which I’m unsure how to categorize. It takes place during the 1980s, so I initially considered it “historical fiction”. Yet, the goal of the novel is not to define a decade or even just a specific period in the 1980s. I also considered it a coming-of-age story. Yet our protagonist, Sebastien Ranes, is only twelve years old, so he’s hardly “coming of age”. Genre labels aside, Piper wonderfully pens the story of a youngster growing up in the 1980s, forced to grow up a little faster when his mother sticks him on a Greyhound headed east to live with his grandparents.

    I liked Sebastien, but I didn’t sympathize with him as much as I thought I would; he did have such a terrible childhood, after all.  I felt like more could have been done to develop his character.  I understand he’s a boy of few words (he has a stuttering problem which began shortly after a traumatic event that happened two years before this story takes place) which is why getting into his thoughts is so important.  Unfortunately, half the time he seemed to be more concerned with the taste of the air from sitting so close to the bathroom than anything else.  Readers finally catch a different side of Sebastien towards the end of the book when he’s two bus stops away from his destination.

    I loved Marcus though.  He’s just one cool dude.  He’s wise.  His life experiences cause him to “be real” with Sebastien.  He never sugarcoats things.  But, there is another side of him that surfaces now and then that fills Sebastien and the reader with hope that not all things in the world are bad.  I enjoyed watching the relationship develop between the two.  While there were many serious conversations, there were also a few conversations that made me chuckle.

    My favorite by far:

    “Well, I guess there’s no harm.  Yes, I’m from L.A.”  He was leaning in close now.  “A place most people call the ghetto.”  His voice had dropped to almost a whisper.

    “Really?” I replied, wide-eyed.  “I once lived in a place with my mom and one of her boyfriends called The Grotto.”

    A lot of “Holy Crap!” events occur throughout this book, which helped break up what could have been an otherwise incredibly boring bus trip. That’s not to say these events were just thrown into the book just for the heck of it; I thought they were relevant to the storyline.  I just wish these events had been fleshed out a little bit more.  In parts of the book when not much is going on, Piper takes the time to draw the reader in with passages that appeal to the senses.  But it seems like the same consideration isn’t taken during all the commotion.

    Overall, I enjoyed the book.  I appreciated the premise of the story.  Having it take place during a three-day bus trip cross-country was pretty neat; surprisingly, a lot can happen in three days (and in such a confined space too).  Many of the characters introduced to Sebastien’s life (regardless of how briefly) were heartwarming, ensuring that the 12-year-old got to his destination safe and sound.

    Greyhound: a Novel by Steffan Piper

    Released: April 2010
    Genre: Coming of Age
    Age Group: Young Adult

    [goodreads | indiebound]

    Sebastien Ranes’s mother is no good; she chain-smokes cigarettes, smells like a soggy ashtray, and cares more about her pretty dresses and shoes than she does for her son.  Oh, and she is getting remarried to some deadbeat who doesn’t want Sebastien around anymore.  So, at the age of 12, Sebastien is placed on a Greyhound bus in California by his mother, and he is headed to live with his grandparents in Pennsylvania.  He has to make this three-day trip alone.  Just when Sebastien thinks his life will only be filled with disappointment, he meets Marcus, a black, ex-convict who becomes his guide and protector.  Along the way, Sebastien learns that while there are some appalling creepers out in the world—pedophiles, racists, everyday impatient jerks, there are also some unlikely folks in the world who have guidance and understanding to offer.

  • So You Want to Be a Wizard by Diane Duane

    So You Want to Be a Wizard by Diane Duane

    I just finished re-reading the Harry Potter series, and my thirst for fantasy, wizardry, and magic had not been quenched; so, I picked up So You Want to be a Wizard by Diane Duane. I knew nothing about it, and I have to admit, I did have trouble getting into the book. The pacing at the beginning seemed slow, so I nearly abandoned the book. However, once Fred the white hole, was introduced, my attention span grew.

    I’m still baffled at Nita and Kit’s ability to have what seems to be a sudden understanding of complex wizardry though. They discovered a spellbook in the library and in a matter of days, they knew exactly what spells to use and when and how to manipulate basic spells into something more complex. I understand this is a fantasy novel, but I would still expect the characters to have training before jumping into the big stuff– the really big stuff.

    I also had a problem with the way certain characters were introduced.  Sometimes their introductions seemed so sudden, specifically with the Perytons. When Nita and Kit are casting a spell, these villainous creatures begin to approach them. The two know them immediately as Perytons as if Perytons were creatures they passed in everyday life. When I initially read the passage describing the Perytons, I thought they were humans with wolf-like features, but I was very wrong. I later looked them up, and I guess they look just like wolves except for more evil…?*shrug*

    Confusion aside, I am glad I picked up the book. I enjoyed the characters in the story. Nita and Kit, the protagonists, are underdogs, but they don’t feel sorry for themselves. Instead, they try to find ways to overcome the bullying they endure daily. It just so happens that the lessons they learn through wizardry hold the answers. Fred, the white hole that is summoned, is my absolute favorite though. He is just a fun character! His awe of the new world and the sun (which he describes as “cute”) is so heartwarming, and his comments often evoked a few chuckles out of me.

    One of my favorite aspects of this book was Nita’s closeness to nature. Her closeness allows her to communicate with and manipulate nature easier than say things that are man-made, like cars and planes, which appears to be Kit’s specialty. Nita’s closeness to nature allows for some really interesting dialogue between Nita and the trees that I absolutely adored.

    Overall, I enjoyed the book, and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a magic or wizard fix.

    So You Want to Be a Wizard by Diane Duane

    Released: January 1983
    Genre: Fantasy
    Age Group: Middle Grade

    [add to goodreads | indiebound]

    Nita Callahan, thirteen years old, ducks into the local library to escape the torment of the neighborhood bully, Joanne. While hiding in the book stacks, she finds a book titled So You Want to be a Wizard among other career exploration books for children. She brings the book home with her and discovers it is about the art of wizardry. She believes it to be a hoax, but she decides to take the Wizard Oath anyway– just in case. The next day, when she is out trying to do her first spell, she meets Kit Rodriguez, a young Hispanic boy who gets picked on for being too smart.  She finds out he is also a fellow wizard. The two complete a spell together which summons an intelligent white hole, Fred, from space; he informs the young wizards that a book, The Naming of the Lights, has gone missing and the universe may be in danger. Nita’s doubts about the book are gone: she is a wizard.

  • Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

    Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

    Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry was an interesting twist on zombie lore. It wasn’t the typical hack and slash story I expected. Instead, Maberry humanized the zombies and penned downright deplorable characters, which highlighted the man vs. monster dilemma. I never thought it was possible to feel sympathetic toward a creature that hungers only for brains, but this novel proves it is.  The one thing I appreciated most is Maberry’s ability to keep me guessing all the way through; there were so many twists and turns! And there were so many cliffhangers that kept me saying, “I have to read just one more chapter…”.

    I thought the characters were a “mixed bag” though. Tom was a little too good to be true, and Benny was a tad bit annoying. Some of their dialogue was a little hokey too, and every once in a while I would think, “Did he really just say that?” Nix and the Lost Girl, on the other hand, were amazing! Both were butt-kicking heroines. Maberry also cooked up some deliciously vile baddies; Charlie Pink-eye and the Motor City Hammer were two characters that I loved to hate. I wanted to tie those two guys up and feed em’ to the zoms!

    Overall Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry was an enjoyable book filled with adventure, butt-kicking, blood and rotting flesh, a budding romance, and dreams of a better future. This book is definitely worth a read!

    Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

    Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

    Released: September 2010
    Genre: Horror, Science Fiction,
    Age Group: Young Adult

    [add to goodreads | IndieBound]

    from goodreads:

    Benny Imura is 15, and now he must find a job or his food rations will be cut in half.  But what kind of opportunities are there in a world that’s nearly been run over by zombies?  His job search seems fruitless until his brother, Tom, invites him to join the family business– zombie hunting.  For the first time in his life, Benny will go beyond the fence that keeps him safe in Mountainside to land claimed by the zombies known as the Rot and Ruin.  Any preconceived notion Benny may have had about his brother, fellow bounty hunters, zombies, and the way the world works will be completely shattered.

  • The Great Perhaps by Joe Meno

    The Great Perhaps by Joe Meno

    I’ve never met a book by Joe Meno that I didn’t like, and The Great Perhaps is no different. The novel, with it’s lyrical and darkly funny prose, rotates between members of the Casper family– each chapter digging into their quirks and revealing a family on the verge of a breakdown.

    This is what I liked:

    • Meno showcases his experimental storytelling once more by mixing prose with illustrations, transcripts from old radio serials, and declassified government documents.
    • Realistic teenage dialogue and insight that he has more than perfected in his past novels (Hairstyles of the Damned, The Boy Detective Fails)
    • In my personal experience, the characters evoked an array of emotions.  Just when I begin to think, “Wow, I’m glad I don’t know people like this,” another side of their humanity is revealed, and I couldn’t help feeling sympathetic.

    This is what I didn’t like

    • Albeit interesting, I felt the grandfather’s narrative was uninspired compared to the other family members’.
    • Absolutely, under no circumstances read The Great Perhaps on an e-reader (at least not the Nook; I can’t vouch for other e-readers).  The price tag of $2.59 is alluring, but there is a reason for that.  The e-reader version lacks the illustrations found in the print version.  Regretfully, I found this out the hard way.

    The Great Perhaps by Joe Meno

    The Great Perhaps by Joe Meno

    Released: January 2009
    Genre: Literary Fiction, Magical Realism
    Age Group: Adult

    [add to goodreads | IndieBound]

    From GoodReads:

    Jonathan, a paleontologist, is searching in vain for a prehistoric giant squid; his wife, Madeline, an animal behaviorist, cannot explain her failing experiment; their daughter Amelia is a disappointed teenage revolutionary; her younger sister, Thisbe, is on a frustrating search for God; and their grandfather, Henry, wants to disappear, limiting himself to eleven words a day, then ten, then nine – one less each day until he will speak no more. Each fears uncertainty and the possibilities that accompany it. When Jonathan and Madeline suddenly decide to separate, this nuclear family is split and forced to confront its cowardice, finally coming to appreciate the cloudiness of this modern age.