Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale
Holly Black
Margaret K. McElderry Books
an imprint of
Simon and Schuster
ISBN 9780689867040
For a few years now I have been meaning to go back and read some of Holly Black's earlier works. Both her Spiderwick books and her Modern Faerie Tales were on my TBR (To Be Read) pile, but because they were older books, they kept getting pushed down on my reading list as new titles came across my desk and new authors were discovered. I have no one to blame but myself; I should have known better and read these works much, much earlier. Black shows amazing diversity in her writings and this trilogy is no exception.
Kaye Fierch is an 'Asian Blond' sixteen year old, who spends most of her time in bars with her rocker mom. She doesn't know it yet, but she is not who she thinks she is. She is not even human. She has interacted with faeries since she was young, and even though she was bugged at school and by others, she has always believed in them. Then after returning to her grandmother's home, she rediscovers the other world, and they have a plan to achieve freedom with Kaye's help.
In a world where the faerie and ours overlap much closer than anyone thinks, Black weaves a tale of mystery, deceit, danger and destruction. C.S. Lewis is quoted as stating: "Some say you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again." He also states "At all ages, if [fantasy and myth] is used well by the author and meets the right reader, it has the same power: to generalize while remaining concrete, to present in palpable form not concepts or even experiences, but whole classes of experience, and to throw off irrelevancies. But at its best it can do more; it can give us experiences we have never had and thus, instead of 'commenting on life', can add to it." Black definitely achieves that in most of her writings and especially in this book. Every time I read something else by Black I am blown away by her skill with the pen.
Other Books by Holly Black:
The Poison Eaters and Other Stories
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Doll Bones
The Modern Faerie Tales
Tithe (2002)
Valiant (2005)
Ironside (2007)
The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Field Guide (2003)
The Seeing Stone (2003)
Lucinda's Secret (2003)
The Ironwood Tree (2004)
The Wrath of Mulgarath (2004)
Arthur Spiderwick's Notebook of Fantastical Observations (2005)
Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You (2005)
Care and Feeding of Sprites (2006)
Beyond Spiderwick
The Nixie's Song (2007)
A Giant Problem (2008)
The Wyrm King (2009)
The Good Neighbors
Kin (2008)
Kith (2009)
Kind (2010)
The Curse Workers
White Cat (2010)
Red Glove (2011)
Black Heart (2012)
Anthologies
Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd (2009)
Zombies vs. Unicorns (2010)
Welcome to Bordertown (2011)
Lucinda's Secret
The Spiderwick Chronicles Book 3
Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
Simon and Schuster
ISBN 9780689837401
I must admit I am addicted to these books, read three of them in 2 days and will more than likely reread the whole series again and again. Some books are like a bottle of Gatorade that you just chug back, some like a nice cup of tea that you sip, and some like a fine wine that you savour slowly. Right now I am drinking these books back because I need to know what happens next. But I know I will go back and drink them in slowly like a big mug of Irish Breakfast tea on my second reading. Black and DiTerlizzi have written a wonderful series that I can highly recommend. Their books are very enjoyable, and much like the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis, will be enjoyed by both the young and young at heart!
In this book the Grace children, Malory, and the twins Jared and Simon, visit their Great Aunt Lucinda and discover that even though she is committed she is not really crazy. In this book we also meet more creatures from the other world, and find out that many different beings want Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide, and they all seem malevolent to some extent. We also discover that something lost for more than 70 years might really be close at hand. And Thimbletack does not appear, but signs of his mischief abound. In this book we meet a unicorn, fairies, and elves. It is another wonderful book in an awesome series.
Books by Black and DiTerlizzi: The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Field Guide
The Seeing Stone
Lucinda's Secret
The Ironwood Tree
The Wrath of Mulgarath
Arthur Spiderwick's Notebook of Fantastical ObservationsArthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You
Care and Feeding of Sprites
Beyond Spiderwick
The Nixie's Song
A Giant Problem
The Wyrm King
Other Books by Holly Black:
The Poison Eaters and Other Stories
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Doll Bones
The Modern Faerie Tales
Tithe
Valiant
Ironside
The Good Neighbors
Kin
Kith
Kind
The Curse Workers
White Cat
Red Glove
Black Heart
Anthologies
Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd
Zombies vs. Unicorns
Welcome to Bordertown
Other Books by Tony Diterlizzi:
Jimmy Zangwow's Out-of-This-World Moon-Pie Adventure
Ted
G is for One Gzonk
Kenny & the Dragon
The Search for WondLa
Books Illustrated by Tony Diterlizzi:
Dinosaur Summer
Ribbiting Tales
Alien & Possum: Friends No Matter What
Alien & Possum: Hanging Around
The Spider & The Fly
Dragonflight
Peter Pan in Scarlet
Books by Tony & Angela DiTerlizzi:
Adventures of Meno:
Wet Fun!
Big Friend!
Yummy Trip!
Uh-Oh Sick!
Aliens on Vacation
Intergalactic Bed and Breakfast Book 1
Clete Barrett Smith (Author)
Christian Slade (Illustrator)
Disney-Hyperion Books
ISBN 9781423133636
This debut novel from Clete Barrett Smith was an awesome read. It was comical, entertaining, action-packed and overall just a good, fun read. It is the first book in a new series. It is the story of the Intergalactic Bed and Breakfast, a nice little operation on the edge of the town of Forest Grove, Washington. It is at the end of a cul-de-sac right on the edge of wilderness. And for the two months of summer vacation, it will be the home of David 'Scrub' Elliott of Tampa Florida. And it is the last place David wants to be. He would prefer to be back home at basketball camp competing with his best friend. But instead, he has been dumped at his Grandma's quirky little inn.
But life for David is about to get much weirder than he ever expected. He states: "Maybe it was Washington State. After all, this was over three thousand miles from home. And these people lived in the wilderness. Things were bound to be different here. And then there was Canada. We were only a few miles from the border. I didn't know much about Canadian culture, if there was such a thing. Maybe being so close, some of their customs had leaked across the international border, like osmosis." p.20. But he really has no clue just how different. For even though the Bed and Breakfast is constantly full of guests, no one arrives on foot or via the front door of the bed and breakfast. All the guests arrive through transporters in the different rooms. Soon David is meeting and interacting with Aliens he could not even fathom from a book or movie. He is working hard with and for his Gram and really enjoying the responsibility. He has also found a girl in town he really likes, but he keeps messing things up as he tries to keep his Grandma's secret. To make matters worse, the girl's dad is the sheriff and he seems to have it out for David and his grandma.
The characters, both human and alien, are wonderful. The story has a great pace and is well written. The reader finds himself hoping and cheering for David as he grows through the summer at the inn. It was a great book that I can recommend to almost any reader and it will be enjoyed. But it might also be great for boys who do not read very much, for the story will draw them in and keep their attention. I, for one, am looking forward to the next tale in the series and hope it is the next of many more.
Book by Clete Barrett Smith:
Intergalactic Bed and Breakfast:
Aliens on Vacation
Alien on a Rampage
Author Profile and Interview with Clete Barrett Smith.
(Note: I received an electronic galley of this book through NetGalley, courtesy of Disney-Hyperion Books. The book was read on my Kobo eReader. As per my general disclaimer, free books have no impact on my review.)
Robert J. Sawyer is a Canadian author who has now won every major Science Fiction Award. His critically acclaimed WWW series is set in Waterloo, Ontario. I had the opportunity to meet Robert when his book Hominids was selected back in 2005 for the Waterloo Reads, One Book One Community. During that time he became the writer in residence at the Kitchener Public Library for a year. I encountered Robert a number of times during that year at different events and functions. He always seemed to remember me, was very personable and outgoing. He often travelled with his wife and Robert Charles Wilson, another Canadian Sci-Fi author and his wife. Recently he took some time to answer 20 questions for the readers at Book Reviews And More. So without further ado. Here's Robert!
1. If you had not become a writer what do you think you would be doing for a living?
I'd be a vertebrate paleontologist specializing in dinosaurs; it's what I'd intended to do for a living right up through my last year of high school. I just didn't think being a writer was a practical course to pursue - although in the end, it turned out just fine!
2. Who were some of your biggest supporters and contributors to your early success?
My fifth-grade teacher, Patricia Matthews (later, after she got married, Patricia Jones) was my first fan; she encouraged me enormously in my writing, and I'll always be grateful to her.
3. You have won nearly every major Science Fiction Writing Award, with over 20 wins, what is the most meaningful to you and why?
The 1996 Nebula Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America: it was my first truly major award, and it's the "academy award" of the SF field. Winning it meant my peers were saying I'd written the best book of the year; that meant the world to me.
4. What are the key books that everyone interested in science fiction must be familiar with?
Dune by Frank Herbert, Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein, The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov, and Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke.
5. What advice do you wish an artist had passed on to you early in your career, which you only learned through experience?
Have faith in your vision of what you're trying to accomplish; tell your stories your way, and don't get sidetracked into doing what others think you should be doing.
6. What does your writing process look like? Takes us through the steps from idea to publishing?
Four months of nothing but research; two to three months of producing a first draft; another four months polishing that draft; and a solid month of promotion and touring once the new book is out.
7. Your book Hominids was selected as the One Book One Community Read for Waterloo, Ontario in 2005. Then in 2006 you were the Edna Staebler Writer-in-Residence at the Kitchener Public Library. Did you begin work on the WWW trilogy at that time?
I started writing the WWW series in November 2004, so the answer is yes, although the biggest hunk of work on the first book was done in the summer of 2007 when I was writer-in-residence at Berton House, Pierre Berton's family homestead in Dawson City, Yukon.
8. Do you use a playlist when writing? Are certain books written while predominantly listing to the same music?
I prefer silence when I'm writing; indeed, I often wear noise-canceling headphones. I want to hear my thoughts, not music.
9. I once heard Madeleine L'Engle state that her characters were real to her and almost an extended part of her family, she said once that at the dinner table she sat up and stated "Meg just finished her PhD." Are your characters real to you, do you ever get glimpses of what they are up to now, or once you finish a book is that it?
Not in that sense; I create these characters a word at a time; they're constructed for the story. A writer should no more hear a character actually as a voice in his or her head than an actor should wake up and be the part they're playing. Yes, my characters are realistic because I work carefully to craft the words that give that effect, but the characters are not real.
10. One of the greatest strengths in your books are the characters, they are so solid and believable. The characters you create, are they reflections of people you know, composites of different people you know or entirely your creations?
They're all those things: bits and pieces of real people - certain mannerisms or ways of speaking that have struck me as interesting or revelatory - plus careful, deliberate acts of creation. But no character in any of my books is based on a single person.
11. Many people have comment that your books would make great movies. Have any been optioned? Are plans in the works for those films if so?
Most of them have been optioned at one time or another, and right now several are under option. Of course, FlashForward was made into a TV series on ABC, and I'd be delighted to see some of the others brought to either the big or small screen as well.
12. What current projects are you working on or are in the back burner in some stage of development?
I'm currently finishing up a novel called Triggers about post-traumatic stress disorder and the nature of memory.
13. What were some of your favorite authors and books in your teen years who helped shape you?
Isaac Asimov's The Caves of Steel, almost anything by Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein's Farmer in the Sky, and Frederik Pohl's Gateway and Man Plus.
14. What are some of your favorite books and authors now?
Within science fiction, Robert Charles Wilson, Jack McDevitt, and Paolo Bacigalupi are all terrific - as is Audrey Niffenegger, although she's not published as science fiction. In the mystery/thriller genre, you can't go wrong with Linwood Barclay and Peter Robinson.
15. Many of your books are available in electronic formats but with that comes bootleg distribution. What are your impressions of ebooks and the distribution of them through torrents and other illegal means?
Piracy is destroying the ability of authors to make any sort of living; it's soul-destroying to see how many people will freely steal someone else's work, and take food from the mouths of writers and their families. It's just awful. However, ebooks are not the culprit; before their were ebook editions of my work, pirates were scanning the pages from the paper books. We've created an environment in which the value of information and entertainment has been set at zero dollars and zero cents, and that's the death knell of culture.
16. Some authors monitor torrent sites and have their publishers contact them to remove their content. Do you do so are have someone do so for you?
It's just so depressing, and it's a never-ending flood; I could spend my whole life policing it, and there are always new pirated versions going on line. Sadly, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America disbanded its piracy committee; I hope they'll bring it back.
17. I once had a university professor state that the true goal of a university education should be to teach one to learn how to think. What would you state should be the goal of higher education and why?
Your professor was right; that's one of the goals. The other is to give people a deep background in our shared culture.
18. Your work has been translated into 20 different languages. What language surprised you the most? What language do you wish it was translated into that has not happened yet?
None of them are surprising - but I know writers who envy me for having my books in Turkish; apparently, very little English-language science-fiction gets translated into that language. And I'd love to be in Arabic.
19. If you were stuck on a desert island and could only had only one book to read again and again, what book would you want with you?
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: it's so many different books rolled into one. It's a great courtroom drama, a great coming-of-age story, a great piece of social commentary, and a great human drama.
20. What advice would you give to young aspiring authors and artists?
You chose to be a writer or artist to express yourself - so don't go off and write media tie-ins set in some established franchise such as Star Trek or Star Wars; don't do fake collaborations with a big-name writer where you work in that person's universe; don't put off doing the stories that are important to you; and don't do anything just for the money. The arts are about passion; never lose sight of your own.
Robert, thank you for taking the time to answer some questions. And may we have the blessing of many many more works from your pen to pursue!
Books by Robert J. Sawyer:
Golden Fleece (1990)
End of an Era (Ace, 1994)
The Terminal Experiment (1995)
Starplex (1996)
Frameshift (1997)
Illegal Alien (1997)
Factoring Humanity (1998)
Flashforward (1999)
Calculating God (2000)
Iterations and Other Stories (2002)
Relativity: Essays and Stories (2004)
Mindscan (2005)
Rollback (2007)
Identity Theft and Other Stories (2008)
The Quintaglio Ascension:
Far-Seer (1992)
Fossil Hunter (1993)
Foreigner (1994)
The Neanderthal Parallax:
Hominids (Tor, 2003)
Humans (Tor, 2003)
Hybrids (Tor, 2003)
The WWW:
Wake (2009)
Watch (2010)
Wonder (2011)
(Photo Credit: Christina Molendyk)
Tony Horton
One on One
P90X - MC2
Volume 3 Disk 9
Core Synergistics MC2
Beachbody
There is a lot of variety packed tightly into 67 minutes in this workout. I hated the original Core Synergistics. I literally got 
sick the first few times I did it, and it always left a bad taste in my mouth. Now to be honest, I have a bad shoulder from a work injury, had surgery and such, and the original one always pushed me beyond my limits and I had to stop doing it. This one, on the other hand, has the same feel and focus but does not isolate my shoulder nearly as much. It is a great workout.
The Exercises are:
Balance Plank Cross Crunch
Warrior 3 Cross Crunch
Single Leg Burpee
Forearm Balance Tin Soldier
Roller Boat
One Leg Lateral Squats
Stability Ball Core Circles
Tip Toe Screamer Lunges
Med Ball Dreya Roll
Plank Burpee on Stability Ball
Banana Ball Cruch
3 Point Squat / Press
Bonus Round:
Single Leg Forearm Walk Outs to Plank
Walk-Outs 1-Leg Med Ball Burpee Press
Inch Worm Hands to Feet
X-Plank Spider Twist
Equipment Needed:
Stability Ball
Medicine Ball(s) or Basket Ball
Floor Sliders
This one is not one of the best of the over 30 out now, but it is a good solid workout that I can see myself working into my schedule regularly. But I am really excited about UBX, the revised and revamped Chest, Shoulders and Tris that is out next month.
To find out more about this series or other workouts in the collection, follow the links below. I have created a random workout generator that uses 1 on 1's and P90X if your interested.
Volume 1, Disk 1: Plyo Legs
Volume 1, Disk 2: Power 90® Road Warrior
Volume 1, Disk 3: Killer Abs
Volume 1, Disk 4: Just Arms
Volume 1, Disk 5: 30-15: The Upper-Body Massacre
Volume 1, Disk 6: Fountain of Youth
Volume 1, Disk 7: Super Cardio
Volume 1, Disk 8: Mammoth UML
Volume 1, Disk 9: Bun ShaperVolume 1, Disk 10: Medicine Ball Core Cardio
Volume 1, Disk 11: Recovery 4 Results
Volume 1, Disk 12: Diamond Delts
Volume 1, Bonus Disk - Holiday Workout
Volume 2, Bonus Disk - Pay It Forward
Volume 2, Disk 1: Cardio Intervals
Volume 2, Disk 2: Core Ball Sandwich
Volume 2, Disk 3: Patience "Hummingbird"
Volume 2, Disk 4: 10-Minute Crusher Pack
Volume 2, Disk 5: Butt and Belly (I Dare You)Volume 2, Disk 6: Back and BellyVolume 2, Disk 7: On One Leg
Volume 2, Disk 8: Iso Abs
Volume 2, Disk 9: Cardio Confusion - Mason's Choice
Volume 2, Disk 10: 100/30/20
Volume 2, Disk 11: On One Leg 4 legs
Volume 2, Disk 12: Upper Body Balance
Volume 3, Disk 1: Chest, Back & Balls
Volume 3, Disk 2: ARX2 (Ab-Ripper X 2)
Volume 3, Disk 3: Shoulders and Arms MC2Volume 3, Disk 4: Base and Back
Volume 3, Disk 5: MC2
Volume 3, Disk 6: Plyocide
Volume 3, Disk 7: Stretch And Recovery
Volume 3, Disk 8: V Sculpt
Volume 3, Disk 9: Core Synergistics MC2
Volume 3, Disk 10: UBX
Volume 3, Disk 11: PAP
Volume 3, Disk 12: Total Body X
(Disclaimer: I am asked frequently if I am a Beachbody Coach, no I am not, I am just some one who has used their products, P90X, 1on1 with Tony Horton and more and liked them and achieved good results. I am not paid by Beachbody or any of their affiliates. You can see my full disclaimer here.)
Straight from the Hart
Bruce Hart
ECW Press
ISBN 9781550229394
Bruce Hart is one of eight sons of legendary wrestler and wrestler trainer Stu Hart. His new book, a biography of a life in wrestling and life in a wrestling family by ECW (entertainment, culture and writing) Press, is a whirlwind tour through the who's who of professional wrestling, spanning rival wrestlers and rival leagues. Bruce takes an honest look at wrestling from behind the scenes. He tells us stories few have heard, and maybe fewer would believe. Tales of who is really a villain off scene, but plays good guys on the TV and vice versa. Who really showed up to support when his brother died in the ring and many more.
He states that growing up, the neighbours considered them a cross between the Beverly Hillbillies, the Addams Family and Twilight Zone. This book is a chronicle of a personal life, a family's life and the whole wrestling business. Bruce writes a great book that will be enjoyed by the rabid fan or just the casual fan alike. It will even be a good read for someone interested in Canada's and especially Calgary's prominent role in the international phenomena of professional wrestling. With stories spanning from the 1930's until today, there is a little something for everyone.
(Note: I received an electronic galley of this book through NetGalley, courtesy of ECW Press. The book was read on my Kobo eReader. As per my general disclaimer, free books have no impact on my review.)
Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale
