ARC Review: The Reader by Traci Chee

Title: The Reader
Author: Traci Chee
Source/Format: First to Read; eARC
More Details: Young Adult; Fantasy
Publisher/Publication Date: Putnam; September 13, 2016

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Sefia knows what it means to survive. After her father is brutally murdered, she flees into the wilderness with her aunt Nin, who teaches her to hunt, track, and steal. But when Nin is kidnapped, leaving Sefia completely alone, none of her survival skills can help her discover where Nin’s been taken, or if she’s even alive. The only clue to both her aunt’s disappearance and her father’s murder is the odd rectangular object her father left behind, an object she comes to realize is a book—a marvelous item unheard of in her otherwise illiterate society. With the help of this book, and the aid of a mysterious stranger with dark secrets of his own, Sefia sets out to rescue her aunt and find out what really happened the day her father was killed—and punish the people responsible...

One word folks: more. I want more of this book—this series—this world that Traci Chee has created. I have one reason for that: The Reader was awesome. The synopsis had a lot of promise—a society that was widely illiterate by custom, a mysterious book, a girl out for revenge against those who have wronged her and those she loves. I went into this book with high expectations, and boy does The Reader deliver.

The primary focus of The Reader was Sefia and her journey to get revenge, and unlock the secrets of the book. She had a thirst for information, and strived to understand things that were never taught to her. Part of The Reader focused on her progress and growth as a character. There were other characters that also had narratives just as strong as Sefia’s, and their stories were just as important—I had my favorites and tolerable secondary characters—but for the most part, the characters were one of the strongest aspects of The Reader. There were just so many compelling and layered pieces of the plot that I found myself easily invested in the story!

The story gets started on strong footing. The setting, society, and problems are quick to show their faces—promptly setting up the main conflict. And while the book was long—almost five hundred pages—there was something gripping about the story. I was never bored. There was always something going on with the characters, and their adventures were fun to read about. The story was also pretty balanced with a solid mystery, action, and a hint of romance.

The writing was also good. The prose was descriptive and straight-forward. There were a lot of POVs but it showed different parts of the fictional world, and painted a broader picture of the circumstances, mindsets, and habits of the main characters.  I actually liked reading from so many perspectives because of that. It kept the story going at a good pace and answered questions while raising others—it also gave background to parts of the story.

All-in-all, The Reader was a solid debut. I liked these characters and their story, and the society they were a part of was fascinating. I still have so many questions—I wasn’t ready for the story to be over, but it was—as such, I will definitely continue on with this series.

This copy of the book was provided by First to Read (Publisher) for this review, thank you!

About the author...

Traci Chee is an author of speculative fiction for teens. An all-around word geek, she loves book arts and art books, poetry and paper crafts, though she also dabbles at piano playing, egg painting, and hosting potluck game nights for family and friends. She studied literature and creative writing at UC Santa Cruz and earned a master of arts degree from San Francisco State University. Traci grew up in a small town with more cows than people, and now feels most at home in the mountains, scaling switchbacks and happening upon hidden highland lakes. She lives in California with her fast-fast dog. The Reader is her YA debut...

Musing Mondays (61) Seasonal Books...

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by Jenn at Books and a Beat, that asks you to muse about something book related each week.

My musings for the week...

Random weekly question from August 29th: Which book do you wish you’d written yourself?

This is a pretty common question, and I'm sure I've asked an author this exact thing at one time or another. However, my answer to this question is none. There isn't a book I wish I'd written myself. They're my favorites for a reason—meaning, I didn't write them. I don't think I would like my favorite books as much if I'd written them myself. So, I enjoyed them for what they were, because they didn't sound like they were coming from my perspective.

Other Musings...

It’s basically the beginning of the holiday season…already. August wasn’t even over before Halloween/fall decorations and seasonal goods with specialty flavors (like candy, tea, and coffee) started appearing in stores/restaurants and so forth. And now that it’s already September. I feel like this year just flew past, but oh well, at least my favorite teas are coming back (I can't rightly complain). So—in conjunction with the stores—to start out this week, I want to talk about seasonal books.

I like the holiday season a lot, not just because of the food either. I always look forward to Halloween because of all the little items. I've already brought two—a pumpkin pillar and an adorable owl in a witch hat from Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores (hello new desk ornaments). But, I also like books that feel like they fit with the season. For example, something spooky for Halloween/October, or wintry for Christmas/December. Hence, seasonal books.

Seasonal books are kind of like the pumpkin spice coffee from Starbucks: specifically themed. However, books stay on store shelves and are more readily accessible, with availability not determined by the time of year. Usually, I’ll consider a book to be seasonal based off of a few things like setting—fall or winter, sometimes both—the subject, and even the characters if they happen to be particularly festively themed.

When I think of seasonal reads that I've already read, Ray Bradbury’s The Halloween Tree, and My True Love Gave to Me is one that I would pair with December (I still need to get that anthology, I've heard marvelous things about it). There are others, but I just don’t know of them yet. So, even though this won’t be a definite goal, I do want to try to get to more of the holiday/season themed books before this year is over.

What are some of your favorite seasonal reads/TV shows/foods/drinks?

Review: Visual Reference Guides Architecture by Jonathan Glancey

Title: Architecture
Author: Jonathan Glancey
Source/Format: Purchased; Paperback
More Details: Nonfiction; Reference; Architecture 
Publisher/Publication Date: Metro Books; March 15, 2010

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Visual Reference Guides: Architecture, the definitive visual guide, allows you to discover 5,000 years of architectural design, style, and construction, from airports to ziggurats. You'll be able to explore the world's great buildings through amazing illustrations that take you right to the heart of the world's landmark buildings. Look beyond the façades and examine the materials and technology that shape buildings, and identify the key elements and decorative features of each architectural style. It's the perfect addition to any architecture enthusiast's library, whether expert or novice...

When I sat down to give Visual Reference Guides: Architecture a read, I really had no expectations except one: a visual trip around the world and through the ages of architecture. That’s what this book was about, architecture, and how it changed or stayed the same over time, or even fluctuated backwards to a more classical style and forwards to something new.

What this book does is give a small profile on different examples of architecture as well as architects who worked on specific buildings—if the information was available. It’s also divided into clear sections that focused on a specific architectural style that sometimes depended on region/culture/country, and available building materials—everything from Classical Revival to Baroque & Rococo, and even Gothic Revival and Modernism. Some styles had similarities, but others were noticeably different. My favorite types of architecture were found in the sections that discussed Baroque, Rococo, Greecian, Indian, and Southeast Asian styles.

Since this was a visual reference guide, photos made up a lot of the book—there was almost one for every profile, give or take a few. So, there were some blank spots in the information provided, but it didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment. The photos also served as visual examples of the types of architecture being described. Another aspect I liked about this book, was that there were pages dedicated to summaries of information that gave a little history about each style, which was cool since the explanations were handy.

I like architecture in its many forms. Since, after all, it is a part of everyday life and the source of modern convenience and comfort—really handy when it’s over a hundred degrees outside, just saying. So, I really enjoyed this book and the way it highlighted my favorite architectural features as well as those that were new to me. My money was well spent on this one.

The Friday 56 (75) A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Synopsis from Goodreads...

This is a tale of missing persons. Madeleine and her mother have run away from their former life, under mysterious circumstances, and settled in a rainy corner of Cambridge (in our world). Elliot, on the other hand, is in search of his father, who disappeared on the night his uncle was found dead. The talk in the town of Bonfire (in the Kingdom of Cello) is that Elliot's dad may have killed his brother and run away with the Physics teacher. But Elliot refuses to believe it. And he is determined to find both his dad and the truth. As Madeleine and Elliot move closer to unraveling their mysteries, they begin to exchange messages across worlds -- through an accidental gap that hasn't appeared in centuries. But even greater mysteries are unfolding on both sides of the gap: dangerous weather phenomena called "color storms;" a strange fascination with Isaac Newton; the myth of the "Butterfly Child," whose appearance could end the droughts of Cello; and some unexpected kisses...

"Today, however, they were at the flat. Madeleine and her mother were side by side on the couch, and Jack and Belle were on kitchen chairs facing them. "--A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty 

Comments: I just started this one today. Its been sitting on my ereader for a very long time, and I'm just now getting around to it. Page 56 didn't have a lot going on. I'm not that far yet, so I wonder how it fits in.

What are you reading this week?

Musing Mondays (60) How My Blogging Has Changed Since Way Back In 2013

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by Jenn at Books and a Beat, that asks you to muse about something book related each week.

My musings for the week...

Random weekly question from August 22nd: Name a favorite book you’d take to the beach...

When I think of a book I would take to the beach, my first thought would be to pick something short, light, and fun—or even delve into a longer fantasy novel. However, there is one book in particular—because I haven’t read it in a long time—and that’s This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith.

Other Musings...

Usually, for Musing Mondays I talk about something book related, and today's post will still be associated with that and the blog. Specifically, I want to talk about how I’ve changed my method of blogging.  Hang tight, folks, this is going to be long...

When I first started blogging with my co-blogger in 2013, the majority of the posts on Our Thoughts Precisely were reviews or promotional posts. We didn’t participate in any weekly memes or book tags, and we certainly didn’t do interviews. We were new at it and the blog was a work in progress.

For a time, that method worked out pretty well. It was fun. But then, that sort of changed as the first year of blogging turned into a second and then a third. I wanted to do more, and that was a problem. There was only so much I could read in a year, and at the time I was disappointed with what I was reading. I found myself in reading slumps that lasted for weeks. And for long stretches, I couldn’t find the motivation to continue.

Since then, I’ve found a better way to maintain the blog. I’ve read more genres and found some true nonfiction gems. I participate in memes—Musing Mondays and The Friday 56. I took the pressure off myself, and no longer wanted to try and post something—no matter how short—every day of the week. And I no longer try to finish every book. I used to do that, even with ones that I just wasn’t enjoying. I just sort of let that go, and let me tell, it’s so much better that way.

One major thing that changed was the amount of reviews. No longer are they the majority. I limit it to a minimum of three to four in a month, basically once a week—sometimes more—which makes it easier to post regularly. Plus, I made a very loose plan for the week. Usually, posts go up on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Some weeks I’ll even throw something up on Saturday or Sunday. However, I usually like to keep my weekends reserved for other things—Splatoon I’m looking at you—and unless there’s a rare blog tour, release day blitz, or weekend tidbits that needs to go up, I rarely post on those days.

I still don’t keep a set reading goal for the year. Back in January, I did mention books I was looking forward to, but that was just a few and they were mainly sequels. I left room for other books to just catch my interest. I’ve had a monumental amount of fun with backlist titles, and I have read some fantastic debuts like The Reader by Traci Chee. Just don’t expect the review too soon, since I’m going to post it closer to the release date. However, just know that The Reader was a fantastic and complex story, and I want the sequel now.

So yeah, that’s how my blogging has changed. Looking back, 2013 seems like such a long time ago. I appreciate the readers that stop by the blog and the thoughtful comments. And, I have finally left the design of the blog alone. Who knew it would only take changing the header and color scheme a handful of times?

Do you blog? If so, how has it changed for you?