Mostly Books' Blog

Trivia Question

Mostly Books - Tucson, AZ — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:43:07 +0000

Here is your end of the week trivia question:

Identify the author and work from the passage below:

“There are some men who enter a woman’s life and screw it up forever. Joseph Morelli did this to me-not forever, but periodically.”

Leave you answer as a comment and check back on Sunday to see if you were correct.

Fracture

Mostly Books - Tucson, AZ — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:29:50 +0000

Megan Miranda debut novel Fracture is an engrossing tale of one girl’s back from death experience and the aftermath. She fell into the frozen lake and remained underwater for eleven minutes, shutting down her body, heart and brain. As she worked through her recovery, Delaney tries to get back to her normal routine, but deep down she knows that things are not the same. She feels different, almost like she is being pulled apart by some unknown force. To make things worse for Delaney, she finds herself surround with death.

Miranda does a great job of portraying the emotions that her family and friends go through while Delaney is in a coma and recovering. I liked that Miranda really focused on the emotional strain that everyone went through, and how no one was really able to go back to their old life. The added bit of a mystery as to why Delaney is acting the way she does was so much fun. You have your own suspicions as to why she is roaming around town and then Miranda gives you little pieces of information to push you along, making for a rather compulsive read towards the end. If you are a fan of Gayle Forman or Lauren Oliver, you are sure to enjoy Fracture. (This book was also loved by the staff here at Mostly Books.)

Death and Judgement

Mostly Books - Tucson, AZ — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:19:04 +0000

We have said this before, Donna Leon’s novels are terrific and Death and Judgement was no exception. Someone is killing the businessmen of Venice, and Vice-commissario Guido Brunetti has to find the murderer. What I loved about this novel was that Brunetti was working on four different murders throughout several months. It made the story seem more realistic since Brunetti didn’t find the murderer within a few days, but really had to buckle down and piece every detail together. Luckily he had a little help with this one. Brunetti started to discuss the cases with his wife, and before long she made a connection that linked all four together. Leon examined how a Vice-commissario’s, or detective’s, family plays into the investigation. She specifically focuses on Brunetti’s daughter and wife. This bit of family drama and family values added just another wonderful layer to the story. As always, Leon’s characters are so well refined that it is easy to imagine them as real people. She shows the good sides, as well as the bad sides of the character’s personality, making them become a complete person. And it wouldn’t be an amazing read without the atmosphere of Venice that Leon creates in her novels. It is so easy to get whisked off to Italy and submerged into the mystery with her writing. If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading her books, do it today.

Clockwork Angel

Mostly Books - Tucson, AZ — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:29:31 +0000

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare is a riveting Victorian paranormal tale. This series is a prequel to Clare’s Mortal Instrument series, but really each one stands perfectly well as it’s own series. (You don’t have to read one in order to enjoy the other.) This series does introduce new family members or characters that are in the Mortal Instrument series, giving a little taste of the older generations.

Tessa has set out for London to be reunited with her brother, but things go terrible wrong when she lands and two ladies greet her at the docks instead of her brother, who in fact has gone missing. What Tessa doesn’t realize, is that she is being kidnapped and forced to learn about her special abilities. Thankfully, Will and Jem stumble upon Tessa and immediately take her back to the London Institute for safe keeping. Once there, Tessa meets new people and a whole new world that she must somehow learn to accept, all the while continuing her search for her brother.

This was a great beginning to the trilogy (so sad that it is only going to be a trilogy). I love the world that Clare creates. You get a sense of the dark dreariness of London, but also the wonders of the industrial age where new inventions are springing up everyday. I wouldn’t classify this as a steampunk story (no alternate history to speak of), but Clare stills adds the flavor of mythical inventions that we all love in our steampunk fantasies. The characters are incredibly engaging and have great interactions with each other. I find myself laughing at their sarcastic comments to one another and than immediately wondering what they are brooding over. Needless to say, I am really excited to see how Clare continues to develop the characters, specifically Tessa. Clare did a wonderful job of keeping me reading, she never stopped the excitement as the characters continue on their adventures. I cruised through the entire book and quickly got Clockwork Prince to continue the fun.

January Bestsellers

Mostly Books - Tucson, AZ — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 19:35:49 +0000

Here are our bestsellers for the middle of January:

1 The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2 Cooking with All Things Trader Joes by Deana Gunn & Wona Miniati

3 Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

4 1984 by George Orwell

5 Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

6 Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

7 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

8 Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

9 Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

10 If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Trivia Answer

Mostly Books - Tucson, AZ — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:55:48 +0000

Answer: utopia-Utopia Thomas More was a man of many hats in his day. He was an English Lawyer, philosopher, author, and statesman. He was also an adviser to Henry VIII for a few years. Since More’s coining of the word utopia, we have also created the word dystopia to represent the opposite of an ideal state. Now there are several books set in a dystopic world, such as The Giver, Brave New World, 1984, Uglies, Life as We Knew It, Hunger Games, etc…

Stop in the story or shop online at mostlybooksaz.com to pick-up your book today.

Trivia Question

Mostly Books - Tucson, AZ — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 23:24:05 +0000

Here is your end of the week trivia question:

Identify the common words that have sprung from writers and the original names of the characters or work whence they sprang.

In 1516, Sir Thomas More wrote a book about an ideal state. As a name for both the novel and the place, More coined a term from the Greek word parts ou, “no”, topos, “place,” and -ia, “state of being.” The resulting word has come to designate and ideal society.

Leave your answer as a comment and check back on Sunday to see if you were correct.

Hard Target

Mostly Books - Tucson, AZ — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:24:27 +0000

Hard Target by Howard Gordon is the latest book featuring Gideon Davis and is certain to please fans and mystery readers alike. Gideon is getting ready to settle down and get married, when no sooner someone is at his door telling him about a terrorist attack. Like any normal non-CIA agent, Gideon attempts to inform the officials of his information, but has no success in convincing them to take it or him seriously. The only thing left to do is to find the terrorist himself and take them down before something tragic happens.

This book was excellent! It was filled with excitement and adventure that kept me cruising through till the end. The story gives you a taste of life at the capital building, as well as all of the different divisions of security agencies that work simultaneously in our country. Gordon has created great characters that are easy to root for and a plot that is sure to keep your attention.

January Book Discussions

Mostly Books - Tucson, AZ — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 19:10:33 +0000

Here are our January Book Clubs:

January 11th at 7 PM (Wednesday) Romance Group: Call Me Irresistible by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

January 18th at 7 PM 3rd Wednesday Fiction Group: Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy

January 21st at 1 PM (Saturday) Fiction Group: Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante

January 25th at 7 PM 4th Wednesday Mystery Group: The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

Online (Facebook: MostlyBooks TeenForum) young adult book group:

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (Jan 1st-15th)
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (Jan 16th-31st)

January Bestsellers

Mostly Books - Tucson, AZ — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 01:13:30 +0000

Here are our bestsellers for the beginning of January:

1 The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2 Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

3 Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

4 Death Comes to Pemberley by PD James

5 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz

6 Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

7 Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

8 War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

9 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

10 Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins