Review: Broken Soup

Broken Soup by Jenny Valentine

publisher: HarperTeen

release date: March 24, 2009

hardcover, 224 pages

intended audience: Young Adult

rating:


Description from bn.com:

Positive.

Negative.

It's how you look at it. . . .

Someone shoves a photo negative into Rowan's hands. She is distracted but, frankly, she has larger problems to worry about. Her brother is dead. Her father has left. Her mother won't get out of bed. She has to take care of her younger sister. And keep it all together . . .

But Rowan is curious about the mysterious boy and the negative. Who is he? Why did he give it to her? The mystery only deepens when the photo is developed and the inconceivable appears.

Everything is about to change for Rowan. . . . Finally, something positive is in her life.

Review: This is the heart-wrenching story of a teenage girl who is desperately struggling to keep her life and the life of her little sister going after the death of her older brother tears her family apart. It took me a few chapters to really get used to Ms. Valentine's style of writing, but once you dive in, it really starts to feel almost like someone standing front of you telling you their story. I fell in love with this story and all of its characters. The mystery of the negative and the mysterious boy who insists that it's her's unfolds beautifully. The people that happen into Rowan's life are amazing, the warmth and support they gave her was enough to bring me to tears at times. There are a few of the those gasp-out-loud moments that completely threw me. There are laugh aloud moments and those moments that just tear your heart out. The story and writing are as near flawless as can be. Read this one...you definitely won't regret it.

I plan to read this one again soon, and have already got her debut novel, Me, the Missing, and the Dead check out from the library to read as soon as I can. I'll be waiting for more from this author for sure!

Sweetness on Sunday

Ok, I am hoping "Sweetness on Sunday" will be a semi-regular weekly post here on my blog. I did promise a few sweeties with the stories, didn't I? Sunday my family and I get together for dinner, and I am often Dessert Girl. :) So it's the perfect day for me to share what lovlies I have cookin' up. Not always cupcakes, of course, though they are my favorite. Sometimes I make up my own recipes, sometimes I cook from one of my huge collection of cookbooks. So here we go!

This week I made Peach Vanilla Bean Cupcakes. They turned out quite lovely, I love the way you can see little flecks of vanilla bean in the light fluffy frosting (though you can't see them in the photo! bummer...)Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake pan with liners for 12-15 cupcakes.

1 1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Whisk these three ingredients together in a medium bowl and set aside.

1 cup sugar
6 tbsp unsalted butter at room temp.
1 egg and 1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1 cup diced fresh or canned peaches, well drained

In a larger bowl, mix the sugar and butter with an electic mixer on med-high speed until fluffy, about 1 1/2 minutes. Mix in egg, egg white and vanilla one at a time.

Add in dry ingredients then milk, alternately adding half at a time of these. Mix on low speed just until flour is all mixed in. Carefully fold in diced peaches until spread evenly though batter.

Spoon out batter into prepared cupcake liners and bake for 18-20 minutes. Test with toothpick, it should come out clean when they are done. Place cupcakes on a cooling rack for an hour.

Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting:

3 egg whites at room temp
3/4 sugar
dash of salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
vanilla bean
Place egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl. Place on top of a saucepan of simmering water (the bowl should not be touching the water). Whisk the sugar and egg continuously until dissolved- about 2 minutes.
Remove the bowl from the heat, and with an electric mixer on high speed, beat the mixture until it is fluffy and holds stiff peaks, 6-7 minutes.
Turn the mixer down to med-low speed and add butter a small amounts at a time. Add the salt.
Slice the vanilla bean length-wise and fold it open. Scrape out the insides of the bean and add to frosting mixture. Mix on medium speed until fluffy.

Frost the cupcakes when they are cooled and enjoy!! :)

In My Mailbox (9)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren, where we all share what we got during the week!


Ok, here's what I got this week. Everything here is from the library EXCEPT for the bit of awesomeness is the middle...which was gifted to me from sweet Rachael of Book Love: Teen !! Thank you so much, hon! Everyone remember she is having a fabulous 50 follower giveaway at her blog with some great prize books, so go enter!!

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin by Josh Berk
The Fetch by Laura Whitcomb
The Morganville Vampires: Glass Houses by Rachel Vincent

I have to admit now...the book at the bottom, Glass Houses...I only brought this home so I could test run a few chapter to see if I want to read more. I have to fess up to being a huge "Cover" girl and the US covers of these books compared to the UK covers, well, its just no contest, the UK covers win. So, if I like the first couple of chapters, I am going to order the UK editions of the first few books from Book Depository. Am I crazy? Hope not :)

The Fetch is from author Laura Whitcomb, whose book "A Certain Slant of Light" I read and loved last year. If you haven't read that one, I highly recommend it!!

Ok, what did you get??

Review: Shiver

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
publisher: Scholastic, Inc.

released: August 2009

hardcover, 400 pages

intended audience: Young Adult

rating:


description from goodreads.com
For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human ... until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Review: Where do I even start with this one? It was a beautiful story: haunting, romantic, suspenseful, captivating from the very first chapter, and written with an amazing amount of realism for a book about werewolves. Maggie Stiefvater created werewolves like they've never been written before, made them more human than I've even seen them portrayed. Sam's constant struggle to remain human so he could stay longer with Grace despite the oncoming winter is heartwrenching---my stomach flipped everytime he ran from a car to a front door, just waiting for the inevitable to happen! It was also nice to see a departure from the love stories where the two characters are constantly going "I'm so bad for you/I can't stay away from you/I must stay away from you/ no, I must have you...etc, and so on". Grace and Sam just let themselves be in love, enjoying the short time they had together. It was a joy to read!
Every character was written so you could see them clearly in your head, even hear their voices. So many interesting subplots going on and each one felt complete by the end. It was definitely a satisfying story---no open-ending left for a second book...I even wonder if a second one was planned when this one was completed.

But, of course, the second installment is on it's way! I am so excited to read Linger, hitting shelves in July!!

Waiting on Wednesday : Guardian of the Gate

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

Guardian of the Gate (Prophecy of the Sisters #2)
by Michelle Zink

release date: August 1st
by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

I am so excited for the second in this series. You can see my review of the first book here. It seems this new cover has just been revealed---I looked this one up just a few days ago and it wasn't there so that is my assumption. I do have to admit, I'm not horribly fond of this cover. It WON'T stop me from grabbing this book in the least, but I really loved the style of the cover of Prophecy of the Sisters, beautiful and gothic,... and was hoping it would be something along the same line. Besides that, I really love when I can buy a whole set of books and they actually look like a set when they are perched lovingly on my bookshelves! But, like I said, I'll still be hitting the bookstore on Aug 1st and snatching this off the shelves!

Description from Goodreads.com:
The ultimate battle between sisters is nearing, and its outcome could have catastrophic consequences. As sixteen year-old Lia Milthorpe searches for a way to end the prophecy, her twin sister Alice hones the skills she'll need to defeat Lia. Alice will stop at nothing to reclaim her sister's role in the prophecy, and that's not the only thing she wants: There's also Lia's boyfriend James.

Lia and Alice always knew the Prophecy would turn those closest to them against them. But they didn't know what betrayal could lead them to do. In the end, only one sister will be left standing.

In My Mailbox (8)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren, where we all share what we got during the week!

Ok...you remember my little mantra from last week's IMM post? See here. Well...FAIL. Massive fail on my part. Barnes and Noble, you are my downfall everytime. Ah, well, maybe this week. Maybe.

Ok, here's what I got this week:

The Sight by Jude Watson (My first fail--bought a Barnes)
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher (library)
Mirrorscape by Mike Wilkes (library)
Bonechiller by Graham McNamee (Rachael, you instigator, you!)
Soulless by Gail Carriger (my second fail---bought a Barnes)

I also have a super awesome book waiting for me at the post office (Thanks Rachael!!! You are wonderful!) I can't get it until Monday because the mail guy missed me today and the office is closed all weekend. Ah, small town livin'..gotta love it. Except when I can't get my book! Anyhow, I'll be showing it off in next weeks IMM!! :)

And I have one word to leave everyone with this week...hopefully somebody gets it.
"Milk-a-whaaat?"

Ok, show me whats in your mailbox!!

Cover Story

Holy wow..I've just completely got stars in my eyes over these two covers. The first, I saw over at Undercover Book Lover. The sequel to Fallen, Torment by Lauren Kate, has just been revealed!!! It's even more gorgeous than the first one!! I still haven't read Fallen (seriously it's next on my TBR pile...or maybe next after that. Gah!! Too many books!) , but I'm already excited for the second book! I wonder if it will be made of the same luscious, velvety paper as the first one. If you haven't experienced that..go, find a copy of Fallen and feel it up. Seriously.

Another drool-factor cover, the brand new series by author Abra Ebner, The Knight Angels. This one looks so intriguing...pop on over to the book site and check them out. So cool. As for the cover...breathtaking. Love how they cropped the image and that font is to die for. Yeah, being a digital scrapbooker (another of my fun little hobbies!), I definitely have a thing for cool fonts.
That's all for now!