Review | Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure and Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country by Allan Richard Shickman

The hero, Zan-Gah seeks his lost twin in a savage prehistoric world, encountering suffering, captivity, conflict, love, and triumph. In three years, Zan-Gah passes from an uncertain boyhood to a tried and proven manhood and a position of leadership among his people.

As soon as I started reading A Prehistoric Adventure, it reminded me of short stories that I used to read from textbooks when I was in middle school. The story is simple, yet exciting with lots of details. It is something fun to read and I can see many middle-schoolers and others enjoying this.

The way it is written is a bit different than anything I’ve ever read, and the entire time I was reading, it reminded me of an elder person of a tribe telling the story while people sat around him. The plot and characters are very interesting and different as well, I suppose because of the time setting. I enjoyed it, and I recommend it to anyone who thinks it sounds interesting.

The prehistoric saga continues in Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country, the sequel to the award winning Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure. In this story, Zan s troubled twin brother, Dael, having suffered greatly during his earlier captivity, receives a ruinous new shock when his wife suddenly dies. Disturbed and traumatized, all of his manic energies explode into acts of hostility and bloodshed. His obsession is the destruction of the wasp men, his first captors, who dwell in the Beautiful Country. When he, Zan-Gah, and a band of adventurers trek to their bountiful home, they find that all of the wasp people have died in war or of disease. The Beautiful Country is empty for the taking, and Zan s people, the Ba-Coro, decide to migrate and resettle there. But the Noi, Dael s cruelest enemies and former tormentors, make the same migration from their desert home, and the possibility develops of contention and war over this rich and lovely new land.

Much like the first one, the story of Zan-Gah continues. Written in the same, detailed way with a different adventure awaiting the characters, I was also able to enjoy this book. Although the story is quite a bit different, the writing style is the same and the characters are enjoyable to read about. I would definitely recommend this one as well, but I suggest reading the first one so that you can know the characters better :)

These books were provided by the publisher for review.

Review | Legacy of a False Promise: A Daughter's Reckoning by Margaret Fuchs Singer

Margaret Fuchs was thirteen in June 1955 when she learned that her parents had been Communists while working for the U.S. government in the 1930s and '40s. This book chronicles the years during which her parents were exposed and her father was subpoenaed before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Eventually he named names, and subsequently lost his job as a law professor at American University, and was blacklisted from teaching ever again. "Legacy of a False Promise" also details the author's quest as an adult to learn whether or not her parents ever spied for the Soviet Union. Based on eight years of research using family records, FBI files, American University archives, personal interviews, and the recently declassified Venona cables, this book offers unique insights into the McCarthy Era. Most 'red-diaper babies' who have written on the subject had parents who refused to give in to HUAC's demands. Singer's work instead recounts the shame and series of betrayals that her father's decision to name names brought to her family. Furthermore, it explores the campaign of the liberal anti-Communist movement to publicize its political position while defending a fired ex-Communist professor, the nature and activities of secret Communist underground cells, and the motivation of New Deal government workers who spied for the Soviets. This is a poignant meditation on family secrets, father-daughter relationships in times of crisis, teenage loneliness in the midst of trauma, and the effects of parents' actions on the lives of their children. It also serves as a timely reminder of the dangers of sacrificing civil liberties in the name of national security.

This was a tough book for me to read, not because it had anything wrong with it, but because I’m not a very huge fan of biographies. I accepted this copy for review though, hoping that since my last read of a biography was quite enjoyable, this one would be too. I did enjoy it, but after the first few pages, which were interesting I had a hard time following the story and continuing to remain interested. I suppose this is just not the type of book I’m accustomed to.

The author’s writing and all the facts were very interesting to read about, and I feel like I learned a lot of history just from reading this. I was able to connect with the author and her story, and I was able to understand how she felt in such difficult situation in life.

Although I want to recommend this book to everyone, I think it’s only fair for me to say that I recommend it anyone who is interested in learning about ‘red diaper babies’ and learn from someone what it was like growing up with that kind of burden on their shoulders. It is a very interesting and courageous book, and quite educational.

This book was provided by the publisher for review.

what i'll be reading this week (2)

I surprised myself by actually finishing all three books by the time I hoped to. This week I’m reading two books, one I got in the mail from a tour: Rising Shadow by Jacquelyn Wheeler which is pretty interesting so far and Two-Way Street which I chose because of fellow bloggers. Hopefully I am able to post a few long overdue reviews, including one tonight. I have been pretty busy, but school is over and work is slowing down. Summer is here and I am so excited and awaiting those long days at the beach with a good book. I hope everyone is having a great week :)

happy reading everyone..

what i'll be reading this week (1)

So I said I’d be reading one book a week, or trying to, but I did happen to get three tour books in the same week and you know how that goes, I need to send them out within a time limit. I’m definitely going to read those three and hopefully I’ll be able to enjoy them as much as I’m hoping. I already made a good dent in Mockingbird, and it’s really good so far, so I know I’ll finish that one pretty quickly. I’ll probably read for a few hours today as well, and hopefully I can get through all of them quick enough.

I’m trying to think ahead and figure out what I want to read next week, and I was thinking of having a poll, but I don’t think I’ll have enough votes to make that count. I’m thinking either a YA or a Romance novel…

P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern or Two-Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt.

What do you guys think?

i haven't really been gone, but i'm back :)

For the past two months or so I’ve been on a sort of reading break. There was nothing I really wanted to read, and I was only reading the books that I got for review because I felt I had to since I had accepted. But other than that, I really haven’t been doing much reading. I also don’t seem to have much time for blogging either, and I must admit that I’ve missed it. This week though, I got a few books in the mail for review and I am uber excited to read them.

+Mockingbird (mok’ing-bûrd) by Kathryn Erskine [ARC from book tour]

+ Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus [ARC from book tour]

+ Thirteen Days to Midnight by Patrick Carman [ARC from book tour]

So, I decided to sort of compromise with myself and try to get some reading done again. I’ve decided to read maybe a book a week. At work I get three breaks and I know I can squeeze in some reading time then, so that’s why I’ve decided to set that goal for myself. I’ll probably do a short post on what I plan to read every Sunday or Monday and I’ll try to be done with it by the following week.

Since I haven’t been posting much, I decided to skip this month’s TCMG, and so I never posted the giveaway for the month up. I do have a winner for last month, I just haven’t gotten around to announcing that either. So, I suppose without waiting any longer the winner is: bookaholic! Please email me your addy: oddlesofbooks@yahoo.com

Now, my other giveaway is still going. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, click here. I want to have a few other giveaways but I don’t want to make any promises since I might be back but not around all the time. Other than that, I have nothing much else to say except I’ll try to do a few reviews a week from now on and maybe post about other things. I’ll see how it works out for me.

happy reading :)

P.S. I'll also be changing my blog's look soon. Not too happy with it...

Review | Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

Five teenagers from different parts of the country. Three girls. Two guys. Four straight. One gay. Some rich. Some poor. Some from great families. Some with no one at all. All living their lives as best they can, but all searching...for freedom, safety, community, family, love. What they don't expect, though, is all that can happen when those powerful little words "I love you" are said for all the wrong reasons.

Five moving stories remain separate at first, then interweave to tell a larger, powerful story -- a story about making choices, taking leaps of faith, falling down, and growing up. A story about kids figuring out what sex and love are all about, at all costs, while asking themselves, "Can I ever feel okay about myself?"

Thoughts: If you've ever read any of Hopkins books, you know how powerful they can be. This was no exception. Written in the same format as her other books, this looks like a whole lot of book, but since it is written in short poems, I finished it quite quickly.

In the beginning, the stories are all separate, moving at a slow pace but then they start changing, becoming more intense and there are little details that intertwine the stories together slowly.

Hopkins created amazing characters, each with their own problems and all searching for similar things. The way the book was written had me turning page after page even though at some points it was even a bit hard to read.

I really am a big fan of Hopkins books and I am glad I got a chance to enjoy this one as well, I recommend it to everyone.

Favorite Line:
"If love has no more meaning
than that, you can keep it.
I don't want it now or ever
again. Don't want to hear
the words or wear it's scars."

This book was provided by the local library.