Reading at Dawn - Book Review Blog

I know it's not regular post time but I couldn't let the occasion go without at least a small post to let everyone know. Reading at Dawn is a year old. Our first blog post was back on January 14th, 2011. So this message is a little late but that's okay. Happy blogiversary/b-day Reading at Dawn!

Thank you Denise (L'Aussie) and JJ (WritersBlockNZ) for all of your work with this blog. I appreciate you both and I wouldn't have made it to our first milestone without you.

This is a book that I started reading back in September... okay, by that I mean the second time reading the book was started in September 2011. I actually read the book originally back when I was in junior high. I decided to read it again because there were certain parts that I remembered and I wanted to get a peak at some middle grade books. It's interesting what I did remember and what I had forgotten.

About the Book: (from goodreads) "Ellen awakens one morning with a mysterious silver crown on the pillow beside her. What magic powers it possesses she has not yet discovered, but the sudden changes in her life are unmistakable: her house is burned down, her family has disappeared, and a man in a dark uniform is stalking her. Can Ellen ever find her family? Can she use the power of the silver crown to thwart the powers of darkness? What diabolical force hides inside the mysterious castle in the woods?"


About the Author: Robert Leslie Conly (also known by his pen name, Robert C. O'Brien) was an American author and a journalist for National Geographic Magazine. He is known for books including Z for Zachariah and the amazing tale of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.


Overall Impression: This is an older book but still rather good. There were parts that I remembered from when I first read it back in junior high-ish, since I can't remember exactly when I read it. I remembered perfectly the very beginning of the story, how she discovers the crown and the little pretend court she holds away from her house. I remembered the boy that the main character meets in the story who then travels with her and the mind control that they discover. But I didn't remember the cop killing that happens in the beginning and many other elements. Still enjoyed reading the story.

Second Reads: Like with reading any book a second time (and you'll get more about this when I review the first two books from The Wheel of Time series) there are interesting elements to reading a familiar story. Even in middle grade, there are things that I noticed now that I may not have caught onto the first time reading. But one of the things that makes a really good book is the ability to read more than once and still enjoy the story. Even though I've read the book before, I am older and all of that, there were still parts where I reacted and parts where I wanted to know what happened next. And that is a good sign.

Reading as a Writer: The main thing I felt that was different this time around wasn't so much my age, but now that I am writing and doing editing/acquisition for a small publisher, I look at books I read differently. I can't help but notice things, like a well planned "info dump" done in a way to make it fit into the story. Sometimes the phrasing distracted me a little bit when it came to certain sentences but those were very small moments and didn't happen very often. I see those things more now than I used to and that's okay.

2011 was a spectacular reading year for me: 108 books read in total. Most of them were YA, so my goal for 2012 is to not only read 112 books, but to aim to read at least 35 adult fiction novels. Therefore, I thought I'd start off with a review of Sushi for Beginners by Marian Keyes.

Blurb: Number one internationally bestselling author Marian Keyes works her magic once again in this charming tale of three modern women and their search for happiness.

Prada-wearing magazine editor Lisa Edwards thinks her life is over when her "fabulous" new job turns out to be a deportation to Dublin, launching Colleen magazine. No more jet-setting to the fall collections. No more fabulous parties and photographs in the society pages. The only saving grace is that her friends aren't there to witness her downward spiral. Might her new boss, the disheveled and moody Jack Devine, save her from a fate worse than hell?

Ashling Kennedy, Colleen's assistant editor, is an award-winning worrier, increasingly aware that something fundamental is missing from her life -- apart from a boyfriend and a waistline. And then there's her closest, oldest friend Clodagh "Princess" Kelly, who is apparently living the domestic dream in a suburban castle. So why, lately, has Clodagh had a recurring urge to kiss a frog -- sleep with a frog, if truth be told?

This novel is set in the fashion magazine industry, and I was primarily interested in this novel because I work in the media industry, and have had a lot of contact with magazine teams. However, in New Zealand it seems to be a lot more laid back than in Sushi for Beginners!

The Good: despite being chick-lit it had a fair bit packed into it, and I didn't once feel like the plot was dragging. It is set in Ireland, and the contrasting POVs between Lisa, from London, and Ashling from Dublin, were wonderful. There were a number of love triangles going on, and I'm happy to report that the results weren't as predictable as I'd assumed they would be. At times, it is a bitter-sweet tale, and although I'm a sucker for a happy ending, Keyes manages to keep away from the fairytale style ending often seen in chick-lit.

The Bad: Two of the characters, Lisa and Clodagh, were completely unlikeable, and my attitude towards them didn't improve much, even towards the end of the book. There were numerous in-scene shifts in POV that I found a little unsettling.

The Verdict: A light-hearted rom-com style novel, recommended for a lazy sunday at the beach.

Happy New Year fellow readers!

2011 was a hectic year for me - you may have noticed that I dropped off the blogging scene for a while. This was all due to my baby girl, Kiera Marie, born 22nd July 2011. Despite having my hands full, I still managed to reach my goal of reading 100 books in 2011 (in fact, I read a few more than 100!).

Some of my favourites:

Best series read: The Hunger Games Trilogy, by Suzanne Collins

Best sequel read: Clockwork Prince, by Cassandra Clare

Best debut author: Rapture, by Phillip W. Simpson

Best sci-fi read: Across the Universe, by Beth Revis

Best fantasy read: Graceling, by Kristin Cashore.

Best contemporary read: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Best cover: Supernaturally by Kiersten White

What were some of your favourites for 2011?

Happy reading for 2012!

Writer's Block NZ

Since it is almost the end of the year, it's time to reflect on the books that were read in 2011. Then in January we will have new reading goals to post and hopefully new reviews.


So much has happened over the last year and while I didn't read over 30 books this year, I did manage to finish reading 21 which is a lot more than the 3 or 4 I read in 2010.  Many of the novels were YA but there was a variety that helped add to the mix. Had a number of surprises with the books that I did manage to read with quite a few being even better than I had even expected. So many good books this year out of the 21 books. Some weren't as good as the hype and some were so good I wondered why more people didn't talk about them enough.


It's hard to even pick the best book out of the year even though I only read 21 of them. So I'm going to list a few different books that I found amazing.


Books that surprised me in a very good way:
A World Without Heroes by Brandon Mull - very long, surprising enthralling middle grade first book of a series
Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey - ghosts and cool story line
Wither by Lauren DeStefano - OMG so good dystopian with even a good love triangle
Dreaming in English by Laura Fitzgerald - such a touching story even though I haven't read the first book.
I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells - quite a good book about a strange young boy.


Books I can't wait to read the sequel:
A World Without Heroes - cliffhanger ending made me go "argh" and I am still waiting for the second one to have a cover and such since I read the ARC of the first book that makes for a long wait.
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPaul - The first book was good and I wonder where they are going with the story in the series.
Wither - I wonder what will happen since the characters have limited time left in their lives.


Not many but this year was better than the year before and I hope to read even more in 2012. Thank you for following this blog and our reviews. Can't wait to see what 2012 brings.

Hello Readers,

I have realized over the past month in preparing for NaNoWriMo that this blog has been a little bit neglected. Somehow we achieved our 50th follower but haven't posted a review in weeks. That is so exciting in itself. Since we are now officially in November, the blog won't have any posts because the crazy goal of 50,000 words is a difficult task and we're a little distracted by that. But don't worry, we will return to a more regular schedule once the month is over.

Thank you to all of our dedicated followers. We are so grateful to have each one of you and will be back to give you more wonderful book reviews in December.

For now we write. Keep reading and have a good November!