The Night Dance: A Retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses

I love fairy tales. I love retellings of fairy tales. And I love Arthurian legend. If you're anything like me, you will absolutely love The Night Dance by Suzanne Weyn. It's a re-telling of the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale The 12 Dancing Princesses, interwoven with tales of the Lady of the Lake.

Years ago a woman vanished into the woods leaving a husband and 12 girls behind. Her husband built a large wall around their home, to prevent the girls from disappearing the same way. Since that time, the girls never entered the woods, until the day the youngest chipped a hole in the wall.

As she begins exploring the woods, the visions begin. Some are of a man she's never met, but feels strangely connected with. The others are of a woman who resembles stories of the mother she doesn't remember. Convinced that her mother is still living, she tells her sisters about the woods and the adventure truly begins.

The retelling is excellently done, and is set shortly after King Arthur is slain in battle. I found the concept brilliant, and as soon as I read the back cover I knew I had to read this. I borrowed this from my sisters personal collection, and read it for the YA Reading Challenge, Speculative Fiction Challenge, and 100+ Challenge.

The Truth-Tellers Tale by Sharon Shinn

“What would you say if I told you there was a time a Safe-Keeper told a secret, a Truth-Teller told a lie, and a Dream-Maker did everything in her power to make sure a wish went astray? Believe what I tell you, for I am a Truth-Teller, and every word I say is true.” Thus the Truth-Tellers Tale by Sharon Shinn begins.

Adele & Eleda are Innkeepers daughters, twins & opposite in nearly every way. Their appearances are mirror images of each other, as well as their names & their personalities. Eleda the Truth-Teller is often used to referee childrens games, or give opinions on outfits, for she can tell no lies. Adele the Safe-Keeper is given all the confidences and secrets of the village's inhabitants. When the 2 are mistaken for each other, it sets off a chain of events that will change their lives, and the lives of their friends.

A mysterious dance instructor and his young apprentice find their way to the Inn, and quickly charm their way into society. Their friend Roellyn's father is determined that she'll marry a prince, but she's fallen for the apprentice. Eleda can't shake the feeling that the instructor is not what he claims to be, but feels a strange attraction to him nonetheless. Adele has fallen for a boy she can't have, but seems maddeningly assured that all will work out though of course she can't say why.

Nearly all little girls love fairy tales. If you're like me, and you never grew out of it, you will thoroughly enjoy this book.

**I read this for the Library Reading Challenge, YA Reading Challenge, and Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge.

A Series of Unfortunate Events - The Bad Beginning

Until this morning, the only experience I had with A Series of Unfortunate Events was the movie with Jim Carey. My sister brought me Lemony Snicket's The Bad Beginning, and I'm delighted--a word which here means "absolutely will be reading the rest of the series"--to give this review.

After having read the book, I have a greater respect for Jim Carey's performance as the absolutely wretched Count Olaf. This book is not only a fun story, and a relatively quick read, but it's a great vocabulary enhancer. Words like "blanched", "perished", "nuptial" & "incurring" are not just sprinkled throughout the book, but the characters & narrator define them as well.

The story follows the adventures of the Baudelaire children, following the untimely demise of their parents. They are sent to their new legal guardian, the aforementioned Count Olaf. Count Olaf is a strange and despicable man, bent on getting their fortune by any means necessary. The children each have a special talent, that they put to good use in outsmarting the Count & his theater troupe.

As the narrator promises, the book does not have a happy ending; however it does leave you desiring to learn what will happen in later books.

The Twitter Book

Recently I read a Kindle sample on Amazon for The Twitter Book by Tim O'Reilly & Sarah Milstein. I wasn't sure if it would really delve beyond how to set up your account, and basic usage, but it went far beyond my expectations. The sample was extremely short, but it still caught my attention. All the sample contained, was an explanation of hashtags. That was all it took! I've had absolutely no idea why the pound sign drifts around Twitter so much. I wanted to know more!

So imagine my pleasant surprise when it came up for review on netGalley, and I got accepted to review it. I downloaded it last night and devoured it over the evening and this morning. I learned how I can use Twitter more effectively, how businesses can use Twitter, even how Shaq uses Twitter. I learned about a few programs that can help me keep an eye on trendy discussions, or even if I'm being discussed. And yes, I learned how use hashtags (and even used one this afternoon). If you're interested in social networking for personal, blog or business use, I highly recommend this book. If you just want to understand the Tweeting hype, I highly recommend this book. And if you want to know how those blasted hashtags come into play, I definitely recommend this book. :)


**I am not employed by netGalley. I was able to obtain the book as a free download, and have received no other compensation by them. I was not obligated to write a positive review, as I was under no obligation to write a review, period. If you have any other questions on how this process works, please see http://netgalley.com/about/faq/#faq2a

The Bride Collector

A woman has been discovered glued to a wall, bled out through drill holes in her heels. The veil on her head marks her as the 4th of the Bride Collector's victims. With this startling beginning, Ted Dekker throws us into headfirst into the action of his latest book, appropriately named The Bride Collector.

As FBI Agent Brad Raines sets out to track down the serial killer, a clue leads him to the talented residents of an asylum catering to the brilliant but crazy. There he meets a girl named Paradise, who took refuge there to struggle with her past.

As Brad & Paradise both face their inner demons, we discover that the line between sane & insane may be more blurred than most realize. As is typical with Ted Dekker, the book is fast-paced, the story is skillfully woven, and I didn't want to put it down until the very last word had been read. I immensely enjoyed my latest library pick, and can't wait to add it to my own personal collection.

Carolee @ Blogging 4 You

This is an awesome woman, who will do a 1 hour consultation of your website (for FREE!). When Carolee first explained her service, I honestly thought one of 2 things would happen. I thought she would either a. Not really be helpful, but give ideas that the most beginner of bloggers would already have accomplished, or b. Give me so many things wrong with my blog, that I would reconsider my latest hobby. Pleasantly, neither of those was true. She looked over my blog, and sent me a nice friendly message detailing what I could do to improve it. All of her ideas were simple, quick, and best of all...free! It boiled down to a simple rearranging of my blog, along with a few suggestions for content & networking purposes. 24 hours after taking her advice, I had gained 3 new followers. I think that speaks for itself.

The Cricket In Times Square

While reading books for the Revisit Your Childhood Favorites Reading challenge I chose George Selden's "A Cricket In Times Square." In it we meet Chester the Cricket, who 3 days ago was safely enjoying a picnic lunch in Connecticut, but now finds himself in the strange & wonderful world of New York City. Discovered by Mario, the son of a newsstand owner, he soon befriends Tucker Mouse & Harry Cat. Feeling out of place at first, he soon discovers a hidden talent that brings notoriety to himself as well as Mario's family. Along the way he has several adventures, including a fire, a Chinese dinner, and eating money (quite by mistake!). This trip down memory lane was a quick read, and it's easy to see why this is a Newberry Honor book.

Divided In Death

Well, I attempted to read this for the mystery portion of my reading challenges. However attempt is as far as it got. I wanted to read this, I really did. Futuristic technology colliding full-on with crime solving, sounded right up my alley. However I ran into a hitch, that frustrated me on a personal level. I'm not one to throw a book out at the first sign of a curse word, but I've already run into 1 "female dog", 1 "fatherless child", 1 SOB, 2 references to male genitalia...all within the first 1.5 pages. Okay we get it...the character is P.O.'d, but really? My mental bleep button was exhausted in 35 seconds, and ready to turn to a different, cleaner book.