Comments on: Fusenews: Juice proof

By: My Boaz's Ruth

My Boaz's Ruth — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 16:28:30 +0000

Elizabeth: I’ve read the entire “The Thief” series (Is that what the series is called) and I’m still not sure I understand why a man would marry a woman (or even love her) that cut off his hand!

By: Sondy

Sondy — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 18:44:21 +0000

Yes, there’s no way you should read King of Attolia without reading Queen of Attolia first. Then the marriage and how he pulls it off is amazingly awesome instead of just strange. And you really appreciate how absolutely awesome Gen is if you read The Thief — first.

Okay, you’re convincing me NOT to recommend anyone to read A Conspiracy of Kings without reading the first three books first.

By: Elizabeth Bird

Elizabeth Bird — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 11:31:53 +0000

Yep. I tend to do 4 per year. One in March, one in June, one in September, and one in December.

Here was #1: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2010/03/06/a-fuse-8-prediction-newberycaldecott-2011/
Here was #2: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2010/06/14/a-fuse-8-prediction-newberycaldecott-2011-halfway-mark/

By: Alyson Whatcott

Alyson Whatcott — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 10:31:45 +0000

Wait, your third Newbery contenders list? I’ve only seen the one from last summer. Am I missing one? Trying to keep current on my reading list… Thanks!

By: Elizabeth Bird

Elizabeth Bird — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 23:10:08 +0000

Oh, I read “The King of Attolia” and it was nice. Only the problem was that I couldn’t figure out why a man would love a woman who cut off his hand. The book didn’t really bother to explain, and a lot of little things in the book were confusing as well. Would have been nice to get some background on them, as I felt out at sea for much of the reading. I do wonder if the latest book will leave me feeling the same way.

By: Sondy

Sondy — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 21:10:15 +0000

Betsy, you haven’t read the Megan Whalen Turner books? Oh, say it isn’t so! Come on, The Thief was a Newbery Honor winner!

As much as I soooo want Megan Whalen Turner to win, I wasn’t as crazy about the latest as I was about The Queen of Attolia. As much as I’d like to say the book can stand alone, I really really don’t want people to read things that give away what happens in the earlier books. The amazing beauty of the first three books is in their plot twists. Of course, on the other hand I love rereading them over and over and over to see all the cleverly placed clues that I completely missed — so maybe you could get that kind of enjoyment on the first reading — the appreciation of a genius at the craft of plotting.

As for The Cardturner, I did love it. But I grew up in a family of Rook players, and Rook is very like Bridge. I’m also a math nut, and I think it appealed to the math and games loving side of my personality. Adding the uncle-nephew interaction and the boy-girl interaction made it an absolutely delightful book — but I don’t really expect it to win with the committee.

By: Leila

Leila — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 20:31:20 +0000

It was Jenna, I think.

By: Elizabeth Bird

Elizabeth Bird — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 20:15:17 +0000

Oh, Susan, you’re right. I’m an idiot. Totally forgot about that book. For that matter one of the Bush daughters did a teen novel too.

By: marjorie

marjorie — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 17:04:53 +0000

I would just like to say that the second cloud formation picture is so totally Sookie on True Blood. Take that, Vampire King of Mississippi! That is all.

By: Susan

Susan — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 15:55:22 +0000

Laura Bush did do a children’s book while her husband was in office…co-authored with her daughter Jenna, it was a picture book called “Read All About It”, illustrated by Denise Brunkus.

Haven’t read it myself, so can’t comment…..the only reason I remember it is because they did a book signing at the LOC Festival that year, and the security was insane (I was very happy to have wheeled transport for the ton of books that I DID bring, ’cause the security detour was a looooong way)