how to steal a car

Most of my books come from the library. You may (or may not) have noticed, but I also read many more than I review. I’ll post a teaser on Tuesday and then never follow up with a final review/opinion. Also known as Very Maddening Behavior. I review maybe one out of every ten books. So while I have several stacks waiting patiently under the bed for their turn in the sun, I also have a constant stream of library reserves coming in, and my family mostly only sees a couple of books at a time. They still know I’m bookish, but they don’t know the EXTENT.

One person who knows better than most how many books I actually have in hiding: Joey. The youngest brother. He’s also 19, and thus technically a TEENAGER. I make him read young adult books. Or perhaps it’d be better said, I bring home a stack of seven or eight, and then I offload a couple on him before I head down to my reading cave (a.k.a. bedroom). That way he and I can chat about the books later. It’s not all coercion - after all, we’ve traded book recommendations for years and have mostly the same taste.

Case in point: a couple of days ago I brought home a book entitled How To Steal A Car. Both my dad and brother got grabby. My mom got incredulous. I got smug. Well, until Joey refused to give the book back. Then I just got resigned. And plotted revenge while he read. What revenge, you say? I made him write a little review [insert EVIL GRIN here]. You can check it out after the book description.

Some girls act out by drinking or doing drugs. Some girls act out by sleeping with guys. Some girls act out by starving themselves or cutting themselves. Some girls act out by being a bitch to other girls.

Not Kelleigh. Kelleigh steals cars.

In How to Steal a Car, National Book Award winner Pete Hautman takes teen readers on a thrilling, scary ride through one suburban girl's turbulent life - one car theft at a time.

Joey’s take:

How To Steal A Car is about a high school girl who one day picks up a set of car keys in a parking lot, and goes on to steal cars frequently. Personally, I thought the book as a fun read. The plot had a few twists, but was not the most gripping by any means.

Implausible is a good word to describe the book. Not a guide on how to steal a car, and I pity someone who tries to follow the book’s example. I might recommend this to a guy, but it is a bit melodramatic and emotional. I enjoyed the read, but it was good that the book was fairly short.

My reaction:

I was about ten pages into the book before I went to find Joey. I found him reading (the world is weird like that). First thing out of my mouth: “I have never been that bored!” He looked confused for a minute. “Oh, you’re reading the book?” Yep. We chatted a little bit, and then I went back to read a little more.

Overall I liked the book. I can’t say I LOVED it, and I definitely didn’t hate it. I liked it. I think you get enough of an idea about subject matter from the description. It’s a short read (170 pages), and it’s definitely entertaining. The premise promises a lot, and mostly it delivers. I know I read this in other blogs and am frustrated when I do, but I have to say it: Kelleigh (the character) needed more development. And that is all.

BUT, reading back over that last paragraph, I see that I’ve been a bit lackluster in praise or criticism. I want to stress that Pete Hautman has this ‘word thing’ down. His prose = awesome. I didn’t get up and scream or anything over the story, but I’m definitely going to check out Sweetblood, another of his novels. I can’t wait to see what he does with other stories. So I’ll end by saying check this one out. Or anything by Pete Hautman. There’s talent there.

chocolate is the fashion

On Sunday I had the opportunity to eat lots of chocolate, browse a quirky and fun Seattle neighborhood market, and meet some awesome area fashion bloggers. FASHION bloggers?! Yes. Insane. I’m not, you know, What Not To Wear material, but I’m not fashion blogger worthy, either. So, HOW did this happen?

I knew one wonderful fashion blogger already – the ultra-cool Clothes Horse. Her sister’s a close friend, and she just happens to live near my new residence. So when she called me up and asked if I’d like to tag along to the meet-up, I said, “Sure!”

Lesson #1: The Clothes Horse is unbearably cute.

We started at Theo Chocolate, the only bean-to-bar, fair trade certified, organic chocolate maker in the United States. We toured the factory (which smelled DIVINE), tried chocolate in different stages of production (the ‘nibs’ are delicious!), and then got to taste test most of their amazing varieties of chocolate bars.

After that we browsed the Freemont Sunday Market just around the block. Lots of used and vintage items for sale, along with a great selection of arts and crafts. The people-watching was superb – I even spied some vendors in steampunk garb! It was an all-around good time. Best part: I met two other lovely bloggers – Eunice of What’s Your Tale Nightingale and Kam of needle + thread. Both ladies are very talented and fun…and you should follow the links and check them out! Also, if you’re a Seattle-area blogger and would be interested in a meet-up sometime soon, let me know.

En fin, bloggers = great, whatever their stripe or fancy. Also, cell phone cameras are not ideal. Many pardons for the photos. If you want to see cooler/better/fantastic photography, go follow those links I told you about.

Lesson #2: hair nets are never sexy.

teaser tuesday (14)

It's Teaser Tuesday, a bookish blog meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here's how it works:

Grab your current read and let it fall open to a random page. Post two (or more) sentences from that page, along with the title and author. Don’t give anything vital away!

“He wishes his bullets were the real thing. He wishes he could truly take these wastes-of-life out rather than just taking them down. Maybe then they wouldn’t be so quick to run – and if they did, well, no great loss.”

-p. 39 of Neal Shusterman’s Unwind

i'm off to see the wizard

Or not. But seriously, I’m traveling to Spokane today to take the FSOT (foreign service officer test?!), and it will be an all-day endeavor. Drive, test, drive. My mom is coming with, so there’s a chance I’ll be able to make a dent in my leaning towers of library books. Most likely candidates: How To Steal A Car by Pete Hautman and Unwind by Neal Shusterman. Wish me luck!