Enna Burning: Review Haiku

Reluctant fire-girl
Fights battles, fear, smooth talkers
To find redemption.

Enna Burning by Shannon Hale. Bloomsbury, 2004, 317 pages.

Tag! I'm it.

Oh, my. The lovely MotherReader, a fellow Mo-phile and non-MLSed library employee, has tagged me for the Five Interesting Things About You meme. I feel like I've been invited to sit at the popular table.

Let's see.

1. My lips don't meet. Really. I can close my mouth, of course, but there's a little teeny weeny hole right in the middle where my top and bottom lips don't match up. A fun trick at parties (though it tends to leave one open to rather filthy suggestions).

2. Once I killed a mouse by whacking it really hard with a shovel. It squished.

3. I am a terrible eater. I didn't eat pizza until I was 20, and still I am a cheese-only girl. I didn't eat oranges until I was 21. Harmless foods that normal people like -- fish; tomatoes; oatmeal, for Pete's sake -- I cannot stand, and I can't even blame it on allergies or political reasons or anything other than my own childish weird-itude. Imagine how much fun it was to have that first Easter dinner with my in-laws. (Lamb. I had to eat lamb.)

4. I judge cars and houses based on their faces. A house with no face is a blight on the neighborhood. A car with happy handles is good (see 1980s-era Ford Escort and Chevy Caprice); a car without happy handles is bad (see 1990s Ford Taurus, anything by Renault).

5. I am vaguely superstitious about numbers, especially dates. I love that my birthday adds up to 100 (or 2000, if you use all of the year digits). I picked my wedding date and my daughter's birthday (scheduled section) based partly on the pleasing symmetry of the dates.

Of course, now these don't seem interesting to me at all. I will slink back to my proper place at the band nerd/smart kid exile table . . .

P.S. Nominate your favorites for the Cybils!
P.P.S. I'm not supposed to tag someone now, am I? I don't know anyone . . . Gaak, I'm such a novice.

Motor Mouth: Review Haiku

Too easy to say,
"Stephanie Plum does NASCAR."
But that's what it is.

Motor Mouth by Janet Evanovich. Harper, 2006, 320 pages.

An Abundance of Katherines: Review Haiku

Love by the numbers
Plus anagrams, tampon strings
A witty YA.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. Dutton, 2006, 256 pages.

The Cybils: Request Haiku

We all love awards.
Look! Shiny new ones. Hooray!
Go nominate now.

In Cold Blood: Review Haiku

How can a Lee fan
read this book without anger?
The answer: She can't.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Vintage, 1994 edition, 343 pages.

The Boy Book: Review Haiku

Ruby's mistakes and
callous high school politics
ring so very true.

The Boy Book (A Study of Habits and Behaviors, Plus Techniques for Taming Them) by E. Lockhart. Delacorte, 2006, 193 pages.

The End: Review Haiku

Mysteries revealed!
Oh, wait - not so much, in fact.
"The end," my foot. Sigh.

The End (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book Thirteen) by Lemony Snicket. Harper, 2006, 386 pages.

Academy X: Review Haiku

Corrupt faculty
And overprivileged rich snots.
Weep for humankind.

Academy X by Andrew Trees. Bloomsbury, 2006, 246 pages.

In the Company of Crazies: Review Haiku

Looks like middle grade
But reads way more like YA.
Uneasy mismatch.

In the Company of Crazies by Nora Raleigh Baskin. Harper, 2006, 170 pages.

That Girl Lucy Moon: Review Haiku

I heart Lucy Moon
But funk-breaking plot twist is
Deed ex machina.

That Girl Lucy Moon by Amy Timberlake. Hyperion, 2006, 294 pages.

The Guy Not Taken: Review Haiku

Short stories, not quite
autobiographical:
Good in small doses.

The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner. Atria/S&S, 2006, 292 pages.

Another Day in the Frontal Lobe: Review Haiku

Mind-blowing topic.
Author too hot for own good.
I've accomplished squat.

Another Day in the Frontal Lobe: A Brain Surgeon Exposes Life on the Inside by Katrina Firlik. Random, 2006, 271 pages.