2014 - Book 16

"The Raven Boys" - Virginia

This was a rather intriguing book. It was difficult to get into at first because there were a lot of characters introduced at once, and they all have really odd names, which made if hard for me to put a mental face to each person. Finally about halfway through the book I had most people figured out, but then as I neared the end, it seemed to me that there were far too many things that weren't resolved yet. Go figure, this is another in a series of books. I think there are supposed to be four books, but only the first two are out yet. They should not be allowed to put series books on this 50 States of YA list, because then I have to read way more than 50 books in order to truly get the whole story. I would be interested in reading the rest of this series, just to find out what happens, but I don't absolutely have to, I don't think.

I have some weird premonition that I'll write a book someday and work really hard at it and then some young person with hardly any literary training will just tear it apart (kind of like I've been doing to most of the books on this list) . . . we'll see if I eventually get a taste of my own medicine. So, if there are any authors out there reading this, I apologize for being so harsh on so many of these books, but I'm just trying to tell my opinions about the books, and I understand that lots of people like lots of different things. That being said, this book, besides being difficult to dive into, was lacking a little bit. Some of the character development was really shallow, and it was clearly written to be a series, which I think is kind of a cheap money-making scheme. If the book you write is so excellent it deserves continuation, so be it, but if you write a rather lengthy book (408 pages) just to foreshadow for the rest of your books, I feel a little taken in. There were quite a few plot elements introduced in this book that didn't have any sort of purpose or conclusion . . . yet. I'm assuming they will come up and be resolved further along in the series, but I did leave some questions at the end. Oh well . . . it really was a rather interesting story, kind of a paranormal / magical teen thriller about psychics and magical forces with a good bit of history mixed in too, so if that's your cup of tea, then maybe this series is for you. I did like the story better than the previous book I read by this author "Shiver", the first book I read this year. So all-in-all, I'd give this one a pretty medium rating . . . definitely not the best book I've read, but not nearly the worst either.

Here are a few recipes to share too: orange cardamom bunnies (here is another link to a site with pictures) and sauteed chicken breasts with balsamic vinegar pan sauce.

Bunnies :)

I made the bunny rolls to take to my family's Easter gathering. The rolls were actually very tasty, most dense and bready than pastry-like, but still good. The dough cutting directions were a little confusing, so really read through the whole thing before you start cutting it. Also, the 4 large bunnies are huge . . . I think making 20 smaller bunnies would be a better idea.

Glazed . . . yum

As for the chicken dish, it was VERY vinegary. It smelled a lot stronger than it tasted, but it was still too strong. Also, I've never made polenta before, and I don't think it turned out very well. The polenta in the recipe's picture looks kind of soft and creamy, and mine was more solid and grainy . . . not so good. That might have been my fault for being an inexperienced polenta-maker, but I think the recommendation to serve it over orzo would have been much tastier. So, I won't be making that dish again, but if you really like balsamic vinegar, than maybe you should give it a try.

That's all for now, have a great week :)