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This feed is subject to our terms of use: http://www.epinions.com/help/rss_terms http://www.epinions.com/user-dramastef Recent reviews written by member dramastef en-us 121 37 http://www.epinions.com/ http://img.epinions.com/images/epi_images/logos/epinions_121.gif http://www.epinions.com/content_492436426372?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - Where was I at midnight last night?  One of a thousand women ages eight to seventy with a few disgruntled men milling about as well?  At the midnight screening of New Moon of course.  Last year's wildly successful... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~492436426372 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:27:02 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_492436426372?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_490004516484?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - We read about three hundred children's books each year (give or take a hundred) in our house.  Very few of those make a lasting impression.  A few, however, are burned in my heart. ... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~490004516484 Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:50:25 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_490004516484?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_487733694084?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - When you have a new reader, finding books that interest and challenge the reader, while not overwhelming and alienating the reader can be difficult.  DramaGirl moved from See Spot Run to Harry Potter and pretty much jumped past most of... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~487733694084 Fri, 9 Oct 2009 16:00:00 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_487733694084?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_486952111748?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - Neil Gaiman.  His works tread that very fine line between genius, weird and downright creepy.  I find most of his adult novels (American Gods) to have hints of genius, but a bit overwritten.  His graphic novels (Sandman) are... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~486952111748 Fri, 2 Oct 2009 15:04:10 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_486952111748?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_486729485956?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - When one begins a book like Pride and Prejudice or a translation of some Russian classic, it most likely takes at least a chapter or two in order to get into the flow of the writing style.  If you just persevere, however, the payoff is often... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~486729485956 Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:26:01 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_486729485956?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_482897530500?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - It's easier to skip the sleeping pill, wait until Dad and Jennifer are both snoring, and spend three or four hours on the stair-stepper... I am 98.00. I am 97.00. I sharpen Nanna Marrigan's pretty knife and hide it... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~482897530500 Fri, 28 Aug 2009 09:47:57 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_482897530500?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_477054733956?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - Sixteen-year-old Ever is pretty sure she died in the car accident that took the lives of her parents, younger sister Riley and dog Buttercup.  What else could explain the fact that when she woke up in the hospital, she could see colored auras around... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~477054733956 Sat, 11 Jul 2009 10:48:51 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_477054733956?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_476482276996?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - Spending a year sailing around the Bahamas seems like it would be something any sixteen-year-old girl would love to do, but things aren't often what they appear from the outside.  It's clear from the very beginning of Robin Stevenson's YA novel... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~476482276996 Mon, 6 Jul 2009 16:59:23 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_476482276996?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_471523298948?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - During a slight bout of pregnancy related insomnia in the wee hours of the morning, I went to my library stash and pulled out Cynthia Leitich Smith's YA novel Eternal, a book I'd plucked from the Just-In on a whim based solely on the name... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~471523298948 Sun, 24 May 2009 15:36:58 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_471523298948?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_471429713540?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - I'm not sure how Katie MacAlister's Aisling Grey, Guardian series hit my radar, but somehow the first one, You Slay Me, found its way to my library queue.  I have a vague recollection of someone telling me it was fluffy, but... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~471429713540 Sat, 23 May 2009 17:14:11 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_471429713540?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_471225044612?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - After reading the first book in The Mortal Instruments series, which had an enticing quote by Holly Black on the front cover, I went searching for the second book, City of Ashes, and found an endorsement by yet favorite YA fantasy author,... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~471225044612 Thu, 21 May 2009 19:27:15 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_471225044612?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_469484146308?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - Sometime in the last year I read Anna Godbersen's debut novel The Luxe, a story about juicy scandals and happenings of New York City's elite set in 1899.  In that review I mentioned that I enjoyed the guilty pleasure feeling of the book but I... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~469484146308 Wed, 6 May 2009 13:30:56 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_469484146308?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_469362642564?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - What if... the pilgrims that came over on the Mayflower were actually vampires looking to escape the persecution of their homeland?What if... these vampires always numbered 400 and never truly died, but rather let their ‘shell' expire and... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~469362642564 Tue, 5 May 2009 13:08:15 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_469362642564?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_469164658308?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - I was randomly pulling books out of the YA shelves at my library when I noticed a quote on the front cover of one by Holly Black (author of urban fantasy books I've loved, Tithe and Ironside), proclaiming the book in my hands to be "Funny,... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~469164658308 Sun, 3 May 2009 19:06:34 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_469164658308?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_468149243524?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - After watching the Swedish vampire movie, Let the Right One In, I was left with enough nagging questions that I went on a quest for the source material, John Ajvide... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~468149243524 Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:58:13 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_468149243524?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_467040505476?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - A bit o' background ~ In Richelle Mead's world, there are twelve royal vampire families.  "Good" vampires are known as Moroi.  Moroi drink blood, but never enough to kill.  They specialize in magic from one of the four elements:... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~467040505476 Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:03:37 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_467040505476?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_466897768068?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - Oskar is a lonely boy mercilessly bullied in school who spends his free time pretending to stab his tormentors, telling them to squeal like a pig and compiling a scrapbook full of articles depicting murder and mayhem.  He makes his first friend when... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~466897768068 Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:12:27 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_466897768068?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_466594729604?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - I rented the audio version of Rick Riordan's book The Lightning Thief before one of our car trips as a way to distract the kids with something a bit more educational than movies and video games.  This is the first of (currently) four... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~466594729604 Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:03:14 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_466594729604?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_466151902852?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - As a fan of Patricia Briggs's urban fantasy series starring shape-shifting tough girl Mercy Thompson, I was quick to pick up Cry Wolf when I read that it is the beginning of a new series set in the same world with many of the same... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~466151902852 Mon, 6 Apr 2009 13:03:31 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_466151902852?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_463571357316?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - I grew up reading Amy Dacyczyn's Tightwad Gazette newsletter.  Amy always washed, dried and reused her family's plastic baggies.  My mother always followed that tip, and I've always adhered to it as well.  A few years ago I started... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~463571357316 Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:50:03 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_463571357316?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_460651466372?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - It felt like so many of my favorite books have been making the transition to silver screen this year.  Inkheart followed closely on the heels of Twilight.  I've found the two to be very similar in that neither are amazing... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~460651466372 Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:04:28 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_460651466372?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_460353408644?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - Coraline Jones and her parents just moved into an apartment on the ground floor of a very old house.  Coraline's parents have no time to spend with their ‘tween daughter and Coraline is left to her own devices for entertainment.  She... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~460353408644 Sun, 8 Feb 2009 14:12:49 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_460353408644?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_460158176900?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - Janet Evanovich is probably best known for her numbered series of fluffy mysteries featuring Jersey girl Stephanie Plum.  After ripping through all eighteen of those books in a little over a month, I thought I'd try one of Ms. Evanovich's other... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~460158176900 Fri, 6 Feb 2009 14:02:55 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_460158176900?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_459954425476?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - Our family tries to get to the local science museum four or five times a year, usually whenever they change their traveling exhibit or advertise a members only special.  Last time we went, the kids saw a display for , a cartoon movie produced... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~459954425476 Wed, 4 Feb 2009 14:09:05 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_459954425476?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_459849371268?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author dramastef - Janet Evanovich created a goldmine when she started writing her numbered series featuring Jersey girl, lingerie buyer-turned-Bounty Hunter Stephanie Plum.  The series currently has fourteen books in it and four holiday-related novellas.  I've... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~459849371268 Tue, 3 Feb 2009 14:04:11 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_459849371268?linkin_id=8003929