Some weeks, I go to the library and lament the lack of interesting offerings. Some weeks, I'm literally overwhelmed by them. (This week was one of those bountiful weeks--and I read some great stuff).
12. Running Barefoot, Amy Harmon. This book started slowly and felt like it could benefit from some pruning; despite that, there was a lot that I loved about the book. I loved the setting in rural Levan, Utah. Harmon's descriptions were so vivid that I could easily imagine myself there. I loved her honest portrayal of the predominantly Mormon society that lived there; she was neither condescending nor preachy. I also loved the complex relationship between Josie Jensen, who's trying to keep her family intact after her mother's death, and Samuel, the half-Navajo grandson of Josie's neighbors. At thirteen, Josie forms an unlikely bond with Samuel (he's eighteen, a senior looking to enter the Marine Corps) through classical music. When Samuel leaves for the military, Josie is lonely but continues to write him. It's not until years later, and following a personal tragedy in Josie's life, that Samuel returns to Levan and the two reconnect. Although what follows isn't necessarily surprising, Harmon kept things interesting by layering their relationship with depth. And her prose was generally simple and lovely.
13. Reasons I Fell For the Ugly Fat Friend, by Rebecca Ann. I wanted to like this book more than I actually did--I'd heard great things about it and I respect what I know of the author. The author does a nice job with a realistic boy voice (I never once felt like I was listening to a girl), and the book had a lot of humor. I also definitely related to the love interest, an interesting teenage girl with a less than perfect figure. There were two things that I didn't love about the book: 1) it was a little steamier than I like with YA (I realize not everyone has this objection!). 2) It felt just a little shallow--so much of the novel was just about the boy getting the girl to believe that he really cared about her; I felt like the book could have used the added depth of some additional sub-plots.
14. The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back, by Sariah Wilson. This story follows quirky Mattie Lowe, a girl in love with her step-sister's boyfriend, Jake Harmon. Unfortunately for her, her step-sister is too nice for her to hate, or to try to steal her boyfriend (even if she thought she could). However, when she and Jake get assigned to the same English project, they start to form an actual friendship--one that's tested when Mattie decides to run against Jake for student body president to bolster her college applications. There's plenty of subplots here (Mattie's relationship with her sister and her absentee mom; her fear that her artistic parents will reject her interest in drawing manga; her step-sister's romance), but they all add to the main plot. I thought this was really cute--despite the plot hole in Mattie's run for student government--most schools hold elections for senior officers during the junior year, not during the fall of senior year.
15. The Raven Boys, by Maggie Stiefvater. I've been looking for this at my
library forever and was so excited to finally see it in stock! I enjoyed
this book. While it didn't have the breathtaking beauty of Scorpio
Races, it did have her trademark lovely writing. The premise itself is awesome: Blue Sargent has been raised in a house full of women, all of whom have varying psychic powers. Blue's only power is as an amplifier of their powers. However, on St. Mark's Eve, while helping her aunt record the spirits of the dead (those who will die in the next twelve months), Blue actually sees one of the spirits--a Raven boy, one of the kids who attends the posh boy's school in town. Her aunt tells her there's only two reasons why she would see him: either he's her true love, or she killed him. (Or perhaps both, as Blue has known for years that if she kissed her true love, he would die). It's not surprising, then, that within a couple of weeks Blue has actually met this boy, Gansey, who's obsessed with finding the ley lines in the valley, as he thinks they will lead him to the spirit of a long-vanished Welsh King (akin to Arthur). Faster than she could have expected, Blue finds herself enmeshed in Gansey's life, and befriending his quirky circle of friends: Adam, with his strange fragility, Noah, who sometimes hardly seems there, and Ronan, who hates almost everyone. The characters were fascinating to me, and I can't wait to see what happens next in the series.
16. Seraphina, by Rachel Hartman. Two days after finishing this book, I still feel like I'm half inhabiting Hartman's world, which is a clear sign of a successful novel for me. Seraphina has a secret, one that may make her an outcast among her people if it gets out. The secret means that she protects her privacy, though she desperately wants to make friends at the palace where she works (assistant music master). Seraphina's world is a tense one, on the eve of the arrival of the Ardmagar, the old dragon who helped negotiate a truce between humans and dragons with the old queen. Too many humans think the treaty was a mistake; the older generation of dragons believes this as well. Seraphina's unique gifts may enable her to save her world by preserving this fragile peace, but only at great personal cost.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Steampunk, Romance, Middle-Grade fiction (not all in the same book, obviously!)
7. Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel. I picked this up on the recommendation of my sister-in-law, who said she preferred this series to the Mortal Instruments series, and I wanted to see what Clare's world was about. I'm a sucker for 19th century British stuff, in general, and alternate histories/worlds in particular, so this was right up my alley. The plot itself didn't wow me, but I enjoyed Clare's swift-paced writing style and the characters were fascinating.
8. Janette Rallison, Masquerade. Let me just say, I love most of Rallison's books. This was not one of my favorites--possibly because it was a novel about adults and I prefer her YA stuff. Clarissa is a single mom still reeling from the aftershocks of her divorce. She's working two jobs to support her daughter, so when she gets a job offer as a nanny for a big Hollywood star, Slade Jacobson, she jumps at it. Thing is, Slade thinks she's married--and prefers it that way, as he knows she doesn't have any ulterior motives for taking the job. So Clarissa isn't lying, exactly, just not correcting his misapprehension. But when her nanny job takes her to Hawaii for a week, she finds herself struggling to deal with Slade's temperamental daughter and with her growing attraction to Slade himself. (NB: I read the new edition, edited for Kindle. Searching for it on Goodreads, I see that it was originally published under her pseudonym Sierra St. James, and the characters involved were all LDS. This does read much more in the vein of her Sierra St. James stuff than her Janette Rallison YA books).
9. Rebecca Stead, Liar and Spy. While this wasn't as high concept as either of her previous books (When You Reach Me, First Light), it was still a heart-warming, well-executed middle grade novel about a boy named Georges (after Georges Seurat, whose paintings play a minor role in the story) who moves into a new apartment after his dad loses his job, and who meets a strange boy named Safer, who induces him to (reluctantly) help spy on their neighbor. What I liked about this book was Steads deft ability to characterize young kids--they're smart, funny, but still believable 12-year-olds.
10. Sophie Kinsella, I've Got Your Number. I always enjoy Kinsella's books--they're light and fun. This was no exception. Poppy Wyatt thinks she has everything--a dreamy fiance, a gorgeous ring, a job she loves. Then she loses the ring at a hotel, her cell phone gets stolen, and she has to face her fiance's disapproving parents sans ring. The latter she deals with by wrapping bandages around her hand and pretending she has a burn. But the loss of her cell phone is a disaster. Luckily, she finds an abandoned cell phone in a recycling bin and claims it for her own--unfortunately, the phone belongs to Sam Roxton's former PA and he demands she return it. Poppy needs the phone and its contacts so she works out a deal--she'll forward all his calls if he lets her keep the phone a little longer. Before long, Poppy and Sam are more involved in each other's lives than they anticipated--and, as per usual with Kinsella, funny hijinks ensue.
11. R. J. Palacio, Wonder. One of the best books I've read in some time, this story follows August (Auggie) Pullman during his fifth grade year. For most kids, fifth grade is mildly painful--but for Auggie, fifth grade means going to school for the first time ever and dealing with the ramifications of his cranio-facial deformities. Palacio tells the story through a number of different voices--Auggie's, his sister, his sister's boyfriend, and some kids he befriends along the way. The book has been called a "meditation on kindness" and besides being beautifully written, the story makes a powerful case for the virtue of kindness.
8. Janette Rallison, Masquerade. Let me just say, I love most of Rallison's books. This was not one of my favorites--possibly because it was a novel about adults and I prefer her YA stuff. Clarissa is a single mom still reeling from the aftershocks of her divorce. She's working two jobs to support her daughter, so when she gets a job offer as a nanny for a big Hollywood star, Slade Jacobson, she jumps at it. Thing is, Slade thinks she's married--and prefers it that way, as he knows she doesn't have any ulterior motives for taking the job. So Clarissa isn't lying, exactly, just not correcting his misapprehension. But when her nanny job takes her to Hawaii for a week, she finds herself struggling to deal with Slade's temperamental daughter and with her growing attraction to Slade himself. (NB: I read the new edition, edited for Kindle. Searching for it on Goodreads, I see that it was originally published under her pseudonym Sierra St. James, and the characters involved were all LDS. This does read much more in the vein of her Sierra St. James stuff than her Janette Rallison YA books).
9. Rebecca Stead, Liar and Spy. While this wasn't as high concept as either of her previous books (When You Reach Me, First Light), it was still a heart-warming, well-executed middle grade novel about a boy named Georges (after Georges Seurat, whose paintings play a minor role in the story) who moves into a new apartment after his dad loses his job, and who meets a strange boy named Safer, who induces him to (reluctantly) help spy on their neighbor. What I liked about this book was Steads deft ability to characterize young kids--they're smart, funny, but still believable 12-year-olds.
10. Sophie Kinsella, I've Got Your Number. I always enjoy Kinsella's books--they're light and fun. This was no exception. Poppy Wyatt thinks she has everything--a dreamy fiance, a gorgeous ring, a job she loves. Then she loses the ring at a hotel, her cell phone gets stolen, and she has to face her fiance's disapproving parents sans ring. The latter she deals with by wrapping bandages around her hand and pretending she has a burn. But the loss of her cell phone is a disaster. Luckily, she finds an abandoned cell phone in a recycling bin and claims it for her own--unfortunately, the phone belongs to Sam Roxton's former PA and he demands she return it. Poppy needs the phone and its contacts so she works out a deal--she'll forward all his calls if he lets her keep the phone a little longer. Before long, Poppy and Sam are more involved in each other's lives than they anticipated--and, as per usual with Kinsella, funny hijinks ensue.
11. R. J. Palacio, Wonder. One of the best books I've read in some time, this story follows August (Auggie) Pullman during his fifth grade year. For most kids, fifth grade is mildly painful--but for Auggie, fifth grade means going to school for the first time ever and dealing with the ramifications of his cranio-facial deformities. Palacio tells the story through a number of different voices--Auggie's, his sister, his sister's boyfriend, and some kids he befriends along the way. The book has been called a "meditation on kindness" and besides being beautifully written, the story makes a powerful case for the virtue of kindness.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
January reading
This year, I'm going to try to number the books I read so that I can keep track of how many books I read in during the year. I don't have a particular goal in mind: I just love books.
This year, as per usual, I have a very eclectic mix of books.
1. Tea Olbrecht, The Tiger's Wife. This is more literary than most of the books I read. I imagine some readers might get bored with the slow pace, but I thought it was lovely. I liked the luxurious language, and I liked the slow, intricate build of the story, which focuses mostly on a young woman, Natalia, trying to solve the mystery behind her grandfather's death. As she does so, she becomes immersed in the two stories that defined his life: the tiger's wife and the deathless man.
2. Meg Cabot, Insatiable. In dramatic contrast to the Tiger's Wife, this book was face paced but not particularly literary! Cabot forges into the world of adult paranormal romance with this story. Meena Harper works as a writer for a soap opera, and is dismayed when her program decides to incorporate a vampire line. She's sick of vampires, sick of the rival soap with a vampire, and so is understandably dismayed when she falls for an enigmatic Romanian professor and finds that he is--surprise!--also a vampire. I thought the book was fun, although not particularly deep. I liked that it didn't take itself too seriously.
3. Aimee Ferris, Will Work for Prom Dress. YA. The dialogue in this book was fast and often witty, but I had a hard time connecting to the characters and an even harder time with the plot, which was so action-packed that it didn't seem realistic. It was almost like the author wanted to make sure that readers never got bored, so almost every chapter had some new twist pop up. I thought the writing was pretty good--I would have just liked to slow down a little and enjoy the characters more.
4. Smart Move, Melanie Jacobson. This book is a companion novel to Twitterpated, but it can be read as a stand-alone novel. Sandy Burke has recently relocated to Washington DC, where she works for a nonprofit company that works to help disadvantaged women get gainful employment. She loves her job and can't understand why Jake, the lawyer representing the neighborhood where her company hopes to build an Extension, is so set against their project. When she meets Jake for the first time, sparks fly--and not just because they fight over their business interactions. Turns out, Jake is the same Jake that she met in Seattle a year earlier and shared an undeniable connection with. Now she just has to figure out what's more important: their professional conflict or their romantic compatibility. I really like Jacobson--her plots are fun, clean, and romantic. This was no exception. It started a little slow (setting up the legal ground for the story), but once Sandy and Jake started into each other, things got fun, fast.
5. Cinda Williams Chima, Dragon Heir. Brilliant conclusion to an interesting series. Chima does a great job interweaving a bunch of characters and still keeping the plot moving forward at a fast pace. As with all great endings, this left me with things to celebrate and things to mourn.
6. Shannon Hale, Austenland. (Re-read). The movie version is premiering at Sundance this month, and I really hope it gets picked up for distribution. I think this would make a fun film. Jane Hayes is obsessed with Mr. Darcy--so obsessed that it interferes with her ability to have normal love life. She confesses this to an aged aunt, and is then surprised and alarmed to find, when said aunt dies, that her aunt has left her a bequest: a three week vacation to Austenland, where guests are encouraged to dress and act in Regency approved fashion and enjoy a "proper" romance. Jane determines to use the vacation to get Mr. Darcy out of her system, and with all the attractive men around (a Mr. Bingley type, a Mr. Darcy type, the sea captain, and an attractive gardener), she's sure she'll be able to. But she finds she has a hard time distinguishing what is real and what is pretend . . . I think I actually enjoyed this more the second time. The first time I read it I found some of the writing a little unpolished and rough--this time around, the writing seemed more reflective of Jane's style and a subtle sense of humor that I missed the first go round.
This year, as per usual, I have a very eclectic mix of books.
1. Tea Olbrecht, The Tiger's Wife. This is more literary than most of the books I read. I imagine some readers might get bored with the slow pace, but I thought it was lovely. I liked the luxurious language, and I liked the slow, intricate build of the story, which focuses mostly on a young woman, Natalia, trying to solve the mystery behind her grandfather's death. As she does so, she becomes immersed in the two stories that defined his life: the tiger's wife and the deathless man.
2. Meg Cabot, Insatiable. In dramatic contrast to the Tiger's Wife, this book was face paced but not particularly literary! Cabot forges into the world of adult paranormal romance with this story. Meena Harper works as a writer for a soap opera, and is dismayed when her program decides to incorporate a vampire line. She's sick of vampires, sick of the rival soap with a vampire, and so is understandably dismayed when she falls for an enigmatic Romanian professor and finds that he is--surprise!--also a vampire. I thought the book was fun, although not particularly deep. I liked that it didn't take itself too seriously.
3. Aimee Ferris, Will Work for Prom Dress. YA. The dialogue in this book was fast and often witty, but I had a hard time connecting to the characters and an even harder time with the plot, which was so action-packed that it didn't seem realistic. It was almost like the author wanted to make sure that readers never got bored, so almost every chapter had some new twist pop up. I thought the writing was pretty good--I would have just liked to slow down a little and enjoy the characters more.
4. Smart Move, Melanie Jacobson. This book is a companion novel to Twitterpated, but it can be read as a stand-alone novel. Sandy Burke has recently relocated to Washington DC, where she works for a nonprofit company that works to help disadvantaged women get gainful employment. She loves her job and can't understand why Jake, the lawyer representing the neighborhood where her company hopes to build an Extension, is so set against their project. When she meets Jake for the first time, sparks fly--and not just because they fight over their business interactions. Turns out, Jake is the same Jake that she met in Seattle a year earlier and shared an undeniable connection with. Now she just has to figure out what's more important: their professional conflict or their romantic compatibility. I really like Jacobson--her plots are fun, clean, and romantic. This was no exception. It started a little slow (setting up the legal ground for the story), but once Sandy and Jake started into each other, things got fun, fast.
5. Cinda Williams Chima, Dragon Heir. Brilliant conclusion to an interesting series. Chima does a great job interweaving a bunch of characters and still keeping the plot moving forward at a fast pace. As with all great endings, this left me with things to celebrate and things to mourn.
6. Shannon Hale, Austenland. (Re-read). The movie version is premiering at Sundance this month, and I really hope it gets picked up for distribution. I think this would make a fun film. Jane Hayes is obsessed with Mr. Darcy--so obsessed that it interferes with her ability to have normal love life. She confesses this to an aged aunt, and is then surprised and alarmed to find, when said aunt dies, that her aunt has left her a bequest: a three week vacation to Austenland, where guests are encouraged to dress and act in Regency approved fashion and enjoy a "proper" romance. Jane determines to use the vacation to get Mr. Darcy out of her system, and with all the attractive men around (a Mr. Bingley type, a Mr. Darcy type, the sea captain, and an attractive gardener), she's sure she'll be able to. But she finds she has a hard time distinguishing what is real and what is pretend . . . I think I actually enjoyed this more the second time. The first time I read it I found some of the writing a little unpolished and rough--this time around, the writing seemed more reflective of Jane's style and a subtle sense of humor that I missed the first go round.
Friday, December 28, 2012
End of December books
Once again, I'm behind on my reading list.(Last week's post is misleading, since it had been sitting in draft form for a couple of weeks)
Carla Kelly (both re-reads, on Kindle) Libby's London Merchant and its sequel/companion novel One Good Turn. Libby's London Merchant remains one of my favorite Kelly novels, as the romance proceeds unexpectedly.
Julie Wright, Newport Ladies' Book Club: Olivia. I really liked the central character and her realistic struggles with her marriage; didn't love the book, though.
Emma Jameson, Ice Blue. I liked this mystery enough that I purchased the sequel--the mix of Kate's belligerence and Lord Hetheridge's famous stiff-upper lip makes for an interesting combination.
On my sister's recommendation, I read Lisa Mangum's After Hello, a charming story about Sam and Sara, who spend a memorable 24 hours together in New York. Like Jennifer Smith's The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, I really admired Mangum's ability to make mundane and not-so mundane incidents of a short period of time seem interesting and dramatic.
I also read Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone, which I highly recommend. I keep thinking about it--not just because the characters were interesting, but because her blend of magic and Russian culture make for a fascinating world. Alina Starkov is an orphan in Ravka, a world torn by endless war. As a young woman, she and her best friend Mal are drafted into Ravka's First Army and prepare to cross the Fold, an impenetrable swath of darkness populated by creatures that feed on human flesh. When their convoy is attacked, Alina unleashes an unexpected power. Before she can process what's happening, she is swept up by the Darkling and installed in the Little Palace, where she's trained as a Grisha, a member of Ravka's elite Second Army. The Darkling believes that she may be the answer to ending Ravka's endless wars and destroying the Fold. I don't want to say too much more, but I really loved Bardugo's world. Her writing was clean, and the story had a number of unexpected moments, which I enjoyed, and the conclusion continually surprised me.
Carla Kelly (both re-reads, on Kindle) Libby's London Merchant and its sequel/companion novel One Good Turn. Libby's London Merchant remains one of my favorite Kelly novels, as the romance proceeds unexpectedly.
Julie Wright, Newport Ladies' Book Club: Olivia. I really liked the central character and her realistic struggles with her marriage; didn't love the book, though.
Emma Jameson, Ice Blue. I liked this mystery enough that I purchased the sequel--the mix of Kate's belligerence and Lord Hetheridge's famous stiff-upper lip makes for an interesting combination.
On my sister's recommendation, I read Lisa Mangum's After Hello, a charming story about Sam and Sara, who spend a memorable 24 hours together in New York. Like Jennifer Smith's The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, I really admired Mangum's ability to make mundane and not-so mundane incidents of a short period of time seem interesting and dramatic.
I also read Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone, which I highly recommend. I keep thinking about it--not just because the characters were interesting, but because her blend of magic and Russian culture make for a fascinating world. Alina Starkov is an orphan in Ravka, a world torn by endless war. As a young woman, she and her best friend Mal are drafted into Ravka's First Army and prepare to cross the Fold, an impenetrable swath of darkness populated by creatures that feed on human flesh. When their convoy is attacked, Alina unleashes an unexpected power. Before she can process what's happening, she is swept up by the Darkling and installed in the Little Palace, where she's trained as a Grisha, a member of Ravka's elite Second Army. The Darkling believes that she may be the answer to ending Ravka's endless wars and destroying the Fold. I don't want to say too much more, but I really loved Bardugo's world. Her writing was clean, and the story had a number of unexpected moments, which I enjoyed, and the conclusion continually surprised me.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
an eclectic week: slums, paranormals, and world travelers
I think my reading list this week is more varied than normal.
1. Katherine Boo, Behind the Beautiful Forevers. Boo won the National Book award for non-fiction this year, and deservedly so, for this book--it was wrenching, disturbing, and beautiful. It reads a lot like fiction--in fact, several of the women in my book group didn't realize it was non-fiction until they got to the epilogue. My mind reels a little at the amount of research that went into the detail of this book. At the same time, it was not an easy topic to read about. It details the 3+ years Boo spent observing one of the slums in Mumbai (the slum rests behind a wall near the airport; the wall is plastered with signs that read "Beautiful Forever," hence the title). The subtitle suggests that the story is about hope, but it was hard for me to see a lot of hope for the people who live in the slums. As I read, it seemed that a bigger problem ever than the excessive poverty was the corruption at all levels of government--even if these people could earn money to get out of the slums, that money went to corrupt policemen and other officials to keep them out of jail. Or doctors, purportedly providing a free service, demanded to be paid under the table to get medicine or appropriate care. I hope Boo's book brings enough attention to the problem of corruption that something gets done about it, so that the international aid money that goes to help these individuals can actually get to them.
2. Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love. It was a little surreal to read this at the same time as Behind the Beautiful Forevers, since they offer *very* different perspectives on India (I'd trust Boo's perspective a little more). I really enjoyed the first part of the novel, since I was drawn to Gilbert's chatty style and I like her tendency to philosophize a little (particularly her interest in word etymology), since I can be the same time. However, my interest waned a little in the two subsequent sections, because her voice started to come across as a little annoying and self-indulgent. I think the appeal in this book is the same as that of a romance novel: escapism for women (and some men) who can't find that same escape in real life. How many of us have the luxury to leave our responsibilities for a year to "find ourselves"?
3. Kiersten White, Endlessly. This is the final book in her paranormal trilogy. In this final book, the faerie (and other paranormal) are trying to pressure Evie into opening a gate so that they can return to the world they left. Evie, having nearly killed herself the last time she opens a gate, not unnaturally refuses to do so. However, as pressures against paranormals continue to rise, she finds herself rethinking her position. I still find Evie a charming protagonist, but I didn't love this book as much as I wanted. The first 2/3 were slow for me. The story picked up a lot in the last 1/3, but I missed the Evie of the first book, the one who had no trouble collaring paranormals and using her shiny pink Taser.
4. Gary Schmidt, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy. This book won a Newberry Honor, and it's easy to see why. Schmidt is an amazing, lyrical writer. I found myself getting caught up in individual sentences and losing track of the plot for brief periods of time. In this novel, Turner Buckminster III is newly arrived in Maine, where his father is the minister. However, it doesn't take long for Turner to get caught up in local politics, as he befriends Lizzie Bright, a black girl that lives on nearby Malaga island, in a community that town leaders are desperate to remove so that they can increase the tourist appeal of their town. When the tensions lead to tragedy, Turner has to figure out how to move beyond events to find his own place. Turner's friendship with Lizzie is beautiful, and I love the fact that, as with all Schmidt's books, so many of the characters are not what they seem at the beginning (even most of the villains have some shreds of humanity). I also loved the vivid descriptions of the landscape, which felt almost like an additional character here (esp. the sea breeze). Highly recommended.
1. Katherine Boo, Behind the Beautiful Forevers. Boo won the National Book award for non-fiction this year, and deservedly so, for this book--it was wrenching, disturbing, and beautiful. It reads a lot like fiction--in fact, several of the women in my book group didn't realize it was non-fiction until they got to the epilogue. My mind reels a little at the amount of research that went into the detail of this book. At the same time, it was not an easy topic to read about. It details the 3+ years Boo spent observing one of the slums in Mumbai (the slum rests behind a wall near the airport; the wall is plastered with signs that read "Beautiful Forever," hence the title). The subtitle suggests that the story is about hope, but it was hard for me to see a lot of hope for the people who live in the slums. As I read, it seemed that a bigger problem ever than the excessive poverty was the corruption at all levels of government--even if these people could earn money to get out of the slums, that money went to corrupt policemen and other officials to keep them out of jail. Or doctors, purportedly providing a free service, demanded to be paid under the table to get medicine or appropriate care. I hope Boo's book brings enough attention to the problem of corruption that something gets done about it, so that the international aid money that goes to help these individuals can actually get to them.
2. Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love. It was a little surreal to read this at the same time as Behind the Beautiful Forevers, since they offer *very* different perspectives on India (I'd trust Boo's perspective a little more). I really enjoyed the first part of the novel, since I was drawn to Gilbert's chatty style and I like her tendency to philosophize a little (particularly her interest in word etymology), since I can be the same time. However, my interest waned a little in the two subsequent sections, because her voice started to come across as a little annoying and self-indulgent. I think the appeal in this book is the same as that of a romance novel: escapism for women (and some men) who can't find that same escape in real life. How many of us have the luxury to leave our responsibilities for a year to "find ourselves"?
3. Kiersten White, Endlessly. This is the final book in her paranormal trilogy. In this final book, the faerie (and other paranormal) are trying to pressure Evie into opening a gate so that they can return to the world they left. Evie, having nearly killed herself the last time she opens a gate, not unnaturally refuses to do so. However, as pressures against paranormals continue to rise, she finds herself rethinking her position. I still find Evie a charming protagonist, but I didn't love this book as much as I wanted. The first 2/3 were slow for me. The story picked up a lot in the last 1/3, but I missed the Evie of the first book, the one who had no trouble collaring paranormals and using her shiny pink Taser.
4. Gary Schmidt, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy. This book won a Newberry Honor, and it's easy to see why. Schmidt is an amazing, lyrical writer. I found myself getting caught up in individual sentences and losing track of the plot for brief periods of time. In this novel, Turner Buckminster III is newly arrived in Maine, where his father is the minister. However, it doesn't take long for Turner to get caught up in local politics, as he befriends Lizzie Bright, a black girl that lives on nearby Malaga island, in a community that town leaders are desperate to remove so that they can increase the tourist appeal of their town. When the tensions lead to tragedy, Turner has to figure out how to move beyond events to find his own place. Turner's friendship with Lizzie is beautiful, and I love the fact that, as with all Schmidt's books, so many of the characters are not what they seem at the beginning (even most of the villains have some shreds of humanity). I also loved the vivid descriptions of the landscape, which felt almost like an additional character here (esp. the sea breeze). Highly recommended.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
More Cinda Williams Chima, Nikki Heat
Another eclectic grouping for the past couple of weeks.
1. Cinda Williams Chima, the Wizard Heir. I think Chima is one of my favorite author discoveries of recent months. I've read five of her books, and none of them have been disappointing. In this one, Seph (short for Joseph) McCauley has been shipped to yet another boarding school following the death three years earlier of his guardian. Only this school is different. The headmaster doesn't seem alarmed that Seph can do things--instead he seems to welcome it. That is, until he discovers that he can't bend Seph to his will, as he has all the other wizards who've fallen into the school's trap. Seph has to figure out how to get out of the school--and how to stop the headmaster. This is a companion novel to Warrior Heir, so while characters from Warrior Heir show up, I think it can also be read and enjoyed without having read the earlier book.
2. Jessica Warman, Between. It's hard to say much about the plot of this book without spoiling the first big surprise. On the morning of her eighteenth birthday, popular girl Elizabeth Valchar wakes up on her parents' boat after a night of partying and goes to investigate a thumping noise--something is trapped between the dock and the hull of the boat. What she discovers there shocks her, and sends her on a journey to solve a mystery that changes the way she sees herself and her friends. I liked this one, but I didn't love it. The writing was solid, but I had a hard time liking Elizabeth, particularly at first.
3. Richard Castle, Naked Heat. (Okay, so I know that Castle didn't really write this--I assume one of the show's writers, or several of them, wrote this). I'm a big fan of the TV show castle, so I thought I'd check this out. This is the second in the series, and I haven't read the first one yet (this one was available first), so that may affect my opinion. This was an other book I liked but didn't love. I enjoyed the nod to the show (especially the Acknowledgements, which purport to be written by the real Richard Castle) and the thinly disguised characters. I also enjoyed the mystery and the police procedural angle. But I wasn't in love with the characters--they didn't seem as fleshed out (ironically enough) as the actual characters on the show. I couldn't get into Nikki Heat's head at all. And Jameson Rook, the tag-along writer character, wasn't nearly as charming as Nathan Fillion (who is, after all, the main reason I watch the show).
I also read some Nora Roberts because I was curious about her writing style and wide popularity. I get the popularity: she's a decent writer and the stories have interesting characters. The books, however, have too much sex for my taste and I probably wouldn't recommend them to most of my friends, so I'm not going to bother with a more in-depth review.
I'm also reading Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers, which is fascinating and wrenching, and will have a full review of that in the next week or so.
1. Cinda Williams Chima, the Wizard Heir. I think Chima is one of my favorite author discoveries of recent months. I've read five of her books, and none of them have been disappointing. In this one, Seph (short for Joseph) McCauley has been shipped to yet another boarding school following the death three years earlier of his guardian. Only this school is different. The headmaster doesn't seem alarmed that Seph can do things--instead he seems to welcome it. That is, until he discovers that he can't bend Seph to his will, as he has all the other wizards who've fallen into the school's trap. Seph has to figure out how to get out of the school--and how to stop the headmaster. This is a companion novel to Warrior Heir, so while characters from Warrior Heir show up, I think it can also be read and enjoyed without having read the earlier book.
2. Jessica Warman, Between. It's hard to say much about the plot of this book without spoiling the first big surprise. On the morning of her eighteenth birthday, popular girl Elizabeth Valchar wakes up on her parents' boat after a night of partying and goes to investigate a thumping noise--something is trapped between the dock and the hull of the boat. What she discovers there shocks her, and sends her on a journey to solve a mystery that changes the way she sees herself and her friends. I liked this one, but I didn't love it. The writing was solid, but I had a hard time liking Elizabeth, particularly at first.
3. Richard Castle, Naked Heat. (Okay, so I know that Castle didn't really write this--I assume one of the show's writers, or several of them, wrote this). I'm a big fan of the TV show castle, so I thought I'd check this out. This is the second in the series, and I haven't read the first one yet (this one was available first), so that may affect my opinion. This was an other book I liked but didn't love. I enjoyed the nod to the show (especially the Acknowledgements, which purport to be written by the real Richard Castle) and the thinly disguised characters. I also enjoyed the mystery and the police procedural angle. But I wasn't in love with the characters--they didn't seem as fleshed out (ironically enough) as the actual characters on the show. I couldn't get into Nikki Heat's head at all. And Jameson Rook, the tag-along writer character, wasn't nearly as charming as Nathan Fillion (who is, after all, the main reason I watch the show).
I also read some Nora Roberts because I was curious about her writing style and wide popularity. I get the popularity: she's a decent writer and the stories have interesting characters. The books, however, have too much sex for my taste and I probably wouldn't recommend them to most of my friends, so I'm not going to bother with a more in-depth review.
I'm also reading Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers, which is fascinating and wrenching, and will have a full review of that in the next week or so.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Insignia
Not as many books to report on this week (it helps that it's only been a week in between)
S. J. Kincaid, Insignia. My sister convinced me to buy this for my Kindle (it was only 2.99--still is!) by saying it was a cross between Ender's Game and Percy Jackson. I thought that was a pretty fair assessment of the tone. Needless to say, I really enjoyed this book, even though generally, sci-fi isn't my thing. Especially not military sci-fi.
The story follows Tom Raines, a 14-year-old undersized boy with bad acne, who's missed so much online school (because his father, a compulsive gambler, doesn't stay in one place long) that his teacher has noticed and is threatening to sic social services on him. Then, while fighting a virtual battle in a gaming room, Tom attracts the notice of a military commander.
The thing is, Tom lives in a world where war is perpetually being fought, but it's no longer a war on national lines (although there's a nominal Indo-American alliance), but on company lines. Giant mega-corps use patriotism to help finance their wars, but the wars are fought in space, using machines. There's no loss of life. The face of the war effort is a group of young, elite fighters, who manipulate the war machines in virtual space. The fighters have to be young, because the adult brain (less flexible) rejects the neural processors that allow them to wield machines.
The military commander gives Tom the option to transform his life, to become one of these fighting machines. Despite his father's skepticism, Tom can't resist the potential to become someone important. He agrees, and finds himself training in the Pentagon's spire. There, he becomes obsessed with Medusa, the code name for the enemy's premier fighter. He wants nothing more than to face her and bring her down (he's pretty sure Medusa is a she).
It's hard to summarize the book without revealing too much, but I loved the school-like environment where Tom trains and makes the first friends of his life. I loved the way Tom stands up for himself (at serious cost), and his unexpected connection with Medusa. I can't wait for the rest of the trilogy to come out.
I also read Rachael Anderson, The Reluctant Bachelorette (on Kindle), because it was cheap and when I read the sample it seemed interesting enough, and clean. It also had mostly 4-5 star reviews.The story was decent (and, as I said, a clean romance, which can be hard to find). The premise was a little far-fetched--that a small town is going to make enough money to finance a desperately needed farmer's market by hosting a bachelorette style show online. The main character, Taycee Emerson, gets conned by her best friend into being the said bachelorette. She doesn't really want to do it, but she'll do it for the town. Then, when her former crush, Luke, gets roped in as well, she tries to sabotage the show so that Luke will get kicked off, only to discover that maybe Luke is the one she really wants. I thought the writing was solid, but I got annoyed with Taycee, particularly towards the end, for her self-sabotaging actions.
S. J. Kincaid, Insignia. My sister convinced me to buy this for my Kindle (it was only 2.99--still is!) by saying it was a cross between Ender's Game and Percy Jackson. I thought that was a pretty fair assessment of the tone. Needless to say, I really enjoyed this book, even though generally, sci-fi isn't my thing. Especially not military sci-fi.
The story follows Tom Raines, a 14-year-old undersized boy with bad acne, who's missed so much online school (because his father, a compulsive gambler, doesn't stay in one place long) that his teacher has noticed and is threatening to sic social services on him. Then, while fighting a virtual battle in a gaming room, Tom attracts the notice of a military commander.
The thing is, Tom lives in a world where war is perpetually being fought, but it's no longer a war on national lines (although there's a nominal Indo-American alliance), but on company lines. Giant mega-corps use patriotism to help finance their wars, but the wars are fought in space, using machines. There's no loss of life. The face of the war effort is a group of young, elite fighters, who manipulate the war machines in virtual space. The fighters have to be young, because the adult brain (less flexible) rejects the neural processors that allow them to wield machines.
The military commander gives Tom the option to transform his life, to become one of these fighting machines. Despite his father's skepticism, Tom can't resist the potential to become someone important. He agrees, and finds himself training in the Pentagon's spire. There, he becomes obsessed with Medusa, the code name for the enemy's premier fighter. He wants nothing more than to face her and bring her down (he's pretty sure Medusa is a she).
It's hard to summarize the book without revealing too much, but I loved the school-like environment where Tom trains and makes the first friends of his life. I loved the way Tom stands up for himself (at serious cost), and his unexpected connection with Medusa. I can't wait for the rest of the trilogy to come out.
I also read Rachael Anderson, The Reluctant Bachelorette (on Kindle), because it was cheap and when I read the sample it seemed interesting enough, and clean. It also had mostly 4-5 star reviews.The story was decent (and, as I said, a clean romance, which can be hard to find). The premise was a little far-fetched--that a small town is going to make enough money to finance a desperately needed farmer's market by hosting a bachelorette style show online. The main character, Taycee Emerson, gets conned by her best friend into being the said bachelorette. She doesn't really want to do it, but she'll do it for the town. Then, when her former crush, Luke, gets roped in as well, she tries to sabotage the show so that Luke will get kicked off, only to discover that maybe Luke is the one she really wants. I thought the writing was solid, but I got annoyed with Taycee, particularly towards the end, for her self-sabotaging actions.
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