Linger

by Maggie Stiefvater
Read by Dan Bittner, Pierce Cravens, Emma Galvin & Jenna Lamia
Scholastic Audiobooks 2010
9 CDs 10 hours 40 minutes



From the publisher:
"As Grace hides the vast depth of her love for Sam from her parents and Sam struggles to release his werewolf past and claim a human future, a new wolf named Cole wins Isabel's heart but his own past threatens to destroy the whole pack."

Review - The Thirteen Clocks by James Thurber

The Thirteen Clocks by James Thurber
New York Review of Books 2008
Hardcover 124 pages



*Review coming soon*

Review - The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Famel by Michael Scott
Publisher: Delacorte Press
In the series:
The Alchemist
The Magician
The Sorceress
The Necromancer
The Warlock
The Enchantress (to be released in 2012)



*Review coming soon*

Review - The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Narrated by Neil Gaiman
Publisher: Harper Children's Audio 2008
Audiobook 7 discs



***Review coming soon***

Review - The Blue Aspic by Edward Gorey

The Blue Aspic by Edward Gorey
Publisher: Pomegranate 2009

Review - Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Publisher: Ace Books 2008
Hardcover 312 pages



***Review Coming Soon***

Review - The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson

The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson
Publisher: Ecco 2011
Hardcover 309 pages




***Review Coming Soon***

Review - Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
Publisher: HarperCollins 1995
Hardcover 406 pages



***Review Coming Soon***

Review - Ashfall by Mike Mullan

Ashfall by Mike Mullan
Publisher: Tanglewood 2011
Hardcover 466 pages



***Review Coming Soon!***

Review - The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
Publisher: Putnam's Sons, 2011
Hardcover 320 pages




The Weird Sisters grew up in a kind of family that I had wished everyday for as a child. A childhood where books occupied a central role in the family, especially those by the Bard. This book follows the three Andreas sisters as they come home to heal their own wounds as well as that of their mother, who was diagnosed with breast cancer. They all move back under their parent's roof, all with secrets that are crushing them, yet they can't seem to let out. This book is a wonderful journey into not only sisterhood, but about how all of us, no matter what point in life we are at, have the capacity to change direction.

As a side note, this wonderful book also happened to mention a favorite childhood game of mine called Spite and Malice. I always thought that this game was a peculiarity of my grandparents who taught it to me because it seems like everyone I ask has no idea what I'm talking about. Imagine my surprise then when the book mentioned the game with the following quote:
"Rose had taken a long walk, and when she'd gotten back Bean had been nearly desperate enough to suggest a game of Spite & Malice, a card game we had played as children that was terrible with only two player..."

Oddly enough, I've only ever played it with two players and thought it perfectly fine!

Review - Arab in America by Toufic El Rassi

Arab in America by Toufic El Rassi
Publisher: Last Gasp, 2007
Softcover 118 pages



I can't remember where I heard about this book, or why it was on my holds list at the library, but I read it anyway because it seemed liked an interesting book, and it's a graphic novel so I knew it would only take me an hour to finish. First thing I want to say is that the back cover is a tad misleading. In bold letters it states: "HILARIOUS, ENRAGING, AND POIGNANTLY RELEVANT!" This book really isn't that funny, the author's self effacing humor brought the occasional sad smile to my lips, but nothing is "laugh out loud" funny about human suffering. Also, that wasn't a typo that I made, the book said "enraging". It took me a few times of reading the phrase before I noticed that it didn't say "engaging". So the book is meant to inspire wrath?

This book was touted as"a must-read for those infuriated with the absurdity and blatant prejudice of contemporary American foreign policy". Yes, if you already think like him, read this book and have someone else agree with you. This book offers nothing new to the discussion, nothing that I would consider "poignant" and only works as a human interest drama. Reading this book to gain insight into the Arab perspective on the US involvement in the Middle East will leave you disappointed. What you can get out of this misspelled jumble is the life of a young man, struggling to define himself and caught essentially between two worlds, the one that he grew up in and the one of his heritage.

Review - Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
Publisher: Little, Brown & Co., 2010
Hardcover 326 pages


Seeing as I'm on a break from college and all of the "serious" reading that I have to do for my classes, I was determined that for my winter break I would read nothing but "fluff". Apparently, my fluff is dystopian young adult literature. Ship Breaker is a fantastically well written story or a time when the planet is wracked with "city-killer" hurricanes, the gulf coast is a graveyard for oil tankers, and children like Nailer live a rough existence breaking down the big ships for salvage for large global corporations. Nailer is a different kind of character, he's tough like the other kids, but also has a true moral compass that guides him into a tricky situation when he decides to save the life of a young girl shipwrecked off his beach.

Though Bacigalupi doesn't go into rich world building like I generally like in my fantasy novels, he gives just enough detail through Nailer to get a sense of how the young boy sees his own world. The constant action will make this book hard to put down for any teen, or adult.

Review - Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent by Veronica Roth
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books, 2011
Hardcover 487 pages


Divergent by Veronica Roth is a thrilling, well written edition to the plethora of dystopian teen novels that have come out in the last couple of years following the popularity of The Hunger Games. Like The Hunger Games, this book stars a 16 year old girl, Beatrice (later Tris), whose fate seems linked with the revolution taking place in a futuristic Chicago. At the age of 16, children are given the choice of five different factions to choose from; the Amity who live for peace, the Dauntless who live for bravery and daring, the Candor who believe in only telling the truth, the Erudite who value intelligence over everything, or the faction of her parents, the Abnegation who value selflessness. Breaking with her family, Tris chooses to train with the Dauntless, though in truth, she feels like there is no one group that she belongs entirely to. While training, she stumbles upon a plot that will start an all out war between the factions and destroy the fragile peace that now exists.

The book was definitely one that I couldn't put down once I had started it. The pacing is fast and action packed, but the end seemed unnecessarily rushed. I felt like there was a spectacular build-up only to have a few tense minutes before the dramatic conclusion and a HUGE cliffhanger. I'm going to be waiting eagerly for the next book in the series as there are many questions unanswered at the end of this book.

Review - Justice Hall by Laurie R. King

Justice Hall by Laurie R. King
Publisher: Bantam Books 2009
Hardcover 331 pages



***Review Coming Soon***

Review - Books by Larry McMurtry

Books: a memoir by Larry McMurtry
Publisher: Simon & Schuster 2008
Hardcover 259 pages



I haven't read any of Larry McMurtry's fiction. I've picked up The Last Picture Show on one or two occasions, but each time checked it back in without even opening up the cover. Sadly, reading his memoir does not entice me in the least to read any of his fiction. I thought that as a fellow book lover, I would be greatly interested in his tales of being in the antiquarian book trade. I've enjoyed other biographies of booksellers (see my review of Warmly Inscribed) and was really looking forward to reading this book. But alas, this book was less about a love for books than a name-dropping exercise on who's who in the book world.

Review - A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
Oxford University Press: 2008
Paperback 200 pages



Recently I have found myself in the very odd position of having been completely immersed in the world of Sherlock Holmes without having read a solitary story from the original author. Instead of Conan Doyle's masterpieces, I have been watching a modern day Holmes in the BBC production Sherlock. I have also been reading The Sherlockian, a great modern day mystery that combines the story of Doyle's detective work along side a modern murder mystery among a cohort of Sherlock fans.

Another great series that I have come to enjoy is the Mary Russell series by Laurie King. An older Sherlock Holmes is paired with a young 20th century scholar, who just happens to be the outspoken Mary Russell. The books have been reviewed elsewhere, but it was with all of these different interpretations in mind that I turned to the original novel that introduces Sherlock Holmes to the world, A Study in Scarlet. While the story is wonderful, the characters rich, and the mystery a real head scratcher to the last, this particular edition has the annoying habit of having annotated the story with asterisks. The first page alone has almost more asterisks than sentences, distracting the reader to an unforgivable degree.

Review - Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Multiple

First in the Women of the Otherworld series
Bitten (2001)
Stolen (2002)
Dime Store Magic (2004)
Industrial Magic (2004)
Haunted (2005)
Broken (2006)
No Humans Involved (2007)
Personal Demon (2008)
Frostbitten (2009)
Waking the Witch (2010)
Spellbound (2011)

Bitten
While this book was a bit... smuttier... than I usually enjoy, the story moved along at a good clip, the characters had some depth to them, and the action sequences didn't seem too contrived. In all, for an urban paranormal romance it was a reasonably good bit of fluff. The novel tells the story of Elena Michaels, a girl with a deadly secret. Elena is a werewolf, and even more than that she is a member of the most powerful werewolf clan in the world and the only female werewolf in existence. Elena is working hard to deny her more animal side and has separated herself from her clan, her family, in order to live a "normal" life. She is soon called back to the clan though, as an outside presence has threatened to tear her family apart.

Review - The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card

The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card
Publisher: Tor 2011
Hardcover 384 pages


This newest series by Orson Scott Card (author of Ender's Game) stars a precocious 13 year old Danny North, a descendent of great mages who all live in the backwoods of the Deep South. He grows up in the "Family Compound" an outsider at his apparent lack of magical skills. One fateful day, Danny learns an almost unbelievable truth, he is not only a mage, but one of the most powerful mages, a gatemage. Gatemages are banned in his world though, and his family would kill him on sight if they knew. So Danny must run from his family, while trying to learn a skill that no mage in over a thousand years has had.

This book was great fun, and for older teens and adults who enjoyed the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, this would be a great recommendation for them.

Review - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Two others in series:
Catching Fire
Mockingjay



In the far future, our known world has ceased to exist and in its place is the futuristic society Panem controlled by "The Capitol". Surrounding the Capitol are 12 districts that provide the Capitol with all of the products it needs to maintain its opulent and authoritarian existence. Some time in the past, around 74 years ago, the districts rebelled against the Capitol, and with their loss came the ultimate payback, the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is an event held every year where 2 children from each district, one boy and one girl, would be put into a simulated environment where they would fight to the death for the entertainment of the Capitol. These series of books follows one of the teens from District 12, Katniss, who in the first book chooses to take her younger sisters place in the games. The subsequent books follow her story from her struggle for survival to being the reluctant leader of a revolution.

I would recommend them for Teens, 13 +
The novels include violence, moderate language
A great list for read-alikes can be found here.

Review - The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Publisher: Putnam's Sons
Hardcover 451 pages




I am such a snob. This book was so terribly popular that I was determined to hate it from the moment I picked it up off of the shelf. Alas, this book was just too good not to love. The characters are memorable, the story has enough truth to hurt, but also can teach something as well. I shan't go into reviewing the storyline of this book as it is so well known in both print and on screen, only to say that it should find its way to sit alongside a great such as To Kill A Mockingbird. A must read.