September 19, 2009
· Filed under Dystopia, Science Fiction, Suzanne Collins, YA Fiction
One of the most hotly anticipated YA novels of the fall, this is the sequel to last summer’s Hunger Games (actually it is the second in a projected trilogy.) It lived up to the high standard of dystopian shock and thrilling supsense that the author set in the first novel. There is definitely some unpleasant violence, as in the first one, too.
I really don’t want to say too much about the content of it because I was lucky enough to read it without knowing anything except that it was the next book and thus I was delightfully surprised and shocked by everything. So I’ll just say that it is well paced for a trilogy (and don’t you dare do one more after that because then it will just drag on and not wrap up well), lots of the same characters return, and it was very exciting. I read this very quickly because it was hard to put down. I sort of liken it to The Empire Strikes Back in that the first one the rebels have success, the second one is dark but meaty and really intensifies the story. So let’s hope the third book, out next year I believe, wraps things up with the good guys winning. But no Ewoks, please.
September 17, 2009
· Filed under Adult Fiction, Andrew Nicholl, Magical, Romance
A look at my drafts shows me that I have not yet written about the past SIX books I’ve read(The Good Mayor, Catching Fire, Beastly, Second Time Around, How Dolly Parton Saved My Life, Don’t You Forget About Me). Which is really dreadful. At least I wrote the titles in the drafts or I would probably not even remember what they were. I must get better about writing immediately after reading because that is when I am most heated up and passionate about a book (also will remember more details, like character names and such.) So, as I am sure they will all get short shrift in their write ups, but I am going to work backwards so at least some don’t. Thus, the book I finished yesterday, The Good Mayor.
I absolutely adored this. I read about it in Chatelaine, a Canadian women’s magazine I subscribe to. In the book section they often mention books that are really interesting to me, but not available here yet (if at all.) Happily this one was easy to get a hold of. This is a romantic charming, quirky story. At its most basic, the town mayor is in love with his secretary, who is in a loveless marriage. She also loves him. One day they have lunch together and their love blossoms. The story is told from the point of view of St. Walpurnia, a bearded nun who is the town’s saint and appears on all their official things and everyone prays to. I can’t quite find the right way to describe the style of writing-it was sweet, it was funny, hmmm…does a review on amazon say it better than I can? Hmmm, no. Whimsical, fairy-taleish, magical, are all words used in the reviews, and I do agree with them. It’s just charming, that’s really the best I can do. One of the things that I thought was so delightful about it (and adds to the fairy tale quality) was the not-real place and unspecified time. Read the rest of this entry »
July 26, 2009
· Filed under YA Fiction
A new girl in town gets recruited for the “Cinderella Society”-a secret organization grooming girls to be strong women who will fight evil. A great premise, especially with all the details about of the “Get Smart”-like hideout and so on, which I loved. There is, naturally, a similar group for wicked girls, whose goal it is to control the “Reggies”, or regular kids. Jess finds out that the society is much bigger and ancient than she could have ever imagined–think a fight for world domination.
My gripe with this book was that there was a lot of talk of good vs. evil, fate of the world, going without backup to take on the leader of the bad girls, but nothing ever happened. For a Buffy/Angel fan I kept expecting something supernatural to happen, or at least some fisticuffs. Read the rest of this entry »
July 26, 2009
· Filed under Adult Fiction, British, Nick Hornby
I really like Nick Hornby and was thrilled when Melissa shared this prepub with me. Such a quirky premise for a story: a British man is obsessed with a musician from the 80s who hasn’t produced anything in twenty years and didn’t even have that astonishing a career and is now a recluse. But because of the internet he has banded together with other like minded people and they obsessively talk about Duncan Crowe and pick over his lyrics and every bootleg recording they can. They guy really is kind of a weirdo/tool. His longtime girlfriend comes to this realization over something related to Crowe–the very first release after all these years arrives at their house and she listens to it first and has a different opinion of it than her boyfriend (I forget his name, I read this two weeks ago.) He freaks out and it all starts to unravel. Read the rest of this entry »
July 25, 2009
· Filed under Funny, Maureen Johnson, YA Fiction
Scarlett and her family live in a hotel in Manhattan. And while that is not exactly a boarding school, it’s another setting I consider wonderful right from the get go. (In the marvelous children’s book, Family Sabbatical, sequel to the wonderful Family Grandstand, the family lives in a hotel in France for a while, a situation that I found, as a third or fourth grader, to be totally magical.) Scarlett has a beautiful older sister, Lola, a talented and funny older brother, Spencer, and a somewhat mean younger sister, Marlene. The family is on hard times. Despite the fact that the hotel has a long and distinguished history hardly anyone ever stays there anymore. Scarlett and her siblings are worried about their futures when in comes the guest who will change everything–Mrs. Amberson. Read the rest of this entry »
July 24, 2009
· Filed under Adult Fiction, Elinor Lipman, Funny
I’ve read a bunch of her other books, some I really liked, some less than others. This is her newest and I loved it. It was not a very long book and it was a quick read. By the way, this was our choice for my new two person book club. We’ll be discussing it next week.
The main character, Henry, is a fiftysomething gay man living in Manhattan. Years ago he’d been married to a woman with a very young child, whom he adopted. A few years later when they split up and she remarried, he allowed her new husband to adopt the daughter and gave up his parental rights. Now, thirty something years later he still feels deeply sad about it. Coincidences occur and the long lost daughter is back in his life. Read the rest of this entry »
July 3, 2009
· Filed under Adult Fiction, British, Romance
It’s been a while since I read any chick lit type books, but this cover/title/style caught my eye and I checked out not only this, but also The Reading Group (by Noble). The set-up of this story is that Natalie has been dumped by her boyfriend of many years and her dear old friend Tom persuades her to spend the next 26 weekends with him (each time doing an activity that starts with a letter of the alphabet). At the end of that time he is sure Natalie will be in love with him. Natalie is not so sure about that, but does think it is a good way to get over Simon. Read the rest of this entry »
July 1, 2009
· Filed under Lisa Greenwald, YA Fiction
Amusingly, this book was my choice for my new book club (which consists of me and one other person.) I say amusingly because it is a very young YA and how weird that I didn’t even realize it’s YA! I chose it because it was on my to-read list as it turns out that the author is the daughter of the college roommate of the woman I used to nanny for in college.
Melissa and I agreed that if we were in sixth grade we would adore this book and admire the main character and want to be like her. Read the rest of this entry »
June 30, 2009
· Filed under Terry Pratchett, YA Fiction
This was another 2009 Printz Honor recipient, which is why I read it. I am not a huge Pratchett fan, like Paul, though I did enjoy watching the Hogfather movie with Paul. This is not a Discworld novel, though. I’ll first say-I loved it! I was telling Paul last night that the more I think about this book, the greater I think it is. It was a really powerful blend of humor, coming of age, what it is to “become a man”, what makes a nation, the conflicts between science and reason and superstition, myth, and tradition, how people communicate, and civilization versus savages all wrapped up in a great story of survival and adventure. Paul’s response was that that is what he expects from a Terry Pratchett novel, so he was not as blown away by it as I was. If that is the case, then I need to go read some more, because I really thought this was so well written + a great story. Read the rest of this entry »
June 29, 2009
· Filed under Boarding Schools, YA Fiction
This is a 2009 Printz Honor recipient AND it is set in a boarding school, and yet it took me this long to get around to reading it. I had actually started it way last year and didn’t get into it and stopped. Happily this time I got into it more easily (which just goes to show that sometimes it’s not the book, it’s you and your circumstances) and was able to enjoy all the boarding school shenanigans I expected:
Sneaking out to meet a boy? Check
Sneaking out to drink in an unusual location? Check
Scenes set in the dining hall? Check
Details of chapel and unusual electives not offered at normal schools? Check
Details of weird school traditions, often involving statues/portraits? Check
Pranks? Check, check, and check! Read the rest of this entry »
