Bannon and Clare Series

The Iron Wyrm Affair, The Red Plague Affair, and The Ripper Affair by Lilith Saintcrow (323, 320, and 386 pages. 1029 total)

It might not be the most accurate description in the world, but I think I am going to call this a reimagined Sherlock Holmes. It follows the same basic principles; a mentath (beyond genius), Mr. Clare is led and guarded by a sorcerer Ms. Bannon and together they solve crimes for the Crown.  Mr. Clare follows the same tendencies as Sherlock. He regularly sits in a chair puffing on a pipe in thought, is prone to wild experiments when between missions, and exhibits the same observation to detail that reveals everything about a person. Ms. Bannon, while a sorcerer, is also quite clever, but serves more as a grounding rod for Clare much like Watson. She also frequently finds herself in a bit of trouble that relies on more than her efforts to escape. But on the other hand, there are also mythical creatures such as wyrms, and gryphons.

The Bannon and Clare series was well worth the read and I fully enjoyed them. If you have read  Shadows Over Baker Street and enjoyed it or other Sherlock adaptations I would recommend giving this a try. It also has some steampunk themes, for those that are interested.

One Year After

One Year After by William R Forstchen
304 Pages


"The story picks up a year after One Second After ends, two years since the detonation of nuclear weapons above the United States brought America to its knees. After suffering starvation, war, and countless deaths, the survivors of Black Mountain, North Carolina, are beginning to piece back together the technologies they had once taken for granted: electricity, radio communications, and medications. They cling to the hope that a new national government is finally emerging.

Then comes word that most of the young men and women of the community are to be drafted into an “Army of National Recovery” and sent to trouble spots hundreds of miles away.

When town administrator John Matherson protests the draft, he’s offered a deal: leave Black Mountain and enter national service, and the draft will be reduced. But the brutal suppression of a neighboring community under its new federal administrator and the troops accompanying him suggests that all is not as it should be with this burgeoning government."

 I am still enjoying this series although I was a little frustrated  with some of the extensive battle scenes in the book.  

Find Me

Find Me by Laura Van Den Berg
280 Pages

"Joy has no one. She spends her days working the graveyard shift at a grocery store outside Boston and nursing an addiction to cough syrup, an attempt to suppress her troubled past. But when a sickness that begins with memory loss and ends with death sweeps the country, Joy, for the first time in her life, seems to have an advantage: she is immune. When Joy’s immunity gains her admittance to a hospital in rural Kansas, she sees a chance to escape her bleak existence. There she submits to peculiar treatments and follows seemingly arbitrary rules, forming cautious bonds with other patients—including her roommate, whom she turns to in the night for comfort, and twin boys who are digging a secret tunnel.

As winter descends, the hospital’s fragile order breaks down and Joy breaks free, embarking on a journey from Kansas to Florida, where she believes she can find her birth mother, the woman who abandoned her as a child. On the road in a devastated America, she encounters mysterious companions, cities turned strange, and one very eerie house. As Joy closes in on Florida, she must confront her own damaged memory and the secrets she has been keeping from herself."

The description has very little resemblance to the novel itself.  While there is an epidemic, it quickly loses much importance to the plot as the novel wanders aimlessly.  The last half of the book is a mess of a road trip for Joy and makes very little sense overall. Not Recommended.

Moon Over Soho

Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch
289 Pages


"The song. That's what London constable and sorcerer's apprentice Peter Grant first notices when he examines the corpse of Cyrus Wilkins, part-time jazz drummer and full-time accountant, who dropped dead of a heart attack while playing a gig at Soho's 606 Club. The notes of the old jazz standard are rising from the body--a sure sign that something about the man's death was not at all natural but instead supernatural. Body and soul--they're also what Peter will risk as he investigates a pattern of similar deaths in and around Soho. With the help of his superior officer, Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, the last registered wizard in England, and the assistance of beautiful jazz aficionado Simone Fitzwilliam, Peter will uncover a deadly magical menace--one that leads right to his own doorstep and to the squandered promise of a young jazz musician: a talented trumpet player named Richard "Lord" Grant--otherwise known as Peter's dear old dad."

The second book of the series continues in its development of characters and location.  There is a slight use of humor but not so much as to be annoying.  I would recommend this series to patrons who enjoyed the Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher.

Infernal Devices Trilogy

Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince, and Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. (479, 502, 570 pages. 1551 total)


Having read and enjoyed Clare's Mortal Instrument series and with this having a stronger steampunk influence, I was quite looking forward to reading this trilogy.

Infernal Devices follows the life of Tessa Gray who is kidnapped as she arrives in London and thrust into the world of the Shadowhunters. Not sure whom to trust and unsure of everyone's motives for "helping" her, she quickly has to pick sides in a looming war or watch everything she loves be destroyed.

While the Infernal Devices trilogy can stand on its own, I would highly recommend reading the Mortal Instruments first. A lot of information about the world of Shadowhunting is assumed to be common knowledge, and therefore explained in less detail. I feel this could detract from readers enjoyment of the series.


Note: In writing this post, and trying to link the catalog back to this page, I discovered that this series has been adapted into a Manga! Stay tuned for a review of that adaptation.

On the Eternal in Man

On the Eternal in Man by Max Scheler, translated by Bernard Noble, 448 pages

Max Scheler is not a well-known philosopher, despite being admired by thinkers as influential and diverse as Martin Heidegger and St John Paul II.

This book is composed of five complementary but distinct texts.  The first, "Repentance and Rebirth", consists of an analysis of guilt and repentance.  For Scheler, repentance is not oppression by guilt, but liberation from guilt.  It is repression which is true enslavement by guilt.  In this contrast, conversion is revealed as a necessary part of a human life.  In the course of his analysis, Scheler develops a phenomenology of time which reveals the past and future bound up inextricably in the present.  In the second text, "The Nature of Philosophy and the Moral Preconditions of Philosophical Knowledge", Scheler attempts to establish the autonomy of philosophy as, above all, the science of Being, rather than the backstop of epistemology - if philosophy is the handmaid of theology, she is queen of the sciences, if not, she is Science's slave.

The central work takes up half of the book's total length.  In "Problems of Religion", rejecting both neo-Scholastic and neo-Kantian approaches, Scheler conducts an analysis of the nature of metaphysics, natural theology, and revealed theology, and sketches an outline of natural theology.  Much of the text is taken up with criticism of other approaches to natural theology, particularly those of Kant, Schleiermacher, Fichte, and Comte.  Central to Scheler's insights is the primacy of the divine love over the role of God as Logos, as revealed in Creation.

The final two works were written and published just as the First World War ground to an end.  "Christian Love and the Twentieth Century" seeks a Christian understanding of the roots of the war and a program for recovery.  Scheler sees bourgeois individualism and nationalism as having long ago replaced Christianity as the moral center of Western life, aided by indifference on the part of Christians to the public sphere.  Only by reclaiming the social aspects of Christianity - inextricable from a religion of love - can Christians reclaim their homelands.  "The Reconstruction of European Culture" proposes a political solution to the threat of repeated war - Scheler's vision of an united Europe with Germany as its center of gravity, able to stand up to both Russia and the US, with a federal system that allows for local communities and regions to exercise considerable autonomy within the central framework, which resembles in many respects the ideal of the European Union.

Leviathan Series

Leviathan, Behemoth and Goliath by Scott Westerfeld (440, 485, and 543. 1468 total)

When I was looking to expand upon my forays into the steampunk world I stumbled upon this trilogy. Just glancing at the cover and description was enough to convince me to give it a try. The cover and the inside cover art is quite elaborate and beautiful. Plus it is a young adult series so I knew it would read quickly.

The Leviathan trilogy follows the lives of two teenagers (Aleksander and Deryn) as they are swept along by love, war and station.  The overall trilogy follows a rough rehash of World War 1 with an interesting twist. The German powers and their allies are Clankers, who fight with mechanized war machines, and the British Empire are Darwinist, who rely on grown and genetically modified creatures.

I quite enjoyed the strange and at times weird creatures and machines that Westerfeld created. Unlike most fiction, this series had accompanying pictures to help the reader visualize what was being described. I would love to see this Darwinist/Clanker world expanded upon and brought to life through more books.  

Love Nina: A Nanny Writes Home.

Love Nina: A Nanny Write Homes by Nina Stibbe

"In 1982, 20-year-old Nina Stibbe moved to London to work as a nanny to two opinionated and lively young boys. In frequent letters home to her sister, Nina described her trials and triumphs: there's a cat nobody likes, suppertime visits from a famous local playwright, a mysteriously unpaid milk bill, and repeated misadventures parking the family car. Dinner table discussions cover the gamut, from the greats of English literature, to swearing in German, to sexually transmitted diseases. There's no end to what Nina can learn from these boys (rude words) and their broad-minded mother (the who's who of literary London)."

This was recommended by sources that I've used before but I didn't like it.  In the first place it is set in the early 80's so it is dated.  Secondly it is set in England and thus the slang and popular references are completely foreign to an American reader. 

Boo

Boo by Neil Smith
310 Pages

"When Oliver "Boo" Dalrymple wakes up in heaven, the eighth-grade science geek thinks he died of a heart defect at his school. But soon after arriving in this hereafter reserved for dead thirteen-year-olds, Boo discovers he’s a 'gommer', a kid who was murdered. What’s more, his killer may also be in heaven. With help from the volatile Johnny, a classmate killed at the same school, Boo sets out to track down the mysterious Gunboy who cut short both their lives.

In a heartrending story written to his beloved parents, the odd but endearing Boo relates his astonishing heavenly adventures as he tests the limits of friendship, learns about forgiveness and, finally, makes peace with the boy he once was and the boy he can now be."

 An okay book.  The mystery is fairly easy to solve and there are parts in the middle that are just annoying.  Not recommended.

Art of Crash Landing

Art of Crash Landing
by Melissa DeCarlo
416 Pages

"Mattie Wallace has really screwed up this time. Broke and knocked up, she’s got all her worldly possessions crammed into six giant trash bags, and nowhere to go. Try as she might, Mattie can no longer deny that she really is turning into her mother, a broken alcoholic who never met a bad choice she didn’t make.

When Mattie gets news of a possible inheritance left by a grandmother she’s never met, she jumps at this one last chance to turn things around. Leaving the Florida Panhandle, she drives eight hundred miles to her mother’s birthplace—the tiny town of Gandy, Oklahoma. There, she soon learns that her mother remains a local mystery—a happy, talented teenager who inexplicably skipped town thirty-five years ago with nothing but the clothes on her back. But the girl they describe bears little resemblance to the damaged woman Mattie knew, and before long it becomes clear that something terrible happened to her mother, and it happened here. The harder Mattie digs for answers, the more obstacles she encounters. Giving up, however, isn’t an option. Uncovering what started her mother’s downward spiral might be the only way to stop her own."


Great book, well written with a mystery at its heart.  I highly recommend reading when it comes out in September.

Sesame and Lilies

Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin, 204 pages

This book collects three lectures by the master.  The first, "Of Kings' Treasuries" is on the subject of how to read and treasure books.  The second, "Of Queens' Gardens", contains the author's reflections on the proper education of girls.  The third, "The Mystery of Life and Its Arts", is a manifesto of aestheticism and the Social Gospel.

Ruskin is, as always, more of a passionate rhetor than a consistent systematic thinker.  His ideas are sometimes bizarre - he supported a set of sartorial laws restricting certain kinds of clothing to certain classes.  Other ideas are now out of fashion - his plans for suburban garden cities.  His central themes, however - the importance of beauty, the necessity of charity, and the moral benefits of work - are what make his work immortal.

Chasing Power

Chasing Power by Sarah Beth Durst, 368 pages

Kayla and her mom have been hiding from her father since the day he killed her sister.  Kayla has special powers.  She can move things with her mind.  Her mom doesn't want her to use her power because she's afraid that someone might see and then her father might find them.  Kayla has been doing it anyway without her mother's knowledge.  No one has ever noticed Kayla even though she has been stealing, until the day a boy speaks to her and then teleports her.  At first Kayla thinks the boy has been sent by her father but what he really wants is help rescuing his mother who has been kidnapped.  I thought this story was pretty good and that most tens who like magic will probably enjoy it.

Eighth Grave After Dark

Eighth Grave After Dark by Darynda Jones, 293 pages

Since Ed W reviewed this in April I’m not going to waste any time with plot.  I really liked this book and didn’t even mind that it ended with a cliffhanger.  Although, I have to say I’m glad that I read the print version with the bonus chapter because it did alleviate a little bit of the anxiety over the cliffhanger.  Overall, I think this book holds up well compared to the others in the series and that people will enjoy it.

The Slanted Worlds

The Slanted Worlds by Catherine Fisher, 359 pages

 Jake is still trying to locate his father through the mirror.  He ends up in World War II, during the London bombing, and nearly ends up stuck there.  However, while he's there he finds out some information that may end up helping him find his father.  Sarah has been researching the mirror but ultimately still plans to destroy it.  And of course, Venn's main objective is to save his wife.  Summer and the Shee are still a major problem but Maskelyne seems disposed to be helpful, although Venn certainly doesn't trust him.  This is a pretty good series, and this is only the second book in the Obsidian Mirror series.  Teens who like fantasy and science fiction will probably enjoy it.  I felt like the second book help up pretty well compared to the first.

Waistcoats & Weaponry

Waistcoats & Weaponry by Gail Carriger, 298 pages

The third book in The Finishing School series has Sophronia helping her friend Sidheag get back to Scotland to help her werewolf pack.  With help from her best friend Dimity, her sooty friend, Soap and even from Lord Felix Mersey, her sometime love interest. They manage to hijack a train until they attract the attention of some flywaymen and Picklemen.  It will take all of their skills to navigate through their predicament but Sophronia and the others are up for the challenge.  I really enjoyed this latest book in the series and teens, especially girls, who like steampunk will enjoy it also.

Killing Time In Crystal City

Killing Time In Crystal City by Chris Lynch, 230 pages

Kevin, who has been telling people that his name is Kiki, has run away from his dad and has been living with his uncle in Crystal City.  On the bus on the way there, he met a girl who called herself Stacey.  Stacey also ends up in Crystal City.  However, Kevin meets some guys on the beach in Crystal City who seem like they’re decent guys but they may not be exactly what he thinks.  I really liked this story and I really like the way it was written but the ending was a little crazy and I wasn’t left completely satisfied because it felt like there was too much unresolved story.  Despite that, I still think this books would appeal to a lot of teens, especially boys.

Brother Odd

Brother Odd by Dean Koontz, 449 pages


St. Bartholomew’s Abbey sits quietly in peaks of California’s high Sierra, it is a safe place for children whom the world has abandoned, and who have nowhere else to go, and a place of refuge for those seeking insight. Odd Thomas has come here to find peace and to learn to live again after the events of the first book. Among the eccentric monks, their other guests, and the nuns and young students of the attached convent school, he is beginning to find peace as the spirits of the dead have been mostly absent. However trouble seems to have a way of finding Odd and soon a pack bodachs, dark spirits who feed on upcoming pain and tragedy, have come to the children living in the abbey. Soon Odd is facing an enemy more dangerous than than anything he has yet encountered, fearing that he will be doomed to fail those he seeks to protect.

The Odd Thomas series continues to have all the horror, humor, and suspense that got me started reading it. This series also continues to introduce some interesting characters such as a former mob enforcer turned monk, and the mysterious Russian from Indiana. This series continues to be a good read with the perfect mix of suspense and humor.   

The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins, 336 pages

Have you ever read one of those books that everyone else is reading and talking about, and when you finish it, you're like: "So... why is this popular?"  This was like that for me.  Rachel takes the train every day, to and from London, and she always sees a couple at one of the train stops.  She's created a whole fantasy surrounding them and their lives, and when the woman goes missing, she finds herself drawn to help solve the mystery.  Personally, I found just about every character to be unlikable and annoying, and when the "mystery" is solved, I could not have cared less.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, by Dai Sijie, 184 pages

This short work of fiction is great for book clubs and would work for a Banned Book Week discussion.  In 1970s China, the narrator and his friend are sent to the countryside to be "re-educated," and wiped clean of their bourgeois sensibilities.  But there they find a treasure trove of banned, Western fiction that changes their lives and that of the young seamstress they try to "civilize" using the books.  It's a short book, so there's not a whole lot more to say about it- but after reading it, there is a lot of substance for discussion with a book group. 

Sexcastle

 Sexcastle, by Kyle Starks, 204 pages

Sometimes, I just want to be entertained.  I'm not looking for depth or introspection- I just want some knowingly cheesey one-liners and ridiculous fight scenes to make me laugh.  That's kind of what this graphic novel was- a comic equivalent to the show Danger 5, if you're into that.  The main character, Sexcastle, (of course that's his name- didn't you read what I just said about this book?) is a reformed assassin who's trying to get his life right, by working in a flower shop.  Naturally, trouble still finds him.  Alot of this is an homage to cheeseball action films like Road House- so be warned.