Out of the Dark

Out of the Dark by David Weber, 381 pages

Out of the Dark was originally a short novella published in a collective called Warriors that I have previously blogged about. Weber with the encouragement of friends decided to expand the novella into a full length novel. Having liked the novella and hoping the novel would take it farther I gave it a read.

Out of the Dark is about an alien species that comes to Earth to enslave the population to work for it. To take the fight out of the people and make them submit they destroy nearly every government installation and military base. The surviving population is left fighting for its existence.

Sadly the book ends nearly the same place as the novella. But I realized that reading the novella was like reading cliff notes. It gives the highlights and parts that are important but skips over a lot of backstory. The novella also left out lots of details and characters that I think the novel is better off for having. At times though Weber can get a little carried away trying to describe everything but he tries to keep it in character. A good example is a gun nut debating the best ammo to use and giving the weight and power of each. Is that detail needed, no but would a gun nut be thinking about it when considering ammo, almost certainly.

Overall Out of the Dark is good up until the last couple chapters. After that point the book is either horrible or still good depending on if you like the ending. If you can accept it you will like it, otherwise I can easily seeing people slamming the book shut and throwing it across the room.

Passive Aggressive notes

Passive Aggressive Notes: Painfully Polite and Hilariously Hostile Writings, and just Plain Aggressive by Kerry Miller, 161 pages

This came through in our collection of best sellers and it seemed interesting enough to merit a read. The book is basically a note per page so that means there are roughly 150 or so notes in the book. Some are quite good and funny. Others are more of meh and move on.
Like most books in this genre it is good for a chuckle before moving on to something else.

A Fancy of Hers/The Disagreeable Woman

A Fancy of Hers/The Disagreeable Woman by Horatio Alger
179 Pages

Having heard of the Horatio Alger rages to riches stories that seem part of the American Psyche I  thought it might be fun to read one as my entry for 100+ year book.  Not surprisingly the stories are a little dated but the basic premise is one commonly found in American books and movies.  Those who are basically good and hard working will be rewarded while those who are negative and hateful tend to lead unhappy lives and in the end get their comeuppance. 

The Wolf in Winter

The Wolf in Winter by John Connolly
416 Pages

Part of the Charlie Parker series, Connolly combines the  supernatural with the mystery and thriller.  In this book the town of Prosperous, Maine has survived the ups and downs of the economy better than the surrounding towns and its citizens seemed charmed and impervious to harm.  When the daughter of a local street person disappears, Charlie Parker begins to investigate the disappearance and it leads back to mysterious goings on in the town. 

This was actually the first book I've read in the series even thought it is the 7th book.  While somewhat entertaining, there were some plot holes and inconsistencies in the storyline that were distracting and I couldn't help but compare to the Preston/Child collaboration that puts out books in a similar vein.

A Spool of Blue Thread

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
304 Pages

From the book description ..
"It was a beautiful, breezy, yellow-and-green afternoon." This is the way Abby Whitshank always begins the story of how she fell in love with Red that day in July 1959. The whole family--their two daughters and two sons, their grandchildren, even their faithful old dog--is on the porch, listening contentedly as Abby tells the tale they have heard so many times before. And yet this gathering is different too: Abby and Red are growing older, and decisions must be made about how best to look after them, and the fate of the house so lovingly built by Red's father. Brimming with the luminous insight, humor, and compassion that are Anne Tyler's hallmarks, this capacious novel takes us across three generations of the Whitshanks, their shared stories and long-held secrets, all the unguarded and richly lived moments that combine to define who and what they are as a family.


I have long been a fan of Anne Tyler and find most of her books deal with families and family relationships.  There isn't necessarily a lot of action or fantastical events occurring in the book but you become engrossed in the characters and get to know each member of the Whitshanks.  This book is coming out in Feb 2015 and I strongly urge people who like realistic portrayals of the family dynamics to put this title on their hold list.

Paideia

Paideia: The Ideals of Greek Culture by Werner Jaeger, translated by Gilbert Highet, 1070 pages (3 vols.)

 

This monumental work traces the historical development of the Greek concept of paideia, which can be translated as "education".  Education, in this sense, is the cultivation of the individual in the shape of an ideal of human development, this ideal forming the center of the traditional understanding of culture.  "Education" thus differs from "training", which is the acquisition of practical technical skills.  In addition to being concerned with the upbringing of children, paideia was at the heart of the classical understanding of art, as well as the individual and his relation to the state.

 

Jaeger surveys the whole history of Greek culture up to the time of the Macedonian conquest.  The first volume covers the time from the heroic paideia of Homer and the pastoralism of Hesiod through to the comedies of Aristophanes and the cosmic harmonies of Pythagoras.  The second volume is devoted to Socrates and Plato, while the third covers the rhetoric of Isocrates and Demosthenes as well as Plato's later work.

 

This is a work of formidable learning and encyclopedic scope, presenting hundreds of years of thought and development, including epic poetry, tragedy, rhetoric, political science, comedy, history, and philosophy.  As Jaeger notes, Greek culture forms the foundation of the West, and Western civilization returns to it again and again, whenever it is exhausted and needs refreshing from the source.  This is a compelling distillation of that source.

The Butterfly and the Violin

The Butterfly and the Violin by Kristy Cambron   330 pages

Present day Manhattan: Art dealer Sera James saw a beautiful painting as a young girl. She has made it her life’s work to find that painting, which has been missing for decades. The painting’s subject is that of a young female violinist with a shaved head and a number tattooed on her forearm. In my mind’s eye, I see a black-and-white painting with the girl’s eyes in color. Her assistant, Penny, gets a lead on the painting. It’s owned by a wealthy San Francisco family, and Sera rushes to try to obtain the painting. 

That’s one story in the complex novel.

1942-1945 Europe.  First in Vienna. Adele is Vienna’s Sweetheart. At sixteen, the young woman is a violin prodigy. She plays the most beautiful music Austrians have ever heard. It doesn’t hurt that Adele is also a beautiful young woman. Her father is a high-ranking Nazi, and Adele is often called upon to play for the upper echelons of the Third Reich. She has fallen in love with one of her colleagues, Vladimir Nicolai, and has embraced his mission to help a Jewish family flee the city. Once it’s know that she’s been involved with Nicolai, she is arrested at her family’s home and sent to Auschwitz. Second, Auschwitz. Adele struggles to survive the harsh realities of the concentration camp, but she is housed in a special musical group. 

That’s the other main story line.

The Butterfly and the Violin is one of those stories that weaves back and forth, which I like. The thing that struck me the most is how Adele was forced to play a violin, not only to stay alive, but as the concentration camp inmates were marched in and out of the camp, some to work, some to die.

The story lacked an overall tension, and wrapped up much too quickly. I give The Butterfly and the Violin 4 out of 5 stars

Users, Not Customers

Users, Not Customers: Who Really Determines the Success of Your Business by Aaron Shapiro, 243 pages

In Users, Not Customers, Shapiro turns our focus to the digital users of a business rather than the tried-and-true customers. Shapiro argues that users--here defined as digital followers or users of websites, with an emphasis on "digital--are the key to creating a successful business, and outlines the ways in which a company can capitalize on this segment.

While Shapiro makes some excellent points about website usability and rolling out tech innovations at the right time (it does your company no good to be first to market with something if it's riddled with bugs or if the supporting tech isn't yet ubiquitous), a lot of what he says may be difficult for a small company to implement. Paradoxically, it also sounds difficult for well-established brick-and-mortar businesses to make the switch to user-centric design without some major cash going into it. There's a lot to be gleaned from this book, though I don't know that many companies can use all of it, at least not all at once. It's worth a read though, if your business is in the market for a digital overhaul.

Champion

Champion by Marie Lu, 369 pages

This appears to be the third book in the Legends trilogy and I felt like it wrapped up pretty well.  June is one of the three Princeps-Elect, meaning she is being groomed to possibly be the head of the Senate.  Day has become the hero of the people and is occupied with caring for his younger brother, Eden.  Busy with their individual lives, Day and June haven’t spoken in several months.  However, a crisis looms once more.  Just as peace negotiations between the Republic and the Colonies begin to look hopeful, a plague breaks out in the Colonies.  Because they believe it is from an old Republic weapon (and they are probably right) they are demanding a cure before they will consider a peace treaty.  The Republic doesn’t have a cure, but with further testing on Eden, who they think is patient zero for this illness, they may be able to create one.  Day, of course, is not willing to risk his brother, now that he has him back.  The situation appears to be at an impasse, but things are not always what they seem.  Although the book is tied up a little too neatly, it’s still a fun read and teen fantasy/dystopia fans will probably enjoy the story.

The Paper Magician

The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg, 214 pages

Ceony Twill didn’t get to choose which branch of magic she would get to study.  She wanted to be a Smelter, but there is a shortage of Folders, so she is stuck with paper.  She is apprenticed to Emery Thane, who is odd but nice.  Almost immediately, she finds out that he was actually the unknown sponsor that financed her year of study at the Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined.  Thane turns out to be a good teacher and Folding turns out to be different than what she expected.  When an Excisioner, a worker of Blood magic, breaks into Thane’s home and rips his heart from his chest, Ceony must find a way to track down the Excisioner, get back Thane’s heart, and save his life, without getting herself killed, of course.  A really good story, fantasy fans will probably like this one.

The Infinite Moment Of Us

The Infinite Moment Of Us by Lauren Myracle, 316 pages

Wren is just graduating high school and instead of going to college in town, as her parents expect, she is planning to defer college for a year and travel to Guatemala to help teach English to young children.  She is dreading telling her parents but she needs to get away, to become her own person.  Charlie is also graduating college and plans to attend Georgia Tech.  His foster family is wonderful but Charlie has been let down so many times, he doesn’t trust himself enough to completely let himself be a part of the family, except for Dev.  Even though Dev is also a foster child, he has whole-heartedly accepted this family as his own and Dev is the only one that Charlie truly calls family.  This summer, Wren and Charlie officially meet, get to know each other, and fall in love.  This is the story of their summer, their experiences with first love, and their journey to find themselves.  This is definitely a book about relationships and love, so it will probably appeal more to teen girls.  I enjoyed it but it has some pretty explicit sex scenes so it’s probably a book to recommend to older teens and might have some of that new adult crossover appeal.

Divided We Fall

Divided We Fall by Trent Reedy, 374 pages

Danny joined the Idaho National Guard at 17.  Although he still had his senior year of school to complete, the guard was only supposed to be a part-time thing, so he’d finish school and still get to follow in his father’s footsteps, military-wise.  When protestors in Boise fill the streets, angry about the upcoming legislation regarding the new federal identification cards, the Idaho Guard are called up to bring order to the city.  Unfortunately, Danny accidentally fires a shot, causing several shots to be fired both by the Guard and civilians and resulting several wounded and dead.  The governor plans to defend their actions and to protect them from prosecution but the president is calling for their surrender to arrest and several people in the country are calling for their heads.  When the state of Idaho sets up blockades to keep federal troops out, Danny has to decide which oath he is going to follow, the one made to the state, or to the country.  A good action filled story, a lot of boys will like this book.

The Cracks In The Kingdom

The Cracks In The Kingdom by Jaclyn Moriarty, 468 pages

This is the second book in The Colors Of Madeleine series.  Elliot, who lives in Cello, and Madeleine, who lives in the World (England, to us), have continued to communicate by letter through the crack they have found between our two worlds.  Elliot has begun using this connection to try to help Princess Ko, whose family has disappeared.  She believes that they have been sent to the World and has been devising plans to get them back.  Since most of the kingdom is unaware of the disappearance, this has been covert.  Of course, if Elliott is caught he is likely to be executed, since any type of communication between the two realms is expressly forbidden.  And time is running out.  An invitation has arrived for the King that cannot be refused and if he isn’t back in three months, Cello will likely be at war.  On a better note, two agents have been working to find Elliot’s father, who has also been missing, but they believe they have located the Hostiles who were responsible and it appears that they are willing to negotiate to release Elliot’s father.  A really good fantasy novel with some action, but more introspective.  Teens that like a quieter fantasy novel will probably like this series.

Obsidian Mirror

Obsidian Mirror by Catherine Fisher, 378 pages

This is the first book in a new series.  Jake is convinced that Oberon Venn, his godfather, has murdered his father and now he is finally going to have the chance to confront him about it.  Jake’s father, who was Venn’s best friend, disappeared while visiting with Venn a few years ago.  Since then, Venn has paid for Jake to go to boarding school but has never seen him, until now.  Sarah is a young woman who has appeared at Venn’s doorstep.  She is there on a mission but Venn is willing to let her stay because he can use her.  When Jake arrives also, he learns that the truth about his father’s disappearance is more complicated than he realized, but it’s possible that his father is still alive.  The trick will be whether they can find him and bring him home.  Because this book is the first in a series not all of our questions are answered in this book, however, the end wraps up enough of the story that it is not disappointing.  With a lot of action, this science fiction/fantasy thriller will engage a lot of teens who enjoy these genres.

The Bookseller

The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson
352  Pages

Kitty/Katherine is the main character in a novel set in Denver in the 1960's.  Kitty is running a failing bookstore with her best friend Frieda when she starts to have spells where she imagines she has a different life.  She is married to Lars and has 3 children. She is more elegant and well-dressed but her friend Frieda is no longer a part of her life.  In this reality, things seem better but as time progresses it becomes apparent that there are troubles here as well.  

An interesting premise but not handled as well as Jo Walton's book "My Real Children".  

Eliot and His Age

Eliot and His Age: TS Eliot's Moral Imagination in the Twentieth Century by Russell Kirk, 368 pages

In 1953, cultural critic Russell Kirk (Redeeming the Time) informed his friend TS Eliot of his intention to write a book on "The Age of Eliot".  After eighteen years (and Eliot's death), that book appeared under the title Eliot and His Age.  Kirk traces Eliot's path from his birth in St Louis (2635 Locust St) to his burial in East Coker, but the bulk of the book is devoted to an analysis of Eliot's work, fitting for a man who believed that "there is, in all great poetry, something which must remain unaccountable however complete might be our knowledge of the poet." 

Kirk locates the heart of Eliot's work not in the ephemeral world of things that pass away, the world of "relevance" and fashion, of Lawrence's "chewers of newspapers", but in the "permanent things" that endure eternally.  In this reading, Eliot's life work, his poetry and drama but especially his criticism, aimed at the revitalization of history and tradition as the only way to bring water to the wasteland.  Change must surely come, but if it is not rooted in respect for the past and concern for the future, it will inevitably be sterile.  However, Eliot was more pessimistic than Dostoevsky, who famously wrote, "Beauty will save the world."  Literature, in the modern world, can only ever appeal to a minority.  Its purpose is not to overwhelm but to preserve.

A book by a master writing about a genius.  It does demand a certain knowledge of Eliot's creative work.

The Promise

The Promise by Ann Weisgarber
320 Pages

 The book opens in October 1899 with the death of Oscar William's wife.  She extracts a promise from Nan Ogden to look after her husband and child.  We move to August 1900 and Catherine Wainwright is in disgrace in Dayton, Ohio, having carried on an affair with her cousin's husband.  With limited choices she rekindles a relationship with Oscar and accepts his proposal via mail.  She travels to Galveston, Texas to get married and find a place in the Williams household.

What the reader knows (maybe) is that Galveston is going to be devastated by a hurricane which is described as the worst disaster to ever hit the United States with approximately 8,000 deaths.  In the book the disaster is not the main character but rather the delicate relationship between Oscar and Catherine is center stage as well as Catherine's relationship with Nan, who feels displaced.  Readers of historical fiction will most likely like this book.

Raging Heat

Raging Heat by Richard Castle
292 Pages

This series of books is based upon the TV Series Castle that runs on ABC.  The inside joke is that they pretend that  the books are actually being written by the fictitious character Richard Castle and have a picture of the actor Nathan Fillion on the back cover.  In reality we don't know who is writing the books.

Surprisingly the books have been fairly good, fast paced mysteries and while Raging Heat is not the best of the bunch it still beats a James Patterson book any day. 

Neonomicon

Neonomicon by Alan Moore and others, 176 pages

With Halloween quickly approaching the display shelves thankfully change over to the strange and creepy books. This one caught my eye and it was interestingly described as Lovecraftian. Knowing that I was well braced for weird and strange. I wasn't however expecting so much adult material from such a shot graphic novel.

The plot is basically serial killers keep turning up that are killing their victims the same way. The only difference is in what trophy they keep. As the investigation continues it spirals down past weird and into what truly can only be described as Lovecraftian.

If you can make it past the weird language, the same that Cthulhu followers use in Lovecraft's books, and the graphic adult imagery this book is pretty good. It still has the cheesy horror story vibe to it but not enough to make me not want to continue reading.

Kingdom Keepers VII The Insider

Kingdom Keepers VII The Insider by Ridley Pearson, 609 pages

Since Krista has already reviewed this book I won't go to deep into the summery. This is the final book in the Kingdom Keepers series, and as is to be expected it is the ultimate showdown between those that seek to protect the magic of the Disney parks, and the villains who are set on destroying it. This is definitely a series that should be read in order. I thought this book was rather well written, especially since Pearson collaborated with the fans of series to write parts of this book. For the final book of a series it left a lot of questions at the end, which I am hoping is just Pearson laying groundwork for a new series set after this one. Over all I think that this series is great, and that people who enjoy Disney, as well as fantasy will enjoy reading it.

Alone on the Ice

Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration by David Roberts, 368 pages

Between 1911 and 1913, Australian explorer Douglas Mawson led the Australasian Antarctic Expedition to an uncharted area of Antarctica. It was an ambitious journey, with scientific and geographic goals well beyond what many other expeditions of the time took on (reaching the South Pole was just one of their many goals). After "wintering over" in a hut through months of blizzards and record-setting winds, Mawson and two of his team members set off on a sledging expedition to the east of their base camp in an attempt to survey what is now known as King George V Land.

To describe this sledging trek as "harrowing" wouldn't even begin to describe it. While crossing a glacier a couple hundred miles into their journey, one of Mawson's colleagues, Belgrave Ninnis, plunged to his death in a crevasse, taking with him six huskies and the sledge that was laden with most of the trio's food and supplies. Despite immediately turning back, Mawson and his remaining fellow, Xavier Mertz, were forced to brave the Antarctic conditions with a seriously depleted food supply (they ended up eating the remaining dogs, to disastrous effect) and using jury-rigged equipment. Still 100 miles from the hut, Mertz too died, leaving a weakened Mawson to traverse the remaining distance alone.

I'll admit that I'd never heard of Mawson before reading/listening to this book. And honestly, I've never been much of a South (or North) Pole fanatic. But this is a fascinating, gripping story. How Mawson survived this ordeal is mind-boggling; the subtitle is no exaggeration. This is well-researched, and gives a wonderful glimpse into the daily life of Antarctic expeditions of the early 20th Century. My one regret is that I didn't also pick up the book book version of this. While the narrator of the audiobook is fantastic, I didn't get a chance to see the photographs taken from the AAE. I must rectify this. Recommended for fans of Edwardian era history, adventure, and those who don't mind the cold.

After Nature

After Nature by WG Sebald, translated by Michael Hamburger, 116 pages

 

This is a collection of biographical poems, published posthumously, meditating on the experiences of painter Matthias Grunewald, arctic explorer Georg Steller, and author Sebald himself, as they encounter the world and find their place in relation to it.  Sebald's equally lyrical descriptions of Grunewald's canvasses, arctic wastes, and Manchester rubbish heaps form beautiful verbal landscapes, while his sketches of the personalities manages to be simultaneously uncommonly vivid and realistically elusive.

Hack/Slash Part 2

Hack/Slash Omnibus #2 by Tim Seeley, 422 pages

This continues the adventures of Cassie Heck and Vlad as the continue to hunt down and kill serial killers known as "slashers". Slashers are like your B movie killers. They kill anyone who gets in their path and are very hard to kill, they also have a bad habit of not staying dead.

This series has been quite good as it embraces the fact that rarely do the heroes walk away unscaved. Much like the low budget horror films the comic is based off it is not uncommon to see lots of skimpy outfits and some overdone nudity. If you enjoy those types of films you should give this series a try.


Note: Link goes to a book that is currently on order. I cannot tell if the order was just for the first omnibus volume or all of them. But if you are going to read this one you should read the first one too.

Tomb

Tomb by Paul Wilson, 433 pages

I am not sure how this book came to me. One day it was on the holds shelf with my name on it. I didn't put it on hold and as far as anyone can remember neither did they. Excepting this as a mystery book challenge and seeing that Stephen King enjoyed it I gave it a try.

It is about a repairman named Jack who repairs stuff your average guy won't. Because of these skills he is called upon by an ex in need and a wealthy businessman. Despite the seemingly simpleness of the problems they becomes something else when the supernatural get involved.

Surprisingly this book was quite good and would make an excellent movie. The characters are not overly done and are people that can be related to. This really helps bring the supernatural and at times horror/suspense themes home. I think this would make an excellent read for the coming week especially for around Halloween.


Note: While the picture shows this as the audio cover, this was the cover image for the copy I read, not the cover image in our catalog.

Wasp Factory

Wasp Factory by Iain Banks, 184 pages

This book was hailed as both disturbing and a must read by some reviews I came across. Since my tastes trend towards the disturbing and weird I thought I would give this one a try.

Frank is a disturbed sixteen year old with some interesting habits. His father is an eccentric who is just as prone to lying as telling the truth. And lastly his brother Eric has just escaped from a mental institution.

Sadly I only found this book average at best. There are plenty of disturbing scenes and imagery that try to set up the horror theme it is trying so hard to reach, but it falls short of the mark. The wasp factory (the factory in the book, not the title) is interesting however, and seems to be an interesting way to live your life. The most exciting part of the book was the shocking ending. I can honestly say I did not see that coming, but looking back maybe I should have.

I am not sure what kind of people would actually enjoy reading this book but I guess if you are a fan of some of the more sick and twisted writers out there, you should give this one a try.

Last Orders

Last Orders by Harry Turtledove, 401 pages

Last Orders is the sixth and final book of The War that Came Early series. Even though this is hailed as the last book in the series or the conclusion it leaves a lot of story lines and two of the four wars hanging. The only thing that really concludes in the European war.

While I have stated how much I have enjoyed this series before, I found that this book seemed to drag along more than the rest. Yes the war is wrapping up, and yes there spurts of action because of it, but there is also pages and pages of political discussions and conversations that add nothing to the plot or book.

How To Be Happy

How to be Happy by Eleanor Davis, 145 pages

Continuing what Kara has dubbed my "useless how-to" kick I went ahead picked up this graphic novel after seeing it on the shelf. This is the first collection of Davis' work, and is made up of her graphic short stories and illustrations. One of the nice things about this book is that each story varies in its visual approach, changing its style to best fit its material. I think the best thing about this book though was the art because I just didn't feel invested in most of the stories. There was some nice stuff there, but there just wasn't enough to draw me in. I think this book is worth a look at least for range of visual styles that Davis uses, as well as some of the line drawings and comments between the actual stories.
As Davis says in the beginning "This is not a book on how to be happy."

Black Like Me

Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin, 157 pages

John Howard Griffin, a white writer, entered the black community in 1961 to see if the deep South's reputation for extreme racism was accurate. Though he already lived in the South (Texas), his travels took him down through Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. He spent a mere two months first as a black man, then alternating between black and his natural skin. He was given medical treatments that changed the pigmentation of his skin, in addition to a dye.
He was horrified by how he was treated, constantly being given what he called the "hate stare" and the complete lack of respect he was given, even on a basic human level.  The conditions most blacks were living in were barely fit for animals, much less humans.
This book was a short, depressing read, as is any material that exposes the disgusting side of human nature.

100 Months

100 Months by John Hicklenton, 148 pages

This was another one of my table finds. In flipping through it I was blown away by how graphic the images were. Figuring any story with this powerful of art is worth the read, I tried it.

100 Months is about a womanish figure named Arma Geddon. She is freed from her prison and goes on a rampage destroying everything in her path, which seems to include humanity and the devil, as she tries to find the "Longpig". There are both environmental and religious aspects prevalent throughout.

Plot wise it is a very confusing novel. I am not sure what the "longpig" is supposed to represent but I know traditionally it refers to human flesh. Maybe it represents greed, I am not sure. If you like truly graphic novels and can appreciate graphic art you should give this one a try

This was Hicklenton's last work as he wrote it during his battle with multiple sclerosis.

Dance with the Devil

Dance with the Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon, 372 pages

Dance with the Devil continues the Dark Hunter series. Continuing the trend where someone from the previous book is the main character, this time it is Zarek's turn. Despite being a wild near uncontrollable man who even the goddess Artemis wants to destroy, he gets one last chance. Without him knowing about it he gets sent to a judge by the name of Astrid who is the sister to the three fates. She is to get to know him and judge if he should be destroyed. To make it completely fair she will be completely blind and there will be no outside influences. Of course there is a love story but there are some pretty gruesome killings to go along with it.

The storylines and by extension, the plot of this series is getting better. Kenyon is starting to flesh out the god and goddess aspect of the series and certainly ramped up the action, in and out of the bedroom. Towards the end it is hard to even get through a chapter without finding some pretty graphic sex. Though since this has been a theme in all of the Dark Hunter Novels it is not surprising, and I guess is sort of expected.

The best part is the dragon that lives as a tattoo on Acheron's chest who likes eating gods and goddesses and anything else that gets in its way.

The Quick

The Quick by Lauren Owen, 523 pages

The Quick follows the life of a grad student as he finishes school and tries to make a living writing in London. Failing miserably he forced into the company of an associate of his from school. Together they discover more about both themselves and London then they ever want to know. This book revolves strongly around a secret club that you can only join through an invitation. The club has a hidden secret that threatens not only London but the world.

It was quite interesting to see two different approaches to a supernatural problem. Vagueness is key here as I wouldn't want to ruin anything. But I would describe this novel as a three way clash between science, mankind, and the supernatural. With all three groups struggling to emerge victorious. The supernatural aspects are very subtle and the storyline takes quite some time to develop. If you need some action to keep you reading this is not the book for you. I personally think you could ditch the first 40-50 pages and still have a perfectly fine novel.

The Obsidian Blade

The Obsidian Blade, by Peter Hautman, 320 pages

Tucker Feye is a regular, mischievous young teen, but his world as he knows it starts to crumble when he first sees a mysterious disk of shimmering space in the air above his family's house.   His father disappears, a mysterious girl appears out of nowhere, his mother loses her mind, and Tucker begins the journey of a lifetime.

This is a science fiction work for young adults, but the science fiction was somewhat confusing to me (although, isn't that always the case with time travel books?).  Also, there are some elements of religion used frequently throughout the book that some people might be bothered by. 

Thief of Glory

Thief of Glory by Sigmund Brouwer  326 pages  (waiting on SLPL to get)

  

 

Prolific author Sigmun Brouwer sets this 2014 release in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) during World War II.

Ten-year-old Jeremiah Prins live a luxurious life. His father is a school headmaster, his mother stays at home, and he has five siblings.  He spends his days in school and playing marbles. Jeremiah is an avid marble player and wins more often than not. He has two pouches of marbles that he carries with him at all times and that are tucked neatly below his belt and beneath his shorts.

Life is idyllic. Until the Japanese invasion of the Southeast Pacific in 1942. Jeremiah and his family are sent to an internment camp, where life is brutal. His father and two older step-brothers are sent to a work camp; while the rest of family stays together.

Houses in the camp are divided so that each family gets one room. There is no privacy. There are long, long lines for food and medicine. Brouwer’s descriptions of life in these camps seems much harsher than the accounts that I have read about the American internment camps of the same period. Jeremiah does his best to stand up to his new role in the family: protector and provider. His mother has a much weaker constitution than he imagined. Luckily for Jeremiah, he has his marbles and his friend Laura, with whom he is besotted as he takes on these new responsibilities.

At one particularly harrowing adventure, Jeremiah finds a way out of the cap. He is able to do into the nearby city and trade for the medicines and foods. On one such journey, Lara is ambushed by a python. I must admit, it gave me nightmares.

What is the most interesting of this book is style in which it’s written, and it’s also the most disconcerting. As a contemporary/historical novel, the book opens with Journal 35. That doesn’t give the reader many clues, until about halfway through the novel, the reader learns that the book is being narrated from a much later period. For me, that took some of the wind out of story. Memories are often clouded and exaggerated.  Toward the end of the novel, without notice, Brouwer shifts from a historical prospective to a contemporary one. The transition is confusing and awkward; it’s like I’m reading another story. I didn’t enjoy it as much as it the historical aspect of the story. Also, this book is labeled as Christian, but it did not feel like a Christian novel. 

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

The Land Across

The Land Across by Gene Wolfe, 286 pages

 

As our narrator, a travel writer, is exploring a fictional Eastern European country, he is arrested and his passport taken.  He is imprisoned at the home of a local man, required to spend his nights there but free to wander during the day, much to the displeasure of his host and the pleasure of his host's seductive wife.  In short order, he encounters treasure hunters, a revolutionary group, the secret police, an occult conspiracy, and a man in black who may or may not be Dracula.

 

Although Wolfe is best known as a science fiction and fantasy author (Book of the New Sun), this comic thriller showcases his versatility as the protagonist blunders through a strange land of restless souls and murderous disembodied hands.  Alternately hilarious, confusing, and creepy, this book is certainly never boring.

A Song For Bijou

A Song For Bijou by Josh Farrar, 296 pages

Bijou is a girl recently arrived from Haiti.  Alex is a boy who really wants to get to know her.  From the first time he saw her, he thought she was amazing and as he gets to know her, he knows she is amazing.  Unfortunately for them, Alex attends the all-boys school, St. Christopher, and Bijou attends its sister all-girls counterpart, St. Catherine.  Also, because of the cultural background, Bijou isn’t really allowed to have any contact with boys that aren’t related to her outside of school.  Since they don’t even go to the same school, that makes getting some time to spend together very difficult.  Alex is persistent though, and the two of them actually get some time to talk, at a school dance and through letters, and even some other opportunities achieved through friends’ plots.  Alex and Bijou begin to be friends and maybe even a little bit more, but something major happens that could spoil everything.  A sweet little story about first love that will probably appeal to more girls, but some boys may like also, this would work best for older elementary kids.

Guardian

Guardian by Alex London, 340 pages

In the sequel to Proxy, the Rebooters have become the Reconciliation.  Since the revolution, the people who used to be Proxies and other marginally members of society have taken charge and their former patrons have been sent to work farms to be re-educated.  Certain words like debt and owe have been outlawed in an attempt to change society’s entire outlook.  There is only one problem with this new utopian society.  People have started to die from a frightening new illness that causes their blood to boil and their veins to burst open.  Syd, Liam, and Marie have seen this phenomenon firsthand, but their leaders don’t seem concerned so they set out to try to find a cure themselves.  Unfortunately, the cure may mean the end of everything they have worked to change.  An action packed science fiction adventure, teen fans of these genres will probably like this series.

Born Of Fury

Born Of Fury by Sherrilyn Kenyon, 678 pages

This is one of the League novels.  This story is mainly about Dancer Hauk so we get a lot of his back story along with the current action.  Hauk is pledged to take his nephew, Darice, on his Endurance, a quest testing his skills.  Darice hates his uncle because he believes Hauk is responsible for his father’s death.  Hauk’s niece, Thia, is also coming along.  This loves Hauk, but can’t stand Darice, so it should be an interesting trip.  The trip only gets more exciting when they discover a wounded woman near their campsite.  Hauk suspects that the woman, Sumi, is an assassin sent to kill him.  Although that isn’t exactly true, Sumi has been sent for a reason that Hauk wouldn’t like it.  If he knew why she was there, he would probably kill her.  Unfortunately as the weeks pass, he finds himself falling in love with her and he is falling in love with him.  Since he is promised to another, their union can never work.  Fans of Kenyon’s other books will like this new fantasy romance.

Brazen

Brazen by Katherine Longshore, 524 pages

This is the fictional story of Mary Howard, who married Henry Fitzroy, the illegitimate son of King Henry VIII.  The author has used as much factual history as possible, but only a small amount is known as fact about Mary so some of the story is completely made up.  This is more about Mary’s feelings, her love and anger at her father, her hopeless anger at her mother, her love and worry for her brother and her friends, and her ambivalent feelings towards her husband.  Theirs was an arranged marriage and the two barely knew each other.  Even after they were married, the King said they were too young to consummate the marriage and never legally did.  However, the author presumes that they did end up loving each other.  Whatever the truth, this was a fascinating story told from a minor character in the Tudor saga and teen fans of historical novels will probably like this book.

Revolution

Revolution by Deborah Wiles, 495 pages

Sunny’s town is being invaded by college students and people fighting for civil rights.  Sunny is twelve years old, it’s 1964 in Mississippi, and the law says that African Americans have the right to vote.  However, lots of people in Mississippi aren’t happy about it and people in Sunny’s town are divided.  Many people are members of the Ku Klux Klan or just want everything to stay the same while other white people support the right for everyone to vote.  Many black people are too scared to do anything but others want to fight.  Sunny doesn’t understand exactly what’s going on but she knows that some of the violence she has seen against the African Americans in her town, especially by police officers, isn’t right.  Caught up in her feelings about her mother, who left when she was a baby, and her feelings about her new, blended family since her father remarried, Sunny has been having a very mixed up summer.  This is a really good historical fiction story that brings to life some of the tension and violence of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.  There is some information about the end about some of the other facts surrounding why it was particularly bad there.  Kids who like historical fiction will probably like it.

The Laura Line

The Laura Line by Crystal Allen, 328 pages

Laura and her best friend, Sage, are picked on at school because they are overweight.  Laura mostly tries to not let it bother her, but Sage sometimes gets upset because she wants to be popular.  Laura’s parents are going to have to leave for two weeks for Army Reserves training and while Laura is going to miss them, she is excited that her Aunt Carmen is coming to stay with her.  At the last minute, her aunt cancels and Laura is horrified to find out that she is going to stay with her grandmother instead.  On her grandmother’s property is an old slave shack.  The shack embarrasses Laura and she has never been in it.  Then her teacher surprises everyone with a field trip to the shack.  Laura doesn’t want any of her classmates to see the shack and tries to think of ways to get the trip cancelled.  Her teacher makes a deal with her.  If she will go in and the shack and can’t find even one amazing thing then she will cancel the trip.  Laura agrees, sure that there is nothing in the shack that is amazing, but she might be surprised by what she finds about her family, and all of her female ancestors that make up the Laura Line.  A good contemporary story about growing up and being bullied with some interesting historical information thrown in.  A lot of older elementary kids would probably like this story.

You Don’t Cry Out Loud: The Lily Isaacs Story

You Don’t Cry Out Loud: The Lily Isaacs Story by Lilly Isaacs   199 pages

I had never heard of this book or the singing group The Isaacs when I stumbled upon a friend reading this. Since I’m always looking for a great read, my friend let me borrow it.

The story begins with Lily as an adult, having to make difficult decisions about her aging parents. During the course of the story, readers learn about life as the child of Holocaust survivors; as a child with scoliosis; as a wife and mother; as a cancer survivor; as the matriarch of a beloved, multi-award winning music group; and a covert from Judaism to Christianity.

Any one of these stories would have made a great book.  But in this small story, we get Lily’s matter-of-fact retelling of her life’s adventures.

 

The writing is simple, clean, and honest.  It’s like she’s sitting on my sofa telling me her life story.

 Be sure to put this on your list of books to read; I give it five out of five stars.

Afterparty

Afterparty, by Daryl Gregory, 304 pages

In the not-so-distant future, there has been a "smart drug" revolution- people can create recipes for drugs and print them on chem jet printers.  When a girl is brought into the psych ward and starts going through terrible withdrawal from a drug that made her "see God," a fellow patient becomes personally involved.  Lyda Rose watches the withdrawal and knows that the drug she took is one Lyda swore would never come to light again.  She sets out on a trip that takes her across Canada, into the U.S., and crosses paths with cigarette-smuggling First Nations, dangerous drug dealing immigrants, her girlfriend from the psych ward who goes off-medication in an effort to help, and the scariest of all: her past.  This book offers a great deal to think about regarding faith, God, drugs, and the brain.  It also has a bit of a mystery to it, so there's a little bit of everything in it.

Watson and Holmes: a Study in Black

Watson and Holmes: a Study in Black, by Karl Bollers, ill by Leonardi and Stroman, 144 pages

Jon Watson is recovering from the horrors of fighting in Afghanistan, while working as a doctor (well, ok- a medical intern) in a hospital in Harlem. When he meets a PI by the name of Holmes (NO ONE calls him Sherlock), their paths merge; Watson's hospitalized victim of a drug overdose is found to have overdosed on truth serum.  This leads them down the paths of drug dealers, hit lists, computer encryption, and babies found in dumpsters.  It is a fascinating re-envisioning of the classic Sherlock Holmes characters, and works quite well with African-American main characters and taking place in New York City.

Year of No Sugar

Year of No Sugar, by Eve O. Schaub, 303 pages

In this latest in the trend of "My Year of Doing a Thing" books, Schaub watches a video on Youtube that convinces her that sugar is a toxin that is in everything we eat and we would all be better off without it.  Which is way easier said than done.  As Schaub and her family discover, sugar is in the sweets, but also in the crackers, mayonnaise, vegetable broth, bacon, and salad dressing (among others).  More significantly, sugar is also how we tell people we care ('I baked you these brownies'), how we reward ourselves, and a far more powerful symbol than we think.

This is an interesting endeavor, especially because she really does not make it a whole year without sugar.  Since she is doing this undertaking with her whole family, two young children included, it makes sense that she makes some compromises, but it felt a little less than genuine.

The Traitor's Wife

The Traitor's Wife, by Kathleen Kent, 352 pages

Martha Allen is a no-nonsense woman living in colonial Massachusetts.  She suffers no fools and has not been able to find a husband for it.  While assisting her cousin during the term of her pregnancy, she meets a man with a mysterious past, named Thomas, and feelings begin to blossom.  But Thomas' past is sailing across the ocean with murder in mind, and Martha and Thomas' future is uncertain.

...that is, unless you read the book to which this is a prequel, The Heretic's Daughter.  I had not, so I did not know how it would end.  The journey to the ending, though, is the interesting part.  This brought up a lot of interesting talk about Oliver Cromwell and Restoration England in our book discussion.

Seconds

Seconds, by Bryan Lee O'Malley, 336 pages

This is a tricky one to explain without giving it all away.  Let me just say that this book had all of the humor and spirit of the Scott Pilgrim series, but with the satisfaction of the story being contained in one volume. It also had a lot of heart, if you'll forgive such a hokey phrase. Katie is a brilliant chef, opening her own restaurant- or at least trying to.  Setbacks keep frustrating her, as does the fact that she still lives over the restaurant she started and is leaving.  One night full of a series of terrible events, though, ends differently when Katie is faced with the option of a second chance.  If she had a second chance, what would she do differently?  And would anyone really be satisfied with only one second chance? (Yes, I realize the awkward phrasing ^_^) I really enjoyed this.

The Rosie Project

The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion, 295 pages


Don Tillman is a genetics professor living with Asperger's, who just doesn't realize it.  He has social difficulties, limited friends, lives an incredibly structured life, and decides to build a survey in order to find a wife who is perfect.  Rosie Jarman is a young woman looking for genetics advice in her search to find her real father.  Together they set out on a journey to find her father and find self-realization for Don.  It is actually a book with humor and a cozy ending.  The book club really enjoyed this book and it offered a great deal of discussion about the autism spectrum and what love is and isn't.

SWF Seeks Same

SWF Seeks Same, by John Lutz, 216 pages

Allie Jones is in a good place- she has a great boyfriend who has moved in with her, and she has a pretty sweet apartment in New York City that she couldn't afford without the extra help.  But when she kicks him out after a phone call in the middle of the night reveals he's been unfaithful, she has to find someone to help her pay the rent.  She places an ad in the paper, and meets an unassuming woman named Hedra.  There her troubles begin.  Hedra begins by innocently appearing to idolize Allie, but then off-putting events start adding up to something far more ominous.

The '90s movie was based on this book, but I never saw it, so I can't offer comparisons.  I can say that there were parts of this book that were incredibly dated- there is talk of 'the green glow of the computer screen,' or even the fashionable outfits he describes sound kind of horrendous.  Even the prospect of using the newspaper to find a roommate, really.  It just made me curious how a current best-seller will hold up in 25 years.

Medieval Foundations of Renaissance Humanism

Medieval Foundations of Renaissance Humanism by Walter Ullmann, 202 pages

 

In this book, Ullmann locates the origins of the Renaissance in the development of political science in the late Middle Ages, particularly in the legal faculty at the university of Bologna and in the work of St Thomas Aquinas and other scholastic philosophers influenced by Aristotle.  In these schools, there developed the idea of a secular realm where the natural man finds his proper sphere of activity, complementary to, but separate from, the religious realm.  This, in turn, prompted a reexamination of classical sources in a search for purely secular examplars.  The search for a pure understanding of classical philosophy, untethered from medieval interpretations and interpolations, subsequently served to inspire the quest for an ahistorically pure primeval Christianity which produced the Reformation.

 

This is a rather interesting study of the genesis of the Renaissance, though Ullmann is perhaps a bit too sweeping in his assertions that the early Middle Ages completely lacked any concept of secularity.  Despite this quibble, the book remains an erudite, compelling account of the gestation of the modern world.

Blood of Olympus

The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan, 516 pages

In this, the fifth and final book in the Heroes of Olympus series, Riordan wraps up the convoluted tale of seven teenage demigods sent on a quest to save the world from a vengeful and reawakening Gaea. Meanwhile, two other demigods and a testosterone-fueled satyr are tasked with dragging a 40-foot-tall marble statue halfway across the world to Long Island, in an attempt to mend fences between Greek and Roman factions.

Simply put, there is too much going on in this book. Riordan tries to pack too much action in, and from too many perspectives. As in the other books in this series, chapters are told from the points of view of different demigods, which allows us views into different storylines. However, it's not always easy to distinguish voices, especially when he switches between two characters involved in the same plot thread. This was an OK book, and definitely one to read if you've made it through the rest of this series. However, I'm getting a bit tired of the whole modern kids-meet-mythology thing, and I probably won't be picking up Riordan's books on Norse mythology, which are supposed to kick off in 2015.