Coffin Hill

Coffin Hill Volume 1: Forest of Night by Caitlin Kittredge, 168 pages

When a magic summoning goes horribly wrong and results in the death of one of her friends, Eve Coffin leaves her town behind. Years later she returns to find that the darkness she summoned had not be contained as she planned.

If you removed the marriage part of the movie Sweet Home Alabama and added a dark Gothic twist to it, I am pretty sure you would get this book. A young woman with a history in a small town leaves to make it big before circumstances force her to come back home. It has all of the same romantic themes as well.

This was on the same table as Rat Queens, so I am assuming the same patron left it behind. What really drew me to this graphic novel though was the cover. 

Grave Sight Graphic Novel

Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris, 192 pages


This is the graphic novel adaptation of the fiction novel by the same name and author. It is the first book in the Harper Connelly series. The plot is pretty simple. Harper can find dead people, she can sense where they are and relive their final moments. While this is incredible useful it leads to some confusion, hate and accusations that range from witchcraft to murderer.

I really like this concept namely because of the potential it gives. Sort of like CSI, there are always more murders or disappearances to solve, and her flashbacks could be anything from helpful to useless. This has the potential to make each case unique but still themed around her ability. I am very interested in seeing how the rest of this series plays out.

Long Live the Queen

Long Live the Queen by Kate Locke, 311 pages


This is the third and final volume of the Immortal Empire series. Since Xandra accepted the crown for the goblins, everyone wants her as an ally. Not for her and her personality but because who ever has her on their side have her goblins. With the looming war with the humans, numbers are essential. But the humans take the back burner when a new threat to all societies emerges in the form of a 16 year old girl. Can Xandra hold together the fragile peace and stop this new threat or will the Immortal Empire sink into chaos.

This was an interesting end to the series. It seemed to wrap up most of the lingering questions without going to overboard. If you are looking for a supernatural romance novel that is heavy with action and fighting then i would recommend this series. It also has some steampunk elements so if you enjoy those aspects you should give this a try as well.

Mortal Instruments Vol 1 and 2

City of Bones and City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare, 485 and 453 pages (938)


City of Bones and City of Ashes are the first two books in the Mortal Instruments series. This is another one of those young adult series that started to become movie series, but it has yet to make it past the first book. Of course the movie is what prompted me to read it.

Clary Fray has lived a sheltered life with her mother. But after attending a party at a local club she finds out that there are a lot of monsters in the world, literally. After her mother goes missing and she gets attacked by a demon, she is at a loss of what to do. Thankfully for her the demon attack attracted the attention of an institution of demon hunters who suggest that she might be like them. Despite how wild her life has become it is only the beginning.


So far this series is holding up well and has avoided some of the cheesiness and pitfalls that I tend to find in young adult books. I hope this series stays good for the rest of the books

Something stange and Deadly series books 1 and 2

Something Strange and Deadly and Darkness Strange and Lovely by Susan Dennard 388 and 408 pages (796 total)

Something Strange and Deadly and Darkness Strange and Lovely are the first two books in the Something Strange and Deadly series. That something that is strange and deadly is zombies. Lots and lots of zombies being brought back from the dead by a crazed necromancer. While the zombie attacks are somewhat off putting they are not quite worth noticing to Eleanor Fitt. She has much more pressing concerns like meeting her brother at the train station and trying to stop her mother from matching her up with every available rich young man she meets. Or at least those were her concerns until a zombie delivered a message from her brother. After that her world changes. The zombies seem more important as they seem to be connected to her brother, and there seems to be a man more and more in the picture. Of course this thrills her mother but she is not sure his motives are pure, or if he is also looking for her brother.

Despite how slow this series builds it ends each book with a thrill. Quite by accident I seem to be stuck in these Victorian era steampunk books. Not that I mind but it was not a genre I pictured myself reading. I quite look forward to reading the final book and seeing how Dennard wraps this up.

Black Rose Alice

Black Rose Alice Volumes 1 and 2 by Setona Mizushiro, 194, 189 pages (383 pages)

Black Rose Alice is about a man who loves a woman about be wed. Of course he cannot tell her how he feels as it would be very improper considering the time. He is spared all of this misery and grief when he gets kicked in the head by a horse and dies. Sadly for him he doesn't stay dead and is back up and is shortly back up and walking about. This is all thanks to a vampires spirit that has merged with his, making him a vampire. In all honesty I am not entirely clear on how that works but it is not that important. Since he was graced with all of these new vampire powers, like the ability to make people offer themselves as sacrifices/kill themselves when he sings a certain note, he decides to use them to woo he love to him. Of course everything goes horribly wrong and he must live with the unforeseen consequences.


I am still on the fence with this manga series. I enjoyed the first volume and the developing of the characters and the start of the vampirism but the second volume was more flirty and romantic then I thought necessary. It was also borderline unbelievable or unrealistic. I think it still shows some promise as a series but if it doesn't get better soon I might have to abandon it.

Funny Misshapen Body

Funny Misshapen Body by Jeffrey Brown, 316 pages

I picked up this book namely to see how a graphic novel biography actually works. Does it only relate the highlights because of the amount of space illustrating everything takes? Or is it more of a Sunday life comic that features panels nearly filled with words. This was certainly more of the first. I learned about Jeffrey Brown's life, but only the parts he wanted to illustrate. Originally I intended to pick this up glance though it and then put it back, but like a comic strip I could not help but read a little as I flipped the pages. What I read was hilarious and I checked out the book.

Brown's graphic novel features a simplistic style that he admits is how he likes to draw. This clearly illustrates the point and removes a lot of the clutter that can be distracting. I found reading this graphic novel was quite difficult. As I was reading though I kept thinking that the graphic novel was put together wrong and was jumbled up. But as I later found out in a Q&A in the back, it was designed that way. It seems Brown thought writing a book in a logical format didn't fit with how his brain, and everyone's brain thinks. As we recall our past we think of random events scattered throughout, not a clear logical timeline. While I can agree with his thought process, it doesn't make this any easier to read.

Even though I didn't know anything about Brown when I started this, and honestly had no intention of ever learning about him, I still read the entire graphic novel. It was funny and yet serious at the same time. I couldn't help but smile or chuckle at his embarrassing moments or cringe at some of the others. I encourage everyone who likes graphic novels to give this subset of biographies a try.

Scary Book

Scary Book by Kazuo Umezu, 231 pages

This is a manga book recommended by the same person who gave me Stargazing Dog, so I was hoping for something that would awesomely follow in its footsteps. Sadly it did not live up to my hype.

Scary Book is comprised of two stories. The first is Reflections and comprises most of the book. The second is Vengeance Demon. In Reflections a girl falls in love with her reflection and does everything she can to make herself look beautiful. What she doesn't know is that the reflection she sees is really an evil spirit that is waiting to escape and take over her life. Vengeance Demon was a little more convoluted. There a prince is living with the kings master swordsman while his castle is under siege. The swordsman also has a son that he hopes will befriend the prince. Except the prince is cruel and abusive to the point where his son almost dies. But by saving his son the prince gets injured and the kings wrath is great.

These were not bad stories per se but they were not what I was expecting. For starters I could not find anything that was particularly scary about Vengeance Demon and Reflections is more of a psychological horror that either effects you or doesn't. While I found the stories to be lacking, I really enjoyed the art, especially in Vengeance Demon and some of the landscapes and panoramas he creates.

Neverwhere

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, 370 pages

Imagine living a boring normal life. For some like me it doesn't A life where work is going well and you are engaged to be married. That is what Richard Mayhew has. Or at least had until he stopped to help a girl who lay bleeding on the street. A girl named Door, who can talk to animals, doesn't quite understand the modern world, and tells him about a world that cannot possibly exist. Richard takes her back to his place as she refuses to go to a hospital. There he renders what little aid he can and hides her from two strange men that turn up looking for her. It is no surprise that she heals faster than a normal person and is ready to leave in only a couple hours, and vanishes through a door. Which is great for Richard as he can now get on with his life. Except now no one can see him. He loses his job, his apartment, his fiancée and his life is collapsing around him. Desperate for answers Richard goes in search of the one person who might know what is happening, Door.

Once again Neil Gaiman has created a world that is wonderfully complex and a delight to experience. Imagine all the possible worlds hiding just out of our sight because we don't or can't believe that they exist. I can only imagine how life would change if we could suddenly see these world we knew couldn't exist.

Like everything else I have read by Gaiman, with the possible exception of Mr. Punch, I truly enjoyed reading this book. When I finished it I went straight to the catalog and frantically searched for a prequel, sequel or anything that was related to this world he created. Sadly this was just a stand alone novelization of a television series by the same name. Sadly the TV series was not met with the same success as the book.

Stargazing Dog

Stargazing Dog by Takashi Murakami, 128 pages

Stargazing Dog is about a puppy named Happie that gets adopted by a young girl. At first everything is great and both have found a friend. Unfortunately as she got older and entered into her teen years there was less and less time for Happie. Eventually the dog is all but ignored by her. Luckily for Happie though her father starts taking care of him. At first he does so only grudgingly and with lots of complaining. Eventually as his life falls down around him he comes to enjoy the walks and Happie's company.

I really wish the book would end there, but it doesn't. Soon everything is quickly spiraling down hill into a dark finish.

Stargazing Dog is one of the few books that really seemed to touch on my emotions. There were times when reading it that I had to put it down and wipe tears away from my eyes. I am not sure if it was the power of the writing, the heartbreaking loss the book deals with, or just dredged up emotions that effected me more, either way this book should be a must read for everyone.

Mind MGMT Vol 3

Mind MGMT Volume 3 by Matt Kindt 180 pages

This volume is more a collection of one shots than a continuation to the story. If I remember right there is exactly one issue where we see who the Eraser is trying to recruit next. What we do get to see is the back story for most of the remaining characters. While the back stories are interesting and range from double secret agents to a young girl that figured out she could talk to animals and adopted a zoo, it seems a little jumbled and has hardly any flow. The only good thing I can say is at least all of the back history is out of the way, and a pending volume 4 should just be more story.

Equal Rites

Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett, 213 pages


This is the continuation of the Disc World series, but it involves no one from the first couple books. So no Rincewind, Twoflower, or Luggage. But it still has all of the humor, sarcasm and flat out silliness that makes this such a great series.

Okay, so in the Disc World boys can grow up to become wizards, but girls can only become witches. Meaning they cannot go to the wizard school and basically have access to earthen magic. Think plants, herbs and such. This is how it will always be, and how it has always been. And it would have stayed that way except a wizard named Drum Billet made a colossal mistake. When he was seeking out an eighth son of an eighth son (known to  make good wizards) and laid his hand upon the child he only realized after passing on his wizards staff that he had not found an eighth son of an eighth son, he had found an eighth daughter. What follows is a hilarious quest following young Esk's attempts to get into the wizard's school.

Equal Rites certainly lives up to its play on words. This book is about getting equal rights for everyone. It goes own to trounce and disprove the words "This is how it has always been, and so that is how it should always be". To many times we hear that in everyday life a refusal to accept change. But as Equal Rites shows change doesn't have to be a bad thing, in fact it can be the start of best way.

While I was dismayed to see that none of the previous characters made an appearance, this was still an excellent book. After finishing it I did some checking to see if this was a branch off series, but it looks like this is just a one and done. My research also has shown that Rincewind wont be back till the fifth book. It appears Death gets his own book next.

Cat Out of Hell

Cat Out of Hell by Lynne Truss
163 Pages

"..the tale of Alec Charlesworth, a librarian who finds himself suddenly alone: he's lost his job, his beloved wife has just died. Overcome by grief, he searches for clues about her disappearance in a file of interviews between a man called "Wiggy" and a cat, Roger. Who speaks to him. It takes a while for Alec to realize he's not gone mad from grief, that the cat is actually speaking to Wiggy . . . and that much of what we fear about cats is true. They do think they're smarter than humans, for one thing. And, well, it seems they are! What's more, they do have nine lives. Or at least this one does - Roger's older than Methuselah, and his unblinking stare comes from the fact that he's seen it all. And he's got a tale to tell, a tale of shocking local history and dark forces that may link not only the death of Alec's wife, but also several other local deaths. But will the cat help Alec, or is he one of the dark forces?"


 Not as funny as the reviewers would have you believe.  Getting through this book was a long ordeal with a disappointing ending.

A Slipping Down Life

A Slipping Down Life by Anne Tyler
186 Pages

"Evie Decker is a shy, slightly plump teenager, lonely and silent. But her quiet life is shattered when she hears the voice of Drumstrings Casey on the radio and becomes instantly attracted to him. She manages to meet him, bursting out of her lonely shell--and into the attentive gaze of the intangible man who becomes all too real."

Not my favorite Anne Tyler book, I found Evie to be a strange and unsympathetic character.  

Dead Wake

Dead Wake by Erik Larson
430 Pages

100 years ago the Germans torpedoed the British ocean liner Lusitania during World War I.  A maritime disaster similar to that of the Titanic, over 1000 people died when the ship sank within 18 minutes of being struck.   Larson explores the facts of the tragedy and ponders whether British intelligence knew  of the threat but did nothing in order to encourage the US to enter the war. 

An interesting book for Larson.

Fire Study

Fire Study by Maria V Snyder
441 Pages

"The apprenticeship is over- now the real test has begun. When word that Yelena is a Soulfinder-able to capture and release souls-spreads like wildfire, people grow uneasy. Already Yelena's unusual abilities and past have set her apart. As the Council debates Yelena's fate, she receives a disturbing message: a plot is rising against her homeland, led by a murderous sorcerer she has defeated before.... Honor sets Yelena on a path that will test the limits of her skills, and the hope of reuniting with her beloved spurs her onward. Her journey is fraught with allies, enemies, lovers and would-be assassins, each of questionable loyalty. Yelena will have but one chance to prove herself-and save the land she holds dear."

Yelena's journey continues as she is faces with threats from all over.  I still enjoyed this book and look forward to the next one that is coming out soon.  Snyder keeps adding facets into this fantasy series that keeps it fresh and interesting.

Magic Study

Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder
392 Pages

"With her greatest enemy dead, and on her way to be reunited with the family she'd been stolen from long ago, Yelena should be pleased. But though she has gained her freedom, she can't help feeling isolated in Sitia. Her Ixian background has changed her in many ways--and her newfound friends and relatives don't think it's for the better.... Despite the turmoil, she's eager to start her magic training--especially as she's been given one year to harness her power or be put to death. But her plans take a radical turn when she becomes involved with a plot to reclaim Ixia's throne for a lost prince--and gets entangled in powerful rivalries with her fellow magicians. If that wasn't bad enough, it appears her brother would love to see her dead. Luckily, Yelena has some old friends to help her with all her new enemies...."

The series continues strong with this novel.  Yelena continues to develop her skills and learn about her background

Rat Queens: Sass and Sorcery

Rat Queens Volume 1: Sass and Sorcery by Kurtis Wiebe, 128 pages


Rat Queens was another one of my table top finds. By that I mean that some patron left it on a table and I was drawn to the cover. After reading the summary and hook on the back I decided it was worth the read.

Rat Queens is about a mercenary/adventuring quartet and takes place in medieval times. The group comprises of Dee who use to be part of a Lovecraftian cult, Hannah the elven mage, Violet the beardless dwarf, though some hint that she could grow one if she stopped shaving, and finally Betty who I hope is supposed to be a halfling. If she is not a halfling then she is likely a child, which would explain her love of candy but raise some issues with her drinking and drug habit.
Like most classically depicted questing groups of that age the Rat Queens are overly rambunctious and fight with the other groups. Eventually the major has enough of it and orders them all arrested. In jail each group is given the option to either go on a quest, or stay in jail. Of course they accept and what initially seems like an easy enough task, may just be their last quest.

I really enjoyed reading this. The characters are both humorous and somewhat well developed even in this early volume. I suspect that as the series goes on we will learn more than just their basic history and the characters will be fully fleshed out.

St Charles Borromeo

St Charles Borromeo by Cesare Orsenigo, translated by Rudolph Kraus, 375 pages

St Charles Borromeo was born into a wealthy Italian noble family in the 16th century.  When he was only twenty-one, his uncle was elected pope, taking the name Pius IV.  In perhaps the most justifiable act of nepotism in history, Pius made his young nephew a cardinal and his secretary, later appointing him Archbishop of Milan.  Rooted in the humanism of 16th century Italy as well as the faith of the Church, St Charles gradually asserted himself as a determined social and ecclesiastical reformer, becoming regarded, even in his lifetime, as the ideal Tridentine bishop. Weakened by his exertions and ascetic practices, he died at the age of 46, and such was his reputation for sanctity that he was canonized a mere 26 years later.

Msgr Orsenigo writes well, if unimaginatively.  His decision to dedicate each chapter to one element of St Charles' life, rather than following a chronological sequence, is effective in giving as full a portrait as possible of a man with such varied talents and concerns.  He makes it clear throughout that St Charles only achieved as he did because of his great personal holiness - had he made the same changes as a mere disinterested administrator, they would not have succeeded.  For St Charles, reform of the world began with, and flowed from, the reform of the self.

Y the Last Man: Kimono Dragons

Y the Last Man: Kimono Dragons by Brian K Vaughn, 143 pages

 As this story starts to draw to a close Yorick and company have finally made it to japan and are closing in on finding Yorick's monkey Ampersand. All they need to do to get back Ampersand now is infiltrate the Japanese mafia being run by a former Canadian pop star. While Yorick and 355 do this Dr. Mann confronts her mother whom she believes can help in recreating what saved Yorick from the plague.


This book was better than the previous one because A lot more stuff happens in this volume. we learn who the mysterious ninja Toyota is working for. Alter's past is revealed and shows how she came to join the Israeli army. We also learn more about Dr. Mann and her relationship with her parents. These revelations occur while also forwarding the plot with the rescuing of Ampersand and the events with Dr. Mann's mother. 

Transmetropolitan Volume 3: Year of the Bastard

Transmetropolitan Volume 3: Year of the Bastard by Warren Ellis, 142 pages

Spider Jerusalem's bitter, hostile life continues in Year of the Bastard. As a writer who can only write when enraged, Spider is in trouble. Not only is he running out of things he hates with the city, but people are starting to like him, even emulating him and Spider cannot stand it. He hates being liked and cannot stand being copied. So he does the only thing he can think of to escape and not care, lots and lots of drugs. Unfortunately for him lots of drugs cost money and prevent him from meeting his publishing deadlines. This leave Spider with only one option left, politics. If anything can throw him into a rage long enough to bang out a column it is the campaigning race of the Opposition party. Here there are two candidates competing to see who gets to face the incumbent know as "the Beast".

This book is likely offensive to the majority of people in the world as Ellis does not hold back and certainly pushes the boundary of what can be published. There are all sorts of despicable acts either mentioned or seen in this graphic novel, most of them perpetrated by Spider himself. Though I suppose if you can make it past all of the fecal humor and drug abuse there might be a lesson about politics.

Fables Volumes 5-8 and War and Pieces

Fables: Volume 5-8 and War and Pieces by Bill Willingham, 301, 217, 238, 231 and 192 pages (1179 total)

With this many volumes you would suspect there is a lot going on, and there is. The over lying theme of all of the volumes, and War and Pieces is the continued war against the Adversary which actually concludes in War and Pieces. Like nearly all of Willingham's work the one main storyline is interwoven with numerous back histories, side stories and crossovers. Among them are undercover missions into the old kingdom, and spy missions done by the Adversary. There is a romantic love story that develops between two of the wooden people created by the Adversary, and their quest to become human and express their love. There is also a Sinbad cross over that shows the Adversary starting his conquest of the Middle Eastern fable world. But the biggest side story provided is the Adversary's. Not only do we find out who he really is, but we also learn how and why he is doing all of this.


Despite how major the war with the Adversary is we don't get to see much of it. I was expecting a long drawn out battle with courageous feats by various fables all culminating in a final confrontation that either leaves the fables retreating into the Middle Eastern fable's lands or the defeat of the Adversary. Instead the reader gets a few well drawn minor and decisive battles. Not only is most of the action left out, but how the war ends is a let down. It was not enough to turn me off of this series but it was cheesy even for a fable story. I am not sure where this story will go now that the war is over, but it must go somewhere, there are still another hundred issues to go.

Note: A lot more happens besides this, but a lot of it would be spoilers if you are just starting the series, and thus was omitted.

Florida Roadkill

Florida Roadkill by Tim Dorsey, 273 pages

Serge A. Storms loves anything to do with the state of Florida, and getting rid of jerks. His partner Coleman loves drugs. Sharon Rhodes loves cocaine and killing rich men for their insurance money. Sean and David love fishing. The only thing that these folks have in common is that a brief case full of money is about to enter their lives, the hunt for which is filled with death by gun, Space Shuttle, and Barbie doll. 

One of the easiest ways to describe this book is to think of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas but with more murder and mystery and confusion. This book is fast paced and keeps the reader guessing as to how everything is related and how it will all play out. This is definitely worth reading if you enjoy laughing and don't mind a lot violence and drugs

Cinder

Cinder by Marissa Meyer, 390 pages

Cinder is the first book of the Lunar Chronicles and a cyborg adaptation of the classic Cinderella story. Cinder takes place in a city called New Beijing, a capital city of a war torn Earth. Decades of infighting among themselves and against the Lunars (a race of magical people living on the moon) has left the population decimated and parts of the planet unlivable. But a fragile peace has been reached as negotiations with the Lunars continue. However there is also a lethal disease that seems to be both random in who it infects, and completely incurable.

But Cinder doesn't care about any of that. She just wants to continue working at her repair shop and eventually buy her freedom from her legal guardian/owner. See Cinder is a cyborg and has less rights than a regular human. And while her guardian doesn't own her, they do own her non human parts, parts she cannot live without. So being seen as less human than her two step sisters she has to do all the work around the house and is the main source of income for the family. But that all changes when a prince appears in her shop to get a droid repaired and one of her step sisters contracts the disease.

I really liked this adaptation of Cinderella. It manages to hit all of the key elements like step sisters, a ball, magical transformation, princes etc, but is able to retell it in an interesting way. I would even go as far to say this is a modernization that seems applicable not only to todays times, but until cyborgs are actually common, though moon people might be hard to accept.

Highschool of the Dead Vol 2

Highschool of the dead Vol 2 by Daisuke Satao, 166 pages


Unsurprisingly this second volume picks up were Highschool of the Dead left off. If you missed my previous review, go read that first and then come back here... Now that everyone knows that this is about a group of high school students who witness a zombie outbreak happening at their school and decide to band together and find their families, you can continue reading this review.

What started out as a mostly cliché zombie manga series, where everyone strangely knows how to fight and have no morals about killing once fellow classmates, continues to stay in that niche and does nothing to impress. Volume 2 brings us the cliché fellow survivor held captive by rioting/out of control person and the big overused, main character risking their life, and ultimately everyone's life trying to save a child/loved one. There is even the classic government has sealed off all of the bridges to contain the zombies. The only thing that separates this most of the zombie works out there is the slightly younger age group this focuses on. But that is offset by everyone being mature beyond their years.

There was one thing that surprised me about Highschool of the Dead Volume 2 the pointless nudity. I am not talking about just random zombies in the background shuffling around, but a multipage drunken bath scene where even the characters involved are worried that they are crossing into porno. I know some of you may argue that pointless nudity is a classic cliché of modern zombie movies and to a degree I agree. But when the characters are all supposedly high school students it is nothing but inappropriate and obviously there to sell more issues. Though in all fairness this might just be a cultural thing that doesn't translate well across the Pacific Ocean.

This is likely where my reading of the series will end, namely because for some reason the library did not continue to buy this manga.(sarc) And to be quite honest I am not sure I want to risk ending up on some governmental or police watch list by trying to find and continue reading this online. I would say that maybe this is appropriate for teenagers, though the books are stored in the adult area.

Note: for everyone else that thinks highschool should be two words and not combined in the title, I entirely agree with you. But this is how it is written on the book and in the catalog.

Divergent Series

Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant by Veronica Roth, 489, 525, and 526

First off Yes I started reading these because of the movies, and even more so because they continued to make the series. In fact most of the young adult fiction I have read is because they made it into a movie. In fact you will see even more of it this month with my later review of City of Bone and City of Ashes.

The Divergent series is about a post apocalyptic city society that has divided itself into factions. But unlike the factions we see today the divisions are based on aptitude. Those that value knowledge go to Erudite, honesty to Candor, peace to Amity, selflessness to Abnegation and courage to Dauntless.
Each faction runs part of the city. Abnegation provides the member for the overseeing council and social work, Erudite provide researchers, teachers and scientist, Dauntless provide security, Candor provides lawyers and finally Amity grows all the food.
People are divided up on their sixteenth year when they choose, by blood, which fraction they will join. Before the choosing they live with their parents fraction but are not members of that fraction. A change of fraction appears pretty rare and can result in that child immediately being disowned by their family. A saying used quite often is "Faction before Blood" meaning loyalty to the faction before your previous family.

The series follows the life of Beatrice Prior as she chooses her new fraction and finds out that the fractions, and in fact the entire city is not what she has been taught. I could go into more detail but by now most everyone has seen the movie or read the book. If you are one of those few that have not done either, then I would suggest reading the book before watching the movie.

Overall this is a decently thought out and enjoyable young adult novel that I truly enjoyed. Being marketed for teens there are some questionable first romances and an ending of innocence but nothing too overdone that detracts from the story. I found that the series itself also goes though a growing up. Where the first book is about exploring who you are and accepting life, the second is certainly about how life is ever changing and at times, difficult. Finally the third book is more about accepting loss and continuing on through hardship. I would recommend this book to teens and up.

Y the Last Man: Paper Dolls

Y the Last Man: Paper Dolls by Brian K Vaughn, 142 pages

Yorick Brown's kidnapped monkey Ampersand, is on his way to Japan. However  Yorick, Agent 355, and Alison Mann have arrived in Sydney, Australia, a fueling stop for the ship they've hitched a ride on. Yorick's maybe fiancee, Beth, is somewhere in the outback and he wants to get in touch. After convincing  355 to let him have shore leave under her chaperonage to things start happening. Meanwhile in the U.S. Yorick's gun-toting sister finds  a woman named Beth bearing what can only be Yorick's child.

This volume seemed like its main goal was to tie up loose ends, and start drawing the story towards the conclusion rather than actually progress the plot. The glimpses of back stories however were interesting, and the series continues to be worth reading. 

Angels and Demons

The Mammoth book of Angels and Demons, 544 pages

This is another one of those collection of short stories novels based around a certain theme. As you might have been able to guess by the title every story is based on either angels, demons, or in some cases both. I am not sure what initially drew me to this book, maybe it was the cover art or the fact that it was edited by Puala Guran instead of the usual George R. R. Martin. Either way it was worth reading.

Like nearly every collective work I have posted on here, some stories were enjoyable, some were dull/boring, and others were just weird or interesting. While it did have stories by some of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman, George R.R. Martin, etc. none of the stories really stood out as exceptionally noteworthy. Though the TSA using the full body scanners to check for demon possession instead of weapons was close.

What was noticeable though was how often St Louis featured into this book. Of the twenty seven short stories I noticed that four and maybe a fifth(it was a little vaguer) either mentioned part of St Louis, took place here, or passed though the town. One of the stories even specifically mentions the bus half hanging off the roof of the City Museum! Getting even closer to the library one of the demons who was originally passing though St Louis ends up staying and residing in the Park Pacific Building, which is right across the street. When I was reading that story I just happened to be sitting out front of Central and could not help but glance at the building and give it a suspecting glare.

Having a book both talk about, or even mention areas that are familiar really help to immerse the reader and in this case make me like the book that much more. But I tend to find this only works when I don't know that St Louis is going to be mentioned, otherwise it loses the thrill.

Mort(e)

Mort(e) by Robert Repino, 358 pages

The "war with no name" has begun, the instigator of this war is a colony, of super intelligent ants who, for thousands of years, have been building an army to eradicate the humans. The final step in the Colony's war effort is to transform every surface animals into intelligent two-legged beings so that they can rise up and kill their former masters. One of these animals is the house cat turned war hero, Mort(e) who is famous for taking on the most dangerous missions and fighting the dreaded human bio-weapon EMSAH. Mort(e)'s true motivation however is his ongoing search for a his friend Sheba.
   
Told from Mort(e)'s point of view I felt like Repino wanted to give a deep thought-provoking story, however it felt a little forced regarding religion and philosophy. While I did enjoy the concept of animals becoming intelligent and rising up against humanity, as well as the main character Mort(e) I would have liked to see more diversity in the characters, maybe throw in some reptiles or marine life instead of sticking mostly to mammals. Overall I enjoyed reading this book and would probably recommend it to others.

Pensees

Pensees by Blaise Pascal, 359 pages

Blaise Pascal was one of the undisputed geniuses of the 17th century - he did groundbreaking work on probability theory, established the existence of vacuum, and invented the first commercially produced mechanical calculator.  At the age of 31 he experienced a profound religious conversion, from doubt to faith in what he famously described as the "God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of the philosophers and scholars."  He associated with the Jansenist convent of Port-Royal, where his sister was a nun, until his death at the age of 39.

This work, the "Thoughts", was authored as notes towards a work to be entitled Defense of the Christian Religion.  Unlike his contemporary, Descartes, Pascal did not believe that all truths are derivable from the strict application of mathematical logic, a position which led to his rejection of traditional arguments for the existence of God.  Descartes and the other great French skeptic, Montaigne, are among the primary targets of the first section of the Pensees, intended as a defense of belief against unbelief, predicated largely on the limits of human understanding and the humility this should engender.  Later sections attempt to demonstrate the reasonability of Christianity above other religions and of the Jansenists over the Jesuits.

Although universally regarded as a classic, the fragmentary nature of Pensees makes it inevitably uneven.  Pascal's thoughts range from the undeniably profound - the famous passage comparing man to a reed, but a thinking reed - to the impenetrably cryptic - #343, in its entirety, is "The beak of a parrot, which it wipes, although it is clean."  Large portions of the later sections are composed primarily of Scriptural citations, which are of little interest to anyone who does not accept the message of the earlier sections.  On the whole, however, this is a work of genius, immensely influential, and should be read by anyone with an interest in philosophy or theology.

Bonita Avenue

Bonita Avenue by Peter Buwalda                               536 pages 

Translated from the Dutch by Jonathan Reeder

I tried three times to read this book, but I never could figure out a) what it was about and b) who was talking. One minute Siem was talking, on the next page he was dead. The plot never engaged me; The furtherest I ever got was 100 pages, after that I couldn't remember what had happened in the first 50 pages. So if you are looking for a synopsis, I’ll have to give you the one I pulled from Amazon:

Siem Sigerius is a beloved, brilliant professor of mathematics with a promising future in politics. His family—including a loving wife, two gorgeous, intelligent stepdaughters and a successful future son-in-law—and carefully appointed home in the bucolic countryside complete the portrait of a comfortable, morally upright household. But there are elements of Siem's past that threaten to upend the peace and stability that he has achieved, and when he stumbles upon a deception that’s painfully close to home, things begin to fall apart. A cataclysmic explosion in a fireworks factory, the advent of internet pornography, and the reappearances of a discarded, dangerous son all play a terrible role in the spectacular fragmentation of the Sigerius clan.

A riveting portrait of a family in crisis and the ways that even the smallest twists of fate can forever change our lives, Bonita Avenue is an incendiary, unpredictable debut of relationships torn asunder by lies, and minds destroyed by madness.

I received this book from Blogging for Books

Double Fudge Brownie Murder

Double Fudge Brownie Murder by Joanne Fluke, 356 pages

The newest book in the series has Hannah Swenson still waiting to go to trial for the vehicular homicide that took place in the previous book.  Hannah is worried about the upcoming trial but the beginning of the book is occupied with Hannah’s mother’s wedding.  Hannah and her sisters have plotted with the groom to get them to Vegas for a wedding.  There, Hannah finds out that her old flame, Ross Barton, is the “best man” at the wedding.  Their romance rekindled, Hannah also finds out that Ross is considering moving to Lake Eden.  Dealing with her emotions about Ross, Norman and Mike, Hannah is shocked when the judge who is supposed to hear her case is killed only moments before jury selection is scheduled to begin.  Because she was present at the time, Hannah is one of the suspects.  Of course, Hannah discovered the body and is now on the case.  This is an enjoyable addition to the series and people who like mysteries will probably enjoy it.  Fans of the recipes in these books will also like the additions in this book.

Nickel Bay Nick

Nickel Bay Nick by Dean Pitchford, 253 pages

Sam always seems to be angry.  He had to have a heart transplant when he was very young, his mother left even before that, and he and his dad have been struggling financially for several years since the factory in town closed and several people lost their jobs.  Sam has been in trouble with the law a bunch of times, mostly for shoplifting and property damage.  This year even Christmas was terrible.  Nick was supposed to visit his mother but that didn’t work out and Nickel Bay Nick, a mysterious stranger who has always distributed hundreds of dollars each year around Christmas, was nowhere to be seen.  When Sam accidentally damages his neighbors’ house and Christmas decorations and has to work for Mr. Wells to pay him back, he finds out some interesting things, including, maybe a way to help both the town and himself.  This was a really good story that kids who like realistic fiction will love.

Live Right And Find Happiness Although Beer Is Much Faster

Live Right And Find Happiness Although Beer Is Much Fasterby Dave Barry, 225 pages

Another humorous collection of essays by Barry, this book rages against David Beckham, discusses the delights and dangers of Russia and Brazil, explains the superiority of soccer and celebrates the birth of his first grandchild.  I thought that this was less funny than some of his other books and little more introspective.  However, I still enjoyed the book as it is well written and still includes some laid-back humor within the stories.  People who have liked Barry’s other books will probably like this one also, but I wouldn’t give this to someone new to Barry’s books who is looking for humor.  Several of his other books have made me laugh out loud and this just wasn’t that kind of book for me.

Pretties

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld, 370 pages

The sequel to Uglies starts with Tally in the City.  She has had the operation to make herself pretty and loves hanging out with her friends.  She hopes that the Crims will accept her as part of their group and she is sure that she will be happy forever.  Until someone from her past, Croy, shows up and reminds her that not everything in the City is as great as it seems.  All of the people who have had the operation have also had something done to their brains so that they are docile and never question the system and don’t think very much.  Tally and the leader of the Crims, Zane, want something more.  And when they discover the pills that Croy hid for her that are supposed to reverse the operation, they decide to each take one and escape the City as soon as possible.  This is a good sequel for fans of the series and teens who like fantasy and science fiction stories.

Cosby: His Life And Times

Cosby: His Life And Times by Mark Whitaker, 532 pages

This seemed to be a pretty decent overview of Bill Cosby’s life.  It covered a lot of his early years along with his long career and told me a lot about his persona and personal life that I didn’t know.  Of course, the book came out before the recent sexual allegations, so there is nothing in the book about them, but it does cover the fact that he was unfaithful in his younger days, and had at least one person claiming that he was the father of her child.  Cosby, although he believed he was not the father, admitted that it was possible, and the claim is unsubstantiated still, as the claimants haven’t provided DNA for testing.  At any rate, the book was fairly well written and had a lot of interesting anecdotes.  People interested in Cosby’s life will probably appreciate this book.

Fugitive X

Fugitive X by Gregg Rosenblum, 263 pages

Set in a world controlled by robots, Nick, Kevin, and Cass are three siblings whose home was destroyed by the robots and parents were taken in the first book Revolution 19.  Although an attempt to rescue their parents from the bot controlled City failed and their parents are now citizens, happy to be controlled by the bots, the three teens escaped and are now on the run, trying to make it to another Freepost.  Unfortunately, the three become separated and Cass, injured is taken by the bots back to the City while Kevin is taken by other, unusual bots, to a mysterious island that still appears to be controlled by humans, although there are bots present.  Nick saw what happened to Cass but doesn’t know what happened to Kevin.  Kevin is determined to get away from the island and Nick is determined to find Kevin and save Cass from the City.  This is a good sequel to the first book in the series for teens who enjoy science fiction and adventure.

Poison Study

Poison Study by Maria V Snyder
361 Pages

"About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace--and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of ixia. And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly Dust--and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay the agonizing death from the poison. As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control."


 A well written fantasy novel with a strong female central character, I would highly recommend.

A Three Dog Life

A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas
182 Pages

"When Abigail Thomas's husband, Rich, was hit by a car, his brain shattered. Subject to rages, terrors, and hallucinations, he must live the rest of his life in an institu­tion. He has no memory of what he did the hour, the day, the year before. This tragedy is the ground on which Abigail had to build a new life. How she built that life is a story of great courage and great change, of moving to a small country town, of a new family composed of three dogs, knitting, and friendship, of facing down guilt and discovering gratitude. It is also about her relationship with Rich, a man who lives in the eternal present, and the eerie poetry of his often uncanny perceptions. This wise, plainspoken, beautiful book enacts the truth Abigail discovered in the five years since the acci­dent: You might not find meaning in disaster, but you might, with effort, make something useful of it. "


A short little memoir about a woman rebuilding her life after her husband's accident. 

City of Savages

City of Savages by Lee Kelly
410 Pages

"After the Red Allies turn New York City into a POW camp, two sisters must decipher the past in order to protect the future in this action-packed thriller with a dual narrative. It's been nearly two decades since the Red Allies first attacked New York, and Manhattan is now a prisoner-of-war camp, ruled by Rolladin and her brutal, impulsive warlords. For Skyler Miller, Manhattan is a cage that keeps her from the world beyond the city's borders. But for Sky's younger sister, Phee, the POW camp is a dangerous playground of possibility, and the only home she'd ever want. When Sky and Phee discover their mom's hidden journal from the war's outbreak, they both realize there's more to Manhattan-and their mother-than either of them had ever imagined. And after a group of strangers arrives at the annual POW census, the girls begin to uncover the island's long-kept secrets. The strangers hail from England, a country supposedly destroyed by the Red Allies, and Rolladin's lies about Manhattan's captivity begin to unravel. Hungry for the truth, the sisters set a series of events in motion that end in the death of one of Rolladin's guards. Now they're outlaws, forced to join the strange Englishmen on an escape mission through Manhattan. Their flight takes them into subways haunted by cannibals, into the arms of a sadistic cult in the city's Meatpacking District and, through the pages of their mom's old journal, into the island's dark and shocking past."

This was a good book and I sat and read it in the course of a single evening.  

First Frost

First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen
296 Pages



"It's October in Bascom, North Carolina, and autumn will not go quietly. As temperatures drop and leaves begin to turn, the Waverley women are made restless by the whims of their mischievous apple tree... and all the magic that swirls around it. But this year, first frost has much more in store. Claire Waverley has started a successful new venture, Waverley's Candies. Though her handcrafted confections - rose to recall lost love, lavender to promote happiness and lemon verbena to soothe throats and minds - are singularly effective, the business of selling them is costing her the everyday joys of her family, and her belief in her own precious gifts. Sydney Waverley, too, is losing her balance. With each passing day she longs more for a baby - a namesake for her wonderful Henry. Yet the longer she tries, the more her desire becomes an unquenchable thirst, stealing the pleasure out of the life she already has. Sydney's daughter, Bay, has lost her heart to the boy she knows it belongs to... if only he could see it, too. But how can he, when he is so far outside her grasp that he appears to her as little more than a puff of smoke? When a mysterious stranger shows up and challenges the very heart of their family, each of them must make choices they have never confronted before. And through it all, the Waverley sisters must search for a way to hold their family together through their troublesome season of change, waiting for that extraordinary event that is First Frost ."

This revist to the Waverly family takes place years after the first book and while still an entertaining read, is not quite as special as the first book Garden Spells.  I think the problem is that the problems presented in this book never really seem to become too threatening and there is no sense of any true adversity for the characters.  This coupled with having so many characters leads to a shallowness that was not present in the first book.

Holy Cow

Holy Cow by David Duchnovny
206 Pages

Another insipid celebrity authored book has a cow experiencing an epiphany when see catches a documentary on TV about the meat industry.  Joined by a pig and a turkey, she sets out to India to escape her fate and have a happy existence.

I can say after reading this that if Duchovny is anything like his writing style, he is one person I would never want to meet.  Juvenile humor mars what might have been a good tale and the characters are shallow, hollow heroes in the book.

Y the Last Man: Girl on Girl

Y the Last Man: Girl on Girl by Brian K Vaughn, 125 pages

After two years spent crossing the U.S., Yorick and his escorts, have gone to sea. Dr. Mann has discovered the key to understanding what saved Yorick when all the other men died. The only problem though is that the key to Yorick's survival has been stolen by a Japanese mercenary.

I'm not really going to bother saying much for the review, because I feel like I'm just kind of repeating myself a bit for each of these. I will say that I'm glad they gave us a peek at how Yorick's girlfriend is faring in Australia. 

Spera and Tomboy: See You Later, Gender Norms!

Spera Vol 1 by Josh Tierney - 175 pages 
Tomboy by Liz Prince - 251 pages

This week I read two AMAZING books. Spera and Tomboy. I'm reviewing them together because they both cover the ideology of gender norms! Spera in a fantasy realm, and Tomboy as an autobiographical memoir.

Tomboy is by Liz Prince. She writes about growing up and not feeling like she's a girl and not really wanting to feel like a girl. As a child, she felt more comfortable in typical boy clothes. She was interested in things other than princesses, pink, and frills. And as she grew up she realized that the way she felt made people label her a tomboy.

What was amazing about this memoir is that it covers how she felt about the way girls "should behave" and it had nothing to do with romance. She was not dressing like a boy and "acting" like a boy in order to be more pleasing to girls. She did it because it was a natural progression for her. She behave in a way that felt right, and because of that she felt like a weirdo outsider. A lot of the reason why she felt so separated was because she didn't see girls like her anywhere. Not in school and certainly not in the media. I felt the same way growing up and I feel like Spera would have been the perfect book for Liz Prince to read.

Spera by Josh Tierney (illustrated by a variety of artists including AfuChan) follows two princesses (Pira and Lono) from two warring lands. They decide to get the heck outta there, and have adventures on their own! Their destination: Spera. They travel with a fire spirit (Yonder) who is not only their transportation, but also a friend.
In Spera, I actually didn't realize until the 2nd chapter that Lono was a girl! She dresses is typical men's fashion, and has a short haircut. Also, I don't think it was ever explicitly said in the first chapter that Lono's gender was female. (to be fair, I really could have just missed it.) BUT, it was a happy surprise, nonetheless. I have become too accustomed to the stories of princes saving a princesses from her unfortunate life. While in Spera, these two ladies decide their fate together!

In Tomboy, Liz Prince says it's not that she hates girls. She hates the fact that women seem to only have the option of being pretty, thin, vapid creatures. While boys can either be dweebs, jocks, hippies...   

"A boy can be celebrated because of his personality ad talents, regardless of how he looks. In fact, talent can make a guy attractive who may not be by traditional standards. But a girl is usually only popular if she looks good." - Liz Prince

Josh Tierney gives readers the typical timid princess in Pira, but you also have the confident warrior in Lono. Variety! And again, this is not tied to romance. Lono decided to act the way she does because that's just how she is. The same goes for Pira. They make the choice to travel together because that's what friends do!

Spera is great for young and old readers, and it excites me that young girls who read this will have someone outside of the typical female gender norm to look up to. And if you want a glimpse at the childhood of a tomboy, definitely give Tomboy a read.

I'm glad I read these two books one after the other. They're the perfect companion pieces and it made me appreciate my own brand of femininity!

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If you're interested in reading other feminist comics like these, I'd recommend:
Princess Princess by Katie O
Princeless by Jeremy Whitley
Princess Ugg by Ted Naifeh