The Final Countdown

Twerp, by Mark Goldblatt:  Julian made a mistake, and his English teacher decides to have him write about his life and hopefully, the incident that led to his suspension.  The result is an amusing story of boys growing up in  Queens in the 1960s.  Amusing is about as far as I can go with describing Julian’s tale.  Everything just felt a little bland, characters and storyline.  The only time it really picked up and caught my attention was in the final chapters where he finally reveals “the incident.”  Unfortunately, at that point, I just wanted the book to be done.
Overall Assessment:

Bomb:  This was a fantastic look at the development of the atomic bomb.  The science is accessible, Sheinkin does a fantastic job of breaking down the discoveries and process of creating the bomb.  But even more fantastic are the espionage stories involved with the atomic bomb.  The description of the Norwegians scaling the rock wall, climbing in vents read like something out of a movie and made the book hard to put down.  I agree that all the jumping around made things a little tricky to follow, but certainly not impossible.   The pictures of the major players at each chapter was helpful for keeping everyone straight.  The main problem with this is getting it into kids’ hands.  Once they start though, I think many readers will enjoy this.
Overall Assessment:

The Uncoupling, by Meg Wolitzer: A chill slowly works its way through the women in a small idyllic New Jersey community – a chill that makes women stop wanting to have sex with their husbands.  The story focuses on the Langs, Robby and Dory, a seemingly ideal couple with a teenage daughter, Ella.  The chill, actually a spell, works its way throughout the community, in particular those in the high school, where the Langs teach and their daughter attends.  At the same time, (is it coincidence?) the high school is performing the play Lysistrata, a Greek play where the women decide to stop having sex with the men, until the Peloponnesian War ends.  As the spell spreads to other teachers and students, Wolitzer provides detailed glimpses into their lives as the women are affected by the spell, which in turn affects their husbands, boyfriends, etc.

This was an enjoyable read.  It had the feel of a fairy tale throughout, which the audiobook narrator captured perfectly.  Wolitzer is great with the details and descriptions that make the characters come to life.  My main qualm was the pacing, which had a tendency to drag at times.  The story itself was unique and took an interesting, and amusing look at sex and the power it has in our lives.
Overall Assessment:

Flora and Ulysses, by Kate Dicamillo:  What happens when a squirrel gets sucked into a super-powerful vacuum?  He becomes a superhero squirrel, naturally.  This is what happens to Ulysses the squirrel, who is befriended and protected by Flora Belle Buckman, a self-professed cynic with a love of superheroes.  Flora’s crazy mother, is not crazy about having a squirrel in her house and concocts a nasty scheme involving a bag and a shovel.  She becomes what every superhero needs – an arch nemesis.  The novel is full of eccentric characters, wacky situations, and squirrel poetry.
The narrator for the audiobook did a superb job of capturing the voices, excitement, and silliness of this book.  Unfortunately, she couldn’t save the rest of the book.  The charm and heart that you normally feel from Dicamillo just never fully came through.  The characters felt a little flat (although the reader did a great job of giving them life).  The story, which had so much potential, felt a bit ho-hum.  It felt like an eternity to read, even though it is short, but I just wanted it to be over and done with.
Overall Assessment:

Allegiant, by Veronica Roth:  Tris and Four are back in the conclusion to the Divergent trilogy.  Yay?  Hmm.  Evelyn is trying to control the city and is enforcing a factionless state.  Naturally, those who were always factionless become assholes to the people who still feel tied to their faction (because changing your whole life happens overnight is totally cool, right?).  Four is Evelyn’s second in command, while secretly dating Tris (whom Evelyn hates and tries as a traitor).  Tris wants to follow the message uncovered at the end of Insurgent, and go out into the world.  They escape the city to find the truth about the factions and their societies.  What they find, isn’t the wonderful solution they hoped for, however.
I just couldn’t get excited about this.  The whole time I couldn’t stop thinking about how they didn’t know there was a whole world out there?  They are a very intelligent and learned community, but we never even heard wondering about what was beyond the wall.  Isn’t that something a Dauntless at least would say?  So what were they told about the rest of the world?  That really bugged me throughout, and I needed to know.  Pushing aside these qualms, the book was okay.  It was fun and full of action, but it wasn’t very exciting.  The new characters were fairly stereotypical, and the old characters keep making the same stupid mistakes.  By the end, however, you do see definite growth and change in the characters.  The plot and situations felt similar to the other books, just with a different enemy and in a different place.   Maybe it was me, but I just found the conclusion to be pretty lackluster.
Overall Assessment:

Insignia, by SJ Kinkaid:  Thomas, a 14 year old gamer has been recruited by the military for his gaming skills and killer instinct.  He is outfitted with a brain chip to make him faster and smarter and begins rigorous military training that involves programming, PT and lots of war games.  Throw in some really slimy characters, crazy corporation politics, crazy tech, fighting over the solar system, and some good old fashioned backstabbing and you have yourself a sci-fi action adventure.
Sound familiar?  It does indeed remind of Ender’s Game, but Kinkaid does a good job of building her own world and futuristic vision.  She did an excellent job of creating witty and realistic banter, and fleshing out her main characters.  Most of her bad guys, Karl, Dalton, are pretty stereotypical, but they are so hate-able it’s hard to really fault her for that.  Some of Tom’s and his friends’ actions could be frustratingly stupid, but, they are also 14 years old.  The politics could be a bit confusing at times and some of the tech explanations left me scratching my head, but not so much that it took away from the story. Good pick for boys and sci-fi fans.
Overall Assessment:

I used this one recently, but appropriate in this case.

Will I Read the Sequel? Maybe, but doubtful.  I’m sure I would become absorbed, but I wonder if it would be more of the same.

Reboot, by Amy Tintera:  In a future Texas, a deadly virus has spread that causes teens to reanimate after death.  The more time between death and reanimation means the less human-like the individual.  These “reboots” are made into an army by the corporation that now governs Texas.  Reboot 178 (they are marked by the minutes between death and reboot) is the toughest reboot, but all of that changes when she meets lowly 22.  She begins to feel and experience things she hasn’t in a long time, and finally begins questioning and, ultimately rebelling against the enslavement of the reboots.

Reboot is a unique combo of zombie/dystopia/post-apoc all rolled into one, which means definite readership.  The main characters are well defined and the story moves along nicely.  I think the best part of the novel is the growth and changes that 178 makes; her growth and change never felt forced.  There are some cliches (evil, twisted scientists and corporations), and a few plot issues I wondered about, but again, not enough to take away from the story.
Overall Assessment:

Will I Read the Sequel? Probably not.  The ending is satisfying and stands alone well enough, that I would rather leave off there. Plus, I need less sequels in my life.

Only 5 more books needed to reach my goal of 150 books! Totally doable!

Fairy tales, ghosts and sequins

  The Snow Child, by Eowyn Ivey:  Mabel and Jack left their old life behind and moved to the Alaskan wilderness, at a time when the government was enticing settlers to establish homesteads.  They are a middle-aged childless couple, who never fully recovered from the loss of their only child who died at birth.  On the evening of the first snow, they build a snow child only to discover it gone the next morning.  Soon after, they meet a mysterious little girl who lives in the woods, by herself with a fox.  The child visits them, but goes away every summer.  She becomes a part of their lives and the lives of their friends, but the mystery surrounding her appearance never ends.
Overall Assessment:  This was a really well done novel, and the premise is based on an Eastern European/Russian folktale.  Ivey’s novelization is lovely, and maintains the magic and feel of a folktale.  It’s very refreshing to read an adult novel without gratuitous sex, violence or swearing, while maintaining a sophistication and elegance of storytelling.
My Labels: adult fiction, popular fiction

  Twenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music, by David Meyer:  Those of you who are familiar with my musical taste know of my love of classic country, alt-country, folk, bluegrass and rock.  Naturally, I’m drawn to Gram Parsons one of the first musicians piece the sounds, themes and feel of classic country music and combine it with rock.  Meyer presents a thorough, well researched biography detailing Gram’s too short 26 year life.  He fully delves into Gram’s life, as well as those close to Gram who played pivotal roles in his life.  He analyzes the lyrics to some of Grams best songs putting them in context.  While Parsons grew up wealthy, never worrying about money, he had his share of hardships, from his father’s suicide to watching his mother drink herself to death.  Following his musical interests and evolution is fascinating, from his early interest in Elvis, to the folk scene, to country and gospel to finally creating his niche of melding country and rock.  He was a member of the Byrds, friend to Kieth Richards and discovered Emmylou Harris. While he’s not as famous as his peers, his influence on music was strong and lasting.  Perhaps most memorable, is the telling of how Gram’s friends stole his body before it could be sent to Louisiana for burial and burned it at Joshua Tree, one of his favorite places. 
Overall Assessment: Coming in around 500 pages, Meyers doesn’t skimp on the details of Gram’s short life.  For those unfamiliar with Gram, it’s still worth a look/skim even if it’s just for the stories of Gram and Keith Richards, Gram showing up late to play a show after having hit cow or taking LSD to get out of the draft.  Well written and researched Twenty Thousand Roads presents an honest and moving account of Gram’s life and an analysis of the music that he left behind too soon.
My labels: Biography, Music
If that’s not enough:  Gram wore nudie suits on stage, which are one of my favorite types of suits.  Doing a quick google search for a picture of Gram in his nudie suite, brought me to this article, that I wholeheartedly agree with.  Bring them back.   I would totally wear one everywhere I went.  Gram is quoted in the beginning of the book, “Just because we wear sequins doesn’t mean we think we’re great, it means we think sequins are great.”  Exactly.

If You Find Me, by Emily Murdoch:  This is a powerful story about two girls who are reintroduced to “civilization” after growing up hidden in a camper in the woods.  Fifteen year old Carey raised and cares for her younger sister Ness.  Their mother leaves camp on a supply run and never returns. She releases them to Social Services, who find them in the woods along with their father – whom Ness has never met and Carey barely remembers.
A bit slow at the start, but Murdoch slowly and surely builds the tension and draws out the mystery of what happened to the girls in the woods as well as how exactly they wound up there.  Hard to read at times because of the ugliness of their situation, but at the same time a must read.  I listened to it and found the audio to be okay.  The reader did a great job of catching the emotion, but I found the accent a bit off (the novel is set in rural Tennessee).
Overall Assessment: Really well done novel, probably best for high schoolers since there are some sensitive subjects that come up.  Strong characters, good writing and a moving story.
My labels: Young Adult, realistic fiction

In the Shadow of Blackbirds, by Cat Winter:  This ghost story incorporates a lot of  historical elements that make for an intriguing tale: the Spanish Influenza, WW I, spirit photography.  Mary Shelly Black (named for the famous writer) has been sent to San Diego after her father was arrested for possibly having German sympathies.  Her longtime childhood friend has gone to war, and his brother has become a spirit photographer.  Mary is forced to sit for him, setting off a chain of mysterious events.
This is a brilliant time period to write about because, while it is historical fiction, it has the dystopian/coming-apocalypse feel that is so popular.  Everyone wears a white gauze mask hoping to avoid a deadly illness, people are arrested for saying the wrong thing, neighbors spying on neighbors, etc.  The added paranormal element works well in this setting, where people are scared and distraught and looking to spirits for comfort.  Mary Shelly is a great heroine – she is smart, independent and clever.  The story is well developed, and you never can fully see where Winter is going, so the twists come as a surprise. 
Overall Assessment:  Great novel that makes for a quick read, because it’s hard to put down.  Perfect for fans of dystopia, paranormal or historical fiction novels.  
My Labels: YA, Ghosts, historical fiction

Keeping it real….sorta

Nothing like home renovations, yoga challenges (post to come soon!), the Summer Reading Program, and vacations to slow down reading and reviewing.  However, I still managed to get through quite a few and on the whole was very happy with all my reading.

Rebel Heart, by Moira Young: In the sequel to Blood Red Road, Saba and Lugh are reunited and are headed west with the rest of their crew.  After receiving a cryptic message from Jack, who has now joined the Tontons and helped destroy the Free Hawks, Saba runs back to save Jack.  Along the way they discover a new regime is leading the Tonton, under the guidance of the Pathfinder.
I’m very torn on reviewing this book.  I listened to it, as I did the first, because I had trouble reading it.  I believe some books are meant to be listened to and this is one of them – the audio is perfect.  The story is action packed with a lot of tension and great characters.  The one person I didn’t like, and became my frustration with the novel was Saba.  She is very headstrong, determined, has a one track mind and follows her heart – traits that served her well in the first book and should translate into her quest of finding Jack, but I don’t think they do.  She hasn’t learned anything about listening to other people and thinking about her actions and how they affect others.  Even while acting on one person’s behalf, she can still be very selfish because she is potentially affecting others by her stupid, impulsive actions.  She’s also very manipulative and careless with her actions and words, leading on those who care about her without thinking about the consequences.  However, I am willing to forgive some of this and credit it to her emotional distress over the losses she suffered in the first book.  I admire her strength and conviction, and think that she still has the potential to grow into a better person in the next book.
Will I Read the Sequel: Yes – the storyline left a great set-up for a really great conclusion.
My label: Series, YA, Post-Apocalypse, strong chicks

The Testing, by Joelle Charbonneau: The central government takes the best and the brightest students to be tested for entrance to the University.  Little is known about The Testing, except that there are those who never return.  Cia was selected for The Testing like her father was upon his graduation.  His memories were wiped after The Testing, but he has terrible and horrifying dreams and flashbacks of his Testing.  Also, once you are selected, there is no backing out.  Hmmmm,  does this sound like anything else you’ve read?
It’s really hard to read this and NOT think of The Hunger Games, which is unfortunate for The Testing.  There is a lot of action, mystery, intrigue, slimy characters, back-stabbing and, of course, fighting to the death.  It is a super-fast read that is hard to put down.  While there are some surprises, there is also a lot of predictability and standard characters, that seem to be staples in this genre.
Bottom Line: Without comparing to the plethora of YA dystopian novels, this is really great.  When you take into account the other ones out there, it can still stand on it’s own two feet, while sharing certain elements and themes that can be a tad repetitive.  If you are a fan of the genre, a must read.
Will I Read the Sequel? I think so, there was enough mystery left that I still want answered. 
My Labels: Dystopian, series, YA, strong chicks

In Darkness, by Nick Lake:  Wow.  I picked this title up mainly because it won the Printz Award, and it was so worthy of the award.  The novel takes place in Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake.  Shorty is trapped in the rubble of a hospital, and, convinced of his imminent death, he tells his heartbreaking story of growing up in the slums of Haiti, and caught in the gangs and violence.  He is also linked to Toussaint L’Ouverture, the man who led the rebellion against the French to free the Haitian slaves.  Shorty’s story is woven in with Toussaint’s, and the two catch glimpses of the life of the other.
The story is beautiful and raw.  Lake’s storytelling and imagery are beautiful and compelling and juxtapose the ugly realities of war, slavery and gang life.  Even more heartbreaking are the callousness that Shorty and other gang members have at such a young age – it’s a fact of life.  Adding to the depth of the novel is the gang portrayal – you still can’t fully hate the gangs though, because they take care of the people of the city in ways that the government and UN can’t or wont.  Most importantly this is still an accessible novel.  While this is (what I consider to be) a more literary novel, this is one that teens can read, understand and follow.
Bottom Line: Thought provoking and beautifully written, this is an important novel for both teens and adults.
My Label: Historical fiction, realistic fiction, YA, award winners

The Dark Monk, by Oliver Potzsch:  In the second novel of the The Hangman’s Daughter series, Jakob, Magdelena and Simon are investigating the death of the parish priest.  They are caught up in a mystery that has them on a trail left by the The Knights Templar.  Local politics, romantic rivals, lover’s quarrels and a gang of robbers add complications to their attempts to track down the clues and solve the mystery.
The Dark Monk is a solidly constructed and developed mystery.  Potzsch maintains a nice pace that keeps the 500 page novel from dragging and feeling like 500 pages.  The characters are delightful and the setting of this Bavarian village of the 1660s is fascinating and makes it stand out from other mysteries.  Not being a big mystery fan, this is one that I eagerly picked up, and relished.
Will I Read the Sequel? Absolutely!  Perhaps for a nice long car ride and flight, the length will make it last and I expect to be fully engrossed.
My Label: Mystery, historical fiction, series
The Doll People, by Ann M. Martin: This is a delightful children’s novel about a 100 year old  doll family, told through the eyes of 8 year old Annabelle doll.  Annabelle doll is quite restless and curious, not only about the outside world, but about what happened to her Auntie Sarah, who disappeared nearly 50 years ago.  The arrival of a new doll family, The Funcrafts, provides Annabelle with a new friend who offers to help her find out what happened to Auntie Sarah.
This is a delightful little story, perfect for anyone who ever had (or has!) that thought in the back of her mind that it could be possible that the dolls are alive.  Also, quite perfect for anyone who wants to enjoy a lovely story about doll adventures.  Admittedly I initially didn’t plan on reading it because after spending countless reading hours on The Babysitter’s Club, I vowed to read no more Ann M. Martin.  At the encouraging of a coworker I did, so if that is your reluctance, fear not.  This is a perfect read aloud at night, and the audio version, read by Lynn Redgrave, is absolutely wonderful.
Will I Read the Sequel? Probably not.  Even though I thoroughly enjoyed the first, I don’t feel compelled to continue.  There was nothing left hanging and it stands well alone just fine.  It’s nice to just leave something nice alone.  Although, I can certainly see kids looking for and enjoying the series.
My Annabelle: My dog is named Annabelle, so I had to share who I couldn’t help but think about!My Labels: Fantasy, children’s, series

Coming up next: Confessions of a Sociopath, Wrath of the Bloodeye, and The Last Summer of the Camperdowns, and Morning Glories Vol. 4: Truants…..