Author: Jamieson Findlay
I loved the magical, floating reality of the worlds that are strung out along the Rideau Canal in this tale. I want to go to Zeya Shan, and the darkfield and the town without music. So beautifully written, it was a captivating journey. The title says so much, more that the ship's name, it speaks to that longing for magic and places and people that inhabit it.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
King of the Mild Frontier
Author: Chris Crutcher
Possibly the funniest autobiography I've read. A dissection of those misunderstood teen years in a town so small that even the nerds have to be on the sports teams. Sort of horrific, but redeeming.
Possibly the funniest autobiography I've read. A dissection of those misunderstood teen years in a town so small that even the nerds have to be on the sports teams. Sort of horrific, but redeeming.
Thwonk
Author: Joan Bauer
A real live cupid shoots the cutest guy in school for a teenage girl, but the results are just too much. Fun, silly with lots of stereotyped high school cliques (are there any other kind?).
A real live cupid shoots the cutest guy in school for a teenage girl, but the results are just too much. Fun, silly with lots of stereotyped high school cliques (are there any other kind?).
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
What the Psychic Told the Pilgrim
Author: Jane Christmas
To celebrate her fiftieth birthday, Jane walks the Camino de Santiago Compostela. She starts off with a group of fifteen other women and finishes alone with a fair haired man. It sounds bloody awful and fantastic and funny all at the same time.
Next up, Shirley MacLaine's version.
To celebrate her fiftieth birthday, Jane walks the Camino de Santiago Compostela. She starts off with a group of fifteen other women and finishes alone with a fair haired man. It sounds bloody awful and fantastic and funny all at the same time.
Next up, Shirley MacLaine's version.
Squashed
Author: Joan Bauer
Joan Bauer's first novel, which gives me hope, because it isn't as exceptional as some of her more recent work. Ellie grows a giant pumpkin, protects it from hail, frost and thieves and gets it to the pumpkin festival in good shape and wins. In doing this she becomes a minor celebrity, makes a new friend/boyfriend, reconciles with her father, gets a dog and gets over the twenty pounds she thinks she needs to lose.
Running through the novel is the simple joy of growing.
Joan Bauer's first novel, which gives me hope, because it isn't as exceptional as some of her more recent work. Ellie grows a giant pumpkin, protects it from hail, frost and thieves and gets it to the pumpkin festival in good shape and wins. In doing this she becomes a minor celebrity, makes a new friend/boyfriend, reconciles with her father, gets a dog and gets over the twenty pounds she thinks she needs to lose.
Running through the novel is the simple joy of growing.
Milagros: Girl from Away
Author: Meg Medina
This was really interesting, hard to place into a time category, because the magic spills out from the pages. Milagros is a disobedient, independent child on a Caribbean island paradise. The island is taken over by people from a poor island, Milagros escapes to the water where the rays carry her to safety, far away in New England. There she is considered the 'girl from away'.
There's a lot packed into this small book, pirates, fog, the scent of roses and a quilt made from scraps.
This was really interesting, hard to place into a time category, because the magic spills out from the pages. Milagros is a disobedient, independent child on a Caribbean island paradise. The island is taken over by people from a poor island, Milagros escapes to the water where the rays carry her to safety, far away in New England. There she is considered the 'girl from away'.
There's a lot packed into this small book, pirates, fog, the scent of roses and a quilt made from scraps.
The Gilded Web
Author: Mary Balogh
A quick regency read, in which an oppressed young woman is moved from Father's burden to Fiancee's. Very puritanical and abusive relationship in the family. Her fiancee brings her to some freedom and adventure and sex before marriage, and allows her to make her own decisions.
The landscape seemed to pop from the page in this book, but without any real geographic grounding. Somewhere by the sea and cliffs.
A quick regency read, in which an oppressed young woman is moved from Father's burden to Fiancee's. Very puritanical and abusive relationship in the family. Her fiancee brings her to some freedom and adventure and sex before marriage, and allows her to make her own decisions.
The landscape seemed to pop from the page in this book, but without any real geographic grounding. Somewhere by the sea and cliffs.
Boy Meets Girl
Author: Meg Cabot
Written in memos, diary entries, IM, and email, this is a light romance crossed with office politics slightly exaggerated for comic relief. Cabot is a very funny and prolific writer, but it took me a while to settle into the swift changes between writing medium that the story progressed through.
Written in memos, diary entries, IM, and email, this is a light romance crossed with office politics slightly exaggerated for comic relief. Cabot is a very funny and prolific writer, but it took me a while to settle into the swift changes between writing medium that the story progressed through.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
One Day
Author: David Nicholls
I loved the concept, checking in with his characters on the same day as the years pass and they drift apart and together. Great dialogue, very funny and distinct characters and quick, but telling descriptions of others. Love, loss, redemption. Brilliant.
Still quite upset about the death, though. Didn't see it coming.
I loved the concept, checking in with his characters on the same day as the years pass and they drift apart and together. Great dialogue, very funny and distinct characters and quick, but telling descriptions of others. Love, loss, redemption. Brilliant.
Still quite upset about the death, though. Didn't see it coming.
Peeled
Author: Joan Bauer
I've loved her other books fo rthe rich sense of place and people and the things that fill their worlds, such as shoes. This was a good read but not her best. I mistook it for middle grade when it is actually YA. Some of the lesser characters are not that well developed (ie. the villain newspaperman). Somehow though, the deep abiding sense of love comes through.
I've loved her other books fo rthe rich sense of place and people and the things that fill their worlds, such as shoes. This was a good read but not her best. I mistook it for middle grade when it is actually YA. Some of the lesser characters are not that well developed (ie. the villain newspaperman). Somehow though, the deep abiding sense of love comes through.
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