Archive for the ‘fiction’ Category

Bitter Melon by Cara Chow

I finally got to the point in this book where I couldn’t put it down–about halfway through–and finished it last night.  There’s still something I find unsettling about it, though I can’t decide if it is in a good way or a bad. On the one hand, this story is empowering for young women.  It [...]

February 7, 2012  Tags: ,   Posted in: realistic  No Comments

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

So, I loved this book to start out with.  Strong female character.  A little violent, but not graphically so.  There was a passage in the first half of the book that I absolutely loved.  The main character, Katsa, has been used by her uncle as a thug to keep his kingdom in line.  She is [...]

January 13, 2012  Tags:   Posted in: fantasy, Young Adult  No Comments

Whimpering Again

So, here I am bemoaning yet again how rarely I post updates to this blog.  There’s really very little point to a book review blog if I never get around to actually posting anything more than a list of the books I’ve read. I’m still not willing to completely give up the idea, though. So, [...]

December 7, 2011  Tags: ,   Posted in: historical fiction  One Comment

Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris

These books have sort of been my guilty pleasure…not at all the type I usually go for.  They are marketed as mysteries, though very few of them have struck me as truly dealing with solving an actual mystery.  The early books seemed to fit more properly in the Romance genre.  The latter books have leaned more [...]

July 26, 2011   Posted in: fantasy, mystery  No Comments

Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier

I think what I love about Chevalier’s writing is that she certainly knows how to use metaphors and symbolism.  I read so much fiction aimed at young adults, that I tend to miss the finer points of literature.  But Chevalier’s writing is literary and sophisticated without being pretentious and difficult to follow.  She is not [...]

May 2, 2011   Posted in: historical fiction  No Comments

In Too Deep by Jude Watson

In general, I haven’t been posting about each of The 39 Clues books that I’ve read.  There are just too many of them, and as far as each story story goes, they are a bit ho-hum and only narrowly miss being formulaic. I decided to mention book 6, however, because it is the first one [...]

April 23, 2011   Posted in: mystery  No Comments

We Hear the Dead by Dianne K. Salerni

Salerni teases you along with an intriguing tale until about two thirds of the way through the book when she finally rivets you.  The story is centered around the sisters who are credited with starting the spiritualism movement in the mid-nineteenth century.  (For those who might object to a book about spiritual mediums communicating with [...]

April 5, 2011   Posted in: historical fiction  No Comments

the Bar Code Tattoo by Suzanne Weyn

I’m pretty disappointed with this one. I think it is trying to be an updated 1984 for today’s young adults but doesn’t even approach that iconic work of speculative fiction. The first issue I had with the book is that the author’s political commentary is actually a little above the heads of her target audience. [...]

February 18, 2011   Posted in: science fiction, Young Adult  No Comments

The Bar Code Tattoo by Suzanne Weyn

I’m pretty disappointed with this one. I think it is trying to be an updated 1984 for today’s young adults but doesn’t even approach that iconic work of speculative fiction. The first issue I had with the book is that the author’s political commentary is actually a little above the heads of her target audience. [...]

February 18, 2011   Posted in: science fiction, Young Adult  No Comments

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

This book won me over.  I was very skeptical at the beginning when the story is set up in a future where there has been a second Civil War fought between pro-life and pro-choice supporters.  I read every chapter expecting at any moment to encounter some sort of diatribe for or against the practice…but it [...]

January 14, 2011   Posted in: science fiction  No Comments