Tuesday, October 21, 2014

El Deafo by Cece Bell

Another treasure of a memoir in graphic novel format...I loved it.  Cece is brave and funny and wonderful...and now I need to meet her.  If you liked Smile you will love this!


Book Description via Amazon



Going to school and making new friends can be tough. But going to school and making new friends while wearing a bulky hearing aid strapped to your chest? That requires superpowers! In this funny, poignant graphic novel memoir, author/illustrator Cece Bell chronicles her hearing loss at a young age and her subsequent experiences with the Phonic Ear, a very powerful—and very awkward—hearing aid.
The Phonic Ear gives Cece the ability to hear—sometimes things she shouldn’t—but also isolates her from her classmates. She really just wants to fit in and find a true friend, someone who appreciates her as she is. After some trouble, she is finally able to harness the power of the Phonic Ear and become “El Deafo, Listener for All.” And more importantly, declare a place for herself in the world and find the friend she’s longed for.


Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

This was such a different...and wonderful...premise for a novel.  The reader first meets Darcy, a eighteen year old debut author on her journey through the sometimes brutal world of publishing in NYC.  She is discovering who she is as a person and who she is as a writer.  In alternating chapters we get an interesting twist...we get to read Darcy's book, Afterworlds.  I loved each story equally,  this definitely did not disappoint.


*STARRED REVIEW* Eighteen-year-old Darcy drops her college plans and moves to New York to revise her soon-to-bepublished novel and start the second one. Meanwhile, in chapters that alternate with Darcy’s NYC adventures, her fictional protagonist, Lizzie, survives a near-death experience to find she has become a psychopomp, responsible for guiding souls to the afterlife. Westerfeld masterfully creates two divergent reading experiences (YA romance and fantasy horror) with two distinct yet believable voices in Darcy and Lizzie—and, somehow, makes them mesh into one cohesive novel. In addition to the details of the fully realized story worlds—and that's worlds plural, as this is a busy book, with content drawn from Gujarati culture and Indian religion—this book includes romantic entanglements, a charming lesbian love story, terrorism and justice, and insider references to the YA publishing and literature scene (including several references to the Michael L. Printz Award) that will have librarians grinning in delight. Westerfeld deftly and subtly captures Darcy’s immature authorial voice, even including a few underdeveloped plot points that differentiate it from his own polished prose. There are no notes about cultural sources, but an extended conversation between (fictional) YA authors explores these issues, offering a few perspectives on respect and appropriateness. Get plenty; this one won’t stay on the shelves.


Monday, October 6, 2014

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I am very late to this parade, so late in fact that I almost missed it, and I am so glad I didn't.  I must admit it was the buzz about the movie that finally got me moving on this, anything with Neil Patrick Harris is a must see on my list, I heart NPH. 


This book, just wow, you really can't talk about it too much because it is so easy to let out some spoilers;  and trust me, this is one book that you don't want spoiled.  Flynn's writing is flawless...caustic, biting, raw.  And her characters, how can I like this book so much and hate the characters equally as intensely?  Guess it's that good writing thing...  This book begs to be discussed, which is why I am awful wife and spoiled the whole thing for my husband because I just HAD TO TALK...thanks babe for taking one for the team. 


Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, June 2012: On the day of their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick's wife Amy disappears. There are signs of struggle in the house and Nick quickly becomes the prime suspect. It doesn't help that Nick hasn't been completely honest with the police and, as Amy's case drags out for weeks, more and more vilifying evidence appears against him. Nick, however, maintains his innocence. Told from alternating points of view between Nick and Amy, Gillian Flynn creates an untrustworthy world that changes chapter-to-chapter. Calling Gone Girl a psychological thriller is an understatement. As revelation after revelation unfolds, it becomes clear that the truth does not exist in the middle of Nick and Amy's points of view; in fact, the truth is far more dark, more twisted, and more creepy than you can imagine. Gone Girl is masterfully plotted from start to finish and the suspense doesn't waver for one page. It's one of those books you will feel the need to discuss immediately after finishing because the ending doesn't just come; it punches you in the gut. --Caley Anderson


Friday, October 3, 2014

The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey

GROAN....I was so, so, so looking forward to this book, so much so that I actually ponied up the money to buy it...and what a let down.  The story line was way too convoluted and let me wondering what the hell is going on.  The characters that I loved, namely Cassie and Evan, were barely in it.  I was expecting the big cliff hanger ending but I was left more befuddled than wow'd.  I will read the next one in hopes that he gets back to what he started in the 5th Wave.  Sigh, I hate when authors let me down...

Book Description via Amazon 



How do you rid the Earth of seven billion humans? Rid the humans of their humanity.

Surviving the first four waves was nearly impossible. Now Cassie Sullivan finds herself in a new world, a world in which the fundamental trust that binds us together is gone. As the 5th Wave rolls across the landscape, Cassie, Ben, and Ringer are forced to confront the Others’ ultimate goal: the extermination of the human race.

Cassie and her friends haven’t seen the depths to which the Others will sink, nor have the Others seen the heights to which humanity will rise, in the ultimate battle between life and death, hope and despair, love and hate.