Technically, this isn’t the first time I’ve read this book. My parents, odd ducks that they are, played the audiobook of this for all of us to listen to when I was about 6 or 7. I can’t remember it, of course, but it did feel generally familiar and comforting. Probably because of this
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE GOLD EATERS – RONALD WRIGHT
Ronald Wright’s newest book is a brilliant and epic work of historical fiction set in 16th century Peru. It begins with a young Peruvian boy called Waman. Waman lives in a small fishing village on the coast with his parents and cousin, Tika. At the cusp of manhood, Waman is itching to experience the
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | PURITY – JONATHAN FRANZEN
I’ve been seeing Jonathan Franzen’s books around for years, but to this point hadn’t actually read any of them (admittedly their length intimidated me somewhat). So when the book fairy (AKA Random House Canada) delivered an ARC of his upcoming novel, Purity, to my mailbox, it seemed that fate had intervened. I went into
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | ARMADA – ERNEST CLINE
Armada is the long-anticipated (by me, anyway) follow up to Ernest Cline’s futuristic video-game drama, Ready Player One. The first thing I need to tell you is that I’m not a gamer. I’m not even much into sci-fi. But I absolutely loved Ready Player One. Sure, there was a lot about video games, but
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BOOK REVIEW | ON THE MOVE – OLIVER SACKS
An impassioned, tender, and joyous memoir by the author of Musicophilia and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. When Oliver Sacks was twelve years old, a perceptive schoolmaster wrote in his report: “Sacks will go far, if he does not go too far.” It is now abundantly clear that Sacks has
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | SHE IS NOT INVISIBLE – MARCUS SEDGWICK
Laureth Peak’s father has taught her to look for recurring events, patterns, and numbers – a skill at which she’s remarkably talented. Her secret: she is blind. But when her father goes missing, Laureth and her 7-year-old brother Benjamin are thrust into a mystery that takes them to New York City where surviving will take
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The Sunday Review: CHAMPION – Marie Lu
He is a Legend. She is a Prodigy. Who will be Champion? June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic—and each other—and now their country is on the brink of a new existence. June is back in the good graces of the Republic, working within the government’s elite circles as
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The Sunday Review: PRODIGY – Marie Lu
Injured and on the run, it has been seven days since June and Day barely escaped Los Angeles and the Republic with their lives. Day is believed dead having lost his own brother to an execution squad who thought they were assassinating him. June is now the Republic’s most wanted traitor. Desperate for help, they
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The Sunday Review: LEGEND – Marie Lu
What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is
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The Sunday Review: GRASSHOPPER JUNGLE – Andrew Smith
Sixteen-year-old Austin Szerba interweaves the story of his Polish legacy with the storyof how he and his best friend , Robby, brought about the end of humanity and the rise of an army of unstoppable, six-foot tall praying mantises in small-town Iowa. To make matters worse, Austin’s hormones are totally oblivious; they don’t care that
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The Sunday Review: BEING HENRY DAVID – Cal Armistead
Seventeen-year-old “Hank” has found himself at Penn Station in New York City with no memory of anything –who he is, where he came from, why he’s running away. His only possession is a worn copy of Walden, by Henry David Thoreau. And so he becomes Henry David-or “Hank” and takes first to the streets, and
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BOOK REVIEW | OUTPOST – ANN AGUIRRE
Deuce’s whole world has changed. Down below, she was considered an adult. Now, topside in a town called Salvation, she’s a brat in need of training in the eyes of the townsfolk. She doesn’t fit in with the other girls: Deuce only knows how to fight. To make matters worse, her Hunter partner, Fade, keeps
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THE GATHERING – Kelley Armstrong
An ordinary town…full of deadly secrets Strange things have been happening in sixteen-year-old Maya’s small Vancouver Island community – from the mountain lions that have been constantly approaching her to her best friend’s hidden talent for “feeling” out people and situations. There’s also a sexy new bad boy who makes Maya feel . . .
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BOOK REVIEW | ENCLAVE – ANN AGUIRRE
New York City has been decimated by war and plague, and most of civilization has migrated to underground enclaves, where life expectancy is no more than the early 20s. When Deuce turns 15, she takes on her role as a Huntress, and is paired with Fade, a teenage Hunter who lived Topside as a
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BOOK REVIEW | ONYX – JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUT
Being connected to Daemon Black sucks… Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems. Something worse than the
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BOOK REVIEW | OBSIDIAN – JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUT
Starting over sucks. When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring…. until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up. And then he opened his mouth.
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BOOK REVIEW | THE GRAVEYARD BOOK – NEIL GAIMAN
After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own. Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a sprawling
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BOOK REVIEW | GOING BOVINE – LIBBA BRAY
This is the story of a totally normal teenaged boy called Cameron. Cameron has a sister, two parents, enjoys quirky music and smoking up and eating pizza. Like most teenaged boys, Cameron’s biggest problems are not doing well in school, not getting along with (and frequently disappointing) his parents, not being able to find a
