Synopsis:
Now in the hands of rebel forces, Katniss Everdeen becomes the symbol for the battle against the Capitol, even as the human toll of her actions in the arena and out begins to break her sanity.

Review:
First reads of final books are always tough to evaluate, because desperation to have story questions answered (Team Gale/Team Peeta) make it hard to slow down and enjoy the ride. Mockingjay is much more action-y than the previous two books, and the pacing is fast fast fast.

Suzanne Collins’s storytelling is ambitious, both in the plotting and in her characterizations. She goes deep and wide in just about everything, and that’s what saves Katniss from becoming an insufferable figurehead. Though Katniss has achieved fame and adulation in the districts, her internal struggles (which are about much, much more than her love life) dominate the narrative and make her a highly sympathetic character. Collins makes her self-awareness utterly believable, and takes her through a startlingly complex emotional journey.

Like the rest of the world, I love these books and will enjoy sharing them with the girls when they are older. The series is all over Amazon’s bestseller lists. I checked out the list for Bestsellers in YA Science Fiction and the books in the series occupy slots 1-6, 9, and 10. One of those vampire books is in slot number 8, but slot number 7 is taken by a book called Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, who wrote City of Bones, a book I liked but not well enough to keep going in the series. I think I’ll put this one on my library request list.

Share on Facebook

Synopsis:
Wedded against custom, magical Lakewalker Dag and his farmer bride Fawn return to Dag’s family home, where they face rejection and ostracism, but when Dag is called out on patrol to battle the most fearsome malice he’s ever seen, they learn that their bond is more than just one of love and may change the world they know.

Review:
If Legacy weren’t such a strong book I totally would’ve put it down the second my copy of Mockingjay showed up, but Lois McMaster Bujold is such a good storyteller that not even the fate of Katniss Everdeen could tear me away.

I really loved the prosaic details about camp life, and watching Fawn learn a new culture. The Lakewalker society is very well detailed. The love story deepens in a wonderful way, and Bujold gives tantalizing hints about the story’s mythology that I hope will be expanded upon on Book Three.

But I can wait no longer, so Fawn and Dag will have to wait! Am hoping I can exercise a modicum of restraint and not stay up all night reading Mockingjay. But if I do, I’m doubly hoping that my newborn stays asleep so I can finish it!

Share on Facebook

Synopsis:
After her husband leaves her for another man, a model with three teenage boys moves back home to Texas where she runs across the champion bullrider she loved as a teen.

Review:
I’ve previously enjoyed Jane Porter’s books as being a cut above the usual chick lit/romance genre entrants, but She’s Gone Country didn’t rise to the occasion. While Porter gave Shey a juicy family situation–dead schizophrenic brother, depressed son, gay ex-husband–she never really came to life on the page for me. I think it was because she was a model. That made her feel like a clichéd chick lit character, and I had trouble taking her seriously. Also, her love interest being a bullrider just made me giggle more than swoon. Oh well. I’d still try another book of hers, based on the other two I liked, but one more like this one and I’ll write her off as not being for me.

Many thanks to 5 Spot for the review copy.

Share on Facebook

Synopsis:
A farm girl inadvertently helps a fierce Lakewalker defeat an evil malice, and irrevocably ties her destiny to his.

Review:
Beguilement is the first installment of a four-book series about Lakewalkers, who are gifted with a kind of magical second sight that allows them to fight evil creatures that steal the life forces of people and animals. Fawn is a farm girl who dreams of a better life, but circumstances have trapped her. When she meets Dag, a Clint Eastwood-esque Lakewalker, she ends up in a fight for her life and that of the whole world. She and Dag embark on a trip to figure out what they’re meant to do with their entwined fates, and fall in love along the way.

There was a lot more romance in Beguilement than I’m used to seeing in fantasy novels, but I was completely swept away by the story. It wasn’t cheesy or overdone, and the mythology really worked, too. Looking forward to seeing how things develop.

Share on Facebook

Synopsis:
A murder mystery set in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, featuring a veiled police officer, an American woman whose husband has gone missing, and the secret history of the Koran.

Review:
Not impressed by City of Veils, which aims to be a Da Vinci Code for Islam. Conspiracies, coincidences, and religious stereotyping combined with a lackluster plot just didn’t work for me at all.

Many thanks to Little, Brown for the review copy.

Share on Facebook

Synopsis:
Subtitled “Identifying and Fixing the Ten Most Frequent Grammatical Errors.”

Review:
Is it just me, or is grammar trendy these days? The Big Ten of Grammar doesn’t have a sexy title but it does aim to up grammar’s profile by educating readers on the most common mistakes people make. You’ve got I/me, that vs. which, commas/semicolons, and the rest of the usual suspect’s (LOL). Plus there is a bonus appendix that offers even more grammar tutelage. I think that this is a great book for the casual writer, because it makes the rules really clear and easy to remember, even though it’s not as flashy as some other recent books.

Many thanks to Synergy Books for the review copy.

Share on Facebook

Synopsis:
An illustrated look at the farms of upstate New York.

Review:
Drawn to the Land is a lovely little book filled with portraits, in both paint and words, of several farms in upstate New York. I love a good road trip, and this book inspired me to plan a nice drive this fall. The paintings are all made from photos and have a softness to them that evokes the beauty of the region.

Many thanks to Bridgeway Books for the review copy.

Share on Facebook

Synopsis:
When the body of his first love is discovered 22 years after she failed to show up and elope to England, undercover detective Frank Mackey is sucked back into his dysfunctional and dangerous family.

Review:
Faithful Place is yet another perfect read from Tana French. As Frank navigates the crime scene, even after being ordered to stay away from the case, his grief, nostalgia, and brokenness threaten to consume him. Nobody does bittersweet regret like Tana French. My heart ached for all these poor lost characters, whose dreams were all thwarted by the accident of birth and the ties of family.

I did guess the murderer’s identity pretty early on, but I think that was the point, to place us completely in Frank’s point of view. He missed it, even if I didn’t, and that says volumes about who he is. A romantic to the end, when he says that he and Rosie Daly lost the chance to be the happiest two people on earth, you believe him utterly.

I also have to give props to Tana French for her exquisitely musical dialogue. Her use of slang, profanity, and imagery perfectly limns the subtle class distinctions between her characters, which is another huge part of the story.

Share on Facebook

Synopsis:
Freed from the clutches of the madman who abducted her, a broken young woman tries desperately to make sense of what happened to her.

Review:
I find it really strange that the New York Times gave Still Missing such a glowing review, because while I enjoyed the read I didn’t think it rose above genre expectations at all. The prose is pedestrian and the revelations contrived. Oh well.

Share on Facebook

Synopsis:
Allie the Outcast, the Chocolate Ogre, the McGill, and Mary Queen of Snots meet up with Jackin’ Jill and Zach the Ripper and discover that there’s a lot more to Everlost than just limbo after death.

Review:
In Everwild, Neal Shusterman deepens the mythology he created in Everlost, adding new characters and concepts with tremendous panache.

Allie the Outcast has discovered the power to leap into the bodies of the still living, and when she joins forces with a small group of fellow skinjackers, she hones her powers and makes new discoveries about the rules of Everlost. Meanwhile, Nick, now the Chocolate Ogre, is building an army to take on Mary Hightower, the Queen of Snots, whose stranglehold over the children of Everlost is preventing them from reaching their just reward. Suffice it to say that Shusterman always sends the plot in an unexpected direction, keeping me turning pages to the very end. I’m in desperate anticipation of Everfound, the trilogy’s finale, coming out later this year, and plan to seek out the rest of Shusterman’s books.

Share on Facebook