Author Archives: Superfast Reader

The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

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Synopsis:
New York City in 1938 is all martinis and heartbreak for smart girl Katey Kontent and her impossibly sexy best friend Evie Ross, as they navigate the tricky waters of the uptown social scene.

Review:
I was utterly captivated by The Rules of Civility, from the tone to the characters to the plot to everything. It’s a pretty perfect book, as if Edith Wharton were resurrected to write a pre-Code Billy Wilder movie where the smart one got to be the lead. It makes me want to go back and re-read The Best of Everything and then treat myself to a double feature of The Apartment and Cabaret.

Speaking of all that awesome sauce, when is “Mad Men” coming back? I’m f@#$ing dying over here…

Against the Light by Dave Duncan

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Synopsis:
A reimagining of the “Gunpowder Plot” with religious persecution against those with magical powers.

Review:
Against the Light moved at a brisk pace, not wasting much time in getting characters from one place to another. I really liked the relatively contemporary setting, with English manor living and firearms, instead of the usual feudalism of epic fantasy. And there was a bawdiness in the telling that made the whole thing feel fresh and cheerful, even amid the darker elements of the story.

Basically you have an official state church, which follows the “Light,” pitted against the Children of the Mother, branded heretics because they celebrate special powers granted to some, not all, like “inspiration” and “mastery.” The story follows gifted siblings from a persecuted family who all take different paths in their quest to avenge their parents’ murder and the loss of their ancestral home. The various political forces converge and threaten to ignite the whole country.

I am pretty sure Dave Duncan means to write more books in this world, and I hope he does! This is a great entry from one of my favorite authors.

Dragon City by Robin Hobb (Volume 3 of the Rain Wilds Chronicles)

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Synopsis:
As the dragons and their keepers grow restless and hungry, only the promise of flight and the ancient secrets of a dead city can save them from enemies without and within.

Review:
I really should have reread Dragon Keeper and Dragon Haven before reading Dragon City, because I forgot so much! How did Selden end up a slave? What makes Tarman different from other liveships? What’s Tintaglia doing? Hobb didn’t do much to catch me up, which I do always appreciate–the book is free from burdensome exposition, but since I didn’t do my homework I was a little lost. However, the twists and turns in the plot were quite promising, and the book ends with a tantalizing tease set in Chalced, featuring a most intriguing princess (who’d be right at home with the Sand Snakes, it seems). Hope the next one is coming soon!

The Spirit Ring by Lois McMaster Bujold

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Synopsis:
In a magical version of Renaissance Italy, the daughter of a sculptor/mage finds herself embroiled in a deadly political dispute as she struggles to free her father’s soul, which a wicked lord wants to imprison in a magic ring.

Review:
Lois McMaster Bujold crafts a suspenseful tale of intrigue, sorcery, and politics that really satisfied me. The Spirit Ring is grounded in the kinds of real squabblings that mark territorial disputes, and the magic serves that story, rather than being the sole purpose of the story. It’s also a love story, and quite an unconventionally romantic one. I definitely prefer McMaster’s fantasy to her scifi, and this is now one of my favorites of hers.

XVI by Julia Karr

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Synopsis:
Nina Oberon doesn’t want to turn 16, when she’ll be tattooed and expected to become sexually active, but a family tragedy puts her in touch with an underground movement to reform society at any cost.

Review:
XVI raises a lot of really fascinating issues with identity, coming of age, the exploitation of women, gender roles, and power. Unfortunately, the plotting really faltered near the end. I gave the sequel, Truth, a try but the plotting in that one was even less inspiring and I gave up.

Boot Camp by Todd Strasser

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Synopsis:
Sent to a teen boot camp for falling in love with his teacher, Garrett fights to keep his integrity through beatings and psychological torture, while planning his escape.

Review:
Boot Camp was titillating and highly readable, but I don’t know that I’d recommend it. It just felt so extreme, not just in its depiction of the boot camp but in the characterizations and plot. It definitely kept me hooked in, but when it was over I didn’t feel like it rocked my world.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

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Synopsis:
After dying in a car crash, popular high school senior Samantha has to re-live Cupid day, facing up to her own weaknesses and those of her best friends, and finding a hope that fuels her will to find out how she can avert her own inevitable fate.

Review:
Before I Fall was recommended to me by YA book reviewer extraordinaire Renee Fountain, whose site Book Fetish is chock-a-block with a wonderfully diverse assortment of reviews. I had a lovely breakfast with Renee and enjoyed getting to talk books with a fellow YA-aficionado. She told me I had to read this book, and she was absolutely right.

The story follows a popular high school girl who lives an unexamined life of keg parties, teasing the less fortunate, and basking the reflected glow of her popular best friends. Samantha has never stopped to wonder if she’s cut out for anything more until the night when she is killed in a car accident. The next morning she wakes up on the day she died, and it seems like she’s being given a chance to make things right. Only Sam can’t figure out what she’s supposed to do, and makes some hideous mistakes before finally figuring out what it is she’s supposed to live for. I was tremendously moved by Sam’s journey and loved the way Lauren Oliver made me care about the kinds of girls I tend to hate, the popular, beautiful, lucky ones who don’t care who they hurt as long as they remain on top. The story is fearlessly told with ruthless honesty and no fear of the darker side of life. I loved it!

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

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Synopsis:
Chloe’s always admired her older sister, but when Ruby shows up with a girl who was dead the last time Chloe saw her, Chloe starts to fear that her sister can do anything–absolutely anything–she wants, no matter what Chloe or anybody else thinks about it.

Review:
Both Ruby and Chloe are compelling characters, for completely different reasons, and that’s what makes Imaginary Girls so successful. Ruby is obsessed with Olive, a town buried under a reservoir thanks to some eminent domain shenanigans in the early 20th Century. Chloe fears Olive, because she almost died in the reservoir, saved only by the timely appearance of a rowboat containing the dead body of London, a girl in Chloe’s class. Chloe left town, but when Ruby summons her back for the summer, Chloe is excited–until Ruby shows her London, who isn’t dead. She’s alive–and she shouldn’t be.

This is a wonderfully creepy premise, reminiscent of my favorite author Shirley Jackson, only with a YA touch. Ruby is so alive, such a vibrant and exciting character and it’s easy to see why the world seems to revolve around her. It’s impossible to imagine her as anything other than a beautiful teenager, at the peak of her life and beauty and power. She’s everything every girl wants to be, and Chloe loves that there’s no one on the planet whom Ruby loves the way she loves Chloe. The sisters build a world together, and it’s just about perfect, except for London, whose very existent freaks Chloe out and threatens the world that Ruby has created for them. Even though this is a contemporary story, set in summer sunshine among partying teens, this book is a classic Gothic story that hits all the right notes.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver

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Synopsis:
One family’s attempt to eat locally for a calendar year.

Review:
I am a bit late to the game in reviewing Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I’d read so much about the book that I couldn’t really imagine how it could be more than just “eat local food in season, it’s better for you and better for the planet.” Color me apologetic for my arrogance–the book (and website) are packed with so much useful information that even a city girl like me felt empowered to eat much more local food. I’m not saying I’ll give up bananas, but I’m finally going to try canning this year. I’ve always wanted to give it a go, so this year I’m going to buy a slew of tomatoes and see what I can do with them. I’m also embarking on year two of my garden, starting with some organic, heirloom seeds for herbs, cucumbers, and peppers, all of which did really well on my balcony last year. And I’m going to try making cheese! I love to cook and I love projects, and I think making mozzarella will be a fun activity for my older daughter’s homeschool preschool coop.

The audiobook is read by Kingsolver herself, who has a lovely speaking voice. She’s especially charming when talking about her younger daughter’s passion for raising chickens. She’s joined by her husband and her older daughter. It was a really great listen.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

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Synopsis:
Hazel and Augustus have terminal cancer–but that won’t stop them from falling in love.

Review:
I just can’t do justice to The Fault in Our Stars with a simple logline. Hazel and Augustus are simply two of the most original, quirky, lovable, real, charming, intelligent characters I’ve found in YA fiction–and that’s saying a lot, because I read a lot of awesome YA fiction. The competition is fierce for awesomest couple ever, but Hazel and Augustus win hands down. I loved them, I loved their story, I wanted to hang out with them and especially go to Amsterdam with them and watch them conquer the world even while their cancer is eating them from the inside out. These kids are so alive and I just ached for every minute of this book. I’ve never read a book about illness that moved me the way this one did. There’s nothing sentimental or schmaltzy or easy or stupid about this book. It’s truthful and honest and funny and poignant and heartbreaking and everything. Just everything.