Synopsis: Her boyfriend shot up the school then shot himself, and now Val has to make it through senior year. Review: Wow. I am so impressed with the execution in Hate List, a book that could’ve gone wrong in so many ways, but ended up getting everything right. Val’s predicament as the girlfriend of a school shooter tore me to pieces. I could see her point of view and wished I could send her in a better direction, even though I knew she had to…
Synopsis: After signing up for a psychology experiment, a young woman finds herself in a dangerous “arena” where she may lose her life trying to find her way out. Review: Arena is an allegory for the Christian walk of faith, something I knew when I bought the book but then forgot until about halfway through. I think that’s a pretty good sign that the book mostly escapes being on-the-nose and heavy handed in its plot execution and character development. Callie is an ordinary girl who…
Synopsis: A mom studying to be a mage wakes up and finds herself imprisoned by people who insist that they are dragons–and that she is one, too. Review: Love in the Time of Dragons is just what the title suggests–a romance novel with dragons. The dragons themselves are shapeshifters who often take human form. The dragons holding Tully tell her she’s an ancient dragon named Ysolde, and her dreams are beginning to reveal that they may be right. But her memories of her present life…
Synopsis: When Peter Pan and his Lost Boys descend on a chic Manhattan boarding school, a brother and sister become embroiled in his plan to reclaim 5 ancient mummies who hold the secret to eternal life. Review: In the interest of full disclosure, I sometimes work with Daniel Nayeri, and have even had him and his lovely wife over to my house for dinner. So please don’t expect anything resembling objectivity. I’m a big fan of Daniel and his sister Dina’s unique brand of classic…
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…
Synopsis: The saga of a Welsh family haunted by submerged passions and unfulfilled desire. Review: I was hooked on The Wheel of Fortune from the first pages. It’s juicy, lush, psychologically complex, and keenly observed. The story opens with Robert, scion of the Godwin family, heir to Oxmoon, lusting after his second cousin Ginevra, on the night that she elopes with an Irish rake, Connor Kinsella. When, in pure tragic form, Robert is able to consummate his desire, a chain of events unfolds that scars…
Synopsis: A real, live wizard cloaks his magic in the trappings of homelessness on the streets of modern-day Seattle, as a dark evil stalks him and threatens to destroy him. Review: Wizard of the Pigeons really needs to come back into print. It’s a wonderful character study filled with subtlety, ambiguity, and plain old-fashioned good storytelling. Wizard lives on the streets, but his homelessness is just a disguise for his powerful magic. He is able to Know the truth about people and tell them the…
Synopsis: The tragic tale of Túrin Túrambar, master of doom by doom mastered, who sought to fight evil but was undone by his own impetuousness and self-aggrandizement. Review: The Children of Húrin is a retelling in novel form of the chapter in Tolkien’s Silmarillion called Túrin Túrambar. I should’ve waited to read this for a year or two, because about halfway through I burned out on all the epic language and tragic plotting. My experience aside, it’s a fantastic story, one of the best ever…
Synopsis: The true story of a young man who gave up everything to live off the land in Alaska, only to die a painful death by starvation. Review: Into the Wild was a quick, fast-paced read that left me both satisfied and wanting to know more. Christopher McCandless’s decision to go his own iconoclastic way towards a wanton death seems crazy to most of us, yet author Jon Krakauer paints such a full picture of his personality that there doesn’t seem to be anything more…
Synopsis: His true love thwarted by unfeeling family and Cathy’s callow thoughtlessness, foundling Heathcliff wreaks havoc on all who fall under his sway. Review: Wow, I had no idea what I was in for when I started Wuthering Heights! I knew it was a classic of Gothic romanticism, but I was expecting a florid love story of the kind I don’t usually enjoy. Instead I got a pile-on of selfish people behaving very, very badly and I loved every minute of it. What i liked…