Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell St. Martin’s Press, 2013 I had high hopes for Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl when I bought it, but because of disappointments with other YA books, I tempered my expectations. But it turns out I didn’t need to. I enjoyed Fangirl every bit as much as I’d hoped I would, and then some. …
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer Little, Brown, and Company, 2005 [Challenge # 29: A book by someone everyone else seems to have read but you have not.] Well, well. What to say about Stephenie Myer’s YA vampire romance Twilight that hasn’t been said before? This book was bad. Execrably, horrifyingly, stultifyingly, bad. It was so dull …
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2015 Tomi Adeyemi’s West African fantasy Children of Blood and Bone is one of the most talked-about YA releases of 2018, scoring the author a seven figure movie deal. Reviews have been gushing, but is it worth all the …
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2015 Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda was one of the happiest books I’ve read this year. Recently released as a movie, it originally came out in 2015, earning a well-deserved place on YA must-read lists for its …
Albert Nobbs by George Moore Waitingstar Publishing, New York, 2011 [Challenge # 38: A book made into a major motion picture] Finished Albert Nobbs, a book that kept me guessing until the end. I’ve wanted to read it for a while, since I’ve always liked books with gender bending, or obscurely gendered, protagonists. I did …
Antiques Swap by Barbara Allen Kensington Books, New York 2016 [Challenge # 48: A mystery] I never was much of a mystery reader. I did enjoy a good Nancy Drew back in the day, but post-grade school, I’ve been pretty meh on the genre. I’m not sure why. My mother was an avid fan, particularly …
City of Fortune: How Venice Ruled the Seas by Roger Crowley Random House Trade Paperbacks, New York 2013 [Challenge # 3: A book taking place mostly or all on the water] I was a little concerned that City of Fortune, which was a history of the city of Venice between the 11th and 16th centuries, …
The Worm Ouroboros by E. R. Eddison Ballantine Books, New York, 1967 [Challenge # 48: A high fantasy] The Worm Ouroboros is one of the great granddaddies of fantasy, sandwiched between Lord Dunsany, who was an influence, and J.R.R. Tolkien, who received its influence. As such, it’s a kind of a bridge, but one that …
The Dinosaur Lords by Victor Milán Tor Fantasy, New York, 2016 I bought this book for my cousin, thinking it was grimdark fantasy by the cover, perhaps set in some He-man barbarian milieu like Robert Adams’s Horseclans novels, but with dinos as the mounts. Before I sent to her, I thought I’d read it first. …
The One Gold Slave (Atlaind Book 1) by Christian Kennedy Waitingstar Publishing, New York, 2011 [Challenge # 5: A Free book] Ah, my first finished read of 2018, by which things are starting smashingly well. First up: A Freebie, in this case, an Amazon giveaway by the author. I knew full well what kind of …