Go a little "retro" and read what's here. Good stuff! - from 2008
If you're like the rest of Michigan, summer is stretching out to the far reaches of August and school won't start until after Labor Day.
What's a girl to do, but make sure she has good reading material? Some of the suggestions below are sure to trigger the "chick lit" lightbulb in the guy's mind, but there are still a handful of items that might appeal to the male of the species.
If you don't own the novels, and don't plan to visit a book store any time soon, be sure to visit your local library.
Young adult novels:
Sold -- National Book Award finalist, tells the story of a young girl sold into sexual slavery. Each page is a poem unto itself and would easily stand alone, but read together within the form of the novel tells a compelling and poignant story.
Cut -- Ever wonder what would compel someone to cut herself?
Fever 1793 -- Yep, 1793 Philadelphia--right smack at the start of the yellow fever. A fictional account of one girl's family and what happens to them as the yellow fever hits. A historical "coming of age" kind of novel.
Prom -- What happens when the one girl in school who could care less about prom is asked to help save it?
Catalyst -- Katie Malone is a minister's daughter and supposed to be perfect, but finds that not is all as it seems as shunned neighbor and peer Teri Litch becomes an unwanted houseguest after a house fire, and Katie learns about herself and the pain of others.
Speak -- Melinda Sordino starts the school year under a web of outright hatred by her classmates. We know from the start that there must be a good reason why she called the cops during the party to end all parties, but it's going to take someone very perceptive to figure it out--Melinda wants to tell, but just can't speak until the same danger looms over another classmate.
Prolific author of many science fiction and fantasy novels for adults, children, and young adults, one I particularly enjoyed was Diana Wynne Jones's Howl's Moving Castle. After watching the beautifully animated film many times with my daughter, I wanted to read the book that insipred it. The novel is different from the film--regardless, it is an engaging tale of Howl the magician and also a bit of a love story.
The Bartimeaus Trilogy includes The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem's Eye,and Ptolemy's Gate. I'm about 1/4 of the way through the third novel and finding it just as engaging as the first two. There is an ongoing struggle in England between the magical set and the "commoners," who of course have no powers -- or do they? There is a handful of people who have mysteriously adapted somehow and some can see magical creatures that no other commoners can, while others are impervious to any kind of magic thrown their way. Mix Kitty Jones, active Resistance member, and Nathanial aka John Mandrake, an up and coming magician with his eye on promotion within the ministry of England, and a witty and insightful djinn named Bartimaeaus and there is no way the reader can lose.
Writer of the Snow Spider series, and also the Charlie Bone series, Nimmo thought she was done with Charlie Bone after the fifth novel and then someone clued her in that readers wanted more. Hooray for us! I enjoy Charlie Bone and the mix of characters, good and bad, and am looking forward to the soon to be released Charlie Bone and the Shadow, set for release in September 2008. Of course, read the other novels while you wait for this one!
The Best of John Bellairs, Volume 1: The House with a Clock in its Walls; The Figure in the Shadows; The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring
A gleesomely gruesome threesome by Bellairs, featuring protagonist Lewis Barnavelt, a chubby bespectacled kid newly orphaned and taken in to live with a rather eccentric uncle. This threesome is set in the mid-west United States, and is the ideal introduction to gothic literature for young readers. There is just enough creep factor and real danger for Lewis and his friend, but just enough savvy adults (who always appear to be preoccupied but inordinately interested whenever the kids have a problem) to help save the day.
Bellairs has many other series of this same vein, with different characters involved. Well worth reading.
Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy
A wonderful series, beginning with this first novel. If C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower had been a cheeky orphan girl. . . well, you get the idea. Mary "Jacky" Faber starts life out simply enough in early 1700s England, but real life intervenes in the form of a pestilence and she is soon an orphan in need of the basics of life. Being a girl, there aren't many options and she ends up in the care of a street gang of youngsters. Eventually she makes her way, disguised as a boy, into a job on a ship. Many adventures, lots of wonderful detail, great humor, and still room for sadness. I see from the web site that a new novel is soon to be out, My Bonny Light Horseman, and I am looking forward to it.
And you don't have to be a young adult to enjoy the series--I'm planning to acquire the entire series at some point just because I'm one of those weird people who likes to re-read books over and over again. Bloody Jack is one series that deserves more than one reading.
Well, anything by Lois Lowry is worth reading. Number the Stars and The Giver series are likely her most recognizable titles, but also good is The Silent Boy, which could easily point out that we often don't credit the physically or mentally handicapped with the intelligence they have. It's a coming of age type story, told from the point of view of Katy Thatcher. The stories of the hired help and the people they work for (the Thatchers) are intertwined, and Lowry has an adeptness in exposing the story that is understandable to young Katy and young readers, but clues in the older reader that there are "adult" things happening that young Katy doesn't quite comprehend.
Beautifully told, and enhanced by period photographs at the head of each chapter.
For adult readers, I have the following on my shelf:
A newcomer to the fantasy genre, Rothfuss's novel The Name of the Wind is an absorbing story told in the voice of its hero, Kvothe (pronounced "quothe"). Kvothe is presumed dead, and in his case, it's for good reason--he was "the hero and villain of a thousand tales" and this first installment of Kvothe's story is told with humor, compassion, and leaves the reader wanting more. I'm willing to wait, though April 2009 may seem a long time, for the second installment of The Kingkiller Chronicle, The Wiseman's Fear. I'm looking forward to reading what happens next in the life of Kvothe, seeing how his magic progressed, and what led him to the point he is in the opening chapter of the first novel. Please, Patrick Rothfuss, I hope after this trilogy is complete you'll find more books to write. I've loaned my copy of The Name of the Windto a friend, and encourage anyone browsing the fantasy shelf of new books in the local library to "Check that guy out--he's really good!"
She has often been confused for a British native, but this American author has penned a series of mystery novels that I find engrossing. Her British detectives, Inspector Lynley and low-born side-kick Detective Barbara Havers, have been the focus of easily a dozen novels as well as a PBS television series, presented on "MYSTERY!" The latest offering is titled Careless in Red, and though it has been out since April of 2008, I haven't yet read it. It's on the shelf, though, and I can guarantee it will be an involved page-turner. The reader can expect developed characters involved in the mystery, and also see further development with the main characters and details of their lives. Makes for very human stories, even if we don't always agree with what happens. To begin at the beginning, start with George's A Great Deliverance and then proceed to read in order.
Boy's Life is set in the early 1960s Alabama, and a green feather and a mysterious accident set a series of events in motion that push Cory toward adulthood. There are some fantastical elements, a lot of mystery, and also a good feel for the time period.
Speaks the Nightbird: Judgement of the Witch and Speaks the Nightbird: Evil Unveiled How about a double-dose of 1699 colonial superstition and creepiness? Enter Matthew, clerk to Isaac Woodward, who are sent to the Carolinas to judge the witch, Rachel. So much story, that it takes two volumes to contain it--but who cares? It's such good reading with exceptional period detail that I was disappointed when the novels were over.
Matthew makes another appearance in The Queen of Bedlam, and while he isn't the typical hero -- you know, the swashbuckling, adept with sword and gun and fists and done all at once, breathtakingingly handsome man who is fending women off with sticks and double entendres, Matthew does have more than half a brain and an uncanny knack for finding the truth no matter the danger to himself. And there are women who find that attractive, though our intrepid clerk's love life is not the point of the novels.
For a triple-dose of colonial superstition and detail, and all-around good story telling, check out this threesome of novels.
Forever--Engrossing tale of Robert Carson who leaves his homeland after bitter problems with the English, and ends up in New York in 1740. Good attention to detail of each period, and a poignant story as well.
If anybody watched Fox this spring, they may have noticed ashow about some Dutch guy who couldn't die. I refuse to name the show just on principal. But let me say, if you missed it, BIG DEAL. Read that sarcastically. I'm so annoyed by the obvious rip-off that I can't believe that the author didn't even get the briefest nod for contributing nearly the entire framework for this short-lived series. The novel Forever is well done, and I wish Hamill would write more about this character, though the novel does end in a good way.
Also try Snow in August, a story with some fantasy elements that will leave you cheering for young Michael Devlin.
I look forward to reading more of Pete Hamill, if our local library can keep him stocked long enough for me to find his books on the shelf.
Allrighty then. Is that enough to keep you busy, and keep you reading as the summer days get hotter and the air conditioner goes on overdrive?
Get at it, because the first day of school you'll have book reports due.
Happy reading!
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