Hermetech by Storm Constantine Headline Book Publishing PLC, 1991 [Challenge # 1: A book that’s been on your TBR (to be read) list for over a year.] British fantasist Storm Constantine is an acquired taste. Hermetech, published in 1991, is the one novel of hers I kept trying to start, and kept putting off. It’s …
Americus by M. K. Reed and Jonathan Hill First Second, 2011 Dragons make an appearance in this graphic novel about the dangers of censorship in that the book-in-a-book under fire features a “wytch” protagonist who is half-dragon… leading to cries of bestiality from the Christian far right! Americus is based on a controversy of some …
Exo by Fonda Lee Scholastic, 2017 Of all the YA science fiction I’ve read so far (and keep in mind it hasn’t been a lot) Fonda Lee’s Exo is the only one I’d call true SF. That is, an out-there premise is given and the author extrapolates from it, showing us the effects it has …
Where Wizards Stay Up Late by Katie Hafner and Matthew Lyon Simon and Schuster, 1996 [Challenge # 4: A book about a historical event that took place in your lifetime.] Of all the books I’ve read so far this year, Where Wizards Stay up Late, a history of the development of the Internet, was the …
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 …