Book Buzz

SUSIE MOLONIE

Witches can have anything they want. Anything. But witches need thirteen to work their will. How better to achieve this than to lure back a banished daughter and her child. By making the mother sick they get the young mother to return and bring her daughter as a sacrifice. Black humour at its best.

AUDREY NIFFENEGGER

Lies and secrets. The amazing relationships of twins. Twin daughters of a twin. Cemeteries centuries old. Supernatural. Ghosts. Afterlife. Feeling trapped. Wanting escape. Amazing twists and turns.

A must read. Definitely a page turner, especially as the end approaches. Though I found it difficult to visualise this book set in modern time. I wanted to dress the twins in Victorian clothes. Interesting. Horrible view of the afterlife.

THE TYGER                     William Blake

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare sieze the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art.
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

SUZANNE COLLINS

Arresting concept: the youth of the nation pitted against the youth of the nation for public entertainment. Each year a male and female youth are chosen from each district. A complex draft chooses the contestants. At age ten each name goes into the draw; each year after the name goes in draft an additional time. Eleven twice, twelve three times, thirteen three times.  All names are kept in the draw year after year. When the kids have been chosen, they get a bit of training and then are throwen into an arena for a fight until death, for the amusement and control of the masses.

A good book but at 350 pages it needed serious editing. Unfortunately  GAMES does not come to a complete finality. It sets the scene for a sequel. Even within a series a novel should be complete on its own.

GUILLERMO DEL TORO and CHUCK HOGAN

Modern gothic. I don’t want to say too much about this story. Let it surprise you. STRAIN is page turner and an easy read. An unusual plague has struck New York City. Bizarre things happen to the people who are infected. The medical officer and authorities are having trouble confining the contagion.

This is the first book of a trilogy. I won’t read more. Vampires as zombies. Not the cool sexy vampires as Anne Rice created.

NEIL GAIMAN

“The knife had a handle of polished black bone, and a blade finer and sharper than any razor.” Intriguing first line. That knife and the hand that holds it switfly kills all the people in the house except the baby who is nowhere to be found. The baby has miraculously vanished into the graveyard. Knowing that the child is being hunted the ghosts of the graveyard resolve to raise the child with one particular couple to be his parents. For many years Nobody Owens has little contact outside of the graveyard.

The book is quite a page turner. Definitely not for young readers but for teens. For a scary book set in a graveyard it actually quite life affirming. “I want to see life. I want to hold it in my hands.” “There was life and Bod walked into it with his eyes and his heart wide open.”

Newbery Award Winner

NALO HOPKINSON

 Brown Girl is a fascinating combination of Caribbean voodoo and speculative fiction. It takes place in inner city Toronto after the wealthy have given up on and fled the inner city.  The core has no government, law enforcement, sewage or services of any kind. Survivors have gone back to bartering and surviving the best they can. The top dogs of human society prey on those less fortunate. 

Mamie is a healer who uses both herbs and spirits to heal. She is desperately instructing her grand-daughter Ti-Jeanne so she can take over when Mamie is no longer able to continue with her healing work.

This was one of the books for CBC’s Canada Reads 08. Well worth the time. 

Susan Hubbard

Ariella Montero is a twelve year old with much on her mind. She has been raised and home schooled by her father. As she gets older, she realises that not all is what it seems to be in her family. She has so many questions about her mother but all anyone will tell her is that her mother disappeared soon after the birth. When the housekeeper notices that Ariella seems to be struggling with something, she invites her to come home with her and meet her children, Katherine and Michael. Ariella soon feels like she has found a second family.But, tragedy strikes in the form of murder and Ari finds herself with still more questions and the only way to get the answers she seeks, is to find her mother.

 I appreciated the slow way the author revealed her family secrets as she finds answers to her questions.

Brian 

MARIE PHILLIPS

 A  marvelous, bawdy look at the greek gods in the present day. This theme has been done many times for children and young adults but this time it is definately mature. Aphrodite is a lusty phone sex worker. As part of Apollo’s ploy to seduce a mortal when her boy friend is present Apollo requires that his brother Ares (god of war) be present so that the couple will fight.<p>

It is a light entertaining romp with an upbeat ending.

Brian        

Garth Nix

first book KEYS TO THE KINGDOM SERIES

Mister Monday is an exciting existential fantasy for youth. Micah read it first and was so excited by it that I read it as well. The protagonist is a lad of twelve who’s fate was to die. But he recieved as key shaped clock hand from another reality which while he holds it allows him to breath fully. But when the cosmos was rent to give Arthur the key more than just the key got through. Fletchers, bizarre, dog fashioned beasts have brought a killing plague. Mister Monday with powers almost as great as the key will stop at nothing to get the key back. Author has a mysterious quest through an existenial world that is represented by a house.

It is well worth the read. Micah has already read the second book Grim Tuesday and is waiting for Drownd Wednesday.

 Wings alternates between the stories of two girls: Kour’el weak, injured, imprisoned and Maighdlin who lives in a once vibrant, joyful kingdom. The latter’s grandDa Petaurus used to be King Vassil’s huntsman but now he sits in front of his hut waiting for Maighdlin to bring him his daily bread.  The King had been mortally wounded and now the bewitching Queen Mariah rules in his stead. When all the young women from the village are forcefully taken into service at the palace grandDa, joined by a youth betrothed to a different maiden, set off to rescue his granddaughter. This is where the two stories combine. The first part of the book is far too long, with far too little happening; while the ending climaxes without enough development.  There is an interesting twist at the end of the book that could have used more explaining. With this in mind it is still worth reading. It does add to the myth of dragons in interesting ways. Kudos to Cora Taylor! It is certainly her best book yet.