The Language Of Spells
I first read this less than a year ago and quite enjoyed it. The author has since brought out a sequel. I read the first chapter of that book and decided that I’d best re-read this one first in order to be up to speed with the new novel.
My original review still stands – click on the link to see it.
I’m sure a review for the follow up will appear on the blog soon enough.
Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore
Clay Jannon is an unemployed graphic designer and web developer who finds a job on the evening shift at a weird little 24 hour bookstore.
Pure boredom and intellectual curiousity combine so that he accidentally unlocks a secret about the bookstore draws him into adventure.
For some reason I kept expecting this story to go in different directions than it actually did. Something about the setup made me think of grand conspiracies and fantastic revelations and instead it kept on being charming and grounded in steady reality.
It’s certainly an enjoyable read and it has worthwhile things to say about the value of communities, the importance of archives and the need for open access to knowledge.
This one is recommended for those like their mainstream fiction on the quirky side.
The Rosie Project
Don is a genetics professor. He’s a creature of schedules, rules and routines.
Though never explicitly stated he’s obviously somewhere on the high functioning end of the autistic spectrum.
After a disastrous date Don decides to initiate The Wife Project. A futile attempt to apply rationality to matters of the heart. His life and the book takes a turn for the screwball comedy when he meets Rosie and starts helping her identify her biological father.
This a fairly enjoyable romantic comedy that I picked up after seeing on sale cheaply in my local Tesco.
I felt that the portrayal of the inner mental workings of Don’s mind was a bit stereotypical and didn’t really feel authentic.
A decent little romance, worth reading if you have a fondness for screwball comedy.
The Name Of The Star
This is a thoroughly enjoyable YA supernatural thriller.
Rory, an American girl, has moved to London from Louisiana for school while her parents teach in Bristol.
On the day of her arrival a murder very much in the style of Jack the Ripper is discovered.
Just as she begins to make friends and starts to adjust to living in a strange country she finds herself caught up the murderous events.
This book is really entertaining and I’m looking forward to reading the sequel even though I’ve heard rumours that it has the worst cliffhanger in the world!
Veronica Mars:The Thousand-Dollar Tanline
This novel is the follow up to the Kickstarter funded Veronica Mars movie.
It finds our plucky heroine working her first big case as a professional Private Investigator when two teenage girls go missing during Spring Break.
There are some nice twists in this tale and one very important figure from Veronica’s past returns.
I really enjoyed this book – it felt like a satisfying episode of the TV series. I’m willing to bet the audiobook voiced by Kristen Bell is even more enjoyable.
Recommended for fans of the TV series.
Half-Off Ragnarok
The latest Incryptid book is the first to feature Alex Price as the lead character, taking over from his little sister Verity.
Alex is a scientist specializing in reptilian cryptids and the book finds him working the Reptile House of a Zoo under a false identity.
When people and animals start turning to stone Alex has to investigate.
While this book was fun in the same vein of the first two books there were just a couple too any convenent coincidences in this one and it took me out of the book for a while.
Still don’t let that put of the series I think they’re well worth reading if you like a slice of escapist Urban Fantasy.
Pacific Rim
Solid novelization of one of my favourite genre films of the last couple of years.
There was a richness to the world of the film that made me wonder if any of that would be on display in the novelization.
It’s there but not to the extent that I expected. What was intriguing is that several small details must have changed between script and film because there are a few things that happen differently in the book.
If you’re interested in giant robots fighting giant alien monsters then check out the film first. While the book is enjoyable in it’s own right it’s probably only really of interest to fans of the film.
The Cormorant
The third Miriam Black book (after Blackbirds and Mockingbird) finds our favourite foul-mouthed and (ever so) slightly unhinged psychic pulled into a seemingly inescapable trap in the weirdest parts of Florida.
I found this book hugely enjoyable. It started off slowly but as the plot unfolds it reveals itself to be the strongest entry in the series yet.
One way it does this by giving Miriam some resolution about parts of her past. It also helps that when Wendig gets to the sharp end of events he makes it deeply personal for our nomally detached and cynical protagonist.
This is also the most overtly fantastical Miriam Black book to date but it’s applied in a way that adds depth to Miriam’s world without losing the noir feel.
The Cormorant is highly recommended but you will need to read the earlier books to get full value (luckily they’re also great reads).
The Disreputable History of Franke Landau-Banks
Frankie Landau-Banks is one of the most interesting characters I’ve come across in a book in ages.
A sophomore at an elite Preparatory called Alabaster she discovers that her boyfriend is a member of a secret society. After he balks at every opportunity to tell her about it she takes an opportunity to use the group to her own ends.
I really enjoyed this book and I really like Frankie and share her frustration with the double standards which are applied to women. I would love to read another book set later in her career to see where that stylishly twisted and pin-sharp mind takes her.
Recommended.
Anne Of Green Gables
This much loved novel tells the story of the irrepressible orphan Anne Shirley who is adopted by sober elderly siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert in late Victorian Prince Edward Island in Canada.
It’s an enjoyable read and it’s hard to not love the three lead characters for their various strengths and faults.
I basically only read this because various Lizzie Bennet Diaries fans really love it.
You can find yourself a copy at the Gutenberg archive – it’s well worth a read if you like a good bildungsroman.