Category: Library

clockwork?

Posted on by Greig

The Sacred Art of Stealing

Christopher Brookmyre

sacred art of stealingThe second book featuring Officer de Xavia and the first with her as the lead character.
In bad political odour after saving the day at Dubh Ardrain in A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away and hitting her thirtieth birthday she finds herself involved with an unusual bank robbery and with an even more unusual bank robber.
I reviewed this book on the blog before in 2003 and in 2005 but to be honest I think I enjoyed it more this time round.
I recommend Brookmyre’s work without reservation.

Rating: B+

ladder?

Posted on by Greig

Insurgent

Veronica Roth

InsurgentThe sequel to Divergent is a similarly entertaining slice of YA dystopian sci-fi.
It definitely feels like a middle volume of a series with a lot of talking and a lot of having the protagonist stuck in dangerous situations that they escape by the skin of her teeth.
Still, a fun read, and definitely recommended if you enjoyed the first book.

Rating: B+

squirrel?

Posted on by Greig

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened

Jenny Lawson

Lets Pretend This NeverHappenedLawson’s autobiography is incredibly funny, occasionally moving and nearly always faintly disturbing.
I really don’t want to spoil anything for you. I wholeheartedly recommend this book unless you have no taste for dark humour or you’re incredibly squeamish.

Rating: A

serum?

Posted on by Greig

Divergent

Veronica Roth

divergentThis is a very enjoyable slice of dystopian YA science fiction.
It’s Chicago in the future and after some unspecified calamity the city is isolated and people split up into five factions.
At sixteen children are tested for factional affinity and then have to choose which faction they want to join.
This is a very quick read and it’s an intriguing world the author’s set up that is begging to be expanded in later volumes.
Obviously it’s going to be compared to The Hunger Games books as it’s a first-person narrative book for teenagers set in a bleak future. Honestly it’s not as good but it’s still worth a read and I’m definitely reading the sequel.

Rating: B+

wren?

Posted on by Greig

Mockingbird

Chuck Wendig

MockingbirdThe sequel to Blackbirds takes a while to build up steam but once it hits the meat of the story it easily meets the standards of the first book.
Miriam Black is a very interesting character and it’s good to see Wendig making her more complex and nuanced with every book.
I think you really need to have read the first book to get the most from this one (though I think it would work as a standalone to some extent). I would recommend it just as much as Blackbirds.

Rating: B+

monkey?

Posted on by Greig

Blackout

Mira Grant

blackoutThe final book of the Newsflesh trilogy closes things off in spectacular fashion.
It would spoil things too much to reveal why and how it gets so good but I totally loved it.
I raced through this book, completely absorbed from beginning to end. I really can’t recommend it highly enough.

Rating: A

transient?

Posted on by Greig

The Song of the Quarkbeast

Jasper Fforde

Song of the QuarkbeastThe second of Fforde’s YA fantasy sequence sees our heroine plunged into a battle for the future of magic.
It’s a fun little romp – if a little disjointed feeling compared to the first book.
I’m looking forward to book three – which looks like it’s going to be very interesting.
Certainly recommended if you’re looking for an amusing YA fantasy.

Rating: B+

spackle?

Posted on by Greig

The Knife of Never Letting Go

Patrick Ness

the knife of never letting goIt was a surprise to hear that Mr Ness had become an award winner for YA fiction.
Back in 2005 I read a collection of his short stories and a future writing science fiction for teenagers didn’t look very likely at that point.
That said – this is a really good book.
Todd has grown up in a world filled with Noise – the thoughts that pour from the mind of every man since the war with the native aliens.
He’s the last boy in Prentisstown, just days away from his birthday and the ritual passage into adulthood when his world is changed by the discovery of a hole in the Noise. Forced to go on the run he learns the extent of the lies that have ruled his life.
Ness writes in a way that pulls you into the story, while also having really interesting things to say about the nature of identity and the drawbacks of psychic ability.
I’m looking forward to reading the sequels and I would definitely recommend this book.

Rating: A-

shades?

Posted on by Greig

Mr Darcy’s Diary

Amanda Grange

mr darcys diaryThis book retells the story of Pride and Prejudice from the perspective of Darcy.
Yes I only read this because I miss The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.
To be fair though this is a pretty enjoyable read. It helps that it’s an epistolary novel and that the language is less mannered than in the original novel.
I don’t really think the author consistently captured Darcy’s perspective and voice but it’s really good fun to see some of the famous sections of P&P told from his perspective.
I can only recommend this to people who love Pride & Prejudice or one of it’s adaptations. Otherwise you should read the original, or you know maybe watch The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.

Rating: B

quarkbeast?

Posted on by Greig

The Last Dragonslayer

Jasper Fforde

This is a young adult comic fantasy by the author of the Thursday Next books.
Jennifer Strange, a 15 year old foundling, runs an employment agency for magical practitioners. It’s all going relatively smoothly until a premonition of the death of the last living dragon causes chaos.
The comic approach in this book is so distinctively Fforde that even if you hadn’t noticed the author’s name on the cover you could tell this who the author is within a couple of pages.
I enjoyed it a fair bit – enough that I’m going to read the sequel – but it is a very slight tale.
Give it a go if you’ve liked Fforde’s other stuff.

Rating: B