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Fantasy/ Parody/ Sword and Sorcery/ Fairy Tales Heroics for Beginners Moore, John Ace 0-441-011934 2004

Prince Kevin Timberline of Rassendas is in the Kingdom of Deserae vying for the hand of Princess Rebecca, the Ice Princess when Thunk the Barbarian arrives, mortally injured, from the Evil Overlord’s Fortress of Doom and announces that the Evil Overlord is in possession of Deserae’s Ancient Artifact. Kevin and Becky, who have been secretly meeting and are madly in love, are more than dismayed to learn that all Kevin’s carefully orchestrated moves to win the approval of the council of Lords has been thrust aside in favor of Prince Logan who is going to lead an assault on the Fortress of Evil. “Borrowing” a book titled The Handbook of Practical Heroics from the palace library, Kevin sets out to retrieve the Ancient Artifact before it can be put to use in the Diabolical Device (a weapon of mass destruction) and before Prince Logan can get it and win Becky’s hand. Not being a timid stay-at-home miss, Becky, armed with Thunk’s sword and wearing a chain mail bustier, decides to follow Kevin and act as his comic sidekick as he faces Lord Voltmeter (He who must be named), evil minions, and Valerie, Voltmeter’s sexy Evil Assistant. This tongue-in-cheek parody of sword-and-sorcery novels is a delight to read. For me it was a stay-up-late-to-finish-it laugh-out-loud romp. It is a great choice for those who like their fantasy funny -- readers of Pratchett and Asprin as well as those who liked the humorous twist Lackey put on fantasy archetypes in her The Fairy Godmother.

YA/ Contemporary/ Humorous Cheshire, Simon Kissing Vanessa Delacorte 0-385-7312-0 lib-0-385-90242-5

Entertaining humorous tale of tenth grade photographer Kevin Watts who falls in love with Vanessa, the new girl and one of the most talented photographers he’s ever seen. Everything that can go wrong does from trying to impress her parents to trying to make her jealous. A great quick pick.

Adventure / Medical Thriller Science Fiction Robinson, Frank M. The Donor Forge 0-765-31086-4

College student Dennis Heller wakes up in a small clinic after what he thought was a minor car accident with a huge surgical incision. After being told that he had internal injuries that required exploratory surgery, he overhears the surgeon talking about killing him and escapes to nearly die on the street before a young couple finds him and takes him to a hospital emergency room. Terrified, he refuses to give his real name, and learns that he has just had a kidney removed and that what he thought was gall bladder surgery a year earlier was really the removal of a big chunk of his liver. Spending a month recuperating with the two who rescued him, Dennis comes home one day and finds them murdered. Linking up with his one and only friend, Graham, he goes to Alaska to visit an uncle who lives a dog-sled ride away from town but finds betrayal and murder. This fast paced medical thriller will please fans of Tess Gerritsen and Michael Palmer.

YA/ Contemporary/ Humorous Ehrenhaft, Daniel Tell It to Naomi Delacorte 0385731299

Humor just gets no respect but readers do love it. Dave Rosen is often accused of being too much in touch with his feminine side which he blames on growing up in a household of women -- his mom, aunt, and his sister Naomi who is an unemployed journalist. A gorgeous new girl named Celeste tells him of the advice column she wrote at her previous school and he figures it might be his way into finding a place for himself in his school. The school newspaper advisor refuses to believe Dave writes the column since he formerly dated Naomi and is positive she is writing it. As Dave tries to solve the problems of his correspondents he must face his own problems. Tell it to Naomi is entertaining and enjoyable fun.

YA/ Historical/ North America/ 20th Century YA/ Issues/ Racism McDonald, Joyce Devil on My Heels Delacorte 0-385-73107-8

Fifteen-year-old Dove Alderman, the motherless child of an orange grove owner begins to see her hometown of Benevolence, Florida in a different light when Gator, a Black boy she had played with as a child returns to town and she sees him and the white daughter of a “picker” being harassed and Gator being beaten. She is mad at her lifelong friend Chase for not stepping in to stop things but she is also shocked that she just stood by and did nothing. As she looks more closely at her town and its inhabitants she finds that her father is a member of the KKK and that the husband of Delia, the beloved housekeeper who had raised her, was purposely run down and killed by her father’s racist overseer. The action heats up as the white residents and the pickers who are mostly people of color fall into conflict over unfair labor practices and fear. McDonald’s beautifully constructed story brings 1959 rural Florida vividly to life. The characters are believable and real, interacting in a story that increases in intensity while skillfully weaving in historical detail and realistic conflict while building to an exciting climax. Quirky little things add to the story like Dove’s propensity for reading poetry to dead boys in cemeteries. One can almost hear the soundtrack of familiar rock classics of the 50s while reading.

Fantasy de Lint, Charles The Blue Girl Viking 0670059242

Imogene sees the move she makes to de Lint’s legendary city of Newford the perfect chance to shed her bad girl persona. The first day she selects conservative looking, hard-studying Maxine as her new best friend. She also starts having troubling dreams featuring her childhood imaginary friend and meet Adrian, the ghost of a boy who is said to have committed suicide by leaping off the high school roof. As in most of de Lint’s oeuvre the line between reality and faerie softens and fades, this time forcing Imogene, Adrian, and Maxine into fighting the dark side of faerie. An outstanding urban fantasy novel that is destined to be a high-school favorite. Readers who love The Blue Girl may also enjoy Holly Black’s Tithe and Midori Snyder’s Hannah’s Garden.

Non-Fiction Rosedale, Ron, M.D. and Carol Colman The Rosedale Diet Harper Collins 0-06-056572-1

When a publicist for this book asked if I would like to see a review copy I thought it was a peculiar request for a web site that reviews fiction. Then I started to rationalize. In fact I’ve never read a diet book that actually worked (for me) making the books other than factual therefore fiction and the claims made always seem to be more than a little fantasy based. Living in a time where every fast-food vendor seems to have a marquee proclaiming its low-carb choices and even automobile muffler shops advertise a “lo-carb” muffler for your car it is obvious that dieting is a legitimate cultural phenomenon. Kit Reed’s recent science fiction satire Thinner Than Thou addresses the very subject. Anyway I accepted the review copy of the book and very much liked what I read. The Rosedale Diet purports to “burn off excess body fat, quickly and easily” while stabilizing out of whack metabolisms. This is a concept I can really get behind. While it has very restrictive food choices many of the allowed foods are ones that I love including avocados and olives. Fiction is easy to evaluate -- one either is swept up by the characters and plot making for a good read or not. With a non-fiction book a different evaluative process is required which is why I’m starting my Rosedale Diet blog where I will chronicle my experiences with the entire Rosedale Diet experience (despite the annoying banner ads).

Historical Peck, Richard The Teacher’s Funeral: A Comedy in Three Parts 0803727364

Humorous and entertaining historical fiction revolving around a boy and his high school aged sister who becomes the teacher at the local one room school. As usual Peck has written a delightful tale, this time for middle grade readers or anyone nostalgic for the “good-old-days.”

 

Religion in Fantasy Adventure/ Exploration Lindskold, Jane The Buried Pyramid Tor 0765302608

After going to England, recently orphaned nineteen-year-old Jenny Benet persuades her uncle and guardian sir Neville Hawthorne to all her to accompany him and his quirky hieroglyphs teacher Stephen Hamboe on their quest to find a hidden valley in Egypt that holds the remains of the forgotten Pharaoh Neferankhotep called the “lawgiver” who a German scholar heard about when researching the archeological record for Moses. The Indiana Jones-like adventure turns to fantasy when they are locked in a buried pyramid and escape through passages to the shores of a Nile that shouldn’t be there where they help Ra travel the dangers of night so the sun can rise again. Jenny is an engaging heroine, raised on the American frontier, and a dead shot as well as an accomplished medic who had worked with her physician father before her parents were slain. The Victorian setting and ambiance adds interest. While the first part is rather slow going it does present a wealth of information on ancient Egypt as seen by the Victorians and sets the adventure up nicely.

YA/ Contemporary/ Coming of Age Mackler, Carolyn Vegan Virgin Valentine

Practically perfect Mara Valentine is dismayed when in the middle of her senior year, her sixteen-year-old niece V comes to live with her and her parents. While Mara is a class officer, presumed valedictorian, and all around good-girl, V smokes (both tobacco and weed) and soon achieves a reputation as a slut. Throughout the rest of the school year things change as Mara falls in love with her 22-year-old boss who didn't even go to college and V finds her own hidden talents. Another finely crafted coming-of-age novel by a Printz Honor winner.

Science Fiction/ Satire / Dystopia Reed, Kit Thinner Than Thou Tor

In a future where thin bodily perfection has become the national obsession, evangelical Reverend Earl runs a spa and the Dedicated Sisters are a religious order that minister to the anorexic, bulimic, and the morbidly obese. In places it is evocative of Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale while in others Stephenson’s Snow Crash comes to mind. Science Fiction satire of the best kind.

Women’s Fiction Lane, Linda Katherine’s Song Edit et Cetera 0-9746-1220-0

Ed’s dying words to Katherine, his wife of twenty-nine years are devastating. He asks her to quit the hospital job that she loves and take over his printing business. With all three of their adult children working there it is truly a family business even though Quin, Ed’s business partner is also very involved. Oren, Edmund’s brother who looks just like him but has none of his good qualities shows up demanding a job as personnel manager and insisting that Ed had wanted him to take charge of the family business. Oren is an all around bad guy, horribly abusing his wife Yoshi and their son Micah. As Katherine tries to figure out the business and the relationships, her daughter Markie blames her for Ed's death while daughter Anne fights to keep her twins from being born too early. While Katherine is visiting the hospital late at night to see the twins she meets Yoshi who has been brought into the emergency room after Oren beat her nearly to death causing her to loose her unborn daughter and throwing her and Micah out.

Entertaining reading and an admirable first novel even if Oren is too one dimensional and has no redeeming qualities. Lane is a storyteller to watch.

Children's/ Time Travel Griffin, Peni R. 11,000 Years Lost Amulet / Abrams 0-8109-48228

Not too long after 11-year-old Esther finds a Clovis point she sees a shimmer in the air near the dig that has started at her school following her find and discovers that she has gone back in time to Ice Age Texas. More complex but a good read a-like for Luli Grey’s Timetwister that is set in Europe.

YA/ Contemporary/ Coming of Age Contents Under Pressure Zeises, Lara M. Delacorte 0385730470

Fourteen-year-old Lucy Doyle has never been kissed and feels that her friends are leaving her behind. Her beloved older brother is off at Berklee (music school) and seems to never even have time to talk to her on the phone and her younger brother eats his boogers. When her brother comes home on an unexpected visit and heads off to a football game with there dad she tracks them down and runs and jumps on her brother but instead finds herself jumping on the most popular boy in the school who actually likes her. Her brother has returned home with his pregnant girlfriend who is going to room with Lucy. A very sweet true-to-life coming of age tale.

YA/ Issues/ Homelessness and Foster Living/ Mental Illness & Psychological Challenges Heck, Superhero Leavitt, Martine Front Street 1-886910-94-4

Thirteen-year-old Heck is suddenly homeless and alone when his severely depressed mother disappears after the landlord locks them out of their apartment. A talented artist, he desperately wants his portfolio out of the apartment to turn in for his semester grade. He feels flat; like a two dimensional stick figure. Whenever he is stressed he starts to draw superheroes and tries to change his luck by doing Good Deeds which sometimes lands him in deeper trouble. A touching and powerful book that will linger long in the reader’s mind.

Horror/ Possession/ Monsters YA/ Paranormal The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray Wooding, Chris Orchard 0439546567

This enthralling blend of horror, detection, historical fiction, and fantasy will call to mind both Lovecraft and Pullman. A young woman bereft of memories it taken to wych hunter Thaniel who along with Cathaline tries to keep the dank, dark streets of London safe from the wide variety of wych-kin who menace its inhabitants. As a diabolical plan by the Fraternity is unearthed the true extent of the peril facing humanity comes into focus. Readers will be fascinated by Wooding’s complex and inventive world where evil takes many forms and invades in unexpected ways. 

Romance / Historical / Georgian Ross, Julia The Wicked Lover Berkley 042519406X

Ross’s Georgian romances are never what one expects. They have a vein of eroticism and plots and characters that push the boundaries of the genre making for not to be missed reads. When Robert Sinclair Dovenby “Dove” returns home he discovers his mistress, the powerful Lady Grenham is very publicly dumping him by burning all his belongings in public. The event was precipitated by the arrival of a young woman and her manservant who Lady Grenham has tied to Dove’s bed. George White, the manservant, is in actuality Sylvie Georgiana, the Countess of Montevrain, who Dove institutes as his secretary. Sylvie, who is spying on him in an effort to destroy him is unaware that Dove knows she is a woman in disguise. Twists and turns entwine with sensuality and suspense to make this lush romance a page turner. Julia Ross also wrote under the name Jean Ewing Ross.

Crime / Detection / Humorous Rosenfelt, David Bury the Lead Mysterious Press     0-89296-782-x

Andy Carpenter, Northern New Jersey criminal attorney has no worries what with all the money he’s accumulated lately, the Tara foundation that places rescued dogs, and a honey of a girlfriend he cleared in one of his earlier exploits. He has no idea that he is going to end up defending someone who is accused of seemingly killing women at random  and lopping the hands off his victims. Andy’s pal Vince at the newspaper puts him on a retainer shortly before his star reporter is arrested for the killings. Andy and his crew are likeable and just what the doctor ordered for recuperating from gall bladder surgery as long as giggles can be restrained from turning into guffaws. All is not laughs however, as Andy tries to balance right and wrong, ethics, and fairness.

Crime / Detection / Amateur Sleuth Henry, Sue The Serpent’s Trail NAL 0451211227

Henry’s latest cozy mystery features sixty-three year-old Maxie McNabb and her miniature daschund Stretch. Maxie travels by RV to Grand Junction, Colorado where Sarah, her best-friend since college days is dying. Sarah had something important to tell Maxie but has assured her that she has plenty of time to drive her motor home from her home in Alaska to Colorado but when Maxie arrives she finds Sarah’s home ransacked and Sarah in intensive care at the hospital. Before she dies, Sarah does tell Maxie that she has written “it” down sending Maxie on a hunt for secret compartments that could be hiding the message. Sarah’s boyfriend from college turns up and he and Maxie are nearly killed when driving in the nearby Colorado National Monument. Henry has obviously visited Grand Junction and paid close attention to local details.