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Now that the weather is finally beginning to get a little bet warm my poor brain is suffering from spring fever. I've been having a hard time remembering what I read last week, or even yesterday so I was going through my book database trying to remember what I had been reading. To my surprise I found several books that I thought had been featured and had slipped through the cracks so some of this week's books were read months ago.
So many of the books I've read recently and loved were ones I reviewed for Booklist so they aren't reviewed here. Check Booklist out for Dragon and Liberator by Timothy Zahn and The Immortal Prince: Book One of The Tide Lords by Jennifer Fallon.
My favorite RA tool is Reader's Advisor Online and I absolutely love the free blog with Cindy Orr's excellent RA Run Down every week. She puts together a bestseller mashup and a few other lists each week that I really enjoy perusing.
Spring is finally in the air. Today, though, there is lots of air blowing at high velocity melting the snow. Lots of great new books keep showing up.
This Week's Books
I love science fiction. I remember as a kid walking through the stacks in the library looking for spine labels that showed a rocket ship with the atomic symbol superimposed on it. I know a lot of people don't think they like science fiction but it is a diverse genre. This week I'm featuring a novel that feels like a teen problem novel dealing with family and health issues but is actually a near future sf novel. The adult pick this week is great for anyone who like hard-boiled detective noir. The detective just happens to be a robot.
Happy reading,
D
Had a terrific time in Virginia Beach. I was quite impressed with all I met at the All Staff Training Day. It was an extremely well planned and organized event. The library put me up at a resort hotel on the beach which made for a lovely stay. Carolyn C. who served with me on the YALSA Fantasy Genre committee several years ago gave me a tour of Virginia Beach including a gorgeous state park.
This week's books are both debuts. Both are historical fantasy, rich in authentic details of the era.
Jo Graham's Black Ships is an extraordinary novel, lush, rich, and descriptive. It is the kind of historical fantasy that makes the reader want to know more about the era and lands depicted.
Marissa Doyle's Bewitching Season is a delectable combination of magic and the Victorian era.
I read several other great new books that I enjoyed. Robert Fate's new Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption, the third Kristin Van Dijk novel is full of 50's noir. Unquiet Dreams, Mark del Franco's second urban fantasy detective novel featuring Connor Grey made my flight back from Virginia Beach pass quickly. Matt de la Pena's Mexican WhiteBoy really resonated. Teens have enough trouble discovering their own identities but when one is of mixed ethnicity he or she can feel like an outsider everywhere. Currently I'm in the middle of Small Favors, the tenth in Jim Butcher's excellent Harry Dresden files.
March 8, 2008 Update
Just discovered that the updates to Recent Reads had not been saving. Sheesh! Anyway they are back now and linked to the reviews.
Updated the Genre Links. Roll over links on the left to click on Genre Links. If you know of some great sites for genre fiction information please feel free to send them to me at dherald @ sff . net
I'll be in Virginia Beach next week for the Virginia Beach Public Library All Staff Training Day. Looks to be great fun. When I lived on the east coast Virginia Beach was a favorite destination.
Just finished reading Stephanie Meyer's forthcoming adult novel The Host. I'm now reading Jacqueline Winspear's An Incomplete Revenge in which Maisie Dobbs has taken up the fiber arts which is a topic near and dear to my heart. Also read Will Hobbs' middle school novel Go Big or Go Home. As always a very enjoyable experience.
I've been totally swamped lately. Then to top it off I got the chance to take a week off in Mexico with my dh, sis, and b-i-l so off I went. I did get to read some terrific books while I was there. Since I was reading them to review for Booklist you will have to look there or at your library's subscription to the hard copy to read about them. I had to almost wrestle my reluctant reader husband to the ground to get Lonely Werewolf Girl away from him so I could read it.
I've been reading lots of great books lately. I'll be posting them on Good Reads so you may want to pop over there to see what I've been reading and how I rate it. Other recent reads include Just a Taste, a delicious romance set in Brooklyn written by Deirdre Martin, Suckerpunch, a hard hitting teen issues novel by David Hernandez, Black Ships by Jo Graham, a wonderful take on the Aeneid from the oracle's pov and The Fires of Ares by Michael Ford, a middle grade-middle school novel of ancient Greece.
I love fantasy, especially well constructed believable fantasy with characters I care about. Last year I loved The New Policeman by Kate Thompson but I think, perhaps, that I like her new book, The Last of the High Kings, due out in June, even better.
This has been such an unrelentingly snowy winter, I've need to escape. My second favorite way (since I can't spend the entire winter on a Mexican beach) is escaping into pageturning fiction. The Accident Man, while not warm or sunny, did provide a welcome respite from the snow and cold with its fast paced action and intriguing premise.
I've been reading lots of great books lately. I'll be posting them on Good Reads so you may want to pop over there to see what I've been reading and how I rate it. Other recent reads include Just a Taste, a delicious romance set in Brooklyn written by Deirdre Martin, Suckerpunch, a hard hitting teen issues novel by David Hernandez, Black Ships by Jo Graham, a wonderful take on the Aeneid from the oracle's pov and The Fires of Ares by Michael Ford, a middle grade-middle school novel of ancient Greece.
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I've loved Regency romance ever since my teens when I cleaned house for a woman who worked for Denver Public Library. The best part was that she had a complete collection of Georgette Heyer novels in her basement and I could read them on my breaks and lunch hour. The new Regency era romances are quite a bit spicier than their predecessors but for those who can't get enough of that era it is great to find them.
Sara Zarr's debut novel Story of a Girl really rocked. Her second novel proves that it wasn't a fluke. She is definitely a rising YA lit star.
I'm back from Philly and the American Library Association midwinter meeting. It was great to see all my library and publishing pals as well as seeing some of the new and forthcoming books. Cindy Orr put up some of the awards and links to other on the Readers Advisor Online Blog. There is also a new Readers Advisor News.
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So many books so little time. As I was trying to come up with a list of my favorite books of the year I realized that most of them were books written for teens. As I pondered on this I figured that we are just in a time period when some of the best storytelling is being bought up by the houses that publish for young people. So many authors for adults have jumped on the bandwagon there must be something of a boom going on.
As a result this week I couldn't get my list of books I loved down to two or three so you will see several. I loved all of them but I would have to say Unwind is probably going to end up on my short list of the year's favorites. Defect was also superb. I didn't receive my copy until the deadline for nominations for Quick Picks and Best Books or I would have nominated it.
Several titles were nominated this year for both Best Books and Quick Picks. Take a look at the Reader's Advisor Online Blog for a list and if your library subscribes you can see the annotations and readalikes. If your library doesn't subscribe it can sign up for a free trial. Win - win all the way.
Remember there is a search box at the bottom of this page. If you click on Genrefluent it will search this site. Check for reviews and teen comments on your favorite books or for suggestions of good reads.
Happy reading.
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1st week of December, 2007
Guess what? Today Wildblue's installer/repair person called to set up the repair on my satellite internet. It took them FIVE WEEKS to call to give me an estimate of when they could come out to get my internet up and running again. Gee! I am really glad I switched providers.
Anyway, I've continued to read up a storm despite all the wonderful, enjoyable chaos brought along with Thanksgiving. This week I'm featuring two outstanding books published for teens but that adults will also enjoy. There really seems to be a dearth of great science fiction this year so thank goodness for the publishers of teen fiction for helping to fill that gap. Scott Westerfeld was great when he was writing sf for adults and adults enjoy the sf he writes for teens. Don't miss his work.
Adrienne Maria Vrettos is a new author to me. I missed her debut novel Skin but will definitely have to look for it since Sight was so fabulous. It is another book published for teens that will also appeal to adults.
Happy reading.