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I love a good fantasy story, full of high adventure, mystery, intrigue, romance, and strange magic. For a long time, a lot of fantasy worlds, influenced by Tolkien's Middle-earth, have been based on a romanticized version of medieval Western Europe. Which is fine, I love me some Tolkien, but I've been wanting to branch out to other fantasy lately, fantasy that's less Tolkienesque. Someone recommended Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy, set in a world that's like a magical version of Tsarist Russia, and since a lot of my ancestors came from Russia, I dove into the first book, Shadow and Bone.

Alin

The kingdom of Carthya is in trouble. The royal family is dead, the neighboring kingdoms are starting to whittle away at its borders, and a civil war is brewing between nobles. To prevent chaos from descending upon Carthya, Conner, an unscrupulous nobleman, devises a desperate plan. What if the king's youngest son, who has been lost at sea, suddenly returns to save the kingdom and stop the invasion of its neighbors? All he needs is someone to act the part. Enter Sage, orphan, impertinent thief, and general pain in Conner's side. He is one of four boys chosen to be groomed to play the part of

The main character of Michael Ende’s Momo  is a nine year old girl who, after noticing subtle changes in her friends and neighbors, quickly finds herself battling the mysterious and evil Men in Grey. Who are these ominous, bald “salesmen” who go around convincing just about everyone that by saving as much time as possible and depositing that time in the Men in Grey’s bank, they will get it back with interest at some later point? No one really knows. One by one, though, everyone that Momo knows falls under their spell, turning their once friendly town into a bastion of meanness, irritability

If ever there were an author who could squeeze the most meaning out of the least amount of writing, it is Australian author David Malouf. In a spare 150 pages, Malouf tells the story of an exiled Roman poet living among “barbarians” who discovers a boy alone in the wilderness.  He convinces the tribe’s leader to capture the boy so that he can teach him to live as a man.  The task is fraught with attacks from wives and grandmothers who believe the boy is possessed by an animal spirit that will infect their families. Infection occurs, but of what kind . . . and why?

Malouf is exceptional at

I confess, I was not immediately entranced by Harvest, and it was not until I started following the popular Downton Abbey television series that I began to appreciate the perspective presented in Jim Crace’s novel. This book offers a glimpse of life on the grounds beyond a great house during a time of modernization.

The story takes place in a secluded English village in some unspecified past, during a time when Inclosure Acts began allowing privatizing the open fields of English manors, and landowners transitioned from community crop harvests to more profitable forms of agriculture. Against

Jonathan Stroud’s latest book is a thrilling fantasy set in England in which ghosts roam the nights. Only the very young can see, hear, or otherwise sense spirits. As children near puberty, abilities to see or hear spirits surface, and they are thereby trained and employed by businesses whose sole purpose is to identify and detain or destroy the spirits. As teenagers age into young adulthood, their powers of detection fade, leaving whole corps of preteens and teens to carry out the work, risking their lives in the process.



Anthony Lockwood has no intention of toiling away for a company

Zach, Poppy and Alice are at an age where they should be putting away such things as dolls. At least this is what everyone keeps telling them. By using their action figures, Barbies and dolls they have purchased from Goodwill, they have created their own unique fantasy world of pirates, ladies and one bone-china doll they have dubbed Queen. To save their friendship, Poppy takes Queen out of her mother's cabinet and strange things begin to happen. Queen convinces them to undertake their own quest where they take a bus trip, sail a sailboat and break into a library, all to fulfill what they

Anna, a Gold Ribbon Safety Citizen is prepared for anything except moving from her beloved Colorado home to her father’s small Kansas hometown.  Her father, a minister, is called to accept this post until a replacement can be found.   Most of Oakwood's townspeople are related but she eventually embraces them and their unique ways.  Anna has a bumpy ride from the first but she soon comes to see things differently.  This book would be appropriate for ages 8-12.

Standish Treadwell stands on the brink of bringing down an elaborate hoax perpetrated by the insidious rulers of the Motherland, an alternate-universe mashup of Stalinist Russia and the Nazi-era Germany. Messing with the Greenflies, as they’re known, means certain death. After all, they imprisoned and tortured his best friend Hector, killed his teacher, and threatened his family. They would certainly do worse to Standish, whose bravery does not go unnoticed by the evil rulers.   However, success means striking the Greenflies where they’re most vulnerable.  Standish’s love for Hector gives him

The third book in Catherynne M. Valente's Fairyland series, The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two, may be the best of the lot. (I reviewed the first two books here and here.) September, the young Nebraska girl who is our protagonist, is growing older and growing up. She desperately wants to return to Fairyland, but she's also anxious about her future there and at home. She doesn't know what she wants to do with her life, what she'll be when she grows up, and she's certain this is something she needs to figure out as soon as possible. She's insecure and uncertain, and when

If you liked the dystopian themes in Kiera Cass' The Selection, Ally Condie's Matched or Gennifer Albin's Crewel, then ​Landry Park is for you.

In a future where nuclear energy has replaced electricity, there is a sharp divide between those who live privileged lives fueled by this energy and those who live oppressed lives working with the energy.  In this world, a young woman has to make the choice between what’s known, safe, and comfortable and the uncertain, dangerous, can’t-be-forgotten truth. Will she be loyal to her family and ancestors, or will she stand up for what she knows is right?

The War of 1812 is one of the “forgotten wars” of the United States. It is, however, the conflict that helped to create the nation we have and provided the inspiration to our national anthem. In Through the Perilous Fight, Steve Vogel skillfully weaves together a narrative highlighting an eight week period of Washington D.C.’s history. Despite poor decisions, bad tactics, and the demoralizing burning of the city, the United States managed to survive and end the war that came very close to destroying the fledgling country. The only thing that I would have added is a back story to the War of

Friday crisscrosses Australia with her mother, hearing tales of how her female ancestors have all died of drowning on auspicious Saturdays. Her mother has a knack with weaving tales, and Friday Brown is caught in her web...until her mother is diagnosed with cancer. Friday watches her mother waste away to nothing, until she dies quietly in the night, her lungs filled with fluid.

Friday sets out on her own, heading into the city, looking for a father she never knew. Instead she finds a different family in a group of squatters lead by the fearless Arden. Friday doesn't feel comfortable in the

The Icarus is the largest and most technologically advanced ship in the universe. Traveling across space in hyper-drive, the ship is transporting valuable cargo, Lilac LaRoux, daughter of the richest man in the universe...in fact her father built the ship. Tarver Merendsen is a young war hero, recently elevated to the rank of Major. An unlikely pair, the two are thrown together when the Icarus is violently pulled out of hyper-drive ripping the ship to pieces. The two barely have time to get to an escape pod before the ship is destroyed and Lilac and Tarver, the only survivors, crash land on an

When Haley calls home and no one answers the phone by the 2nd ring, she is figures her dad is sleeping. When no one picks up by the 10th ring, she hopes he is mowing the lawn. When no one picks up by the 20th, she knows something is wrong. Something is horribly wrong. She begs a ride from Finn, the editor of the school newspaper who has been nagging her to write for him. But the car is too small, Finn drives to slow, and something is wrong at home. Haley can't breathe, she can't think, she needs out! When a police car pulls up beside them at a stop-light, Haley is down to her last thread of

The setting is Russia. The time is 1914. The place is a count’s estate. From the time she was young, Lara has spent most of her time in the kennels with the famed borzoi dogs. For centuries these dogs were bred by aristocrats for hunting. To Lara, they are her life and her future. She has a special bond with the dogs that goes beyond the normal relationship between animals and their humans.

What seems so obvious to Lara, that she belongs in the kennel with the Borzoi, is not as clear-cut to her father. And in 1914, the decision is her father’s to make.

This story would be a good read for

My daughters and I found this book especially fun to read. We all enjoy baseball, but we also love to learn about Japan (we have family there). My girls love learning words in Japanese, besides the fun comparisons on each page of differences between Japan and America. The art is funky and and exciting. - See more at: http://jocolibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1226618036_take_me_out_t…

The Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre in 1911.  Morton has taken the facts and created a very entertaining story to fit the circumstances.  We do know that a man named Peruggia who had worked at the Louvre, stole the painting and Morton adds a rich cast of characters and an interesting plot to the theft.  Paris at the turn of the century is a character itself!  In Morton’s story,  Valfierno is the chief architect of the theft and its elaborate con. Beautiful women, beautiful women who are pickpockets, and famous artists who paint beautiful women populate this book making it a fun read!

John Green writes novels for young adults, but you don't have to be young to enjoy them.  I'm forty-three, and he's one of my favorite contemporary authors.  I became a fan of Green not by reading his books but by watching videos on his amazing YouTube channels CrashCourse, Mental Floss, and Vlogbrothers.  I thought I was too sophisticated and mature to read a young-adult novel, but I love Green so much I gave him a shot.  Most fans of John Green that I know love his book The Fault in Our Stars the best, but my favorite John Green novel is Looking for Alaska.  It’s the story of a 16-year-old

In his Spero Lucas Mystery series, Pelecanos features a present day Travis McGee (series by John D. MacDonald). Lucas is a U.S. Marine veteran of the war in Iraq and the Washington D.C. setting is a character in itself.

People come to Speros when they want to retrieve something that would normally be irretrievable. He obliges them because he loves danger and he keeps 40% of the item's value. In The Double, second in the series,(The Cut is the first) the item in question is a painting that has been stolen, and the woman from whom it was stolen wants it back. Finding and retrieving the painting

In the Palm of Your Hand isn’t just a handy poetry guide for poets, it also contains a hefty chunk of poems from both known and lesser-known poets.  Steve Kowit masterfully demonstrates that a combination of both writing and reading is essential for a strong and extensive writing path.

The book is organized quite well with simple but thorough explanations of various aspects and forms of poetry followed by thoughtful exercises.  Poems are peppered throughout the book, offering direction, insight and inspiration. 

I was quite impressed with the unique and multi-faceted exercises.  The

In the days before Hurricane Katrina is to hit Bois Savage, Mississippi, families are preparing their homes for the event as they’ve always done. Young Esch and her brothers have been left to their own devices since their mother’s death as their father is usually too drunk to care for them. One brother struggles to win a coveted scholarship to basketball camp, one dotes on his Pit Bull who has just birthed a liter of valuable puppies, Esch reaches a startling and unwelcome epiphany, and the youngest just gets in everyone’s way.

This is a very difficult book to read, and thus this review isn’t

Poor Doug Parker. At 29, he’s living a life he never anticipated. And it's great. Surprisingly great. Great, until his wife Haley goes off and dies, leaving him alone to deal with his 16-year-old stepson, Haley's beefed-up ex-husband, and a crushing sadness that prevents him from really living.

Tropper has a gift for realistically portraying emotion. In the titles I’ve sampled, Tropper’s main characters are stuck in a suspended state, whether it be grief, or shock, surprise, bewilderment, or all of the above. And there is always a caste of wonderful characters, mostly dysfunctional family

Most of us have a general sense of what hoarding is, from popular TV shows such as Hoarders and other news programs. We've seen the pictures and heard the horror stories of the type of conditions that people live in when they live with hoarders. But as a child, author Kimberly Rae Miller had never heard the term, so she never knew what was wrong with her dad. She knew it wasn't normal, but she and her mom spent many years thinking they must be the only family living this way. She longed to have a "normal" childhood, to invite friends over and not be embarrassed if someone happened to drop by

Life was good for Bad Kitty when it was just her at home with her human parents.  Then one day they adopt a stupid, disgusting dog.  Bad Kitty eventually learns to tolerate the dog.  Then, Bad Kitty’s human parents bring home another horrible, retched creature.  Bad Kitty assumes it’s another dog, but the neighborhood cats think it’s another cat.  They decide to enter this new creature into The Kitty Olympics to see how she competes.  Bad Kitty finally learns that this creature is not a cat or a dog: it’s a human baby.  Now what's she supposed to do?  This children's chapter book is hilarious

A man decides to craft a book of definitions for his disabled son and struggles to find the right words. For his inspiration, he reads the poems of William Blake – an unlikely choice for the down-to-earth job of defining things but ultimately one that offers an amazing treasure for readers – reading Blake through the lens of an author who makes his poetry accessible without sacrificing its otherworldliness.   

Interspersed among poetic musings is the story of Eeyore, the disabled son – from his birth with an attached second brain to him becoming a young man with a burgeoning talent for

"One book. Two readers. A world of mystery, menace, and desire."  S is the brain child of Lost creator J. J. Abrams and put into form by Doug Dorst. It has mystery, romance, self-discovery, conspiracy, and the idea that nothing/no one is quite as they seem.

To start of with, this is a strange book. I first saw the book trailer for it, and knew that it was something I had to read. S is told in two parts (or maybe more depending on how you read it). First you have Ship of Theseus, a bizarre Lemony-Snicket-like story for adults. It is touted as the final work of one V.M. Straka, a enigmatic

The morning after Seth walks into the Pacific Ocean and is crushed on the rocks by the brutal waves, he wakes up. It is impossible, his shoulder was broken, his skull pulverized on the sharp reef near his Oregon home. He has been transported to the small English town where he grew up (and left when he was only 8 for a better life in America). Everything is exactly the same as he left it...exactly. Nothing has moved, no one has trespassed, no one has cleaned. The house is filled with dust, the lawn has grown unruly and the cabinets are full of moldy food. When he steps outside he discovers that

Rudy's life changes drastically when the family moves to a remote island for his ailing little brother's health. A fairly popular guy at school (especially with the ladies) Rudy is one of the few people below 30 living on the island. Everyone on the island is there for one reason...the magic fish that appear to have the ability to heal any illness. When the doctors and medicine fail his little brother, Rudy's family risks everything to come to the island. 



While his little brother seems to improve, Rudy counts down the days until he leaves for college, and a return to a normal life. Meanwhile

Victor Vale and Eli Cardale are brilliant calculating risk-takers and the smartest pre-med students at their prestigious university; they also happen to be best friends.  For a class project, Eli decides to research the so-called E.O.'s--extraordinary people who seem to demonstrate abnormal abilities not unlike superpowers.  What's more, during his research, Eli realizes that he might be able to synthesize an E.O., and he wants to try it on himself.  What happens next leave both him and Victor changed forever.  

Fast forward ten years.  Victor has just escaped prison with his intimidating