The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

***I'm playing catch-up in a major way these days, so these reviews will be shorter than normal. Don't hold it against me. I am still only reviewing books I enjoyed - so the length of the review does not reflect my enjoyment level, just my memory and abhorrence for spoilers.)***

So I already knew I was going to like this, based purely on it being by the same man who brought us Coraline. Here's the premise: the book opens with the murder of the family of Nobody Owens, who manages to escape his crib and house and toddle up the street to the cemetery. Once inside the gates, the occupants of the cemetery (Ghosts and a corporeal guardian) decide to adopt and raise him. This is literally the coming-of-age story of a boy raised by ghosts. It's fascinating. There is sadness and suspense and a thrilling climax, but the overwhelming story is of this boys maturation. It's dark and witty and wise with the perfect amount of creepiness thrown in. A good October Book, I think.

From the NYT book review:

"The Graveyard Book, by turns exciting and witty, sinister and tender, shows Gaiman at the top of his form. In this novel of wonder, Neil Gaiman follows in the footsteps of long-ago storytellers, weaving a tale of unforgettable enchantment."

I agree with that last part. It's been months since I read it and I still find myself musing over bits of it. Well worth the read, I feel.

Enjoy!

Queen of the Dead by Stacy Kade

***I'm playing catch-up in a major way these days, so these reviews will be shorter than normal. Don't hold it against me. I am still only reviewing books I enjoyed - so the length of the review does not reflect my enjoyment level, just my memory and abhorrence for spoilers.)

This is book two in the Ghost and The Goth series and I loved it. These two have great (if reluctant) chemistry and there is plenty of it in this book. Without giving away too much, let's just say that another girl is thrown into the mix and she holds information into Will's past and abilities. There is much peril, suspense, some hauntings, some exorcisms, and some good old-fashioned banter. The third book is out May 1st, if you're a fan of Alona and Will (or you're looking for some good beach reading) pick up this one and then that one (but start with The Ghost and the Goth if you're new to the series.)

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

So I was really reluctant to read these bad boys. I'm still not sure why I held off, but let me tell you that I'm a little glad I did - the first book will be fresh in my mind when it hits the theater. Because I will be seeing it in the theater. (I hope.)

I finished The Hunger Games in a day.
I finished Catching Fire in a day.
I finished Mockingjay in two.

This is not an easy task when your two-year-old wants to read what Mommy is reading. And trust me - I did not read these out loud to him. At any part.

What I did do was inhale them. And cry, several times. Not at the deaths - most of those happen off-screen, although there was one that I bawled through - but at the other moments. The moments that made Katniss and her fellow Tributes (those who are sent to the Games in order to fight to the death) seem like human beings. Not even that - Collins masterfully reminded us that these are children being sent to battle to their deaths. Children who have been forced (through war, a truly oppressive government, and circumstance) to grow up entirely too quickly and who have too much responsibility on their shoulders.

Hunger Games is a page-turner. Collins level of suspense is up there in the circles of the legends, and her restraint is just enough so that those of us suffering from constant morning sickness didn't need to put the book in the freezer. It ends with the perfect wrap-up/set-up. I honestly believe you could put the book down, smile at yourself for a nicely wrapped story, and go on your way.

But if you did that you would miss out on Catching Fire, which picks up a few months later and is chock full of tension and exposition and suspense. I have heard that it is not as good as the first, but I'm going to go on record and say that is true in the way that The Two Towers was not as good as The Fellowship of the Ring. It is the middle book of a trilogy - there to arc you from book one to book two. This one has the added bonus of a great story and it leads very nicely into Mockingjay.

Mockingjay wraps it up. It even has a nice epilogue at the end of the Harry Potter twenty-years-later variety. I was told that it felt forced, but I didn't see it. I did see a bit of Collins reminding herself that she needs to go out as strongly as she came in - and I feel that she succeeded. There is action and exposition and maturation...it's delicious.

To summarize: read these. They are awesome.

PS: I totally want this song to appear in the movie somehow:



and this one (but maybe a later movie?)








****spoilerish: there's a really great love triangle. It makes the Bella/Edward/Jacob triangle look ridiculous. It's resolved really well, too. Meyer could take a few lessons. Many, many, many lessons.****

Wildwood by Colin Melor and Carson Ellis

Full Disclosure - I knew I was going to read this book the minute I heard it was coming out. Purely because it was written by the man who brought us this:

Meloy is a smart man. Evidenced here, when he appeared on Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me.

So, given that, let's talk about the book. It's sheer genius. 

A basic overview: 12 year old Prue is in the park with her 1yr old brother when he is stolen by a murder of crows and taken into the Impassable Wilderness. A school mate named Curtis follows her into the woods to help her save Mac and hijinks ensue. Because of course the Impassable Wildnerness is a magic wood - based on Forest Park in Oregon - that is actually called Wildwood and is inhabited by people and animals...all of whom speak and farm and have lives.

It's got a big flavor of Narnia, but with weaponry and a body count.

Let's talk about the illustrations for a moment - they are delicious. They add to the flavor and aid in the visualization of this vast new world he's created. (I do wonder what they do to the feedback loop, though....)

It was one of those books where I kept thinking "well, I'm just going to have to push through and finish this tonight...the sweet agony of waiting to find out what happens is KILLING ME!" and then I would realize there were well over a hundred pages left and I would sigh and put it off. But mark my words - if I didn't have a toddler to take care of, I wouldn't have put this book down. 

So you should give them a listen (if you're not already a fan) and give his appearance on Wait, Wait a listen...and then block out a chunk of time, get cozy, and read this book.

Trust me.

(ps - it's called Book One of the Wildwood Chronicles. More to come...?! Be still my heart!)

Pirate King by Laurie R King

This is the promo poster, isn't it divine?

I bought this bad boy in hardcover the week it came out. I'm a library girl, so the fact that I just went and bought it without reading it is high praise, indeed. 

It is the latest installment of the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series and I enjoyed every second. King has taken a slight turn with this one - it's almost a comedy. It's certainly humorous (even when the suspense is ratcheting up, the situation is still amusing) and still a page-turner.

I suspect that King has introduced a character we'll see again - one of the actresses in the movie Russell has sought employment with gets a lot of play.

Yes, you read that right. The premise here is that an assistant to a rather popular production company has gone missing and Scotland Yard (via Holmes) would like Russell to investigate - under cover, of course. So she buy fashionable shoes and boards a steamer to suss out what's happened. And it's not quite a comedy of errors from then on out. More like...a comedy of coincidences? A comedy of ironies? At any rate - it's many chapters of suspenseful fun.

This series just keeps getting better and better - after the last pair of novels (one ending with a cliff-hanger and the next wrapping up that adventure) it was nice to read a lighter tale about my favorite sleuthing duo.

The biggest downside that I could see arrived on the very last printed page of the book - the part where it talk about the author. I'll just quote it for you: "She lives in Northern California, where she is at work on her next novel of historical suspense, Garment of Shadows, to be published by Bantam in 2013." I will be quite miffed if this bruhaha about the Mayan calendar winds up being correct and I don't get a chance to read Garment of Shadows. I'll just have to stalk King in the afterlife to find out what happens.


If you haven't read this series, do start at the beginning, with The Beekeeper's Apprentice. It helps to read in order of publication.

Dark Goddess by Sarwat Chadda

This was amazing. You absolutely have to read the first one first - it's referred to often in this book, part of Billi's personal growth depends on events in the first book. It's nicely done, but you may find yourself thinking "what the heck...?" if you haven't read Devil's Kiss.

Consider yourself warned.

I love this series (so glad it's a series!) Chadda makes Joss Whedon look like he's telling campfire stories to ten year olds, if that makes sense. Don't get me wrong - I drink the Joss Whedon Kool-Aide and watch anything that bears his name. But his darkest moments are nothing compared to what Sarwat Chadda throws at Billi.

To wit: Billi is the only female member of the (still active, if lacking in funds and numbers) Knights Templar. To add a twist that keeps things interesting - in Chadda's version, after the Pope turned his back on the Templars, they turned to fighting the beasts of hell: vampires, werewolves, ghosts, fallen angels, etc. Chadda's done his research - a tiny bit of googling adds credence to his plot lines and characters.

And then his methods of destruction are just this side of "never gonna happen" to keep me up at night.

So it's a great read for this time of year, but reading at Halloween might be a little cliche'd.

I fully recognize that this genre isn't for everything, but if it teenage girls fighting the supernatural is your cup of tea, you'd be remiss not to give these a shot. Trust me.



Book trailer for the first book:

One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde

Read by Emily Gray

I love this series. I know that people don't get it, or get bored halfway through (I don't recommend reading them all together, you will suffer brain fatigue.) But I have read them as they've been released and they remain new and fresh and delightful to me.

This one is different, as it's told from the perspective of the Written Thursday. Of course all of the prior books were written by ghostwriters and there was a sex-and-violence Thursday playing the part before the current Written Thursday, whose job is to be "more true to the way Thursday wants it."

If that didn't make any sense to you - you should go and read The Eyre Affair. Go ahead. I can wait.

So, now that you've read that, and this all makes sense to you...the 6th installment of the Thursday Next series is set mainly in the Book World. It undergoes a remaking at the beginning, to make the landscape a little less clunky, and we get to see what happens with the characters when the book isn't being read. A lot, actually.

Since I was listening to this in the car at the same time I've been reading other books, it is always in the back of my head and it is effecting the way I read. I feel that, somewhere in another dimension is a person who is acting out what I am reading. A full cast, actually. And with the FeedBack Loop...well, let's just say I'm paying more attention to what I read these days.

One of the biggest perks here is that Fforde is clearly a book lover. A literary fan. He would wipe the table and floors with all of us at Trivial Pursuit: Book Lovers Edition. His books are rife with references to scenes, characters, and situations from the classics - all of which inform the narrative.

A bit of a spoiler: in this book, we get to witness a Written character going into the Outland (our Real World) for the first time. It's a fairly unique experience, and there are quite a lot of math jokes. (Only, they're British, so they say "maths.")

All in all, a fun read. I do very much enjoy this series (although I haven't been able to get into anything else he's written) and will likely revisit it someday...the details of the early books are already a little hazy...

Two thumbs way up. If surrealist speculation/speculative fantasy are your thing, you can't go wrong.

Artemis Fowl: the Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer

I love these books. I love that they're written for teenage boys. I love that he took the idea of fairies living "in the hills" literally and I love that he made them so technologically advanced that Steve Jobs would be speechless were he to encounter them.

I love that Artemis is basically a sociopath. I love that he's a genius. I love that Butler has tunnel vision and questionable morals. I love that Holly is the toughest member of the bunch and that the tech genius (Q, if you will) is a centaur with a potty mouth.

I love that the world is always in peril and that it's mostly Artemis's doing. Love. Love. Love. Love this series.

This is the first that I've listened to, and I very much enjoyed it. Hearing it with the accents really does make all the difference.

Now, if they'd just make these into movies already!

UPDATE::: hello, movie! http://www.artemis-fowl.com/movie_1.php

Dangerous to Know by Tasha Alexander

This is the fourth book in this series, but only the second that I have read. The previous one, Tears of Pearl, I read and enjoyed so much that when I saw this on the shelf at the library I snatched it up and dragged my son (and all our stuff) back to the checkout so I could take it home and read it. It took me a matter of hours to devour it (spread in 20-30 minute increments over a few days - I have a toddler) and I'm considering doing something I almost never do: reading the series out of order. (The other series that I've discovered in the middle and then gone back to the start being The Home Repair is Homicide series - mostly if I discover it's a series I either just pick it up in the middle or hold off on the latest installment until I've caught up.) 

One of the blurbs on the back states that Alexander is perfect for fans of Laurie R. King and I agree - she's following the same vein: real people interspersed with her creations, a capable female protagonist who was very "modern" for the times she's living in...but by my math King is writing a full 40-50 years after Lady Emily's adventures. Still, the heroines are intelligent and scrappy (sorry, they are) and constantly proving people wrong by being stronger than their gender suggests. 

This installment takes place in France, opens with a dead body, and follows a twisty tale of madness, misconception  and a WASPy (were there WASPS in Victorian France?) ability to not acknowledge unpleasantness. I had an inkling of where the story was headed and got there just ahead of our heroine, but I won't hold that against Alexander. I'm well read in these Novels of Suspense. 

There are two things I particularly like about the series:

1) her use of real people lend credence to the possibility of these stories actually happening. Monet makes an appearance in this one, for example. She also has a firm grasp on the dress and social niceties that existed at the time. Every now and again, you can almost hear the crinolines rustling through the paragraphs.

2) her subtlety in the romantic scene department. I enjoy a good romp, but after watching people make out at the lunch table in high school (I wish I were kidding) and then a glut of Sex and the City, I have to admit that witnessing serious snogging - even if it's just being described to me - is a huge turnoff. There is obvious romance and intimacy and a healthy relationship happening between Lady Emily and her Husband, but it is alluded to and even then it is mostly for the purposes of illustrating other more pressing plot points. It's well-done, at any rate.

So if historical romantic suspenseful murder mysteries are your thing - pick these up. But maybe start at the beginning so you don't find yourself in my quandary. 

Oh, but maybe I won't go back just yet - there's a new one out at the end of Oct...or maybe I should read the first two *very* quickly so I can have all the backstory I need...decisions, decisions...

The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade

I picked this up on the advice of Stories and Sweeties: she gave it 4 and a half out of 5 cupcakes.

I'd agree with that. It's your basic "teen queen gets hit by a bus and starts haunting the only dude at school who can hear her and antics ensue" tale. I ate it up. I expected it to be vapid and the writing to suck, but neither of those were true and I happily passed it along to some teenage girls I know - they'll relate to the fact that what you see from the outside is never the full story of someone's life. A lesson even adults could use reminding of now and then.

It's ultimately going to be a trilogy and the second is out already. Part of me wishes I'd waited until book 3 is out so I can read them all in succession, but this way will work, too.

Enjoy!

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I resisted reading this one. I have a thing - if a bunch of people say "oh it's so great!" and they likely heard about it on Oprah...I just can't. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, so...sue me.

Anyway. Another blog I follow reviewed the audio and let me in on the tidbit that pushed me into the "listen to this" turf: Octavia Spencer, who voices Minny, will be playing her in the movie. So to the library I went.

Now, I've got more than just that one bias: I HATE multiple first-person point of views. Hate them. If I get into a book and I start liking the character and then I turn the page and I'm suddenly in the head of another character...I close it. Listening to this, though, solved that. I was hearing voices...and the actresses did such a good job I could have sworn I was just listening to them tell their stories. I became addicted. (even now, I miss them a little.)

So this story - what's so great about this story? It is not the story of a revolution. It is not the story of great sweeping change. It's not even a good love story...really.

It's a story that could be true. It's a story you could hear from your grandparents, if they lived in the South in the 60s (mine did.)

Stockett's breadth of imagination is impressive - not only for events but for reactions and emotions. Each character, even those who are merely satellite characters - are fully formed and believable. You could live next door to them. We all know how much I'm a sucker for that kind of development.

She also has her finger on the pulse of Civil Rights in Mississippi in the 60s. Events are happening to change the rest of the country...but that's the rest of the country. In Mississippi, things are just fine, thank you very much.

But Skeeter - I identified the most with Skeeter. Awkward, with dreams of being a writer. She comes home from college and realizes that she may not like her lifelong friends. She has the most obvious rite of passage here, although Aibileene and Minny come out the other side of their little adventure stronger women as well.

It really is well worth reading. I loved every minute - I can't even tell how many times I paused in whatever I was doing while listening so I could just listen...and how many times I teared up. I'll even admit (spoiler) that when the Skeeter got the phone call in January, I jumped up and did a little happy dance for her.

From what I can tell, the movie stays true to the story...but I have plans to see it in August, so I'll let you know. CJ Cregg is in it, though, so it's bound to be amazing.

The Ghost Writer by Robert Harris

I will not lie - one of the best parts of reading this was having it narrated by Ewan McGregor in my head.

To further the truth-telling: had this not been written by Robert Harris, I would have skipped the book and gone straight to the movie, which I would only have seen (via Netflix) based on the cast. Does anyone else have a girl crush on Olivia Williams?

Here's why I would have skipped it: it's a work of political fiction. It's full of intrigue and, due to a classic Fish-Out-Of-Water device, a lot of explanation of The Way Things Work. Which is all fine and dandy if you - like the Ghost - have lived in a politics-free-bubble your entire life. I haven't. My father was in the Navy and I have seen The West Wing enough times that I can quote lines. So at times I found it tiresome.

Not tiresome at all: the basic plot. The Ghost (who is never named) steps in to take over for a previous Ghost Writer who has died in a mysterious and ominous fashion. The book is written almost as a confessional to the reader, peppered with "had I known at the time" or "little did I know..." which is nice for the purpose of foreshadowing and does help build the momentum for apex of the plot and it's ultimate resolution.


It was good. It was not very good. I am not going to tell everyone I know to read it. But it was solidly good and I didn't throw it down in exasperation even once. (If only you knew how often I do that...it explains the length of time between posts.) If you like political thrillers, pick this up. If you do not, move along to something more your cup of tea.


I can't let this go - it's not quite a spoiler, but it's more than I generally like to share: in the final chapter, the Ghost breaks the 4th wall. It's abrupt and direct and off-putting. I'm much more a fan of letting it go to the reader's imaginations...but this time Harris felt the need to tell me how to feel about it.

Oh well, I will continue to read him because overall he is a very good writer.

and here is the trailer, which I will be watching just as soon as netflix sends it to me:

Crawl Space by Sarah Graves

Graves just keeps getting better. It's like she hit an even dozen in the series and thought "eff it. Just to keep my faithful readers on their toes...NO ONE is sacred. No one." And then she chuckled an evil chuckle and uncapped her pen.

We're still in 3rd-person-omniscient-land in this installment and I have to admit that it's growing on me. I like that Graves has figured out how to keep the suspense building while still keeping us in all of the loops. In fact, the only person whose head we DON'T enter is the bona fide sociopath's...and we're all better off for that. But aside from that dude, Jake, and our usual characters, you can't be sure who's "good" and who's "bad" because they're all out there in the gray-area somewhere. Which is nice and truer to life.

This book focused more on the suspense and action than on the home repair, so if you've got a hankering for more tips you may be disappointed. If so, watch Bob Vila. And then pick up the next installment which is out later this month.

I keep picking up the latest in series that I love only to be met with the "Writing off" of characters I love. In this case: the Pym sisters. That's right - I spoiled this one right off the bat. But it happens in the first chapter and their impending departure is the catalyst for Lori's trip to New Zealand: their deathbed request of her is that she deliver a letter to their estranged nephew - son of their only brother who was cast out of the family when the twins were small children.

Lori, being married to an Estate lawyer, packs her bags and takes a very long plane ride. The story is set during the filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which features minorly into the plot. Additionally, she has a native guide and meets many more interesting characters (a refreshing change from the familiar faces of Finch, although they have their appearances as well.) It turns out that Aubrey, Jr, (nephew) has passed away. As has his son, leaving Lori to track down an eighteen-year-old great-grandniece as she runs away from her troubles across the island.

I'll tell you that I read this with enthusiasm: will Lori catch up with Bree? Why is her native guide so eager to help her? When can I book my own trip to New Zealand?

All in all, it was a satisfying read...and no, you do not have to have read the previous installments to enjoy this one. But it certainly adds a layer of heart-string tugging when you've encountered the Pyms sisters 14 previous times and now they have passed away to the realm of Aunt Dimity herself.

A Face in the Window

This - the second to latest installment of the Home Repair is Homicide series - takes a different tack: 3rd person all the way through. And since Graves isn't one to shy from "killing" our favorite characters, the level of suspense is ratcheted up. This one falls squarely into Page Turner territory.

The great thing about a series is that you can invest in the characters - and Graves plays on that by sending Ellie and George on vacation and then having their daughter (in the care of Jake) abducted.

That's as far as I'm going with the plot because holy cow. I'm not sure how to talk about it without giving away too much. It's downright gripping.

If you're a fan of the series, you won't be disappointed.

And if you're a fan of the series you'll be happy to know that there is another...but will there be another? After A Face at the Window....it's really anybody's guess.

The Book of Old Houses by Sarah Graves

If you've read the previous few issues of the Home Repair is Homicide series, then you're familiar with the story of the Book which was found in the foundation of Jake's house. That is the titular book of this installment. The murder in question happens before this book opens, and we are graced with a second viewpoint periodically through the narrative - that of one of the men who was investigating the Book.

The one that may or may not be a hoax. The one that may or may not be written in blood. The one that may or may not be bound in human skin. The one with Jacobia's name in it.

Because of that, I've tagged this with "speculative" because, while some may be satisfied with the answers, some may not. Which you know I love.

There's plenty of humor heaped in - a fight with a bathtub, for instance. And there are lover's quarrels, outsiders poking their noses around, a very uppity old biddy whom Jake is desperately trying to impress.

And of course the usual cast of characters, all of whom bring their own brands of zaniness.

A thoroughly enjoyable installation, as they all are, which is why I keep reading. I think there are only three left and then I have to wait for them to be written and published. I love/hate that.

Keeping Watch by Laurie R. King

So this is a companion book to Folly - there is character and setting overlap, but aside from that you can read it without having first read Folly. (Warning, though: one of the characters that overlaps is Rae, the main character from Folly, so there are spoilers there.)

Keeping Watch follows Allen Carmichael, a haunted Vietnam vet whose sole mission now is to atone for his wartime sins and then retire comfortably with his girlfriend to a life of quiet relaxation. His career is on the fringes of the law - he helps children and wives (and the odd husband) escape their abusers. Keeping Watch centers on the final case of his career.

There are many, many flashbacks to Vietnam - it is fully half the book. They help round out the character and often give vital...if not actual plot points, then they plant the seeds for what unfolds in present-day narration. The parallel plots set up two climactic events - one which serves to undo Carmichael in his early 20s, and one which might undo him all over again now in his mid 50s. Peripheral characters serve as harbors for the plot and relief from the chaos of the war and abuse stories.

There is a third line of narration - that of the young man who is Carmichael's final case. Full of its own violence and emotional turmoil, it is a nice anchor for Carmichael's own story. Being inside Jamie's head helps keep everything in perspective.

King winds this story in a way that is so intricate and compelling you just can't put it down. It is thrilling, violent, agonizing, and heart warming. I almost walked away - war stories are not my cup of tea - but I gave King the benefit of the doubt and I am very glad that I did.


*Spoilerish note: when I say that it is violent, I mean it. Vietnam was a bloody, heartless war and King doesn't hold back. There is also a subtle (and at the same time, not-subtle-at-all) commentary on the atrocious way the returning soldiers were treated. This book is not for the faint of heart. I'll just come right out and say it: there is violence against children. It is hinted at, danced around, and alluded to and then outright described. It is heartbreaking because it is real. This story is not real, but it echoes hundreds that are. You have to be prepared and then you have to read to the end, where you will have hope in humanity again. I promise.

Folly By Laurie R. King

This is one of King's earlier novels. Considering that, I was all "I bet I can figure out what the deal is before the character does!"

I failed. Well, I partially failed. I continue to be humbled by the genius that is Laurie R. King.

Folly is a stand-alone novel (there is a later companion, Keeping Watch, which I will be reading soon, but to my knowledge it is not a sequel. Do not, however, read it first or Folly will be somewhat spoiled for you.) I say this because we all know how much I love her Mary Russell and Kate Martinelli books. King does not disappoint even when there aren't several books of backstory and character development to add nuance to her work.

Folly is full of nuance and rich layers. It's full of suggestion and emotion, memories and ghosts. Rae (the heroine) is a 52 year old widow recovering from a mental breakdown. The book opens as she is being deposited - at her request - on a private island, deserted save the birds who find sanctuary there. She has two main goals: rebuild her mind and rebuild the lone structure on the island, an architectural folly built by her great-uncle...both now little more than charred remains.

Kings portrayal of mental instability and of the aching loss felt by her character is heart-rending. Here before you is a broken woman, hell bent on righting herself despite what every other person in her life thinks. Of course there are other characters who round out the world of Folly - the surviving family members, sometimes more of a drain than anything - save the granddaughter whose existence is what propels Rae to heal rather than succumb. There are the deputies, couriers, and park rangers who keep her from being completely isolated on the island. There are the shadows from her professional life hovering in the background. There is the island itself - much more than merely a setting.

King sprinkles chapters with excerpts from Rae's journal and letters, letters from her granddaughter, and the journal of Rae's great-uncle - also a person who came to Folly in need of repair.

The plot is suspenseful, but not in the nature of a traditional crime novel. Were crimes committed? Yes. Are things tense and vaguely creepy? Yes. But mostly this is a novel about a woman who needs to heal. It is eloquent and rich and well worth your time. Curl up in front of a fire and get absorbed.

Even by Andrew Grant

Dude. DUUUUUUDE. I follow Janet Reid's blog and when she suggested this one I threw it on my library queue thinking it would be a nice Bourne/Bond/Ryan* type romp. It was all that I wanted it to be...and more.

It opens with a dead body, so you know I was totally hooked at that point. All in. Also, the main character is British (in my head he sounds like Pierce Brosnan) and Grant took his time subtly developing the character and the plot. It's not only smartly written, but he managed to make me feel smart just reading it. And the fight scenes were amazing. Jason Bourne makes me want to start running; David Trevellyan makes me want to take up mixed martial arts.

It's your basic whodunnit/mistaken identity/special ops-meets-FBI-meets-NYPD in a turf war/action thriller with a dash of Deranged Lunatic** and Evil Plot To Take Over The World thrown in for good measure. The plot bobs and weaves and twists (but not too much and not in any way that I put together until the character did) and dumps you out the way a good roller coaster does: vaguely disoriented and needing a minute to digest what just happened and then gunning for more.

This is Grant's debut novel. He's clearly been honing his craft for a while because: DUDE. That's how good it is. I keep saying Dude.

It's not a quick read but it's WORTH IT. Read it with a beer, but not too many beers or you'll get confused. If it weren't so darn heavy I'd say take it on the plane, but I'm certain that Men everywhere won't be shy about being seen reading it.

So good. It's so good. Note that I tagged it "Wish I were smart enough to have written this." High Praise.

Oh, but I'm going to throw a little spoilery warning down there because I feel it may be necessary. Look for these: **

Read it before it becomes a movie. Starring a 30-something hot British guy.



* Jason Bourne, James Bond, Jack Ryan. Although, if you don't know who those guys are - this might not be your genre.







**spoilers:

The action scenes are well-choreographed and fun to read. But there's a scene with a deranged lunatic involving a scalpel and some poor guy's man-parts. No one will think less of you if you skim/skip those pages. I didn't, but I don't have man-parts so I wasn't feeling it like some of you might.

Generation A by Douglas Coupland

I love Douglas Coupland. I have since my (old boy)friend told me to read Generation X because "the dude who wrote that writes like you speak." Have you read Generation X? No? I'm sorry, I can't be friends with you anymore.

Kidding.

Maybe.

Ok - so here's why I love Coupland (and this book) - in a numbered list:

1: he's not afraid to give one of the main characters Tourette's and then put us inside her head.

2: and then he puts us inside the heads of the other main characters so we can see how they react.

3: he gives characters "normal" jobs (Harj works in an Abercrombie and Fitch call center in Sri Lanka) and then he makes them LOVE them.

4: he uses healthy/healthful correctly.

5: he takes a concept like "the bees are dying" and speculates about what happens when they've been gone for half a decade and then 5 unrelated people get stung.

6: he goes there. The things the rest of us think about for half a second and then dismissed are fleshed out into actual plot points of brilliance. (example: brain masturbation.)

7: rapier wit and keen perception and a complete disregard for maybe offending some people (or groups of people.)

8: he keeps giving and giving and then just when you think "aaahhh....I see where you're going" he opens a conversation that wasn't on your radar.

9: he commands the English language in a way that is modern but not trendy and will therefore still be relevant decades from now.

10: he's just awesome. Need proof? Have you read Generation X? Jpod? Shampoo Planet? No? What are you waiting for?

You can start anywhere, really. But this is the newest and so it is fresh. Falling into a Coupland hold wouldn't be a bad thing. Operators are standing by!