Terrific Thriller

Accidents Happen by Louise Millar will be published June 25th, 2013.

The novel centers on a woman named Kate who deals with anxiety, brought on by various tragedies that have impacted her.

I truly enjoyed this thriller. I found the pacing to be excellent, as my anxiety increased with each chapter. I enjoyed the characters, and the plot was intriguing.

I thought the issues with Kate's anxiety were handled well, and were believable. The family members were portrayed nicely as well. Their interactions and concerns were believable.

The ending was satisfying, which was great as too often recently I have enjoyed thrillers right up to the end.

If you are looking for a decent thriller, with no large plot holes (or even small ones), then you should put this on your wish list.

Rick Yancey's latest

The 5th Wave is an exciting page turner. An alien invasion like no other, it pulls you in and doesn't let go. I liked the main characters, and I enjoyed the complexity building up to what is the 5th wave.

Of course it is part of a trilogy; hopefully the run of my favorite trilogy's will work out in a manner that while I am waiting for the next of one series, another one is available.

For me, the hardest series to wait for so far, has been the 3rd in the Lunar Chronicle series (Cress will be published in Feb., 2014..I am pretty much counting the days), so while I don't feel as intense about The 5th Wave, it is utterly enjoyable.

I highly recommend it, while you wait for Allegiant, the 3rd in the Divergent series :-).

Exciting debut

Wow...I am so excited by this series' debut: The Testing by Joelle Charbonmeau, which will be published June, 4th. The writing was compelling, and the suspense level was quite high. I was honestly nervous at various points.

While many dystopian novels are compared to The Hunger Games, I think in the future, they will be compared to The Testing.

I have read many of these series, and often feel they could have been better written if they had just remained a stand alone novel...that too many writers are creating trilogies where only one book is needed. Cinder and Divergent being the recent exceptions.

I don't feel that way about The Testing. I am so looking forward to reading the next book, and will re-read this one when I share it with my book club, colleagues and students.

The plot sounds trite, in a way...a young girl waits to see if she is chosen for...in this case, higher education in a bleak, war destroyed, future. However, Charbonneau ratchets up the tension via her writing style and plot points.

If you would like to read a prequel, here it is: http://www.hmhbooks.com/thetestingtrilogy/prequel.html

Reminds me of Pushing Daisies

I truly enjoyed, Remarkable, by Elizabeth Foley. The characters were interesting, charming and likeable.

The writing style was particularly reminiscent of the tv show, Pushing Daisies. I felt as if I could hear that narrator's voice as I was reading. Remarkable is a town where everyone, but the protagonist, Jane, is well... remarkable. She often feels left out, and rather average, but eventually through a series of events, secrets, and mysteries, she discovers she too is remarkable in her own, average way.

I plan on sharing this title with my colleagues, and my students.

Interesting Narrator

I am unfamiliar with Liz Jensen's work, but will now seek her novels out. The Uninvited was very interesting, primarily due to the narrator's viewpoint, and style. His distance from others (emotionally) actually made the novel more compelling than perhaps it would have been had the narrator been more emotionally involved with family members or friends (and others in the world).

The plot involves a corporate investigator (the narrator) who is currently investigating corporate sabotage. There is an increase in odd acts of sabotage by formerly loyal employees, and the suspects eventually commit suicide. In addition, there are odd outbreaks world wide, where children suddenly kill or maim their loved ones. These cases are eventually tied together. It is rather creepy at times, and it did keep me reading, not only because the writing style was decent, but because I was honestly trying to figure out what was causing all of these events.

The ending crept up on me, and initially I wasn't sure I liked the ending, but it kind of sits with you, and makes more and more sense.

If you enjoy zombie stories, you might enjoy this...I don't enjoy zombie stories, but felt this might appeal to those that do.

Highly enjoyable diversion

I am hesitant to embark on novels that allude to any of Dan Brown's novels. Not just because it seemed to start a fad, with some poor results, but because even Dan Brown didn't write as "well" as he did previously, once The Davinci Code took off.

However, once I started The Romanov Cross,by Robert Masello I couldn't put it down. The characters were very engaging, and well written. The plot was intriguing, and the premise for the spread of The Spanish Flu to the Inuits was actually plausible. I found myself searching for information on the Romanovs and Rasputin, at various points; I always enjoy a novel that encourages me to explore more about its content.

I highly recommend this novel.

The Paris Wife

I came across The Paris Wife by Paula McLain at my school's book fair. Parents of a student of mine bought it for my classroom, and I finally had a moment to read it.

I enjoyed this very much, and am planning on re-reading many of Hemingway's novels and short stories. Most of my Hemingway reading took place in school years ago, and this insight compels me to ponder his writing again.

McLain's portrayal is beautifully depicted, and despite being brought to tears with the inevitable outcome, the love they had for each other, was described so tenderly; at times I felt I was actually witnessing it.

Blahg :-)

I have neglected the blog; I am not neglecting it due to not reading, but rather due to not finding any terrific books to promote. I have been reading constantly, but nothing has intrigued me enough to pass the titles on. I truly dislike posting bad reviews, though occasionally I do write them. I decided recently that I will only write a blog entry when I can wholeheartedly recommend a title.

I have come across a number of "blah" books recently...no posts at all in February. Ironically, this is all due to a terrific book I read, and nothing else has passed muster.

Early on I read Cinder by Marissa Meyer, and loved it. I bought copies for my book club, and everyone else loved it as well. Scarlet, the second in the series, was published on Feb. 5th; from the moment I read the first sentence I was hooked. A great sequel, wonderful new characters, and great tie ins to characters that were introduced in Cinder. I only have two complaints; everything I have read since is simply blah, and I have to wait until Feb 2014 for the 3rd book! By the way, my students all love this series too :-)

I will state one other book I just finished is also decent. Thought provoking and satirical, it is kind of a must read for moms, and for anyone who misjudges situations and people (and don't we all?): Where'd You Go, Bernadette. If you read it, let me know what you think.

Refreshing and Useful

How to Teach a Love of Reading Without Getting Fired, by Mary Leonhardt is a book I came across while reading an education blog.

I read this at the start of the New Year, having made a resolution to do what students need, versus what the district states is important. Many points are made, to assist teachers with setting up student centered reading programs, but I am going to highlight two.

The first I have already used, to great success: If your administrator (principal or district level) complains that the students are, "just sitting around reading" ask if they'd object to kids sitting around, "just doing math"?

The other, to advocate for independent reading, is to point out it helps with all kinds of administrative headaches, such as inclusion for special ed, parents trying to censor books, and making accommodations for gifted kids.

This is a great read; both refreshing and useful for English teachers, reading specialists, and/or literacy teachers.

Mixed reaction

A book called, Three Graves Full, caught my eye due to its premise. A man has killed someone and buried him in his yard, much like Poe's Tell Tale Heart, the man's conscience eats away at him. Eventually a discovery is made, but it isn't the grave he dug, it is two other graves in his yard!

So, great premise and truthfully a great start to the novel. The middle of the book however, particularly the lead up to the climax wasn't developed well, and it was more than implausible that all of the characters did what they did. The reader knows immediately who Bart is, and questions Reid's wife reasoning throughout. She in fact is, in my opinion, a useless character...there would seemingly have been other ways to develop the denouement than throwing her into the mix.

That being said, the ending was somewhat satisfying, despite the issues that lead up to it.

The author is talented, and I enjoyed some aspects of her writing style, but this book needed some polishing to make its storyline plausible.

This book will be published, Feb 12th, 2013.

Kafka updated

I recently read, The Facility, by Simon Lelic. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and want everyone to read it, especially those that have no issues with our (USA) drone policy, FISA "laws" and the like.

A man named Arthur suddenly finds himself taken and imprisoned. His wife (they are separated) has no knowledge of where or why he has disappeared, and she enlists a journalist to aide her in finding him.

The scenes in The Facility are all to real, if you have ever read The Trial, or any transcripts from the McCarthy era. I found it particularly compelling as well, when the journalist is trying to get his editor to print what he has, and is denied...for reasons that I am sure occur often these days, "national security"

If you don't want to worry where our laws might lead, don't read this book, but if there are niggling thoughts in your head, when you read about warrantless wiretapping or drones being for the good of all, then rush to your bookstore, and buy The Facility.

Compelling Narrative

I just finished, The Tragedy Paper, by Elizabeth LaBan (pub date 1/8/2013).
I found it to be a compelling narrative, reminding me slightly of Thirteen Reasons Why, due to its structure.

Duncan is a senior (high school) at a boarding school; he starts the novel's story as he enters the school's archway. The structure of the beginning and ending are slightly reminiscent of The Outsiders, and in the acknowledgement section, the author states how much that novel (as well as one other novel of Hinton's) changed her. So, Kudos to Ms. LaBan for writing that in the acknowledgements. I recently read a novel called Ten, clearly an homage to Dame Christie, and the author chose not to mention that in her acknowledgement section..something I personally found distasteful.

But, I digress. The room Duncan is given was previously lived in by a senior named Tim (Macbeth, smile now)and as a reader you realize something horrible has happened to Tim. The narration switches back and forth between Duncan and Tim; Tim has provided the new tenant of the room with tapes of his year there, so the story follows these two boys through their respective senior years. At times I did have trouble distinguishing the voices despite one being first person and the other 3rd; my one quibble with the novel is the characters' voices weren't that different.

During the students' senior year, their English teacher, Mr. Simon gives an annual assignment called The Tragedy Paper; I had hoped to learn a bit more about this concept, if only to incorporate something similar with my students...perhaps glimpses of the ones Mr. Simon has found most compelling over the years, but the papers end up being merely a structure to bind the characters' narratives, and storyline.

I am glad I read the novel, and I think it is a worthwhile read for many. Its life-lessons so to speak, are subtle, but all to real. As we question ourselves, and worry about how we are perceived, we might be setting into motion, events that will cause tragic events.

And there is the difference between this novel and Thirteen Reasons Why, it is more subtle, and lends itself to more people thinking deeply about their own self worth, than perhaps Thirteen Reasons did. Thirteen Reasons was wonderful if a person were to really look at bullying and own any of their bullying behavior, but The Tragedy Paper, can potentially make all reading it, look deeply at their own insecurities, and hopefully, "go forth and spread beauty and light," Mr. Simon's version of "Seize the Day"

Exciting ( gory at times)

I just finished reading Rising, a sequel to Department 19. This series deals with vampires in a manner Twilight couldn't come close to..all due to the excellent writing by author Will Hill.

I finished Department 19 almost 2 years ago, (April, 2011) purchasing the book as soon as it was published. I had a bit of difficulty starting this one, as I had to remember a few characters and what had happened to them. Hill doesn't do the traditional recap that many series' authors do, and I am actually glad about that. I just hope the third isn't published a full year and half after this one.

Jamie Carpenter is the main character, and he is thrust into the role of a covert, vampire hunter suddenly in the first book. It was an exciting read, with great characterization, and there was a great deal of fun as Hill lays out that Bram Stoker was detailing actual history in his novel, Dracula.

Dracula is the focus of this second book, The Rising...it is Dracula's rising that the group, Department 19 that Jamie works for, is trying to prevent. Jamie has many friends in the Department, but both books feature traitors, and Jamie's distrust and fear of losing people, are compelling character traits that the author develops very nicely.

The second book, is a tad gorier than the first, so some middle school students might not be ready for it, if they tend to have nightmares.

I highly recommend this series.