The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

This book has been recommended to me, and on my radar for a long, long time.  I am extremely glad I finally got around to reading it!

The Blade Itself is in some ways a typical fantasy novel with magic, warriors, and romance.  It takes the normal fantasy archetypes and builds on them in really interesting ways!  I highly recommend this book, and will avoid spoilers in the following review.

Prospero's Children by Jan Siegel

In which a young woman discovers hidden magic and another world.

This book is a really interesting, unusual, and compelling fantasy story.  I would recommend it to fans of fantasy, although discovering it has sequels diminished it for me a little.  More on that after the cut.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Series) by Rick Riordan

I am again reviewing this entire series in one go, because there isn't so much to say individually about the books.

These are really solid young adult fantasy books.  I would recommend them to most fans of young adult books generally!  They are better than the movies, so far, although I have enjoyed the movies.

Wild Cards (Series) by George R.R. Martin

It's been a while, but I have lot's of books to review!

I am going to address the Wild Cards series in one chunk, because there isn't a lot to say about individual books.  I got up through Volume 9 (Jokertown Shuffle) before stopping because the books became difficult to find and for other reasons discussed below. 

This review will contain spoilers.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

In which a 16 year old girl makes a decision to determine her future, and deals with her choice.

Emily already wrote a good summary of Divergent, so I won't go into the plot much here.  Divergent is about a girl in a dystopian Chicago confronted with life defining choices, love, conspiracies and adventure.  Divergent is one of the best young adult books I've read because of the exciting story and compelling heroine.  I highly recommend it!

Mass Effect: Revelation by Drew Karpyshyn

In which an attack on a space station leads to an investigation into an interplanetary conspiracy.

Mass Effect: Revelation is related to the Mass Effect video games.  I'm not sure about how close it is to the video games, because I haven't played them.  Revelation stands completely on its own as an exciting story in a well-developed setting

Homeward Bound by Harry Turtledove

The final book in the series that starts with Worldwar: In the Balance. 

Homeward Bound is the less than stunning conclusion to Harry Turtledove's series about an alien invasion of Earth.  It's set in the near-future where America has maintained its independence (mostly) and sent a space ship to the alien invaders' home world.

This review will not contain major spoilers.

Foster Me Up by Rhonda Zimmer

An autobiography about life going through foster care.

Rhonda is a friend of mine, so I can't be disinterested reviewing her autobiography!  I can say that this is a really unique perspective from someone inside and outside the foster care system.  Rhonda managed to beat the odds of a difficult youth bouncing from home to home and become a successful adult.  This book describes her childhood with her twin sister, alcoholic father and confused mother and how she managed to prevail against all of it.  This would be a quick and edifying read for someone interested in a uncensored look at the life of a teenager in foster care.

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

In which a young girl must survive and perform a difficult task to save her brothers' lives.

 

 I feel like this is a perfectly good book that just didn't appeal to me very much for a number of reasons.  So this review will probably be inordinately harsh, and will contain spoilers because it wasn't good enough for me to recommend!  If you think you'd like this book, I recommend you read some other fantasy book instead.  

The Romantics by Galt Niederhoffer

In which a group of close college friends meet up for a wedding, to the detriment of all of their relationships.

Laura had a very close group of friends in college at Yale.  It was the sort of group where most of the men had slept with most of the women at different points in time and their closeness was due as much to rivalry as true friendship.  The Romantics takes place as Laura and the rest of the group prepare for the wedding of two of its members, Lila and Tom.  Problem is, Laura is still in love with Tom.

This review will contain spoilers.

Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne

An American man trying to survive a zombie crisis writes a daily journal chronicling his challenges and moods.

An American military pilot is aware of rumors and speculation regarding a strange disease.  He takes steps to be prepared for a pandemic, and is well positioned to survive the zombie apocalypse.  This book tells the story of his preparation for and adventures during the beginning of a zombie plague. 

There are minor spoilers in this review.  My suggestion is to read the spoilers, then go read World War Z instead of this book.

Watership Down by Richard Adams

In which a group of rabbits escapes a dying warren and embarks on an adventure.

I read this book when I was a kid and remembered it vaguely but fondly. I enjoyed it at least as much reading it again! This book is an absolute classic that every child should read. And all adults too!

The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell

In which a teenage girl fights zombies and flees from a man trying to kill her.

Temple has known nothing but a world infested with zombies and largely devoid of living humans.  She has survived so far, generally staying in underpopulated areas and figuring out how to survive alone.  In The Reapers are the Angels she tries out civilization briefly, and is forced to flee just ahead of a dangerous man determined to kill her.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

In which a girl recounts stories from her youth and comes to terms with her destiny.

There is no way my review will do this fantastic book justice.  It really is a special, fantastic book and you should read it right now!  It's the sort of story that you'll think about for a long time and keep getting more from, I think.

This review will not contain significant spoilers.

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

Book four in Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle.  (The first book in the series is Eragon

As I mentioned in my review of Brisingr, book three of the series, I was crazy about Eragon when I originally read it a decade ago.  I was less thrilled with books two and three, but this book captured some of the magic of the original for me!  I actually really enjoyed this book.

This review will not contain significant spoilers.

Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch

The sequel to The Lies of Locke Lamora

There will be some spoilers under the cut, but not the type that should diminish your enjoyment of the series.  If you haven't read The Lies of Locke Lamora yet, go read that before you read this review!

Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich

An Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster

As the subtitle implies, Voices from Chernobyl is a collection of interviews of survivors from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.  Maybe monologues would be a better term since it's not questions and answers so much as stories ranging from a paragraph to several pages.  They are mostly stories from parents and spouses of people killed by radiation or people dying of radiation.  As you may suspect, it's incredibly sad.

Colonization: Aftershocks by Harry Turtledove

The third and final volume in Turtledove's Colonization trilogy.

This book was awesome in that it continued the stories of the characters from previous books who, as I've mentioned, I really like.  This book was also very disappointing in that it has no conclusion!

I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali and Delphine Minoui

In which the worlds (then) youngest divorcee tells her story.

Nujood is living a life not atypical for a poor, Muslim girl in Yemen when she is forced by her family to marry a stranger three times her age.  This book follows Nujood's early life, her marriage and her brave escape from it.

How to Dunk a Doughnut by Len Fisher

In which Fisher describes mildly amusing and unusual applications of scientific thought including the absorption of liquid by cookies and the way sperm swims.

I think the problem with many popular science books is that they are either too dumb and cutesy or two rigorous and boring.  This book isn't difficult to understand, particularly, it's just boring.  I kept wanting to check to make sure that this Len Fisher was the same Len Fisher who wrote Rock, Paper, Scissors because I LOVED that book and was bored to death by this one.  It was the same guy, just a totally different quality of writing in my opinion!