Awesome Reads:
Runemarks by Joanne Harris:
Goblins, magic, and faeries all play a leading role in this complex, engaging story about Maddy Smith, a girl from a different sort of world with a different sort of talent. Born with a "ruinmark" on her hand, Maddy learns from the strange wanderer One-Eye that she is very special and is in control of something much larger than herself. Irish actress Sile Bermingham is well suited to her role as narrator and voices all characters, male and female, with great success. The story is recorded in full, resulting in a lengthy presentation, but Bermingham's sense of timing and drama immerse the listener so completely in Maddy's journey that time disappears until this fantastic tale is complete. B.H. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine--
I found this book on a shelf and brought it home simply from looking at the dust jacket. I read it in an evening over several hours (I am a fast reader.). It was excellent. While I am familiar with the Norse Lore, I did not expect the story to turn out as it does. It is creative, and the young protagonist, Maddy, is clever and uses rune magic quite deftly. I would recommend this book for adults as well as children. It was shelved as a young adult book, but I found it just as engaging a work of fiction as many of the other novels I read. As a mother to three, I think my children will enjoy reading this book, and I have passed it on to my daughter to read already and she laughed when she saw that the story features a traveller named One-Eye. The novel stands on it's own as a good story.
What I found even more useful was that the Norse Gods play a part in the story and the use of Runes as they journey through the nine worlds. As the story reveals who the characters are, you get to see a different view on the Aesir and Vanir, which is something that an Asatru or Heathen would enjoy sharing with their child, even if only to discuss how their views of the Gods differ. The author's knowledge of the runes and stories shine through in this work of fiction. Bring it home and share it with your family.
Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines By Nic Sheff:
From Publishers Weekly:
Sheff relates his personal struggle with drugs and alcohol in this poignant and
often disturbing memoir. Paul Michael Garcia is the perfect choice for narrator;
his stern and entirely believable voice captures the desolation in Sheff's tale.
His reading is wonderfully underplayed, and necessarily so. Garcia becomes
Sheff, offering a gritty and raw performance that demonstrates just how dire the
circumstances surrounding Sheff's existence really were. A Ginee Seo Books
hardcover. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All
rights reserved.
Nic Sheff's powerful memoir of drug abuse and alcohol addiction is written in a brutally honest style that makes it difficult for anyone else to narrate. Happily, narrator Paul Michael Garcia delivers a strong and commanding reading that perfectly expresses the rawness of Sheff's most personal recollections. As Garcia portrays Sheff, his tone is solid and low-key, as fits the heartache and melancholy that fill this story. Endlessly memorable, Sheff's memoir is brought to life in a reading that captures the essence of his downfall--a reality that may be TOO real for some. (For listeners who are interested, a companion memoir by Sheff's father, BEAUTIFUL BOY, is also available on audio.) L.B. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Main
Unwind by Neal Shusterman:
In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would "unwind" them.
Connor's parents want to be rid of him because he's a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev's unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family's strict religion. Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance. If they can survive until theireighteenth birthday, they can't be harmed -- but when every piece of them, from their hands to their hearts, are wanted by a world gone mad, eighteen seems far, far away.
In Unwind, Boston Globe/Horn Book Award winner Neal Shusterman challenges readers' ideas about life -- not just where life begins, and where it ends, but what it truly means to be alive.
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer:
It might seem redundant to dismiss the fourth and final Twilight novel as escapist fantasy--but how else could anyone look at a romance about an ordinary, even clumsy teenager torn between a vampire and a werewolf, both of whom are willing to sacrifice their happiness for hers? Flaws and all, however, Meyer's first three novels touched on something powerful in their weird refraction of our culture's paradoxical messages about sex and sexuality. The conclusion is much thinner, despite its interminable length. Everygirl Bella achieves her wishes quickly (marriage and sex, in that order, are two, and becoming an immortal is another), and once she becomes a vampire it's almost impossible to identify with her. But that's not the main problem. Essentially, everyone gets everything they want, even if their desires necessitate an about-face in characterization or the messy introduction of some back story. Nobody has to renounce anything or suffer more than temporarily--in other words, grandeur is out. This isn't about happy endings; it's about gratification. A sign of the times? Ages 12–up. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
To be irrevocably in love with a vampire is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife have led her to the ultimate turning point. Her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or to pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fates of two tribes hangs.
Now that Bella has made her decision, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating, and unfathomable, consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella's life-first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse-seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed... forever?
The astonishing, breathlessly anticipated conclusion to the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn illuminates the secrets and mysteries of this spellbinding romantic epic that has entranced millions.
Brisingr by Christopher Paolini:
OATHS SWORN . . . loyalties tested . . . forces collide.
Following the colossal battle against the Empire’s warriors on the Burning Plains, Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have narrowly escaped with their lives. Still there is more at hand for the Rider and his dragon, as Eragon finds himself bound by a tangle of promises he may not be able to keep.
First is Eragon’s oath to his cousin Roran: to help rescue Roran’s beloved, Katrina, from King Galbatorix’s clutches. But Eragon owes his loyalty to others, too. The Varden are in desperate need of his talents and strength—as are the elves and dwarves. When unrest claims the rebels and danger strikes from every corner, Eragon must make choices— choices that take him across the Empire and beyond, choices that may lead to unimagined sacrifice.
Eragon is the greatest hope to rid the land of tyranny. Can this once-simple farm boy unite the rebel forces and defeat the king?
Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke:
The Adderhead--his immortality bound in a book by Meggie's father, Mo--has ordered his henchmen to plunder the villages. The peasants' only defense is a band of outlaws led by the Bluejay--Mo's fictitious double, whose identity he has reluctantly adopted. But the Book of Immortality is unraveling, and the Adderhead again fears the White Women of Death. To bring the renegade Bluejay back to repair the book, the Adderhead kidnaps all the children in the kingdom, dooming them to slavery in his silver mines unless Mo surrends. First Dustfinger, now Mo: Can anyone save this cursed story?
updated Monday, September 29, 2008
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