Toxic Planet, by David Ratté

isbn: 9780759529281

This book, which is a collection of one page short stories and gags, is visually stunning and totally hilarious. The art style is fresh and sharp and the work that has to be done by physical acting (since everyone is wearing a gas mask) is really well done. Although some of the strips are more disjointed than others, together they make a lovely portrait of a world gone totally gross.

4/5

Bad Science, by Ben Goldacre

isbn: 9780007284870

This book is not yet available in Canada, which is a shame since I so rarely have excellent non-fiction books to recommend to customers. This is an awesome book about the failings of typical medical reporting and the quacks people have to deal with when it comes to demystifying health care. It can be such a scary and misunderstood topic, and he makes it all make sense. Goldacre is funny, friendly and clever, and really shows how important it is to understand what you are reading before you turn it into front page news.

If you are not in England right now and you want a taste of it, try his blog, which is a reprinting of his column from The Guardian. http://www.badscience.net/

4/5

The Savage by David Almond, illustrated by Dave McKean

isbn: 9780763639327

This book was beautiful, short and powerful. The story is told by Blue, who, being told to write down his feelings about his father's death, writes the story of the Savage instead, a boy who lives in a cave under an abandoned church and who kills anyone who sees him. The narrative is written a few years later, when his spelling has improved. The mistakes in the original story add to the roughness of the illustrations and of the story. It is absolutely dark but in the end redeeming. It was a bit short, but perhaps packs more of a punch that way.

4/5

Jinx, by Jennifer Esteep

isbn: 9780425220627

This is apparently the last book in the Bigtime series, though I kinda wish it wasn't. I have already blabbed about the first two and this one is just as good. Same set of characters but adding something new each time. Interesting note, the author blurb at the back is quite cool, listing her as a writer by night and a journalist by day. She wears cute glasses and a sweater vest. Totally dorky and adorable.

4/5

The Sisters Grimm Book 1: The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Micheal Buckley

isbn: 9780810993228

This was tons of fun. The evolution of the characters was realistic and their feelings seemed genuine. If my parents had disapeared because of a secret organisation and I was being shuffled around from foster home to foster home, I would be pretty damn pissed off when I found out my grandma wasn't actually dead. That my dad had lied to me. And then the giant shows up. Ugh. Made me smile.

4/5

Hot Mama, by Jennifer Estep

isbn: 9780425217344

This is the second book in the Bigtime (the name of the city) series, and it was fun. The main character is so different from the first one that it feels brand new. It was lovely. She was very clever to send the guy and gal from the first book on a honeymoon for the duration of the book, allowing readers to get to know Fiona without being distracted by the old story. It still feels like a sequel but allows you to get to know characters completely differently. This is the most fun I have had with a romance novel.

4/5

Karma Girl, by Jennifer Estep

isbn: 9780425222829

I saw this months and months ago and thought: that looks cool, but slightly dorky. But since it was in the romance section, I put it back. Mistake! It was tons of fun. I want to read the second one now. Carmen, our heroine, finds her fiancé boinking her best friend on her wedding day. AND they are superhero and the corresponding evil nemesis. Ouch. She snaps pictures and ousts them, and starts on a crusade to expose all heroes. This of course goes horribly wrong and funny bits and superhero sex ensues. This was a quick read I ate up in about 2.5 hours after work. Well worth the fun.

4/5

Button Button, by Richard Matheson

isbn: 978-0765312570

Another collection of short stories that are dark, spooky, and very inspiring. The title story is especially excellent, short and snappy and hits you in the face. There is something in these stories that reminds me of "lamb to the Slaughter", by Roald Dahl, arguably the best short story ever written. Yes yes yes.

4/5

The Hollow People, by Brian Keany

isbn: 978-0375843327

I have wanted to read this one for a while, and I was not disapointed. Apart from a very Matrix 2/Pirates 2 ending, this book is very nearly perfect. The world around the two characters is well thought out, the scary big brother-ness is just subtle enough that you could mistake it for misery, and Dante and Bea, the main characters, are lovely and real. I cannot wait till the next one, which aparently comes our in December 08. Arg!

4/5

Operation Red Jericho, by Joshua Mowll

isbn: 0763626341

I just ate this up. It is the story of two (probably) orphans fighting Chinese pirates and trying to protect the world from quasi-nuclear doom. Although the orphan + secret society is a little worn, the book makes it fresh with fantastically realistic reporting techniques, diagrams, inserts, notes on chemistry... I had tons of fun devouring this. Perfect for curious 9-12 youth.

4/5

The Compound, by S.A. Bodeen

isbn: 0312370156

I read this in one afternoon and got annoyed at someone who tried to have a conversation with me while I read it. I had to finish it. The book is paced extremely well and feels like the first big hill on a rollercoaster. The description of the food they can no longer have was ridiculously good, making me hungry for things I didn't even know I craved. The end was a bit weak, though not in a strictly bad sense. I think it was maybe a bit sudden for the speed I was going at.

4/5

Prom Dates From Hell, by Rosemary Clement-Moore

isbn: 978-0385734134

This book was actually very clever, and sped up at just the right moment in the plot to keep me interested. Mixing serious issues with magic, this is a brilliant teen book for people who want softcore fantasy and discussions about bullying and high school royalty. I devoured this in one day, and when I thought I knew what was going on, I got slapped in the face and liked it.

4/5

Generation Dead, by Daniel Waters

isbn: 142310921X

I picked it up because of the cover and read it because of the blurb. Teenagers in America are coming back from the dead. Unfortunately they have limited mobility and speech, and no civil rights. The story is kinda dorky, with dating and proms, but it also has a lot of ethics questions and awkward decisions for the characters to make. By the end I had cried a little bit, even though it was sorta silly. Good message, nice softcore sci-fi/speculative fiction.

4/5

Playing With Fire, By Dereck Landy

isbn: 0061240885

This is the second book after Skullduggery Pleasant, and features Valkyrie Cain and Skullduggery in another gory adventure to save the world and their hides. They really upped the horror/gore factor in this one, with people dying left, right and center, sometimes all at once when their bodies explode. It was a roaring good time, a tad predictable but still fantastic, opening the way to a third book rather explicitly.

4/5

The Raw Shark Texts, by Steven Hall

ISBN: 978-0002008402

This is a strange and wonderful book. It is about a man who wakes up, remembering nothing, and who receives letters from his past identity telling him he needs to protect himself from a shark born in languange and writing, a Ludovican. IT is full of puzzles and strange locations and strange viruses of language that can control your mind or eat away at your memories. Spooky and fun.

4/5

Fly by Night, by Francis Hardinge

ISBN: 978-0060876296

Reading this book, you feel that you are in a fantasy world where boat ship coffee houses hide refugees and crocodiles guard towers. But once everything settles, you realise that it is based loosely on real history and that ridiculous adventures like this took place over the silly topic of religion and wether you should or should not believe in Saints (which they call The Beloved, which amuses me, for some reason).

It also has one of the best lines ever: You are caught between the frying pan and the fire; you will sizzle and like it.

4/5

Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City, by Kirsten Miller

ISBN: 978-1582349602

This book is fantastic for any girl of any age, but it will be high on my list to recommend for the 9-12 range. Especially for those who don't necessarily like magic or shopping. It is rare nowadays to find a good mystery/spy/science novel for girls. I love the little non fiction bits at the end of the chapters where she teaches you how to be a spy.

4/5

Fup, by Jim Dodge

ISBN: 0671509101

This book was lent to me by Mike from work, after in made the rounds to a few other people around the store. It is a quick little thing, about a 40 minute read, and is more of a short story than a book. Still, it is immensely funny and sad all at once, a very enjoyable read, especially since it has apparently gone out of print.

The duck is called Fup, because it is a F'ed up Duck. This sums up the book quite well.

4/5

Shelf Monkey, by Corey Redekop

ISBN: 1550227661

I think my friend Sophie said it best: it is good, but I won't read it again. This isn't because of bad writing, or lack of suspense or anything. This is a book's book, a bit like The Eyre Affair, a book that knows how elitist it is and revels in it. IT hits too close to home, too much like the job I have right now, dealing with people who eat up books written by women with a mental age of 13 but who have sex. Ugh.

4/5

Portugese Irregular Verbs, by Alexander McCall Smith

ISBN: 978-0676976809

Now this guy usually writes murder mysteries for 50+ women, so when I was told that this short little book was hilarious, I doubted it. But it is. It stars a grumpy old professor who worries about who has a "Von" in front of his name and whose nose is more unfortunate than his. He studies languages and is one of the silliest, most boring men in the world, and it is fantastic. I will be reading the other two in the series when I get the time (which is never, most likely).

4/5