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

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

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

Bad Monkeys, by Matt Ruff

ISBN: 978-0061240416

This book is crazy. I like books with twists, but this is a bloody tornado! :) A girl kills someone, then is caught and interviewed by a doctor at the psych-prison. According to her, she is part of an organization called the Bad Monkeys who kills evil people with a thing called the NC (Natural Causes) gun.

And then it gets weird.

3/5

Extras, by Scott Westerfield

ISBN: 978-1416951179

Eeek! Totally unanticipated, this is the fourth book in the Uglies "trilogy", and takes place three years after the end of Specials (as far as I can figure). It is based in a Japanese city where fame is the most important thing around. How much fame you have dictates how many credits you have. It was still a bit slow, and this guy totally likes falling from great heights too much, but still a nice addition to the series.

4/5

Calculating God, by Robert J Sawyer

This is the second time I read this book, and it still makes me happy. The premise is that aliens land in Toronto to try and figure out if there are mass extinctions on earth that match theirs. Such an ocurence would prove that there is a God. It is touching and scientific and kinda scary all at once. If there is a god, I want it to be this one.

4/5

Fat, by Rob Grant

ISBN: 978-0575078208

I'm sorry to have to say it, but I ate this novel up. It follows the story of one girl with anorexia, one overweight, anger-driven chef and one publicity spinner in charge of making a Well Farm (fat-nazi camp), skipping to each one each chapter, and mixing up the narratives by the end. It is really excellent, a study of how being "fat" is now illegal. The book starts by talking about the fat tax that planes are charging people based on their BMI, to account for the extra fuel needed to carry extra-sized people around.

5/5

World War Z, by Max Brooks

ISBN: 978-0307346605

One of the most awesome books I have read in my life. I have read this about 4-5 times since receiving it at christmas time. Part slasher flick, part War of the Worlds, and part Day of the Triffids, this is the perfect social commentary of our time. Through dozens of characters we can see how a world deals with the impossible, and how some people cannot deal with it at all. Funny at times, sad at others, this is the ultimate read for any sci-fi, fantasy or horror fan.

5/5

Soon I Will Be Invincible, by Austin Grossman

ISBN: 0375424865

Hilarious and touching at the same time, the chapters rock back and forth between the super villains and the super heroes, dealing with the tough stuff such as keeping your secret identity to getting your costume right and maybe even taking over the world a few times.

5/5

Supernaturalists, by Eoin Colfer

ISBN: 978-0786851492

This was a great teen book, with more serious themes than you sometimes see in adult fiction. Lots of torture and death, and plot twists galore. The characters are really fun too, especially the main kid who is quite brilliant.

3/5

Taken, by Edward Bloor

ISBN: 978-0375836367
Publish date: Oct 9th

Got a preview copy at the Random House Fall Preview, and it is the best book I have picked up from there so far. As soon as you start, you know it'll be full of twists, but then it just keeps on twisting back and forth, mixing just enough sci-fi to make you happy, with all the worries of our modern age. Best Edward Bloor book I have ever read.

4/5

Uglies, Pretties and Specials, all by Scott Westerfield

ISBNs: 978-0689865381, 978-0689865398, 978-0689865404

This series of books is based in a world where when you turn 16, you get plastic surgery to make you into a Pretty, a perfect, cookie-cutter person who does not ask questions and who does not make a fuss. The three books folow Tally Youngblood, who, thank god, makes a huge fuss and gets things moving. Great book for young girls.

5/5 for all three.