Theodosia and the Sepents of Chaos, by R. L. Lafevers

isbn: 978-0618756384

This book is a bit odd. I loved the story. It was very political and spooky. The writing was fine, with the descriptions of curses and objects being just the right length. The pace, on the other hand, was out the window, with zero decent introduction to Theo's powers. There is also a serious lack of details sometimes, like who this secret society is and how does Theo change from a decurser to a curser within 300 pages... A better title would have been Theo and the Heart of Egypt, which would have not ruined the major punch in the story. There is a second one lined up. I dunno if I will read it. The story was really good, though. Arg.

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 City of Dreaming Books, by Walter Moers

isbn: 1585678996

A very self-indulgent book, it chronicles the adventure of a wannabe-author dinosaur who travels to Bookholm, the City of Dreaming Books, and gets involved with Cyclops, Bookhunters, bug-like books, and the Shadow King! It is self-indulgent because it makes up most of the authors, creatures, races, places, everything, and describes it all in ridiculous (but fun) detail. Seriously, the asides and footnotes almost read like The Hitchhiker's Guide. Which is a compliment. It was a little long, but I totally wanted to finish it.

3/5

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

Bones, Rocks and Stars, by Chris Turney

isbn: 978-0230551947

A cute little soft-core history book about the trouble with dating things. Each chapters goes through a different mystery such as the identity of King Arthur or the validity of the Turin Shroud or the problems one faces when identifying the missing link. It discusses different calendars, the ways of criss-crossing calendars together (and why it rarely is as simple as it seems) and explains everything in a easy but not dumbed down way. Tidbit of information: the Egyptians started back at year zero every time a new King showed up. The Chinese, with each new dynasty. If there were years of famine and war and turmoil between official people being in charge, those years were simply lost. Hmph!

3/5

Bloodletting, by Victoria Leathan

isbn: 1572244577

I don't typically read non-fiction, but spotted this at work. I work with youth who sometimes have serious mental health issues. This book, about cutting, depression and the innadequate medical system made me think and reflect how everyone feels this way sometimes, but with mental health issues, it is not so easy to control the inner images and voices. A quick read, but well paced.

3/5