Tell All

Tell All / Chuck Palahniuk 192 pg.

This name-dropping send up of the Hollywood "celebrity" lifestyle is slightly entertaining for awhile but it seems like an idea that just doesn't work because it doesn't go anywhere. Palahniuk used to write great stuff like "Fight Club" that seemed so daring and wasn't completely predictable. Well, maybe he has lost his way a bit. There were some funny parts here but I can't in good faith recommend this book because it just doesn't offer enough of the good. - Christa

The Worldwar Series, The Colonization Series & Homeward Bound

The Worldwar Series, The Colonization Series & Homeward Bound by Harry Turtledove, 8 books, 3512 pages.

At first glance Harry Turtledove's series seems like a typical alien invasion scenario, a staple of the sci-fi genre. The Worldwar Series, however, presents interesting twists on the concept. First, the aliens, who call themselves "the Race," invade in Spring of 1942, simultaneously assaulting every inhabited continent. Second, the Race are not your typical slavering hordes of monsters. They are alien in outlook, arrogant, ethnocentric and imperialistic, but are not "evil." They have come to conquer the Earth out of sense of manifest destiny, but still possess all the moral complexity of human beings. Turtledove consistently communicates the differences in outlook, sometimes vast or subtle, of the various human and alien characters, which come from all walks of life.

The two series, plus the follow up novel, span from World War II to the turn of the century, and display the slow-motion collision of the Earth's diverse cultures with that of the Race. Turtledove doesn't handle action and suspense very well, so he mostly skips over it. The books are engaging and entertaining none the less. I would especially recommend it for young people who have yet to travel abroad as the novels can show one the diversity of human perspectives.

Castle Waiting

Castle Waiting by Linda Medley  457 pp.

Originally published as the first 12 issues of a comic book series. This graphic novel begins with a twisted version of the Sleeping Beauty tale which is the basis for the bramble covered castle where most of the action takes place. The story centers on a young pregnant woman named Jain, who escapes her abusive husband and is given refuge in the hobgoblin infested castle among a curious mix of human and animal/human characters taken from various fairy tales. The castle is an outpost for the unloved, unwanted, and those just needing to hide from the world and the perfect place for Jain to give birth to her not-quite-human baby. As the story progresses there are flashbacks and stories within stories that add depth to the tales. The idea of a group of bearded ladies creating an order of nuns devoted to showing the idiocies of men is just one of the story lines in this well-done collection. I look forward to reading the second volume.

Hellcity: The Whole Damned Thing/ Macon Blair and Joe Flood

Hellcity: The Whole Damned Thing by Macon Blair and Joe Flood. graphic novel, mystery, noir, action, celestial setting 328 pages

Considering that my first little expedition into the world of graphic novels was the Scott Pilgrim series, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that I would be intrigued enough by this genre to try again. Naturally, I could keep within my comfort zone and pick up another big-eyed, bright-and-bubbly graphic novel series similar to Scott Pilgrim, but a friend of mine told me that these types of graphic novels make up only about HALF of the genre. Before I could truly judge graphic literature as a whole, I needed to read something of the other GL variety--- something gritty, something violent, something with graphic violence that only a graphic novel could provide. Something like one of Frank Miller's Sin City books. However, if I really wanted to initiate myself as a graphic novel reader, I would need to stray away from the mainstream and read something that HADN'T been made into a movie. That's when Hellcity: The Whole Damned thing crossed the circulation desk.

Being a fan of classic literature like John Milton's "Paradise Lost" and Dante Alighieri's "Inferno", it shouldn't be too surprising that stories set in the afterlife would be interesting to me. Hellcity combines classic mythology of Heaven and Hell with elements of the noir mystery genre to form an extremely entertaining mystery of celestial proportions. The book follows the adventures of Bill Tankersly, a private investigator-turned-damned soul condemned to the hellish urban sprawl of Hellcity for taking his own life after a serial killer murders his wife. Hellcity is a lot like any traditional fictional noir urban setting except along with the cliches of overwhelming crime and pollution as well as political corruption, there is a population of demons running the city as well as incessantly torturing the human inhabitants of Hellcity. The narrative opens with another cliche, the leggy and mysterious woman showing up at Tankersly's door with an offer too good to refuse--- a transfer to a less hellish area of hell in exchange for his services. Tankersly is assigned to shadow the Devil himself who is acting extremely strange (he's reading poetry and dressing like Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) in a time where Hellcity is on the verge of being overthrown by anarchist groups composed of the damned.

While I don't want to reveal any more of the story than this, I will tell you that Tankersly's quest for redemption is extremely addictive. As someone who prides himself in being able to predict events of stories, there were quite a few points where even I was thrown for a loop. Hellcity's inhabitants are also extremely entertaining and the memorable cast of characters only adds to the already involved story. If you've got a few hours to kill, I'd definitely pick this one up. I'll be damned if it's not totally worth your time...

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn/Alison Goodman

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman; young adult, fantasy; 531 pages

I've been meaning to read this for a long while, but I was waiting for the second half of the story to come out so I could read it all at once. Fortunately, Patrick brought an arc of the sequel back from ALA Midwinter, so I finally dove in (the sequel will official be out in April, so if you've been holding off like I was, rest assured your wait is almost over).

In the strict Empire of the Twelve Celestial Dragons, Dragoneyes (skilled men who can communicate with and control the spiritual dragons) are second only to the emperor himself. Eon has been training most of his life to be a Dragoneye, and his chance is swiftly approaching as the book opens. There's only one problem: "Eon" is actually "Eona," a sixteen-year-old girl who hopes to bring her family honor through the power of a dragon. And she does bond with a dragon--the Mirror Dragon, thought to be lost for over 500 years. But with no one to train her and her secret to keep, she struggles to find her place among the Dragoneyes, and learn to manipulate her own dragon's power for the good of the empire.

I tore through this book in a matter of days. While I had a few moments when I thought Eon was being particularly dim, for the most part I felt like she was doing the best she could in an increasingly dangerous situation. There's lots of action, and even the beginning sparks of a romance (though with all the swashbuckling and political maneuvering in this volume, it's no wonder that part got shuffled to the back of the story). The setting is loosely based on ancient China, which was a refreshing change from the more Euro-centric fantasy I've been reading lately. I can't wait to start the sequel!

The Gunslinger/ Stephen King

The Gunslinger By Stephen King. Post-apocalyptic, adventure, western, cryptic, horror 231 pages.

This was the first Stephen King book I have ever read. From what I had heard about him, I thought he only wrote scary books that would eventually become scary movies and the horror genre never appealed to me too much. Then, I read Patton Oswalt's "Zombie, Spaceship, Wasteland", and although Oswalt ended up being a horrible writer with nothing too important to say himself, he did repeatedly provide evidence that we had similar taste in books, so when he wrote that Stephen King's Dark Tower series, of which the Gunslinger is the first volume, was one of the best series he's ever read, I had to give it a try.

Initially it seemed right up my alley. Post-apocalyptic wasteland America filled with desperate survivors, vicious and disgusting mutants, and terrifying supernatural occurrences? Sign me up!!! I was even intrigued by the frequent peppering of religious references that King threw into the story for good measure. One would assume that I would have nothing to say but good things about the book.

Unfortunately, I do have to tear the narrative to shreds for one particular reason-- King tries WAAAAAAAAAAY too hard to be cryptic and mysterious. I understand that if you give the reader everything they need to know right from the start, you will lose their interest. Cliffhangers are necessary, and for the most part enjoyable, because they spur discussion between readers. I do think, however, that some regulations need to made on presenting unanswered questions for the reader. I have always believed that in a cryptic narrative such as this, the writer needs to give the reader one answer for every three questions they pose. This still allows the author to keep the reader guessing, but at the same time provides incremental incentive to keep reading instead of just giving up and saying "that's it, I am officially more confused than Sarah Palin and George W. Bush during an episode of Lost". King's question-to-answer ratio is somewhere around 10:1 which gets EXTREMELY annoying about halfway through the book because curiosity turns into aggravation.

That being said, I am certainly going to try to read the second volume in the series, but if this trend of unnecessary mysteriousness continues, then I can't promise that i'll keep going after that one.

Ragged Dick or Street Life in New York/ Horatio Alger

Ragged Dick or Street Life in New York By Horatio Alger. rags-to-riches stories, growing up, historical accounts of New York. 198 pages

The first thing I want to get out of the way is that while reading this book, I already came up with just about every possible pun one could make with the title Ragged Dick. Yes, it sounds like a slang-name for the most painful STD ever. Yes, people will look at you differently when you walk the streets with your Ragged Dick in hand. They are all hilarious, and as much as I'd like to spend this whole blog entry making jokes about the book's title, I have a book to tell you about, so get over it.

I wasn't familiar with Alger's work before reading this story, but apparently he has written many similar stories about young boys who come from nothing working their way into respectable society. We've all heard the story before and since some say Alger is the first to tell the rags-to-riches story, then I won't hold it too much against him that the plot doesn't stray to far from the literary cliches that we're used to. I would definitely recommend this book to parents who want to give their teenagers something to read that is both entertaining and informative. Alger's style of writing manages to be both gripping and frank.

Dick, the protagonist of the story is extremely likable, so it doesn't come as much of a surprise that you'll be rooting for him on his journey of upward mobility. My only problem with the story is that it was almost TOO optimistic. Everything seemed to work out perfectly for ole' Dick, and while I understand that this is partially due to the book being written in a much more simple time, I would have liked a little more conflict for Dick, a perfectly capable character, to overcome. Definitely worth a read, and at 198 pages, it's not gonna take up much of your time. Kirkwood's got the only two copies of the book in the whole consortium's circulation, so make sure to get your hands on Ragged Dick before someone else does (Okay...I had to do one...sorry).

An Unforgettable Lady by J. R. Ward writing as Jessica Bird 462 pages

J. R. Ward writing about vampires, shape shifters and ghost walkers is a favorite author. Before venturing into the other worldly subjects of her later books, she wrote four novels. “An Unforgettable Lady” is one of these novels. The setting is the upper class neighborhoods of New York City and the characters are plucked from the highest of high society. A killer has targeted six of the most influential society ladies of the city. These are young to middle aged women from wealthy and influential families who are actively engaged in charitable foundations. The killer finds these women alone in their homes and cuts their throats leaving them bleeding and dying in their own foyers. One of these women is encouraged by friends to hire the Black Watch security firm. John Smith is the founder of Black Watch and takes over the security for Grace Hall. The threads of the story wind around and through the histories of each of the characters and an immediate attraction between John and Grace. There is no evidence and leads are limited because these women interact on many levels daily. Each new murder is cause for added stress for the remaining women on the ‘hit’ list.

Princess Posey and the first grade parade by Stephanie Greene 79 pages

This would be a great read aloud at school or at home. Posey is poised to start first grade. Some older kids make up scary stories to frighten her. She especially fears walking into school by herself without her mother. Luckily she meets up with her new teacher off campus. Miss Lee is an excellent teacher gifted with the ability of truly listening to her students. She picks up on a wish by Posey to create a "teachable moment" and agrees to start a new tradition -- a parade in which first graders can wear their favorite clothes (pajamas, tutus, etc.). This is the first of a charming new series by the creator of the delightful Owen Foote series. Both are great for new chapter book readers.

Ratfink by Marcia Thornton; Jones 216 pages

Fifth grade Logan just can't seem to keep out of trouble at school. He starts off the school year with great intentions, but by the end of the first time he stirs up trouble with the new girl, Emily Scott. He is distracted because his grandfather has just moved into his home and his grandfather is showing signs of early Alzheimer's Disease. He wants to keep his grandfather a secret to avoid embarrassment at school. His parents make a deal with him that if he can stay out of trouble at school they will buy him a pet. This captures the early middle school angst. The ending is a bit sticky sweet -- but it is great to see him make that connection, finally, with his grandfather.