Behind the beautiful forevers

Behind the beautiful forevers: life, death, and hope in a Mumbai undercity by Katherine Boo 256 pgs.

Not an uplifting book...this tells the story of the population of a slum in Mumbai that is surrounded by the airport and "rich" developments.  The people struggle, are mired in incredible poverty and subjected to crazy corruption by every "official" and even non-officials.  Despite all of this negative energy, the people are working hard to make better lives for themselves.  Partly inspiring but also heart breaking this excellent book makes you question a lot of things and appreciate what you have.
check our catalog

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children p. 352

Jacob's grandfather used to tell him stories about when he was growing up in an orphanage. When Jacob got older, he started believing that these stories may not be true. When his grandfather dies (or is killed maybe) Jacob wants to investigate. He believes there is meaning in his last words and intends to find out. He goes to the orphanage, which is off the coast of Wales, to find answers. He finds answers all right, about his grandfather and about himself. 

This book was so good. I didn't know where it was going at first (not in a bad way, it was just suspenseful). I did not see this story coming. It was shocking and fun. I loved it and I think everyone should read it. No wonder it took forever for me to get a copy. A must read.

Horse, Flower, Bird

Horse, Flower, Bird by Kate Bernheimer 186 pp.

This is a small book of unusual short (some very short) stories. The subjects are varied and often odd. The oddest is probably the one about a girl befriending a tulip bulb, told from the bulb's point of view. In another a wealthy wife keeps a menagerie of animals in her basement unbeknownst to her husband. There's the story of an exotic dancer who builds a cage for herself in her apartment and another of sisters playing Star Wars. The stories are sometimes a bit disjointed or missing the occasional detail as if they were written from dreams that the author couldn't completely remember. The format is odd also, with some pages containing only a line or two and few completely filled with text. It's quick to read but leaves you thinking about it long after. The illustrations that begin each story are as quirky as the stories.

Zero History

Zero History by William Gibson 404 pgs.

Somehow I started with the last of a trilogy...that may be why there were a few loose ends that I just couldn't figure out in this book.  I felt like I needed some more information about some characters, etc.  So I'm an idiot.  But the book is cool.  This is my second "fashion" themed book in a month.  Bigend is a mysterious, rich guy running a company involved in "trends" and is looking to find recession proof businesses.  Military contracts are the way to go.  Somehow this turns into a corporate spy job that involves a couple of governments too just to make it interesting.  I enjoyed the characters and now have to catch up by reading the previous 2 books that feature Bigend.

Sprinkle With Murder by Jenn McKinlay

Sprinkle With Murder by Jenn McKinlay p. 215

Mel and Angie followed their dream and with the help of their best friend Tate, opened the Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery. Tate is engaged to Christie and they hired Mel and Angie to make cupcakes for their wedding. Christie is the bride from hell and she pissed people off wherever she went. Mel did her best to accommodate her for the sake of making Tate happy. Things went bad when Mel found her dead one morning in her studio. Tate and Mel were persons of interest in the murder and Mel felt like no one believed her when she said they didn't do it. So it was up to her to find the real killer.

This was a cute mystery and a fun read after a semester of lots of hard reading and papers. This is the first in this series and I'll be reading the second one soon. There are some romances that are sparked in this first book and I would like to see what is going to happen with them. Plus I love mysteries that are centered around bakeries. Fun reading.

Emma, v. 1/Karou Mori

Emma, v. 1 by Kauro Mori; manga, romance, historical fiction; 192 pages

I've been meaning to read this series for years, but reading Mori's other series has finally spurred me into picking this one up.

Emma is a young maid in Victorian London, who falls in love with a young gentleman from a prominent family.  The upstairs/downstairs romance makes up the bulk of the series.  This volume mostly focuses on the pair meeting and growing to love each other (though neither has made their feelings clear to the other).  Several obstacles have been introduced, and I can't wait to see how it plays out! 

Firelight/Kristen Callihan

Firelight by Kristen Callihan (Darkest London book 1); paranormal romance; 400 pages

Miranda is sold in marriage to the mysterious Lord Archer, who keeps his face hidden behind a mask. 

At first, I thought this book sounded great:  shades of Beauty and the Beast, mixed with Phantom of the Opera, two of my favorite stories!  But I'm sad to say that the story didn't quite hold up to its predecessors. The plot was okay, but I never really felt any chemistry between the two main characters, or any real depth from the rest of the cast.  The world-building was weak, at best, and the writing was in serious need of another few passes from the editor.  The paranormal elements were pretty disappointing; neither Archer's appearance or Miranda's powers are ever really explained to my satisfaction, and no one seems particularly interested in pursuing them.  I won't be picking up the sequel, which comes out this summer. 

Robopocalypse

Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson  347 pp.

What if the HAL 9000 took over control of all the computerized machines in the world and turned them against the humans? That is pretty much the premise of this book, except the computer in control is not HAL, but Archos. Archos is a sentient artificial intelligence that is released after it attacks the scientist who created it. After that it plots the destruction of humans who control all the robots by turning the robots against them with deadly force. The robots then attempt to turn humans into machines with Mengele-like surgical experiments. Meanwhile pockets of human resistance fighters have cropped up in various parts of the world, in some cases led by the most unlikely of the humans. This book makes one think hard about our reliance upon the computer controlled machines in our lives. I know I've been eying my smart phone more suspiciously.

Just last night, after watching a t.v. commercial about the computerized gadgets in a new car model, my husband made a comment about the expecting to get in a car one day and have it say "What are you doing, Dave?" in that famous HAL voice. I responded, "You need to read Robopolcalypse."

Birthmarked

Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien, 362 pages

Continuing in my tour of dystopian YA fiction, Birthmarked tells the tale of Gaia, a 16-year-old girl who has been trained by her mother to be a midwife. Gaia and her mother deliver all the babies in their section of Wharftown, the slums surrounding the walled, prestigious Enclave, where the streets are paved with gold (not really) and nobody goes without anything they could want or need (yes, really). But the Enclave needs Wharftown for an odd purpose: to provide a monthly quota of babies to diversify the Enclave's genetic pool. As in most YA dystopias, Gaia begins revealing the cracks in the structured, seemingly perfect Enclave after her parents are arrested and Gaia herself goes on the lam.

I enjoyed this book for the way that it brings up reproductive rights in a new light; I honestly didn't expect that from a YA book. This is the first of a trilogy (it's a YA book; of course its a trilogy!), and I'm curious to see what happens to Gaia in her attempts to undermine the Enclave in the next two.

The Giver

The Giver by Lois Lowry, 180 pages

Somehow I managed to make it through the past 19 years without having read this book in school. But I figured it was high time I picked it up. And wow, am I glad I did. I loved Lowry's simple, sparse writing style, which so well fit the dystopian setting. I'm amazed at how well she can evoke emotion from, really, some pretty thinly described (but incredibly human) characters. And I'll admit that this book made me cry. Simply put, I was floored. If you haven't read this book, do it.