Matched was the first book I finished in September, and it was a terrific read. Take The Giver, throw in a romantic triangle a la The Hunger Games, add in a society in search of perfection like in Uglies, stir in a bit each of Fahrenheit 451 and Brave New World for good measure, mix thoroughly, and you have a book like Matched.

Cassia has been looking forward to her 17th birthday for as long as she can remember, because at age 17 she gets Matched. The Society will choose her perfect match, both genetically and psychologically, and that is the man she will marry. Cassia fully expects her match to be someone she doesn’t know, but when it turns out to be her best friend, Xander, she couldn’t be happier. Until the morning after their Match Ceremony, when Cassia loads the microcard that cointains info on Xander, as well as their courtship guidelines, and a different face fills her screen, that of Ky Markham, a quiet boy she has known almost as long as Xander. Ky’s face disappears as quickly as it appeared, and Cassia is assured by an Official that it was simply a glitch. Her match is Xander, and even if it weren’t, Ky is not eligible to be matched, because he is an Aberration.

That one little “glitch” sets Cassia on a different path, a path of questioning everything she’s been raised to hold as true. The Society knows best, right? It holds the welfare of its citizens as the highest priority. Or does it? When Cassia’s Grandfather gives her the words to a poem, a poem that is not one of the Society-sanctioned Hundred Poems, it stirs up feelings in her that she’s never known before. “Do not go gentle….”

Condie has built a fascinating world in The Society, one that controls by both fear and the control of information. The citizens have been convinced that too much information is a bad thing, and that The Society will tell them what they need to know. It’s a terrifying proposition. I found myself crying over this particular paragraph:

The almost-snow reminds me of a line from a poem we studied this year in Language and Literacy: “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” It is one of my favorites of all the Hundred Poems, the ones our society chose to keep, back when they decided our culture was too cluttered. They created commissions to choose the hundred best of everything: Hundred Songs, Hundred Paintings, Hundred Stories, Hundred Poems. The rest were eliminated. Gone forever. For the best, the Society said, and everyone believed, because it made sense. How can we appreciate anything fully when overwhelmed with too much?

The thought of all those paintings, poems, stories, and songs simply being destroyed is horrifying. That a committee would have the power to choose which are the ones worthy of keeping – just imagining that makes me shudder. The power of words is very much a theme in Matched, as the words of the poems Cassia’s grandfather smuggles to her begin to take root in her heart and mind, prompting her to question and doubt and, ultimately, fight.

Matched is a terrific beginning to what I’m assuming will be a series, as the story ends with much to be resolved in Cassia’s world. I hope we don’t have to wait too long for the second installment!

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Post tags: dystopian fiction, science fiction, YA fiction

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I’m not going to write a review, because there’s simply no way to do it without talking about plot points and I want all of you to read it without anything spoiled. I will say, though, that Collins has outdone herself and that Mockingjay is, hands down, the best book of the series. It was such an emotional experience to read it. I’m still processing and my eyes are still tearing up when I think about certain scenes. Sigh. If you haven’t read this series yet, what are you waiting for?

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Post tags: dystopian fiction, science fiction, suzanne collins, YA fiction

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This one picks up right where The Language of Bees left off. King continues to hit them out of the park, one right after another, with this series! This one deals with political issues in Britain after WW I – the rise of the Labor Party and how it changes the face of intelligence and politics for Mycroft Holmes. It includes some scenes that had me in tears, others that had me holding my breath, and some of the scenes that involved Mary taking care of a small girl had me laughing. This remains my favorite mystery series ever.

Title: Raiders’ Ransom
Author: Emily Diamand
Genre: Middle grade science fiction, futuristic fiction
Publisher: The Chicken House
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Audiobook from the public library
Audiobook reader: Charlotte Parry, James Clamp
First line: Cat puts up his nose to sniff the breath of wind barely filling the sail, and opens his small pink mouth to speak.

I can’t remember which book blogger recommended this one, but I am grateful. In a future Britain that is mostly flooded, Lilly Melkin is a Fisher. She owns a sea cat, a magical creature which helps her when she’s on her boat. The Fishers live in constant fear of the Raiders, pirates who occasionally raid Fisher villages. Scotland is the only area of Britain that has maintained at least a small amount of technology – most of which was destroyed during the floods, and which the Fishers and Raiders now believe is wicked or demonic. When a Raider ship comes to Lilly’s town and kidnaps the Prime Minister’s daughter, Lilly is determined to get her back and prevent her village from destruction. I loved the premise and the character of Lilly. I do wish the male narrator who read the character of Zeph, son of one of the Raider chiefs, was a little less melodramatic; his performance was a tad over the top. It wasn’t enough to make me stop listening, though, and I am looking forward to Flood and Fire, the sequel, which comes out next month.

Title: The Plague of Doves
Author: Louise Erdrich
Genre: Historical fiction
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Source: Audiobook from the public library
Audiobook reader: Peter Francis James, Kathleen McInerny
First line: In the year 1896, my great-uncle, one of the first Catholic priests of aboriginal blood, put the call out to his parishioners that they should gather at St. Joseph’s wearing scapulars and holding missals.

The Plague of Doves is more a set of connected stories than a linear novel, and like many story collections, some were definitely stronger than others. The over-arching mystery of a murdered white family and the Native Americans that were unjustly lynched for the crime, as well as the excellent narration, kept me listening to the end. I liked the writing, but there wasn’t anything there that stood out or took this from an okay book to a terrific one. If I had been reading it in print, without the amazing narration, I might not have continued reading it.

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Post tags: audiobooks, futuristic fiction, historical fiction, laurie r. king, mary russell, middle grade fiction, mysteries, science fiction, sherlock holmes

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Discussion starters:

~ The Bumbles Blog: Never apologize for what you read

Reviews and blog posts that have me adding to my to-read list:

~ Crossing to Safety by Wallace Earl Stegner, reviewed by Carol at Magistramater.

~ Tomorrow River by Lesley Kagen, reviewed by Susan at Bloggin’ ’bout Books.

~ The Quickening by Michelle Hoover, reviewed by Wendy at Caribousmom.

~ 100 Poems by 100 Poets: An Anthology, reviewed by Avid Reader.

~ The Great Lover by Jill Dawson, reviewed by Vasilly at 1330v.

~ The Nobodies Album by Carolyn Parkhurst, reviewed by Jen at Devourer of Books – I already ordered this one!

~ Firespell by Chloe Neill, reviewed by Pam at Bookalicious.

~ The Boneshaker by Kate Milford and Andrea Offermann, reviewed by Amanda at A Patchwork of Books.

~ Twenty-Six by Leo McKay Jr., reviewed by Heather at Book Addiction.

~ Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomons, reviewed by Staci at Life in the Thumb.

Book to movie news:

~ Daniel Radcliffe to star in a film version of All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque.

~ Jude Law to star in the film version of The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.

Other bookish links:

~ The New Yorker: Fresh Hell – what’s behind the boom in dystopian fiction for young readers?

~ Los Angeles Times: Book bloggers catch on with publishers – featuring Trish, Amy, and Rebecca.

~ Jill at Fizzy Thoughts is hosting a group read of The Brothers Karamazov – I’m thinking about joining.

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Post tags: blogging, book to film, dystopian fiction, poetry, science fiction, TBR list, YA fiction

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Title: Never Let Me Go
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Genre: Dystopian fiction
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Print copy from the public library
First line: My name is Kathy H.

I’ve been wanting to read Never Let Me Go for a couple of years, but it was seeing the trailer for the film version that prompted me to pick it up and read it now. It is just as good as everyone says. It is dystopian fiction that focuses more on the characters rather than world-building, which means that the way Kathy’s world works was revealed one bit at a time. The premise wasn’t difficult to guess, but that didn’t take away from the pleasure of reading. The only thing that bugged me was that I felt like Kathy was a bit detached emotionally from the story she told. I think this was intentional on the part of the author, but it kept me from being as emotionally invested in the characters as I could have been. Still, it is a fantastic read, and I can’t wait to see how it translates into film.

Title: The Language of Bees
Author: Laurie R. King
Genre: Mystery, historical fiction
Publisher: Bantam Books
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Source: Print copy from the public library
First line: As homecomings go, it was not auspicious.

There is nothing like the book equivalent of an old friend to comfort you in times of stress. The Language of Bees was the book that accompanied me to the hospital with Natalie. Only Russell and Holmes could have taken me away from my present reality enough to give my mind some rest from the constant stress and fear of sitting with a sick child and comforting her while she is poked and prodded in ways usually reserved for 40-year-old adults, not 13-year-old girls. This foray into the world of Holmes and Russell deals with a figure from Holmes’ past, was one of my favorites of the series, and ends on a cliff-hanger. I was languishing on the hold list for the next book, God of the Hive, when the lovely Laura from I’m Booking It said she’d put her ARC copy in the mail for me. Don’t you love book bloggers?

Title: Genesis
Author: Bernard Beckett
Genre: YA dystopian fiction
Publisher: Mariner Books
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Print copy borrowed from a friend
First line: Anax moved down the long corridor.

My friend Michelle loaned me her copy of Genesis, telling me that it made her think more than any book had in a long time. It is a deceptively small book – only 150 pages or so – and yet it packs a huge wallop. Beckett deals with the issue of what it means to be human – and then kicks you in the gut with the ending. A must-read.

Title: The Likeness
Author: Tana French
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Penguin
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Source: Print copy from the public library
First line: Some nights, if I’m sleeping on my own, I still dream about Whitethorn House.

I was one of the readers who was disappointed in the ending of In the Woods, even as I acknowledged that the writing is brilliant. People kept telling me that I would love The Likeness even more – and they were right. The character of Cassie Maddox is a wonderfully complex one, and this was one of the best mysteries I’ve read in a long, long time. Literary writing and a creepy mystery with vivid characters – I absolutely cannot wait for the next book in French’s Dublin Murder Squad series: Faithful Place.

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Post tags: dystopian fiction, laurie r. king, mary russell, mysteries, science fiction, sherlock holmes

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I loved The Forest of Hands and Teeth, but I only liked The Dead-Tossed Waves. I still appreciate the world Carrie Ryan has invented, and she is good at creating mood, but I really did not like the character of Gabry – she was very whiny. I didn’t find the love triangle believable, either, and her flip-flopping between two boys had me rolling my eyes several times. I’ll still be on board for book three, though.

Title: The Wordy Shipmates
Author: Sarah Vowell
Genre: History, non-fiction
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Source: Print copy from the public library
First line: The only thing more dangerous than an idea is a belief.

Sarah Vowell is as witty as everyone says she is, and I love the way she writes. I learned a lot about the Massachusetts Bay Company, a section of early American history that is often neglected in favor of the Pilgrims, Plymouth Rock, the First Thanksgiving, and Squanto. I experienced very similar feelings when reading Nathaniel Philbrick’s Mayflower – the Puritans that started some of the first American colonies were made of stern and hardy stuff, and every once in a while, their hearts seem in the right place. But most often, they seem like legalistic, hateful, self-righteous haters of all things non-Puritan, and their behavior toward the Native-Americans makes me physically ill. Still, it is a part of our history we should know, and reading Vowell’s book makes for an entertaining way to do that. She lost me a bit about 2/3 of the way through in a long section about the Pequot war – I had a hard time keeping track of which tribes sided with whom, but that’s probably not Vowell’s fault.

Title: Rules of Survival
Author: Nancy Werlin
Genre: YA contemporary fiction
Publisher: Speak
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Audiobook from the public library
First line: For me, the story begins with Murdoch McIlvane

This story of an abused teenage boy’s desire to protect his two little sisters from their sociopathic mother, Nicki, is very well-written and realistic. I loved the character of Matthew, who tells the story in first person. His attempts to get the few other adults in his life to understand how dangerous Nicki is were heart-breaking, and made me want to shake some sense into their heads. Werlin does a good job, though, of explaining how hard it is for these adults to want to step in, knowing that it will turn their lives upside down. The audiobook reader was especially good, too.

Title: Brisingr
Author: Christopher Paolini
Genre: YA fantasy
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Audiobook from the public library
First line: Eragon stared at the dark tower of stone wherein hid the monsters who had murdered his uncle, Garrow.

I really like this series, and it is especially fun to watch Paolini’s writing skills improve with each successive book. I enjoyed watching Eragon begin to grow up, while still occasionally making the impulsive decisions that get him into trouble – one of which we are yet to know the consequences of. Definitely looking forward to book four – and will do that one on audio, too, because the reader is amazing.

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Post tags: audiobooks, contemporary fiction, dystopian fiction, fantasy, history, non-fiction, science fiction, speculative fiction, YA fiction

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When You Reach Me won the Newbery Medal, and the honor is definitely deserved. This story of a girl growing up in New York City in the late 70s is amazingly well-written. I loved the main character, Miranda, and her fascination with Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. Her best friend, Sal, is avoiding her; her new friend Annemarie has a secret; her Mom’s trying to decide whether to marry her long-time boyfriend or not; and she’s receiving strange notes that seem to be from someone with knowledge of the future. This truly is a must-read – and the reader of the audio version is perfect.

Title: Whitethorn Woods
Author: Maeve Binchy
Genre: Contemporary fiction, Irish fiction
Publisher: Knopf
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Source: Print copy from my own library, audiobook copy from the public library
First line: Father Brian Flynn, the curate at St. Augustine’s, Rossmore, hated the Feast Day of St. Ann with a passion that was unusual for a Catholic priest.

This novel is more like a collection of connected short stories. The citizens of Rossmore, including their priest, Father Flynn, are all up in arms over a proposed highway near their town. Many people believe the highway is necessary to take care of the bottle-neck traffic in Rossmore. Others are against it because the highway will go through nearby Whitethorn Woods, which contains a shrine to St. Ann that is believed to have miraculous powers. Each of the people who visit St. Ann’s Well has something they want from the Blessed Virgin’s Mother – and those wishes and requests make up the heart of the stories. While not my favorite of Binchy’s novels, I still enjoyed it – and it is wonderful on audio.

Title: My Husband’s Sweethearts
Author: Bridget Asher
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Publisher: Bantam
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: ARC from the publisher
First line: Careening past airline counters toward the security check-in, I’m explaining love and its various forms of failure to Lindsay, my assistant.

Bridget Asher’s writing style reminds me a little of Marisa de los Santos, who has a blurb on the front cover of my ARC copy of My Husband’s Sweethearts. While Asher may not have quite as unique a voice as de los Santos, or be quite as polished an author, her characters are fully drawn, quirky, and will make you love them.

Lucy hasn’t lived with her husband Artie for six months, since he confessed to multiple infidelities. Artie has been trying to win her back, sending her flowers every day, swearing that he still loves her, but Lucy’s not buying it. Then she receives the news that Artie is dying. She heads home to Artie’s deathbed, angry that she will have to go through this hardest of times alone, while Artie’s sweethearts got to be in on all the good times. She decides she won’t go through it alone, and starts calling the women in Artie’s “little black book.”
During the weeks that follow, Lucy will learn the meaning of forgiveness, letting go, and family. Is family simply the people we’re related to, or can family be something we choose?

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Post tags: audiobooks, children's fiction, contemporary fiction, ireland reading challenge, maeve binchy, middle grade fiction, science fiction

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Wow. Just, wow. How can I give you a synopsis of this book? First, you’ve got a team of scientists on a military project in South America, studying a virus. Very few come back. Then you’ve got FBI agents who are offering death row inmates a second chance at life if they are willing to disappear from the grid and submit to a scientific experiment. Twelve inmates agree, and are injected with the virus.

The thirteenth subject is a six-year-old little girl named Amy, who has been abandoned at a nunnery, and that is where Agent Wolgast draws the line. In spite of his attempts to protect her, Amy becomes subject 13. When subjects 1 through 12 break out, releasing the virus into the rest of the world, Wolgast takes Amy and runs.

Fast-forward almost a hundred years later. North America has been completely wiped out by the virals. A small group of survivors exist in The Colony in California, protected by their walls and the huge lights they turn on every night. Except some of the colonists are starting to exhibit strange behavior, dreaming about memories that aren’t their own. Amy arrives at The Colony, now appearing to be fifteen years old, in spite of the fact that nearly a century has passed since she was six and the virus started to spread. A few members of The Colony leave with Amy, heading north to the epicenter of the outbreak, hoping to find out who Amy is and whether she might hold the key to the future of humankind.

That is definitely not an adequate way to describe this book to you. This is an epic story, with multiple points-of-view, a intricately layered plot, and amazing characters whom I came to love. It’s got so much going on – you’ve got FBI agents, a nun from Sierra Leone, a little girl who talks to animals, vampires (yes, the virals are vampires, but don’t let that stop you from reading – the rest of this review, or, the book ), dystopian societies, a little romance, epic battles, blood, babies, psychic old ladies, armies, cabins in the woods, RPGs, and an atomic bomb.

This book is nearly 800 pages long, and yet it took me less than a week to read it. It would have been less time, except my kids wouldn’t let me sneak in any reading during the Harry Potter movie marathon. But when I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about it, dreaming about it, and talking to my dad about it, since he read my ARC first. When I was at their house and reading the last third of the book (during movie breaks) he would laugh every time I gasped or said, “Oh, no!”, because he knew what was coming up next. Now that I’ve finished it, I can’t wait to talk to him about the ending.

The Passage is the first in a proposed trilogy, and unfortunately, we have to wait until 2012 for book two. While it is obvious that this is the first in a series, I didn’t feel like it ended on as much of a cliff-hanger as the Hunger Games or Monsters of Men series both did.

June 8th – that’s the date The Passage will be available in stores. Pre-order it. Request it at the library. Do whatever – just read this book.

Check out these other reviews:

~ Book-a-rama
~ Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’?
~ Presenting Lenore

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Post tags: dystopian fiction, justin cronin, science fiction, speculative fiction, the passage

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Hunger is book two in Michael Grant’s YA dystopian series. In the first book, Gone, everyone fifteen and older disappears, while the children left behind are encased in some kind of force-field shaped like a sphere, and are forced to fend for themselves. Oh, and some of them are developing super powers – think X-men meets Lord of the Flies. Book two continues the series, with the kids dealing with the fact that they are now running out of food, “normals” are starting to turn against the “freaks” with powers, and there is a strange alien being outside town who is hungry in the dark. Lots of action, great characters, and no shying away from the fact that the issues that teens deal with in normal life – romance, sexual identity, racial issues, eating disorders – don’t disappear simply because the end of the world has come. I am very much looking forward to book three, Lies, which comes out next week.

Title: An Echo in the Bone
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Historical fiction, fantasy
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Audiobook from the public library
First line: The pirate’s head had disappeared.

Oh, Ms. Gabaldon – how could you do this to me? I knew that when I finished listening to An Echo in the Bone, I would have a long wait – probably three years – for the next book in the series. What I didn’t realize until I started listening to the final disc (of 40!) and noticed that things weren’t really wrapping up, was that I would be left hanging in so many different ways! And I’m talking complete cliff-hangers – mid-conversation cliff-hangers! I am going through Jamie and Claire withdrawals. I need someone to speak to me in a Scottish accent every once in a while to tide me over. Gerard Butler will do.

Title: When Forgiveness Doesn’t Make Sense
Author: Robert Jeffress
Genre: Christian non-fiction
Publisher: Waterbrook Press
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Print copy borrowed from a friend

I’ve been trying to deal with some emotional baggage from my past, and reading this book was one step in my journey. I highly recommend it for those who struggle with forgiving those who have hurt them. I posted some of my favorite quotes on my personal blog, if you’re interested.

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Post tags: audiobooks, christian non-fiction, diana gabaldon, dystopian fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, outlander, science fiction, YA fiction

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Spoiler alert: While this review will not contain spoilers of The Other Side of Dawn, it will contain spoilers for the previous six books in the series, so if you’re planning to read them and haven’t yet, you might want to skip it.

The final book in Marsden’s Tomorrow, When the War Began series opens with the Ellie, Homer, Lee, Fiona, and Kevin awaiting a mysterious 24-hour guest Colonel Finley is sending from New Zealand. The guest turns out to be a member of the special forces there to give them arms and ammunition. He instructs them to step up their sabotage because the war has reached a crucial stage and preparations are being made for a D-day invasion. The team makes plans to attack a fueling station, and things go horribly wrong.

Ellie gets separated from the rest of the team, and doesn’t know whether they are alive or not. It is at this point that the emotional toil the war has taken becomes very obvious, and Ellie begins to wonder if she’ll survive the war at all.

What an emotional read! I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to see how it ended, but I also wanted to savor it, knowing that it was the final book in the series. I don’t want to give anything away, but I think Marsden ended the series with hopeful realism. I will definitely be buying the follow-up trilogy, The Ellie Chronicles soon – hopefully in time for summer reading.

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Post tags: dystopian fiction, john marsden, science fiction, YA fiction

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