Goliath

Finally the conclusion to Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan trilogy has arrived! Much awaited and happily received in my household, this book lived up to all of my expectations. I really do enjoy a good reworking of history, especially when there are steam punk elements thrown in. If you have not already done so I highly recommend that you go and read Leviathan and Behemoth, the first two books of this trilogy, because you honestly do not know what you are missing out on until you have experienced these amazing novels.

Graceling

Another excellent recommendation made to me by a former colleague, Deborah, led me to pick up Graceling by Kristin Cashore. I enjoyed Katsa, the main character for all her charisma and no non-sense attitude, oh and of course the fact that she can kick anybody's butt! As far as content goes this book is not that complex with your classic oppressive father figure (in this case an evil uncle, cause you know that's original) and mysterious evil man who has extremely persuasive powers and an attractive eye-patch. All in all an excellent fluff read to go along with anything heavy you might be reading.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

A recommendation of this book from my Aunt Barb prompted me to check it out at work on a break. Well, that break I got through the first five chapters and realized I should probably buy it and take it home with me since I was enjoying it. A few days later I successfully completed what was a puzzling yet lovable book. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is the first novel I've read by Aimee Bender and overall I was absorbed by the dysfunctional family and the unusual capabilities that each family member had.

Basilisk

Once again I embarked on a fabulous journey courtesy of Rob Thurman. Not much to say here other than amazing and can't wait for the next one to come out! If you haven't already please read Chimera, which is the first book in this series. If you enjoy any type of science fiction that involves human hybrids mixed up in a lab by a mad scientist then you will probably enjoy this series, especially seeming how she throws the Russian Mafia in there too. How can you go wrong with a combination like that? Basilisk also came with a preview of the next Leandros brothers book which comes out next, Doubletake, March, yay!
Rob Thurman

One Day

In keeping with my tradition of reading books before I see the movie I recently borrowed One Day from my friend Allison to read. I can happily say that this book exceeded my expectations. It contains a love story touching enough to cause laughter one minute and tears the next. I do not often become emotional reading books so kudos to David Nicholls for bringing out those lovely emotions in me that I wish more books would. Although I may not experience those emotions much cause I mainly read teen novels and fantasy... maybe I need to rethink my reading strategies?

The Amulet of Samarkand

An interesting novel that took me a little while to read. The Amulet of Samarkand was one part hilarious and one part dry. Unfortunately I found my self hating Nathaniel, who was the main character, so that when it came time for a chapter or two to be told from his perspective I did not feel motivated to read at all. Bartimeus, the lovely Gollum looking fellow pictured on the cover, often left me in stitches. His character was witty and had excellent footnotes on a lot of the pages that just added to the general hilarity of the chapters he voiced.

Uglies Series

 

Dystopias, what can I say they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I know that may seem odd to some people but hey, to each her own. I recently read Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan and Behemoth which I loved and figured I would check out some more of his novels (Thanks again to Allison for being my library :) yay no late fees!) I went through these books faster than I have a series in a while which is always a sign of an addictively good series.