Novels Now

You are browsing the archives of 2008 August.

Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel
Third in the Airborn series
Pages: 356
First Published: Sept. 2, 2008 (Canada) / Feb. 24, 2009 (US)/ March, 2009 (UK)
Genre: YA, science fiction/fantasy
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
Rising into the wind, I flew, Paris spread before me.
Comments: This time around Matt and Kate are on a special mission for the Canadian government. The space race [...]

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
Pages: 468
First Published: Aug. 5, 2008
Genre: Magical realism
Rating: 4.5/5
First sentence:
Accidents ambush the unsuspecting, often violently, just like love.
Comments: I think that is an amazing opening line. How could you not read on after that? The process of reading the book was pure joy from the first page. The writing exquisite and [...]

He believed he had already lived long enough. He thought he was over the age of thirty - Jacob Howard was thirty, and they had been born around the same time - and Cassius looked that and more. He now studied the land as if he would never see it again, and tried to memorize [...]

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
Pages: 170
First Published: Sept. 16, 2008
Genre: YA, realistic fiction
Rating: 5/5
First sentence:
This is how things look: Shady Pines Apartments, four shabby buildings tucked off the road near the highway.
Comments: This is an immensely powerful and disturbing story told from the point of view of a fifteen-year old who was abducted by [...]

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
I would guess that the Man Booker judges committee this year all like the same kind of book: wry commentary on society, first person narrative, confessional story, with lots of dark humor. The White Tiger had the same tone and feel to me as A Fraction of the Whole and [...]

Newton and the Time Machine by Michael McGowan
Illustrated by Shelagh McNulty
Pages: 211
First Published: May 13, 2008
Genre: Children’s fantasy
Rating: 3/5
First sentence:
Newton was having serious, serious doubts that his latest invention - a time machine - was ready to be field-tested.
Comments: This is a sequel to Newton and the Giant, which I haven’t read. Newton needs someone [...]

Olive Kitteridge
By Elizabeth Strout
Completed August 13, 2008
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout was a novel comprised of thirteen short stories about people living in rural Maine. Several of the stories were based on the title character, but many of the stories only showed us a glimpse of Olive. From any perspective, Strout provided her readers with [...]

Admiral Zheng stops and extends his arm. A Vice admiral places a scroll in his outstretched hand. He turns his attention to it, unrolls it, and reads aloud: “‘All ships moored are ordered back to the capital, and all goods on the ships are to be turned over to the Department of Internal Affairs and [...]

Say Goodbye by Lisa Gardner
Sixth book in the Quincy/Rainie series
Pages: 360
First Published: July 15, 2008
Genre: thriller, mystery
Rating: 4.5/5
First sentence:
He was moaning, a guttural sound in the back of his throat as his fingers tightened their grip in her hair.
Comments: Kimberly Quincy, FBI agent, is told a strange tale by a prostitute of a very scary [...]

Queen of the Road: The True Tale of 47 States, 22 000 Miles, 200 Shoes, 2 Cats, 1 Poodle, a Husband, and a Bus with a Will of Its Own by Doreen Orion
Pages: 289
First Published: June 10, 2008
Genre: Travelogue, Memoirs
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
When my long-dreaded thirtieth birthday arrived, I really wasn’t as upset as I imagined [...]

Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson
I believe Anne fans have been somewhat leery of this book. To attempt to write the before story, based on the small tidbits of her past that Anne let slip, was a huge undertaking for Wilson. People who love Anne would want the story to be true to LM Montgomery’s [...]

See, guys freak out. They hit critical mass and blast nuclear, white-hot anger out over the world like walking flame throwers. But girls freak in. They absorb the pain and bitterness and keep right on sponging it up until they drown. Maybe that’s why nobody’s real worried about girls going off and wreaking havoc. [...]