Novels Now

You are browsing the archives of 2009 October.

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation by Tim Hamilton. Introduction by Ray Bradbury.
Pages: 149
Ages: 13+
First Published: Jul.21, 2009
Genre: graphic novel, science fiction
Rating: 4.5/5
First sentence:
It was a pleasure to burn.
Reason for Reading: Cybils nominee
Comments: At this point I think it’s fair that no summary of Fahrenheit 451 is needed. I’m a fan of the novel [...]

Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli
Pages: 344
First Published: Jul.7, 2009
Genre: graphic novel
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
mmm…oohh.. that’s good…
Summary: The book opens with a man watching, presumably, a pornographic movie, when his building is hit by lightning and catches fire. Such is how we meet Asterios Polyp, 50 year old architect. He grabs a few trinkets and as he [...]

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
(a parallel novel to Oryx and Crake)
Pages: 431
First Published: Sept. 22, 2009
Genre: post-apocalyptic, science fiction (no matter how much the author denies it)
Rating: 3/5
First sentence:
In the early morning Toby climbs up to the rooftop to watch the sunrise.
Reason for Reading: Atwood’s new book.  Borrowed from my library.
Summary: A [...]

To-Do List:
1. Take Laurie to her one-month wellness appointment.
2. Visit Galigani in the hospital, find out what happened to him.
3. Find George.
4. Interview Kiku (bring own water!).
5. Call Winter Henderson re: hippie chick alibi.
6. Read the parenting book from library.
7. Find the parenting book from library.
8. Oh yeah, diet, exercise, clean car, be good mom/wife, [...]

And holding her hands there, as the minister spoke, he realized that love was making him into far more than he ever could have been on his own. He could have sailed around the earth in a hot-air balloon or been a scientist inside a laboratory solving cancer and still those things would have [...]

My interest – okay, obsession – with math is genuine, and has been since the first time I was ripped away from the life I loved. I buried myself in numbers and word problems where an answer was certain (or at least in the back of the book) and I knew I’d found something I [...]

Her Fearful Symmetry
By Audrey Niffenegger
Completed October 22, 2009

It’s very hard to write a review of Her Fearful Symmetry - the latest book by Audrey Niffenegger – without giving away spoilers. I usually summarize a book before I offer my opinions, but with this book, I will remain vague about its plot. I don’t want to [...]

Up Till Now: The Autobiography by William Shatner with David Fisher
Pages: 342 + index
First Published: May 13, 2008
Genre: memoir, actor
Rating: 5/5
First sentence:
I was going to begin my autobiography this way: Call me … Captain James T. Kirk or Sergeant T.J. Hooker or Denny Crane Denny Crane or Twilight Zone Passenger Bob Wilson or the Big [...]

Wonderland by Tommy Kovac. illustrated by Sonny Liew
Pages: 160
Ages: 13+
First Published: Mar. 17, 2009
Genre: graphic novel, ya, children, fantasy
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
Mary Ann …
Reason for Reading: Cybils Award nominee. I’ve also been meaning to read this since I first heard about it.
Summary: The book is set in Wonderland sometime not too long after Alice has left. [...]

Every year as August wanes and the school year looms, New Orleans can expect to see at least one or two storms. They are as much a part of the calendar as Thanksgiving or Easter. Many people who can leave town do so, driving to Baton Rouge, or Lafayette, or Jackson or Houston, just [...]

And the girl once again remembered the feel of warm skin, the sweet breath of laughter. And the loss was so deep, so intense that she felt a deep hatred boil inside her chest for those who had cast her out that morning, severing her from the only place she regarded as home.

As the [...]

The Heretic’s Daughter
By Kathleen Kent
Completed October 16, 2009
There are many dark points in American history, and one of the earliest was the Salem Witch Trials. Kathleen Kent, author of The Heretic’s Daughter, based her debut book on her ancestor, Martha Carrier, who was executed for witchcraft. Kent researched extensively her ancestry and this time period, [...]

Testimony by Anita Shreve
Pages: 305
First Published: Oct. 21, 2008
Genre: realistic fiction
Rating: 3.5/5
First sentence:
It was a small cassette, not much bigger than the palm of his hand, and when Mike thought about the terrible license and risk exhibited on the tape, as well as its resultant destructive power, it was as though the two-by-three plastic package [...]

“Earrings are not decorations. They are a statement of legitimacy, of dignity, of self-worth. Ask any woman, and she would tell you that she would pawn everything she has before she gave up her earrings. Even her wedding band. For what is a wedding band worth except to say that a man coveted your [...]

The cat on the middle step was washing its face, carefully licking its left paw and then running it over each ear in turn. “Mr. Grey?” It made no sense. The cat kept washing, straining sideways now to get its tongue into the thick grey ruff.Dulcie closed her eyes. The heat, grief, [...]

I looked at myself in the mirror. And I saw her. With each step, Margaret’s ghost expanded. Gingerly, I touched the glass. I thought of those fairy-tale mirrors that show you your dearest wish in return for some terrible price. Mirror, mirror on the wall. Your firstborn son for straw woven into gold, a glimpse [...]

A.D. New Orleans After the Deluge by Josh Neufeld
Pages: 193
First Published: Aug 2009
Genre: nonfiction, graphic novel, biographical, current events, history
Rating: 3/5
First sentence:
Monday, August 22, 2005.
Reason for Reading: Cybil Awards nominee. Received from the library.
Summary: Follows the lives of seven individuals before, during and after Hurricane Katrina. Each of these people come from different walks of [...]

“You Got Trouble?”

Go-boy says, “No, we’re just waiting.”

The guy looks up and down the slough for signs of something to wait for. I look with him. He glances around the open fields in front of his truck, then turns in his seat and looks back at the village. There is [...]

Go smiled, said, “When we see ourselves without judgment, then we’ll begin to see and accept others without judgment. We’ll turn the volume down on the external world, and we’ll see we’re all connected, we’re all same-same.” – from Sometimes We’re Always Real Same-Same, page 175 -
Cesar is a troubled seventeen year old, growing [...]

The Bag of Bones by Vivian French, illustrated by Ross Collins
The Second Tale from the Five Kingdoms
Pages: 248
Ages: 8+
First Published: July 28, 09
Genre: children’s fantasy
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
“Wheeeeee!” The small bat did a double backflip, then a twist, and landed neatly on the branch below.
Reason for Reading: Next in the series. I received a review copy [...]