Novels Now

You are browsing the archives of 2010 May.

The Boy Who Climbed Into the Moon by David Almond. Illustrated by Polly Dunbar
Pages: 119 pages
Ages: 8+
First Published: Apr. 13, 2010
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
Some time ago, there was a rather lonely boy named Paul who lived in a city in the north of England.
Reason for Reading: I have actually never [...]

Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder by Jo Nesbo. Illustrated by Mike Lowery. Translated by Tara Chase
Pages: 265 pages
Ages: 8+
First Published: (2007 in Norway) English Translation Jan. 2010
Publisher: Aladdin
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
It was May, and once the sun had shone for a while on Japan, Russia, and Sweden, it came up over Oslo - [...]

mockingbird (mok’ing-burd) by Kathryn Erskine
Pages: 235 pages
Ages: 9+
First Published: Apr. 15, 2010
Publisher: Philomel
Rating: 5/5
First sentence:
It looks like a one-winged bird crouching in the corner of our living room.
Reason for Reading: I have Asperger’s and when I saw a book that featured a female protagonist with Asperger’s I was elated [...]

She giggled.
He hated her. [ excerpt from The Killing of Mindi Quintana]

The Killing of Mindi Quintana by Jeffrey A. Cohen
Welcome Rain Publisher, 2010
Crime Fiction; 256 pgs
Not everyone likes to read the synopsis of a book before reading the book; you know, the one that falls on the back cover or inside flap of a [...]

Bleeding Heart Square by Andrew Taylor
Pages: 432 pages
First Published: Mar. 3, 2009
Publisher: Hyperion
Rating: 4.5/5
First sentence:
Sometimes you frighten yourself.
Reason for Reading: The book sounded perfect for me: a British historical mystery set in the thirties which the blurbs assured me was “beautifully crafted”.
I have found myself a new favourite [...]

Keeper by Kathi Appelt
Pages: 409 pages
Ages: 8+
First Published: May 18, 2010
Publisher: Atheneum
Rating: 3/5
First sentence:
Keeper leaned over the edge of the boat.
Reason for Reading: Mermaids are another of my favourite mythological creatures to read about in novels. I actually had no idea the author was a newbery honor winner, [...]

Imagine, a woman in a tree, a silly, foolish young woman holding a gun and preparing to kill a man she does not even know. [excerpt from Beautiful Assassin]
Beautiful Assassin by Michael C. White
William Morrow, 2010
Fiction; 464 pgs
For all the books I have read over the years set around or during World War II, I [...]

The Shadows in the Street by Susan Hill
A Simon Serrailler Crime, Book 5
Pages: 372 pages
First Published: May 4, 2010 (Canada)/ Apr. 2010 (UK)/ Sept.2, 2010 (USA)
Publisher: Knopf Canada
Rating: 4.5/5
First sentence:
Leslie Blade stopped in the overhang of the college entrance to put up his umbrella.
Reason for Reading: Next in the series.
I [...]

White Cat by Holly Black
The Curse Workers, Book 1
Pages: 310 pages
Ages: 14+
First Published: May 4, 2010
Publisher: McElderry Books
Rating: 5/5
First sentence:
I woke up barefoot, standing on cold slate tiles.
Reason for Reading: I’m a fan of the author.
Set in an alternate reality almost identical to the Earth we live in with [...]

Meridian by Amber Kizer
Pages: 305 pages
First Published: Aug. 11, 2009
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Rating: 3/5
First sentence:
The first creatures to seek me were the insects; my parents cleaned the bassinet free of dead ants the morning after they brought me home from the hospital.
Reason for Reading: I was attracted to the angel aspect of the [...]

Pearl of China by Anchee Min
Pages: 278 pages
First Published: Mar. 30, 2010
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 3.5/5
First sentence:
Before I was Willow, I was Weed.
Reason for Reading: I am a huge fan of Pearl S. Buck, having read almost all of her books.
The book purports to be the fictionalized story of [...]

The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley
Flavia de Luce Mysteries, #2
Pages: 348 pages
First Published: Match 9, 2010
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
I was lying dead in the churchyard.
Reason for Reading: Next in the series.
Flavia’s second case follows the traditional set up of the golden-age of classic British mysteries. A [...]

The Snowman by Jo Nesbo. Translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett
Harry Hole Mystery, #7
Pages: 454 pages
First Published: 2007 (English translation Mar. 2010 (UK/Can))
Genre: Thriller, mystery
Rating: 5/5
First sentence:
It was the day the snow came.
Reason for Reading: Next published in the series (in English).
A woman disappears and a few months [...]

Potter’s Field by Mark Waid. Art by Paul Azaceta. Introduction by Greg Rucka
Pages: 112 pages
Ages: 15+
First Published: Mar. 9, 2010
Genre: graphic novel, crime noir
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
Marker 36905 belongs to a drug mule who wanted out.
Reason for Reading: I’ve become a fan of Mark Waid.
John Doe is a mysterious vigilante [...]

The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno by Ellen Bryson
Pages: 338 pages
First Published: June 22, 2010
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
Light from April’s full moon swept over the Museum’s facade and down the building’s marble veneer.
Reason for Reading: I’m a fan of the time period and as macabre as it sounds, old-time [...]

Grease Town by Ann Towell
Pages: 232 pages
Ages: 8-12
First Published: Feb. 9, 2010
Genre: children, historical fiction
Rating: 3.5/5
Reason for Reading: I’ll pretty much read any juvenile/YA Canadian historical fiction on topics which are new or interesting to me.
Summary: Loosely based on a true incident in the Sarnia area of Ontario, Canada, this [...]

The Reckoning by Kelly Armstrong
Darkest Powers, Book 3
Pages: 391 pages
Ages: 14+
First Published: Apr. 6, 2010
Genre: YA, paranormal, fantasy
Rating: 4.5/5
First sentence:

After four hours on the run, I was finally safe, tucked into bed and enjoying the deep dreamless sleep of the dead … until the dead decided they’d really rather have me [...]

Crush by Alan Jacobson
A Karen Vail Mystery, Book 2
Pages: 392 pages
First Published: Sept. 9, 2009
Genre: thriller, mystery
Rating: 5/5
First sentence:

“So the dick says to the woman, ‘I got nothing.’”
Reason for Reading: Next in the series.
Summary: FBI Profiler Karen Vail and her boyfriend Detective Robby Hernandez, both of Virginia, take [...]

Afraid by Jack Kilbourn
Pages: 346 pages
First Published: Apr. 1, 2009
Genre: horror
Rating: 3/5
First sentence:
The hunter’s moon, a shade of orange so dark it appeared to be filled with blood, hung fat and low over the mirror surface of Big Lake McDonald.
Acquired: Received a review copy from Library Thing’s Early [...]