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You are browsing the archives of 2010 June.

She lay on her side afraid to move until the silence filled the dark. She focused on a tree trunk a few feet away. She knew she should be cold. She wasn’t. She knew she should hurt. She didn’t.
[. . . ]
A phrase she remembered played in her head, [...]

She sprang from the womb and waved to the crowd. Then she smiled and took a bow. [opening. pg. 3]

Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show by Frank Delaney
Random House, 2010
Fiction (historical); 448 pgs

A young man on the cusp of adulthood has lead a relatively good life up until that point. His father is a [...]

Vanishing Girl by Shane Peacock
The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His 3rd Case
Pages: 307 pages
Ages: 10+
First Published: Oct. 13, 2009
Publisher: Tundra Books
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
Irene Doyle gasps.
Acquired: Borrowed a copy through Inter-Library Loan.
Reason for Reading: Next in the series.
This third entry into the series is not as dark or scary as [...]

The Passage by Justin Cronin
Pages: 766 pgs (ARE)
First Published: Jun. 8, 2010
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Rating: 4.5/5
First sentence:
Before she became the Girl from Nowhere - the One Who Walked In, the First and Last and Only, who lived a thousand years - she was just a little girl in Iowa, named [...]

Early to Death, Early to Rise by Kim Harrison
Madison Avery, Book 2
Pages: 228 pages
Ages: 13+
First Published: May 2010
Publisher: Harper Teen
Rating: 5/5
First sentence:
The car was hot from the sun, and I pulled my fingerprints from it as I slunk past.
Reason for Reading: Next in the series.
A fabulous sequel to Once Dead, [...]

The Red Door by Charles Todd
Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery, Book 12
Pages: 344 pages
First Published: Dec. 29, 2009
Publisher: William Morrow
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
She stood in front of the cheval glass, the long mirror that Peter had given her on their second anniversary, and considered herself.
Reason for Reading: I’ve always wanted to read [...]

Claim to Fame by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Pages: 256 pages
Ages: 13+
First Published: Nov. 10, 2009
Publisher: Simon & Schuster BFYR
Genre: YA, paranormal
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
I was supposed to be doing my algebra homework that night.
Reason for Reading: I’m a fan of the author’s.
Deep topics are under discussion in this book, [...]

Switch by Grant McKenzie
Pages: 427 pages
First Published: 2009 UK (Aug. 3, 2010 CAN)
Publisher: Penguin Canada
Genre: suspense, thriller
Rating: 5/5
First sentence:
Rick Ironwood staggered back from the blow, his trick knee giving out with a pop as his feet twisted sideways in a puddle of grimy engine oil.
Reason for Reading: The summary [...]

Johnny learned early. If somebody asked him why he was so different, why he held himself so still and why his eyes seemed to swallow light, that’s what he’d tell them. He learned early that there was no safe place, not the backyard or the playground, not the front porch or the quiet [...]

The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession by David Grann
Pages: 334 pages
First Published: Mar. 9, 2010
Publisher: Doubleday
Rating: 4.5/5
First sentence:
Reporting, like detective work, is a process of elimination.
Reason for Reading: I loved David Grann’s debut book “The Lost City of Z” and really wanted to [...]

Stink: Solar System Superhero by Megan McDonald. illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
Stink Moody, Book 5
Pages: 119 pages
Ages: 6+
First Published: Mar. 9, 2010
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
Flub! Flop! Flunk! Stink Moody had to take a test.
Reason for Reading: My son enjoys these books, his dad reads them to him at bedtime [...]

I knew something was wrong with me when I fell asleep in school. I never fall asleep in public because it is way too embarrassing. Your face goes slack. If you’re sitting up straight, your mouth hangs open. You could say something stupid or say someone’s name or make some weird [...]

The Remnant by Stephen Baldwin and Andrew Cosby. Art by Julian Totino Tedesco
Pages: 128 pages
Ages: 14+
First Published: Mar. 23, 2010
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Rating: 4.5/5
First sentence:

Hi, I’ve just gotten re-married and I need to add my wife to my insurance.
Reason for Reading: Stephen Baldwin’s name first caught my eye. I’ll [...]

Captivity by Deborah Noyes
Pages: 352 pages
First Published: Jun. 1, 2010
Publisher: Unbridled Books
Rating: 3.5/5
First sentence:
A bell is tolling for me, Clara thinks, awakened in her chair by the wind.
Reason for Reading: The Victorian era is my favourite time period to read about and I always find the Spiritualist movement [...]

The recording began with a click: the sound of a woman picking up her telephone, which had been tapped the day before the call came in. A man’s voice: It’s done. There is a sound on the tape here — the woman’s sharp intake of breath — but all she says in reply is Thank [...]

Impatient with Desire by Gabrielle Burton
Pages: 248 pages
Ages: 18+
First Published: Mar. 9, 2010
Publisher: Voice
Rating: 5/5
First sentence:
Imagine all the roads a woman and a man walk until they reach the road they’ll walk together.
Reason for Reading: The Donner Party has always intrigued me, as it does so many others.
The majority [...]