Novels Now

Going Bovine by Libba Bray
Pages: 480 pages
Ages: 14+
First Published: Sept. 22, 2009
Rating: 3.5/5
First sentence:
The best day of my life happened when I was five and almost died at Disney World.
Reason for Reading: I enjoyed Libba Bray’s Gemma Doyle books so was up for reading whatever she wrote next.
Summary: [...]

Stolen Child by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Pages: 154 pages
Ages: 9+
First Published: Feb. 1, 2010 (Canada only)
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
The woman who said she was my mother was so ill on the ship from Europe that she wore a sickness bag around her neck almost the whole time.
Reason for Reading: I [...]

The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths
A Ruth Galloway Mystery #2
Pages: 335 pages
First Published: Mar. 2, 2010 CAN (Aug 10, 2010 USA)
Rating: 4.5/5
First sentence:
A light breeze runs through the long grass at the top of the hill.
Reason for Reading: Next in the series.
Summary: A Victorian home is being pulled down to make way [...]

Marcelo in the Real World by Franciso X. Stork
Pages: 315 pages
Ages: 15+
First Published: Mar. 1, 2009
Rating: 5/5
First sentence:
“Marcelo, are you ready?”
Reason for Reading: I have Aspergers and have wanted to read this book since I first heard of it.
Summary: Seventeen year old Marcelo has Aspergers (high functioning [...]

An Irish Country Girl by Patrick Taylor
Irish Country Doctor series, Book 4
Pages: 298 pages
First Published: January 5, 2010
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
“Run along, make your calls, and enjoy His Lordship’s hooley,” said Mrs. Maureen Kincaid, “Kinky” to her friends, as she knelt in the hall and sponged Ribena black-currant cordial from a [...]

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
Pages: 306
First Published: Jan. 12, 2010
Rating: 4.5/5
First sentence:
Momma left her red satin shoes in the middle of the road.
Reason for Reading: I love southern fiction with eccentric characters, then throw in mental illness to boot and you’ve so got a book I have [...]

Gone by Lisa McMann
Wake Trilogy, Book 3
Pages: 214
Ages: 15+
First Published: Feb. 9, 2010
Rating: 3/5
First sentence:
It’s like she can’t breathe anymore, no matter what she does.
Reason for Reading: Next (and last) in the series.
Summary: Janie has been left with a decision to make about her future and concentrates on making that decision. However, a wrench is [...]

Defenders of the Scroll: History, Legend and Lore by Shiraz, illustrated by Steve Criado
Book 1
Pages: 317
Ages: 12+
First Published: June 29, 2009
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
In a different time, in a different place, Mornak ruled the realm of Mythos from the city of Aspiria.
Reason for Reading: The combination of members who joined the quest in this fantasy is [...]

The Dragon Book edited by Jack Dann & Gardner Dozois
Pages: 433 pgs.
Ages: 15+
First Published: Nov. 3, 2009
Rating: 4/5
Comments: This collection of 19 never previously unpublished short stories by mostly well-known authors is written for an “all ages” audience, meaning for adults but an acceptable cross-over for older teens. The book is entirely language and s*x [...]

Burn by Ted Dekker & Erin Healy
Pages: 368 +reader’s guide material
First Published: Jan. 12, 2010
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
Salazar Sanso raised his binoculars and looked out over the edge of the steep drop into the rosy New Mexican desert.
Reason for Reading: I’ve become a fan of Dekker’s new mainstream thrillers and wanted to try one of [...]

My Word is My Bond, The Autobiography by Roger Moore, with Gareth Owen
Pages: 330 +index
First Published: Nov. 2008
Rating: 3.5/5
First sentence:
For years, people have said to me ‘Write your book,’ and for years I said, ‘No, there are too many people I’d have to write about, and eve if they’re dead, what I might say [...]

Calamity Jack by Shannon and Dean Hale. Illustrated by Nathan Hale
sequel to Rapunzel’s Revenge
Pages: 144
Ages: 10+
First Published: Jan. 5, 2010
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
I think of myself as a criminal mastermind … with an unfortunate amount of bad luck.
Reason for Reading: Sequel to Rapunzel’s Revenge.
Summary: This is very much Jack’s story. Jack tells us of his childhood [...]

Leaving Gee’s Bend by Irene Latham
Pages: 263
Ages: 8+
First Published: Jan. 7, 2010
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
Mama pulled a chicken egg from behind the azalea bush in our front yard and narrowed her eyes.
Reason for Reading: I love books set in 1930s Southern USA.
Summary: Ludelphia Bennett is ten years old, her family is part of a sharecropping community. [...]

The Silver Anklet by Mahtab Narsimhan
Tara Trilogy, Book Two
Pages: 263
Ages: 10+
First Published: Dec. 12, 2009
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
The patch of sunlight at the edge of the forest had an odd look; dirty yellow and striped.
Reason for Reading: Next in the series.
Summary: Tara and her brother, Suraj, along with his friend, have gone to the local fair. [...]

Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron by Jasper Fforde
Shades of Grey, Book 1
Pages: 389
First Published: Dec. 29, 2009
Rating: 4.5/5
First sentence:
It began with my father’s not wanting to see the Last Rabbit, and ended up with my being eaten by a carnivorous plant.
Reason for Reading: I haven’t read Jasper Fforde before. I really want [...]

The Jungle Vampire by David Sinden, Matthew Morgan & Guy Macdonald; illustrated by Jonny Duddle
An Awfully Beastly Business, Book 4
Pages: 204
Ages: 8+
First Published: Dec. 29, 2009
Rating: 5/5
First sentence:
Late one night, on the outskirts of a grimy town, a man in a long fur coat hurried through the rain.
Reason for Reading: My son loves this series [...]

Graphic Classics: Louisa May Alcott edited by Tom Pomplun
Graphic Classics, Vol. 18
Pages: 144
Ages: 13+
First Published: Nov. 2009
Rating: 4.5/5
First sentence:
It’s so dreadful to be poor.
Reason for Reading: I love this series and will eventually read them all.
Comments: I’ll start with my immediate response to finishing this volume, “Fantastic!”. This is the second full colour offering in [...]

Fallen by Lauren Kate
Fallen series, Book 1
Pages: 452
Ages: 13+
First Published: Dec. 8, 2009
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
Around midnight, her eyes at last took shape.
This review contains one obvious spoiler. If you intend to read this book and know absolutely nothing about it don’t continue but if you do know a bit about it, my one little spoiler [...]

Innocent War by Susan Violante
Nino Series No. 1
Pages: 183
First Published: Apr. 17, 2009
Rating: 3.5/5
First sentence:
“Nino, wake up! You’re going to be late,” hollered Papa from the hallway outside of my room.
Acquired: I received a review copy from the book’s publicist.
Reason for Reading: The plot and point of view intrigued me.
Summary: The author received five cassette [...]

The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews
Pages: 274
First Published: Oct. 1 2008
Rating: 4.5/5
First sentence:
Yeah, so things have fallen apart.
Reason for Reading: The publisher’s plot synopsis grabbed me right away.
Summary: Hattie in Paris, who has just been dumped by her boyfriend, receives an urgent message from her niece in Manitoba to come home quickly. Hattie’s sister Min [...]