Constipated Bookworm

new summer reads

2011-08-09T10:09:00.001-06:00

Matched

by Ally Condie (another LDS author!)

In the Society, everything is chosen for you from the food you eat to the person you marry. Casssia is surprised to learn that her Match is Xander, a boy she has known all her life, not a common occurrence. But when she looks at the disc with information about him, the face of Ky, another boy she knows, appears briefly on the screen.

Mistakes like that aren’t supposed to happen in the Society and it draws Cassia to learn more about Ky, an Aberration who was orphaned and then adopted by a couple near Cassia’s home. In learning more about Ky, Cassia also learns more about choices still left to her, the poem from her grandfather about not “going gently into that good night,” and the Society that is showing weaknesses in what is supposed to be a perfectly modulated order for the good of the people.

There is a sequel coming on this one as we follow Cassia on her search for Ky.

The Wanderer

by Sharon Creech

Sophie is a natural sailor and is included in the crew of three uncles and two cousins as they sail across the Atlantic to England. Through the alternating journal entries of Sophie and her cousin, Cody, we learn more about the journey and the intertwined relationships that extend beyond the boat. What really happened to Sophie’s dead parents? Will Uncle Dock find his lost love? Can Cody and his father build a closer relationship? These and other questions are answered during a sailing excursion with enough adventure for a lifetime.

The Truth About Forever

by Sarah Dessen

With her boyfriend away at camp, Macy has nothing to look forward to during the summer except long days at the reference desk of the library with two girls who hate her guts. Then she stumbles into a part-time job with a catering crew named Wish. She meets Wes, a talented artist with a past, Kristy who doesn’t let her scarred face stop her, Monica of the monosyllables, and Bert who is continually playing the game of “gotcha!” She also comes to term with her father’s death after watching him die – unlike her mother who won’t let go of her fanatical hold on her business long enough to allow herself to grieve.

A good summer read that might encourage you to get out of the library and live.

The Lily Dale Series by Staub

2011-06-15T08:50:00.000-06:00

Lily Dale is a tiny town in rural New York. It's also one of the few towns on earth dedicated to spiritualism: talking with the dead, telling the future, reading minds, that kind of thing. When Calla's mother dies in a mysterious accident, she opts to live with her eccentric grandmother in Lily Dale for the summer. Calla has no idea her grandmother is a medium, someone who communicates with the dead. When Calla starts seeing strange things of her own, she must decide if she's gifted or crazy. With her new-found abilities, Calla tries to help the dead she meets find peace while trying to piece together what really happened to her mother.

Since Lily Dale is an actual place, that part of the story is rather intriguing. Calla's character can be melodramatic at times, but it never overshadows the main narrative. Over all, the series is worth the time.

The House of the Scorpion by Farmer

2011-06-14T15:07:00.000-06:00

Matteo lives in a little house in the middle of a poppy field in Opium, a land between Mexico and the US that is a creative way to solve the problem of both drug trafficking and illegal immigration. El Patron, ruler of Opium, uses those caught crossing the boarders to farm and process drugs.

El Patron takes a special interest in Matteo, teaching him music and allowing him to live in the big house. When guests from the north arrive, Matteo learns that El Patron's attention isn't because Matteo's special; it's because he's El Patron's clone. He will be used for spare parts when the need arises. Matteo fights for survival in this gripping novel that offers frightening answers to some of today's most difficult questions.

Heir Apparent by Velde

2011-06-14T14:52:00.000-06:00

I'm not a gamer, but I still liked this creative virtual-reality-game-gone-wrong story from Velde. For her birthday, Giannine receives a gift certificate to a game arcade from her father, who's more out of the picture than in it. The gaming center is surrounded by protesters, who think fantasy and role playing are corrupting the youth. Giannine goes in anyway and starts to play "Heir Apparent," a game where the player has just been named the next king and has to survive till coronation. A few minutes into her first try, Giannine is informed that the protesters have damaged her gaming equipment. She must win the game in the next three hours or her brain will be cooked and she will die.

Despite the desperate situation she's in, Giannine remains funny and resourceful. You'll be laughing even while agonizing about whether she'll survive. It's a great book.

The Surrender Tree by Engle

2011-06-14T14:43:00.000-06:00

The next time your history teacher says you need to read historical fiction, read this book. The Surrender Tree tells the story of Cuba's three wars for independence, starting in 1868 and ending in 1899. Centered around real-life healer Rosa, this book of short poems shows how different characters deal with issues like slavery, guerrilla warfare, betrayal, medicine, and surrender. I'm a history geek, so I liked it for the history itself and learned a lot about a new topic. Teens will like it because it's short, interesting, and very readable.

The Dark and Hollow Places by Ryan

2011-06-14T14:32:00.002-06:00

The sequel to The Dead-Tossed Waves, this book picks up where the story of Gabry, Catcher, and Elias left off, but with a twist. The story's narrator is Annah, Gabry's long-lost twin sister who lives in the city. After caring for herself for 3 years without Elias, Annah is about to leave the city when she spots Gabry and recognizes her. Gabry, unfortunately, is captured and Annah, Catcher, and Elias must find her before the zombie horde destroys the city.

There are some complex emotional issues in the book. Self-esteem issues and jealousy force some of the characters to examine who they are and what they want. Just for that (and the zombie-sponsored gore) the book is a worthy read.

The Killer's Cousin by Werlin

2010-12-21T09:31:00.000-07:00

Even though David was found innocent in the death of his girlfriend, his life gets worse, not better. To escape his reputation, David goes to Cambridge to finish his senior year at a private school. He lives with his aunt, uncle, and young cousin Lily, who are the picture of a dysfunctional family. The adults don't talk to each other and send messages through Lily. Lily enjoys the role of go-between, so when her parents start to patch things up, she blames David.

Though only 11, Lily is deeply disturbed (and disturbing) and spends much of her time terrorizing David. David, on the other hand, feels haunted by the ghost of Lily's older sister, who committed suicide in David's room. The sister keeps urging David to help Lily, but no matter what he does, it only seems to escalate the problem.

This book is a great study of what guilt does to people and how to overcome mistakes of the past. Werlin is at her best here.

Clockwork Angel by Clare

2010-12-21T09:16:00.002-07:00

Part of a companion series to her Mortal Instruments books, Cassandra Clare's newest book has all the sparkle of her previous works without any of the plot or characterization hiccups. It's the late 1800's and Tessa is on her way to London from New York to stay with her brother after the death of her aunt. Rather than a touching reunion with her brother, Tessa is met by a strange pair of women, the Dark Sisters, at the dock.

Before she knows what's going on, Tessa's held prisoner in the sisters' house. After torturous training sessions each day, Tessa realizes she has a supernatural talent and an uncertain future. Rescued by Shadowhunters, Tessa tries to piece together who she is and what happened to her brother.

Whale Talk by Crutcher

2010-12-02T15:40:00.000-07:00

The Tao Jones, or T.J., is a smattering of racial backgrounds and a dynamite athlete. But he hates being told to what to do, so he never tries out for competitive sports. In his jockaholic high school, it's about the same as burning the flag, so T.J. gets a lot of guff about it. When his favorite teacher approaches T.J. to start a swim team, T.J. sees it as his opportunity to mess with the system. He starts recruiting every outcast and malcontent he can, wanting to make it clear that everyone has a place. Unfortunately, this is realistic fiction, which means nothing ever has a clear-cut happy ending. Someone ends up a winner, someone ends up a loser, and someone ends up dead.

The Exiled Queen by Chima

2010-12-02T15:27:00.001-07:00

Princess Raisa has escaped the kingdom with her guards and is on her way to warrior school to see the real world before she has to rule it. Her mother is in the power of the High Wizard, who's son wants to marry Raisa and become king. By the way, the son's at the school too. To top it off, she's dealing with impending civil war, a complicated love-hate relationship with her guard captain, and a wicked sense of homesickness. Nothing seems to be going well for her.

Han Alister has his share of troubles, too. His family and friends were killed by the High Wizard, he just found out he's a wizard, and he's been hired by the mountain clans as a sort of magical hit man. Coupled with the fact that the High Wizard's extended family is trying to kill him and a mysterious magical genius is possessing him, Han doesn't sleep well these days.

This book is a sequel to The Demon King. While bits of it are interesting, for the most part it seems like one of those books authors write in between the action - sort of like Tolkein's Two Towers (except not so boring) or Myer's New Moon (except not so horrible). I have a feeling the next one's going to be great, but this one didn't shine particularly bright on its own.

Incarceron by Fisher

2010-12-02T15:13:00.001-07:00

It's the future again. There's been a big war that ended in the establishment of a monarchy. The king said the whole technology business was too complicated and decreed everything had to stay as it was in good ol'1700-ish. The people responsible for the war or deemed a stability risk were taken to Incarceron, an inorganic yet conscious prison with a nasty sense of irony. The prisoners live and die there, and so do their children. By the time of the story, no one remembers the outside world except Finn. Finn's memories only stretch back a few years, despite the fact that he's 17. He's convinced he's from the outside and tries to escape. Meanwhile, the warden's daughter Claudia is attempting her own escape from a political marriage to the queen's horrible son. As we all knew they would, the prisoner and the princess manage to cross paths.

The story is a bit bumpy. Keeping track of two separate realities will prove difficult to some readers, as well as keeping characters straight. On a side note, Fisher has some combative moments with grammar, mostly struggling with pronoun-antecedent agreement and some ungainly appositive phrases. In plain language, some of the passages are hard to read because of the way they're written.

Fallen by Kate

2010-11-23T09:14:00.000-07:00

Luce, short for Lucinda, has some problems. Other than seeing things and watching a boy she kissed burst into flame last summer, she has to deal with her new school, which is more like a jail for crazy teenagers. There she meets Cam and Daniel. Cam is attentive and sweet. Daniel is the poster boy for mixed signals. Luce is crazy for Daniel and feels like they've known each other before. A classic love triangle with some weird Milton "Paradise Lost" elements thrown in. It wasn't bad, but a whole lot of agonizing over which boy to choose. It got a little old.

The Roar by Clayton

2010-11-22T13:36:00.000-07:00

It's the future again and things have been really messed up by the animal plague. As a result, everything outside the wall has been razed to get rid of the animals. The earth's population has been piled on top of each other, most of them living in relative squalor in semi-flooded moldy apartments. The first generation born after the plague have a variety of mutations ranging from webbed feet to telepathy. When the government starts a fitness and video game program all teens are required to do, Mika doubts their intentions. However, he believes that by playing the game, he'll be able to find his twin sister, who was supposedly drowned a year ago. Nothing is what it seems.

Mortal Engines by Reeve

2010-11-22T12:39:00.001-07:00

In the far-distant future, the world is decimated in the 60-minute war and cities travel on rolling tracks, sort of like enormous tanks. The cities hunt other, smaller towns and use their resources.

Tom is an apprentice historian in London and helps sort through the old things found on eaten towns. His hero is Valentine, the head historian. When a girl from an eaten town tries to kill Valentine, Tom comes to the rescue. Unfortunately, Valentine is not what he seems so both Tom and the would-be assassin Hester are thrown of the city and left for dead. The pair have to reconcile their ideological differences and work together to get back to London and save the world.

The Dead-Tossed Waves by Ryan

2010-11-22T11:48:00.000-07:00

This book is a companion novel to Forest of Hands and Teeth. The zombie world is pretty much the same, but with a heartless central government and a crazy cult thrown in for fun. There's still a love triangle and, unfortunately, this one isn't as well crafted as the last. And there's definitely a sequel.

It's good, but not the magnum opus the first one was.

I Am Not a Serial Killer by Wells

2010-10-17T21:16:00.003-06:00

For a book written by an LDS author, this was a very disturbing and difficult book to read. The teenaged boy who narrates the book is a diagnosed psychopath who loves working with the dead bodies in the mortuary run by his mother and aunt. At school he has only one friend, another social outcast who is even lower in the pecking order. While wrestling with the “monster” inside, the boy discovers that the serial killer operating in his town is really the kindly old man across the street. He is actually a demon who kills to replace decaying parts of his body. The boy is determined to stop him, but by doing so, he risks letting out his own monster. I could only take reading a few pages at a time in this book that holds out little hope that the boy will ever be normal. Even more disturbing was the discovery that there is a killer in Chelan County, Washington who sounds a lot like this boy. Please, Mr. Wells, no sequels!

Mockingjay by Collins

2010-08-30T19:12:00.004-06:00

This is the third and final book in the Hunger Games series and it is just as gripping as the others, even if it is a lot bloodier.

At the end of book two, Katniss was plucked out of the arena by the rebel forces leaving Peeta behind. District 12 no longer exists after it was firebombed when Katniss was rescued. She and her mother and her younger sister, Prim, are taken into District 13 along with the other survivors from District 12 including Gale, Katniss’s best friend. President Coin of District 13 wants to turn Katniss into the Mockingjay, a symbol of the rebellion against the Capital. Reluctantly, she agrees as long as Peeta, who is used as a tool by the Capital, and the other tributes still in the Capital are pardoned and she gets to kill President Snow. As the Mockingjay, Katniss is filmed in propaganda clips that can get rather bloody as the rebels rally around her and storm the Capitol. It’s almost like she has been groomed for the arena again.

Be prepared. This book has more bloodshed and death than the first two books put together. One of the beloved characters die and Katniss earns her share of wounds and scars. In the end, however, the truth wins out and she is left with the man she needs to survive – and little else.

I am a genius of unspeakable evil and I want to be your class president by Lieb

2010-08-23T11:54:00.000-06:00

What a fun book! This is comedian Josh Lieb's first book after working with the Daily Show and The Simpsons.

Oliver is 12, chubby, and diabolically smart. By day, he appears to be the dumbest lame brain in the seventh grade. By night, Ollie runs a secret corporation complete with figurehead CEO. He can purchase African paramilitary groups, steal a moon rock from the National Museum, and frame Miley Cyrus for the crimes. His parents are clueless. When Ollie takes a bet to win the election for class president, he discovers that winning the hearts and minds of middle schoolers is a little tougher than ruling the world.

Read it. Read it. Read it.

Odd Thomas by Koontz

2010-08-10T09:21:00.000-06:00

Twenty year-old Odd Thomas has a lot to deal with in life. He comes from a seriously disfunctional family and is plagued by supernatural abilities. The dead, including various murder victims and Elvis, who can't seem to move on, come to see Odd. Sometimes they want justice. Sometimes they want company. Sometimes they want revenge.

But the dead aren't the worst of it. Odd also sees bodachs, shadowy harbingers of death and destruction. When a flood of bodachs decend on Odd's hometown of Pico Mundo, CA, it's up to Odd to predict and avert the coming crisis.

This a great book, but it's an even better audiobook. The performer, whose name I can't seem to find, brings Odd to life with honesty, tragedy, and humor. Koontz eventually wrote a series featuring this strange tragic hero, but for my money, this is the best one of the set. A fabulous read. Or listen, for that matter.

Wicked Lovely by Marr

2010-08-10T09:09:00.001-06:00

Aislinn has "the sight." She sees fairies. They're on the streets, in the pool hall, and definitely in the woods. What's more, they're mean, malicious, and sometimes scary. Aislinn knows the rules - don't look at them, don't talk to them, and stick to places with iron where they can't get you. That's part of the reason she hangs out with Seth, who lives in a converted train. The other reason is that Aislinn is crazy in love with him, but she's sure that's out of the question.

When Aislinn is stalked by two insistent fairies, one of whom is the Summer King, suddenly her precious rules don't apply. They follow her, manipulate the people she loves, and mess with her life. Once the truth comes to light, Aislinn's world is going to get a lot more complicated.

A bit gritty in places, this fairy story does a lot of things right. Marr did her homework before she wrote it, so there's a lot of authentic fairy lore in here. If you can get past the more complicated and lurid relationships, the book is pretty good.

Beastly by Flinn

2010-08-05T10:05:00.000-06:00

Kyle has it all - money, popularity, good looks, and brains. What he doesn't have is a heart. When he humiliates a nobody in his English class, he's put under a curse. The nobody, it seems, is a witch and Kyle is now a beast. Animal-like and ugly forever unless he can convince someone to love him for what he is. Helping Kyle is a blind tutor and a chat room support group for others who've been enchanted: a mermaid, a frog prince, and a bear with princess problems.

Like all fairy tales, we know the ending, but the telling is fresh and satisfying. It's a worthy read.

Blood and Chocolate by Klause

2010-08-05T09:57:00.000-06:00

Vivian is a werewolf. She was born one, as were her parents. Her pack lives in out-of-the-way places in the country, trying not to attract suspicion or mobs of angry humans carrying torches. Life is pretty simple in the pack - obey the alpha, don't do anything stupid, etc. Vivian complicates things when she goes and falls in love with a human. She believes that, because of his artistic soul, he'll understand and appreciate their seemingly insurmountable differences.

The book is a bit, uh, steamy. As my mother would say, it makes your eyeballs fog up.

Never judge a book by its movie, especially not this one. The film version is terrible.

Deadline by Crutcher

2010-08-05T09:52:00.001-06:00

The summer before senior year, Ben Wolf is diagnosed with terminal leukemia. Because he's 18 and wants a "normal" life for as long as possible, Ben decides not to tell anyone. Instead, he does everything he was too afraid to do - go out for football, pursue the volleyball player who's a foot taller than him, challenge his teacher, and befriend the reclusive McCoy who has a secret of his own. In fact, just about everyone has something they've kept hidden, bringing up the question of whether secrets ultimately help or hurt others. Some of the book is intense and there is frank conversation about sexual abuse, but it doesn't get too heavy. A worthy read for anyone wondering what life is all about.

Acceleration by McNamee

2010-08-05T09:40:00.000-06:00

Duncan believes he has the most boring summer job ever: organizing the lost and found room for the Toronto subway system. But when he discovers the diary of an unknown serial killer, Duncan tries to hunt the man down before he strikes.

There are some plot holes, but overall, it's not a bad read. Good for mystery fans.

If I Stay by Forman

2010-08-05T09:30:00.001-06:00

Mia's a talneted cellist living in rural Oregon with her former rocker parents and a younger brother. Her future is bright, but complicated. A waiting spot at Julliard makes her relationship with her rising rock star boyfriend even more difficult and there are some big decisions coming up.

All of that is suddenly unimportant when Mia's family is involved in a devastating car crash on a snowy morning. Mia faces her hardest question yet: is it better to live or to give up and die?

I understand they're making a movie of this book. Unless it's made very carefully, it's going to be awful. What keeps this book from drowning in its own tears is Mia's unique voice, and I'm not convinced Hollywood can pull that off. Through flashbacks and Mia's narration, we come to appreciate who Mia is an exactly what her life means.