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  • Books, Grimm, Top 10

    Top 10: Dystopia Revisited

    30.04.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    Since we published our list of Top 10 Dystopian novels (see it here), the publishing world has gone a bit barmy for them, the result being heaps and heaps more to choose from. So, it might be time for another list! Here’s the 10 dystopian novels (and series) I have enjoyed the most since (or more accurately, found the most gripping).

    1. The Chaos Walking trilogy, Patrick Ness – Todd lives in a strange world where only men exist, and they can hear each other’s thoughts, which are a constant “Noise” that is inescapable. While out with his dog, Manchee – who can talk – Todd finds an odd “hole” in the Noise, and it is his interaction with this whole that will send him on the most incredible, dangerous, hard journey you could possibly imagine: the books read like a nightmare rollercoaster. 
    2. The Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins – speaking of nightmare rollercoasters.
    3. Blood Red Road, Moira Young – this was fab! It’s a dangerous, post-apocalyptic road trip, where the danger comes more from some truly heinous characters than the desert-like landscape. There’s a kick-ass heroine, a witty and confident, mysterious hero, and a crow. Plus there will be a sequel. And a movie.
    4. The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Carrie Ryan – Mary lives in a fenced village in the middle of the forest of hands and teeth; fenced, because the forest of hands and teeth is peopled with zombies (the Unconsecrated) with an undying drive to bite. When the village’s fortifications are compromised Mary must flee in the ensuing chaos, down the paths that run through the forest, following mysterious symbols that might lead her to the sea she dreams of. Rather tense. This book has two companions, The Dead-Tossed Waves and The Dark and Hollow Places.
    5. A Long, Long Sleep, Anna Sheehan – a dystopian take on the sleeping beauty fairytale. Rose is, in effect, a society princess. Her parents are high flying elite, rich enough to afford a stas chamber, in which you can sleep for years without aging. So, one day Rose is woken with a kiss (as in, the kiss of life), to find she’s sixty two years in the future and everyone she knows is long gone. She must struggle to adjust to a whole new society, a new life, but there’s much worse: a terminator-like killing machine that’s out to get her, and the truth about her long, long sleep.
    6. Matched and Crossed, Ally Condie – this kind of goes together with:
    7. Delirium and Pandemonium, Lauren Oliver – these two series have, it is often pointed out, similar storylines. The characters live in societies that attempt to control human emotions, since it is human emotions that have caused all societal catastrophes in the past. They rule with an iron grip, but what happens when someone beings to question the rules, regulations, and truths that have been hammered into them all their lives? Not towing the party line, risking and living a little, and following your heart can lead you on a dangerous journey!
    8. Under the Never Sky, Veronica Rossi. I don’t think very much of the cover (sorry cover!), or the tag line on the cover (it needs a paper bag really). But! It’s a really good read. Lots of action, and a heroine and hero who learn things along the way, and develop, and don’t fall floppily in love with each other after a few moments.
    9. Divergent, Veronica Roth – the Veronicas! This one is soon to be followed by Insurgent. People have gone quite crazily enthusiastic for Divergent. If you’re after a gripping read with suspense, a courageous heroine and an aloof, super-cool hero, then please read! My only problem with Divergent is the idea central to its dystopian-ness, being that society is divided into factions based on character traits and behaviours (why?). I also hoped that the names for the factions could have been cooler. Still, am looking forward to reading the next!
    10. The Maze Runner trilogy, James Dashner – In The Maze Runner, Thomas wakes up in a lift that is climbing for what seems to be an eternity into a nightmare world, where a group of boys survive together in “The Maze” of shifting walls, and hideous machine-bug-like monsters. He has no recollection of his past, apart from a sense of having been here before, and a yearning to become one of the maze runners, who map the maze in the hope of finding a way out.

    But there’s much more! Here’s a selection of dystopian fiction (and other book lists are here).


  • Books, Grimm, New

    New Books

    27.04.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern (387 pages) -Le Cirque des Rêves is the name of the circus, and it is indeed only open at night. At night, in the circus, Celia and Marco are two young magicians who must compete against each other to be the best. They don’t know that the game they are bound to play is very real, with implications for the whole circus. When the two fall in love, what then happens to the competition?

    Is possibly a bit like maybe: The Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Taylor; The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, Catherynne M Valente.

    First sentence: The circus arrives without warning.

    The Girl in the Steel Corset, Kady Cross (473 pages) – we mentioned this at the end of March, and now it has arrived.

    Is possibly a bit like maybe: The Iron Thorn, Caitlin Kittredge; The Name of the Star, Maureen Johnson; Corsets & Clockwork: 13 steampunk romances

    First sentence: The moment she saw the young man walking down the darkened hall toward her, twirling his walking stick, Finley Jayne knew she’d be unemployed before the sun rose.

    Black Heart, Holly Black (296 pages) – the third book in the Curse Workers trilogy. Will there be another? “Cassel Sharpe knows he’s been used as an assassin, but he’s trying to put all that behind him. He’s trying to be good, even though he grew up in a family of con artists and cheating comes as easily as breathing to him. He’s trying to do the right thing, even though the girl he loves is inextricably connected with crime. And he’s trying to convince himself that working for the Feds is smart, even though he’s been raised to believe the government is the enemy. But with a mother on the lam, the girl he loves about to take her place in the Mob, and new secrets coming to light, the line between what’s right and what’s wrong becomes increasingly blurred. When the Feds ask Cassel to do the one thing he said he would never do again, he needs to sort out what’s a con and what’s truth. In a dangerous game and with his life on the line, Cassel may have to make his biggest gamble yet… this time on love.” (catalogue description)

    Is possibly a bit like maybe: The Calling, Kelley Armstrong; City of Bones, Cassandra Clare

    First sentence: My brother Barron sits next to me, sucking the last dregs of milk tea slush noisily through a wide yellow straw.

    The Way We Fall, Megan Crewe (309 pages) – a strange virus attacks a small island community, killing many. Those that remain must fight for food, or starve. Grim! Kaelyn is one of the survivors, and she must join forces with a former rival to better her odds, while those around her she cares for slowly get sick. Can she find a way to save them?

    Is possibly a bit like maybe: After the Snow, S D Crockett; Under the Never Sky, Veronica Rossi; Life as We Knew It, Susan Beth Pfeffer

    First sentence: Leo, it’s about six hours since you left the island.

    The Butterfly Clues, Kate Ellison (325 pages) – “Having experienced compulsive behavior all her life, Lo’s symptoms are getting her into trouble when she witnesses a murder while wandering dangerous quarters of Cleveland, Ohio, collecting things that do not belong to her, obsessing about her brother’s death.” Thank you catalogue! Sounds interesting.

    First sentence: I spot her out of the corner of my eye and freeze.

    Getting Over Garrett Delaney, Abby McDonald (319 pages) – Garrett Delaney is Sadie’s best friend. She’s awesomely in love with him, which is a bit of a shame. Especially when he rings from a summer literary retreat to say he’s fallen in love. Sadie must – as the title says – get over Garrett Delaney. A summer of reinventing herself is in order! Can she do it? Yes she can! (Maybe – read the book to find out!)

    First sentence: You have to understand: I’ve been madly, hopelessly, tragically in love with Garrett Delaney for two years now – ever since the fateful day when I looked up from my list of the Top Ten Couples of All Time and saw him sauntering into the local coffeehouse.

    The Girl of Fire and Thorns, Rae Carson (423 pages) – “A fearful sixteen-year-old princess discovers her heroic destiny after being married off to the king of a neighboring country in turmoil and pursued by enemies seething with dark magic” says the catalogue. Elisa (the fearful, sixteen-year-old princess) has a lot on her plate! A good book for Tamora Pierce, or Sharon Shinn fans, maybe?

    First sentence: Prayer candles flicker in my bedroom.

    Perception, Kim Harrington (275 pages) – Clare (Clarity) is the school psychic, and when someone starts sending her mysterious messages and gifts she’s put on high alert. Who could they be from? Things take a dark turn when the messages become increasingly sinister, and a girl suddenly disappears.

    First sentence(s): I stepped forward with forced confidence. “Let’s do this.”


  • Books, Library Serf

    Book Covers with Goggles

    21.04.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    Something random for the weekend.

    Skybreaker, Kenneth Oppel

    Behemoth, Scott Westerfeld

    Skyship Academy: The Pearl Wars, Nick James. This one is new! “In 2095 when a fifteen-year-old slacker discovers that he has the power to control Pearls, fragments of space debris that are a dying Earth’s most important energy source, government forces work to capture him.” (catalogue summary) The second in the series, Crimson Rising, is due out this September.


  • Books, Library Serf, New

    New Books

    20.04.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    This week’s selection! Quite a serious bunch, this one.

    Ripper, Stefan Petrucha (426 pages) – “Adopted by famous Pinkerton Agency Detective Hawking in 1895 New York, fourteen-year-old Carver Young hopes to find his birth father, but when he becomes involved in the pursuit of notorious killer Jack the Ripper, Carver discovers that finding the truth can be worse than ignorance” (catalogue summary). Creepy! We all love Jack the Ripper stories of course.

    First sentences: “Let me show you a secret.” Elizabeth B. Rowley liked the man’s confidence.

    Take a Bow, Elizabeth Eulberg (280 pages) – set at a performing arts school (remember my name! fame!). Emme, Sophie, Carter and Ethan are all performers, with varying backgrounds and concerns in their senior year, but they all feel the pressure to perform well in the senior recital, to cement their future careers.

    First sentence: My life has been one big audition.

    Wanderlove, Kirsten Hubbard (338 pages) – Bria yearns to wander the world, travelling to exotic places. To take the first step, she signs up for a Central American tour, only to discover it’s a tour for oldies (with matching leisure suits, etc.). Luckily she’s rescued from tour hell when she meets Rowan and Starling, an adventurous brother and sister, who promise more interesting travels off the beaten track. A novel about backpacking and finding yourself in the rainforests of Belize.

    First sentence: As soon as I see the blond girl bouncing down the aisle, I know she’s heading for the empty seat beside me.

    Fever, Lauren DeStefano (341 pages) – book two in the Chemical Garden trilogy. “In a future where genetic engineering has cured humanity of all diseases and defects but has also produced a virus that kills all females by age twenty and all males by the age twenty-five, teenaged Rhine escapes her forced marriage and journeys back to New York to find her twin brother.” (catalogue description) It sounds like a grim future indeed!

    First sentence: We run, with water in our shoes and the smell of the ocean clinging to our skin.

    Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy, Bil Wright (219 pages) – for a less alarming change of pace! Carlos Duarte has a flair for makeup, and it’s his dream to become a celebrity makeup artist. When he gets a part time job at Macy’s it seems like his career is on the right trajectory, but the makeup world is a cutthroat world: can he make it to the top?

    First sentence: When I was twelve, I convinced my mother to let me do her makeup for Parents’ Night.

    After the Snow, S D Crockett (288 pages) – another dystopian world, this time it’s a cold one! Willo’s life is as settled as it can be, with his family living in the wilderness, and him a successful hunter. When one day he comes back from a hunting trip to find his family gone, Willo packs up and heads for the mountains, planning on finding a way of getting them back. Things become (more) complicated, however, when he finds a staring girl and boy.

    First sentence: I’m gonna sit here in my place on the hill behind the house.

    Boy 21, Matthew Quick (250 pages) – Basketball is the winner in this book about life in a really tough neighbourhood. Finley has jersey number 21, and basketball is the one really good thing in his hard life. Russ has just moved into town following a tragedy, and refuses to play basketball, although he is known only as Boy21, after his former jersey number. “A moving novel about hope, recovery, and redemption” (cover).

    First sentence: Sometimes I pretend that shooting hoops in my backyard is my earliest memory.

    Drowning Instinct, Lisa J Bick (346 pages) – a serious one here, again. Jenna is sixteen, and troubled. Her family life is a shocker, then her older brother – who she looks up to – leaves for Iraq. She finds support in a relationship with an older man – a teacher, in fact. Which could make everything so much worse.

    First sentence(s): “Look,” says the detective. He stares down at the girl huddled on the gurney.

    The Poisoned House, Michael Ford (319 pages) – goodie! We do love ghost stories. This one looks rather spooky, too. Abi is a scullery maid in 19th century London. There’s something “otherwordly” in the house where she works, though, and Abi – I think – may find herself uncovering its deadly secret.

    First sentence: The stone steps to the basement were ice cold under my bare feet.

    Desert Angel, Charlie Price (233 pages) – Angel lives in a trailer in the California desert with her mother and her mother’s loser boyfriend, Scotty. One morning she wakes to discover her mother murdered and the boyfriend vanished. Fearing for her life – the boyfriend has excellent tracking skills – Angel escapes into the unforgiving desert, where she discovers a community of people who will help her. But Scotty is always just a few steps behind. Golly.

    First sentence: The fight started after midnight, Scotty drunk, Angel’s mother shrill on crystal.

    The Beginning of After, Jennifer Castle (425 pages) – Laurel’s family is killed in a horrific car accident, caused by her neighbour, who survived, but is in a coma. Laurel must adjust to life on her own, where it’s hard to tell if her relationships are built on pity or are genuine, and where she has a problematic attraction with the son of her neighbour.

    First sentence: Anyone who’s had something truly crappy happen to them will tell you: it’s all about Before and After.

    Dead to You, Lisa McMann (243 pages) – from the author of the Wake trilogy. Ethan was abducted when he was seven. Now, nine years later, he has been returned to his family. This should be fantastic! But, inevitably, there’s friction in the family, and some terrible things that Ethan can’t remember.

    First sentence(s): There are three of them. No, four.

    Grave Mercy, Robin LaFevers (549 pages) – the girl on the cover is wearing a killer red dress and carrying a crossbow. She’s Ismae, and she’s sought refuge in the convent of St Mortain, only to discover that the god of Death has blessed her with certain gifts. She is to be the handmaiden of Death, an assassin. Her first assignment finds her in the court of Brittany. Her target is Gavriel Duval. Seems simple enough, except she’s not prepared for the intrigues at court, or the intrigues of Gavriel Duval.

    First sentence: I bear a deep red stain that runs from my left shoulder down to my right hip, a trail left by the herbwitch’s poison that my mother used to try to expel me from her womb.

    The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Emily M Danforth (470 pages) – Cameron Post’s parents die in a car crash (another car crash!), right around the time that Cam is discovering that she is attracted to girls. Moving to Miles City, Montana, to live with her conservative aunt and grandmother, means she will have to appear to tow the line. When Cam meets Coley and they hit it off and begin a close friendship, Cam’s aunt decides to try and “fix” Cam, but can you deny who you really are?

    First sentence: The afternoon my parents died I was out shop-lifting with Irene Klauson.


  • Books, New

    Waiting on Wednesday

    18.04.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    This week: historical romance, science fiction, and epic fantasy.

    Changeling, Philippa Gregory. “Italy, 1453. Seventeen-year-old Luca Vero is brilliant, gorgeous—and accused of heresy. Cast out of his religious order for using the new science to question old superstitious beliefs, Luca is recruited into a secret sect: The Order of the Dragon, commissioned by Pope Nicholas V to investigate evil and danger in its many forms, and strange occurrences across Europe, in this year—the end of days. Isolde is a seventeen-year-old girl shut up in a nunnery so she can’t inherit any of her father’s estate. As the nuns walk in their sleep and see strange visions, Isolde is accused of witchcraft—and Luca is sent to investigate her, but finds himself plotting her escape. Despite their vows, despite themselves, love grows between Luca and Isolde as they travel across Europe with their faithful companions, Freize and Ishraq. The four young people encounter werewolves, alchemists, witches, and death-dancers as they head toward a real-life historical figure who holds the boundaries of Christendom and the secrets of the Order of the Dragon.” (amazon.com)

    This is the first of a series by one of the queens of historical fiction!

    Burnt Ice, Steve Wheeler (New Zealand). The first book in the A Fury of Aces series. A space adventure! “In our future worlds the Administration rules the Sphere of Humankind, the Games Board sanctions and funds wars and conflicts, and the Haulers′ Collective roams the space routes like the caravanners of old. Marko and his crew of fellow soldier-engineers are sent to investigate an unknown planet. When they encounter strange artefacts and an intelligent but aggressive squid species, they are forced to embark on a perilous journey far from the Sphere. They will have to survive not only other alien encounters but also their own Administration′s deadly manipulations. Political factions and galactic media moguls vie for power … and money.” (Text from HarperCollins)

    Bitterblue, Kristin Cashore. We first mentioned this in October, but you can order now! Here’s the book trailer:


  • Books, Library Serf

    Books for Book Clubs

    14.04.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    Do you belong to a book club, or are you thinking about it? If you do, or are, there are plenty of ideas and resources on the world wide web to help you pick excellent books to discuss. 

    Here are some things to think about when choosing books:

    • - a book that’s really good doesn’t necessarily make a good book club book: pick a story with a subject that would be interesting to talk about (21st century pirates, global warming, World War II, feminist issues in the 19th century);
    • - popular books might have a long waiting list at the library, so best not to pick those unless people own their own copies;
    • - pick titles that the library has several copies of (including e-books and audio books), unless you’ve all got them, of course;

    For book ideas:

    For discussion ideas:

    You should be able to find discussion questions for a lot of books on the world wide web. Some publishers have study questions on their websites (for example, The 10pm Question by Kate de Goldi, or The Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner), some books come with discussion questions at the back (like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies). A list of questions is a good idea, in case your discussion hits a flat patch, or someone gets sidetracked.

    The New Zealand book council has got a page devoted to reading groups, including a guide on how to get one started. There’s also a list of discussion guides (including the always-present Book Thief).


  • Books, Grimm, Top 10

    Top 10: Books With Happy Endings

    04.04.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    This is to go with Top 10 Tearjerkers, for balance. The tearjerkers were a whole lot easier to find than the happy endings. Perhaps a happy ending is a lot harder to write well? So, without giving away too many punchlines, here is a selection of happy and happier endings.

    1. My Most Excellent Year, Steve Kluger
    2. Will Grayson, Will Grayson, John Green & David Levithan
    3. Boy Meets Boy, David Levithan
    4. Fly on the Wall, E Lockhart
    5. Dairy Queen, Catherine Gilbert Murdock
    6. I’ll Be There, Holly Goldberg Sloan
    7. How to Save a Life, Sara Zarr
    8. One Whole and Perfect Day, Judith Clarke
    9. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
    10. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen


  • Books, New, Simon

    New Books

    03.04.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    Try Not to Breathe, by Jennifer R. Hubbard (233 pages) – Ryan, sixteen-years-old and back home from a mental hospital after a suicide attempt, meets Nicki. She isn’t afraid to ask him about his depression and his secrets, and ‘trusting Nicki just might be the catalyst Ryan desperately needs to start living again.’ A bit grim! But happy all the same.

    First line: ‘It was dangerous to stand under the waterfall, but some kids did it anyway, and I was one of them.‘

    Pink Smog : Becoming Weetzie Bat, is Francesca Lia Block (185 pages) – This is a prequel to Weetzie Bat, a fairly controversial book in some parts of America. Which is usually an indication of quality when it comes to YA literature! Well, that’s my opinion. Anyhoo, if you’re familiar with that book you will want to read this, the prequel. I have trouble with prequels since I already know how they end, you know? But that’s just me and my problem with the third Underworld movie really.

    First: ‘The day after my dad, Charlie, the love of my life, left, and an angel saved my mom from drowning, I woke up with a slamming headache and a wicked sunburn.‘

    Torn, by Cat Clarke (374 pages) – Four girls – Alice and Cass, and Polly, and Rae – are stuck in a cabin in the Scottish Highlands with Tara, the ‘queen of mean’. She’s a real bully, so Cass decides to teach her a lesson. Aaaaaaand so shortly there are four girls and one dead body. ‘A compelling story of guilty secrets, troubled friendship and burgeoning love.’

    First line: ‘A funeral without a body is like a wedding without a bride. Or a groom.‘

    Double, by Jenny Valentine (246 pages) – Chap is mistaken for Cassiel, a missing boy, and subsequently takes on this new identity. He moves in with Cassiel’s family, but soon discovers that they have some pretty dark secrets. Thrills, mystery, and unputdownableishness.

    First lines: ‘I didn’t choose to be him. I didn’t pick Cassiel Roadnight out of a lineup of possible people who looked just like me.‘

    Velvet, by Mary Hooper (323 pages) – It is Victorian England, and not a time to be poor! So Velvet is pleased when the glamorous psychic, Madame Savoya, plucks her from the steam laundry to become a lady’s maid. She gets to wear nice clothes and live in a grand house. But the more she learns about Madame Savoya’s spiritual medium shenanigans, the less ideal her new life seems.

    First line: ‘Velvet had fainted too many time, according to Mrs Sloane, and was liable to be dismissed from Ruffold’s Steam Laundry.‘

    The Wrong Grave, by Kelly Link (183 pages) – A collection of short stories about the supernatural, blended with humour. And some pretty neat sketches by Sean Tan.

    Dark Eyes, by William Richter (373 pages) – Wallis “Wally” Stoneman was born to Russian parents but adopted by a wealthy New York couple. Now she’s a rebellious teen, out to find her birth mother, who stole a fortune from her birth father, a Russian gangster who has just escaped from prison. He is out for revenge and the fortune. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo for teens, a reviewer suggests!

    First line: ‘Valentina stirred awake and found Mrs Ivanova leaning over her bed, gently squeezing her shoulder.‘

    Wisdom’s Kiss, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (284 pages) – Via the catalogue: ‘Princess Wisdom, who yearns for a life of adventure beyond the kingdom of Montagne, Tips, a soldier keeping his true life secret from his family, Fortitude, an orphaned maid who longs for Tips, and Magic the cat form an uneasy alliance as they try to save the kingdom from certain destruction. Told through diaries, memoirs, encyclopedia entries, letters, biographies, and a stage play.’

    First line: ‘Trudy’s sight revealed itself one warm summer night when the child was older that three.‘

    Ticket to Love, by Marilyn Kaye (305 pages) – Four young women head to New York for the ‘mini-break adventure of a lifetime’. Megan’s a shopaholic, Erica is meeting an online boyfriend, Jen wants to meet a celebrity, and Serena’s in it for the museums. But! Can they all find love/form relationships/retain their illusions in the face of a stark and indifferent reality?

    First lines: ‘Megan could her her mobile ringing as she twisted the key in the lock. Entering her flat, she dropped her shopping and fumbled in her bag for the phone.’

    My Very Unfairy Tale, by Anna Staniszewski (198 pages) – Jenny is twelve, and for the last three years has been the designated adventurer whose job is to protect magical kingdoms ‘far and wide’ from all sorts of unsavoury things. She also lives in the real world, but her adventuring is taking her away from her friends and family. SO when she get given one final impossible task, she takes it. “Speedy and amusing,” wrote a reviewer.

    First lines: ‘You know all those stories that claim fairies cry sparkle tears and elves travel by rainbow? They’re lies. All lies.‘


  • Books, Grimm, New

    Waiting on Wednesday

    28.03.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    It’s Wednesday! Here’s a small selection of interesting titles we’ve ordered recently. Reserve them if they take your fancy.

    Soonchild, Russell Hoban (illustrated by Alexis Deacon). Russell Hoban, creator of Captain Najork and Aunt Fidget Wonkham-Strong, was once called “the strangest writer in Britain”. Sadly, he is retiring soon, and this is his second to last book! You must read it! In all seriousness, here’s what it’s about:

    “Somewhere in the Arctic Circle, Sixteen-Face John, a shaman, learns that his first child, a soonchild, cannot hear the World Songs from her mother’s womb. The World Songs are what inspire all newborns to come out into the world, and John must find them for her. But how? The answer takes him through many lifetimes and many shape-shifts, as well as encounters with beasts, demons and a mysterious benevolent owl spirit, Ukpika, who is linked to John’s past…” (goodreads.com)

    The Girl in the Steel Corset, Kady Cross. A steampunk romance! “In 1897 England, sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne has no one… except the ‘thing’ inside her. When a young lord tries to take advantage of Finley, she fights back. And wins. But no normal Victorian girl has a darker side that makes her capable of knocking out a full-grown man with one punch… Only Griffin King sees the magical darkness inside her that says she’s special, says she’s one of them. The orphaned duke takes her in from the gaslit streets against the wishes of his band of misfits: Emily, who has her own special abilities and an unrequited love for Sam, who is part robot; and Jasper, an American cowboy with a shadowy secret. Griffin’s investigating a criminal called The Machinist, the mastermind behind several recent crimes by automatons. Finley thinks she can help – and finally be a part of something, finally fit in. But The Machinist wants to tear Griff’s little company of strays apart, and it isn’t long before trust is tested on all sides. At least Finley knows whose side she’s on – even if it seems no one believes her.” (amazon.com)

    Pure, Julianna Baggott. The first in a new dystopian series (the next one will be called Fuse, when it is published). This is the story of Pressia and Partridge. After a nuclear holocaust, people are - for the most part – horribly disfigured, and society corrupt. Pressia is one of the disfigured, Partridge is one of the “pure”. The Pure are the ones who made it to the Dome in time, their bodies unmarked. Inside the Dome Partridge is protected from the people who will burn him, as some type of living sacrifice. Pressia also has problems, since she’s come of age and must join the militia (as a soldier, if she’s physically capable, or as a “live target” if she’s not). When Partridge learns that his mother (who didn’t make it to the Dome) may still be alive, he makes the dangerous decision to venture out in search of her, and “when Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again.”


  • Books, Library Serf

    Hunger Games Readalikes

    22.03.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    If you’re waiting in the queue for The Hunger Games, or if you’ve read it and want to read something similar, then here are some ideas:

    Read your way through our Dystopian, Futuristic and Speculative Fiction booklist. There’s a selection of more than 30 books, including Divergent by Veronica Roth, Legend by Marie Lu, The Maze Runner trilogy by James Dashner, and more!

    Keep an eye on the dystopia tag, for new books, and news on the subject.

    The goodreads.com Hunger Games page has other suggestions, plus book lists, video clips, trivia and quotes.

    Before there was Katniss there was Gregor. Read The Underland Chronicles, by Suzanne Collins!


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