Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey

Life has become very different in the Belt. It's gone beyond the oddly elongated bodies of the Belters and their tolerance to low gravity: in an abandoned ship, a new lifeform is growing. Jim Holden has to watch his friends and shipmates get nuked when they stumble too close to the secret; the fall-out of which is potential inter-planetary war. And Detective Miller is on the hunt for a missing Earther with important connections. Both are on a trajectory toward a gruesome discovery, but what will happen to human civilization when they arrive?

The book jacket describes Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey as a "kick-ass space opera." Now, I don't know what a space opera is; when I imagine it, I see fat aliens wearing pig-tailed wigs and viking helmets, and somehow I don't think that's what they're going for. So, after reading this book, I would say a space opera is genre-bending sci-fi, since this book is equal parts sci-fi and noir, with some horror thrown in.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Ever since the unsuccessful rebellion of the thirteen districts against Panem's government, tributes from each of the remaining twelve districts have been required to participate in the Hunger Games. Every year, one boy and one girl from each district are randomly selected to fight to the death in a carefully controlled environment. In the 174th Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen volunteers as the tribute in place of her sister Prim. Katniss travels to the Capitol with fellow tribute Peeta, to participate in a televised event that will undoubtedly claim both their lives.

I watched the film version of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins first, and found it to be lacking in emotional tension. I was hoping for something a little more intense in the book. Unfortunately, that didn't pan out, but reading the book did help me better understand Katniss's character. What I took for a flat plot and lack of acting chops in the movie turns out to the result of a staggeringly rational and humourless protagonist. She's naive and confused for most of the book, but her thoughts are described so thoroughly that readers can't help but relate to her.

Vision in White by Nora Roberts

What do you get when you combine an absent father, a narcicistic and manipulative mother, and an innate talent for photography? Mackensie Eliot, the staff photographer at Vows, a high-end, all-inclusive, wedding venue in Greenwich. Even though Mac is surrounded by marital bliss, she's never been able to master the long-term commitment. So, when a sexy schoolteacher harbouring an old crush enters her life, she's swept up by passion and romance more quickly than she could have anticipated. But is she equipped for real love, or will she let it slip through her fingers?

Well, I managed to hold out for 15+ years, but this past weekend I finally gave in and read a romance, Vision in White by Nora Roberts. And you know what? I liked it. I suppose I was expecting Harlequin, so the focus on all of Mac's personal relationships and not just her budding romance with Carter was a relief. I must admit the greatest draw for me personally was the wedding venue angle, since I will be experiencing matrimony myself in August.

Suggested book for June 2012

The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel

Ayla is little more than an infant when an earthquake destroys her home and claims her family. She wanders for days without food and shelter, eventually falling prey to a cave lion, who visciously slashes her leg. Wounded and alone, she's found on the brink of death by Iza, the medicine woman of the Clan. She adopts Ayla as a daughter and raises her to be a medicine woman of her line. But Ayla is different from the rest of the Clan, and there are some who never truly accept her. She must find the strength within herself to find her place in a confusing and dangerous world.

In The Clan of the Cave Bear, Jean M. Auel gives readers her unique perspective on the lives of neanderthals. By making the protagonist homo sapiens, it gives readers a comfortable lens through which to view this very different and yet very similar race of humans. Ayla herself is a highly likeable protagonist: she has plenty of gumption and curiosity, and the situations she gets herself into will keep you turning tha pages. Be warned however; while Auel's sweeping exposition on subjects like cultural evolution and ecology are interesting and informative, to some readers they grow repetitive by the end of the book (or in any subsequent readings).

This book is the first of her Earth's Children series. NB: In The Valley of Horses, the second book in the series, Auel's style morphs to include elements of the romance genre, including explicit love scenes.

View my suggested books by Jean M. Auel

Suggested Book for May 2012

Sabriel by Garth Nix

After finishing school in Northern Ancelstierre, Sabriel must leave the life she's known behind and enter the Old Kingdom to search for her missing father. The Old Kingdom may be the place of her birth, but it's strange and full of dangerous magic, and of course, the Dead. Charter magic-trained she may be, but Sabriel is unprepared for the trials that face a budding Abhorsen. Chased by powerful Dead creatures and armed only with the bells of a necromancer and the advice of a Free Magic cat, Sabriel journeys north to find her father and the source of a terrible new power that threatens Life.

Sabriel is the first book in the Abhorsen series by Garth Nix. It's high fantasy at its best, in my opinion. I always find myself immediately drawn into the enthralling world of Charter Magic, Free Magic, and Necromancy, unable to put the books down until I've finished the series (usually in a single weekend).

View my suggested books by Garth Nix

Sabriel

Twin-Bred by Karen A. Wyle

Mara Cadell is a human scientist on Tofarn. Like every other human, the Tofa, Tofarn's indigenous inhabitants, are a mystery to her. But it's become clear that humans and Tofa are on the path towards conflict if a way of communicating and mediating disputes isn't found. She begins the LEVI project, named after her long-dead twin (who she has kept alive in her mind), in attempt to forge a bridge between species. Human and tofa children will share a uterus and be raised together, in an attempt to create mutual understanding.

Twin-Bred has an interesting premise, but that's where my appreciation of the story ends. Each chapter opens with a snippet of one of Mara's reports on the LEVI project, but Karen A. Wyle may as well have written the whole book in report-form for all the excitement it engenders in readers. The book is written in such a flat, clinical way that I was unable get excited about anything that happened. I was praying for war just so some suspense would be created.

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

It's the day before Percy leaves for Camp and he's already being attacked by monster-cheerleaders. He fights them off and escapes with the help of Rachel Elizabeth Dare, a mortal who can see through the Mist. Annabeth's not happy about their new friendship, and gives Percy the cold shoulder when they get to Camp. He doesn't have much time to ponder her response before he, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson are sent on a quest to find Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth, before Luke and his cronies do. An attack on Camp Half-blood by Kronos's army is imminent, and finding Daedalus may be the only way to save it. But Annabeth has been given a secret prophecy, and refuses to share it in its entirety. All Percy knows is that the last line rhymes with breath, and he's pretty sure its not "meth."

When the Morning Comes by Cindy Woodsmall

Hannah Lapp has left her Old Order Amish community and ex-fiance behind to live in the Englischer world with her aunt Zabeth. She finds the difference in culture, the moral ambiguity, and the complex demands of her new world distressing, but tries her best to cope. She finds a new friend in Zabeth's quasi-son Martin, and develops a protectiveness for Martin's nephew and niece. Meanwhile, back in Owl's Perch, Paul Waddell, Hannah's ex-fiance, is waiting for her to come home. Sarah, her sister, suffers a mental break, and Mary, her best friend, gets married against doctor's orders. Will Hannah be able to stay away when she learns what's happening back home?

When the Morning Comes is the second book in the Sisters of the Quilt series by Cindy Woodsmall. The first book in the series, When the Heart Cries, was my book club's pick for March, and I liked it enough that I decided to finish the series and find out what happens to Hannah. Until we read Heart Cries, I had no idea that the Amish romance sub-genre even existed. I was half-expecting rushed couplings in the hayloft, or lusty beaus tearing off prayer kapps and aprons in fits of passion. Instead, what I discovered was melodrama, and When the Morning Comes is a continuation of the dramatic events of the first book.

The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

Life takes another turn for the worse for Percy during a run-in with a manticore. The manticore's target is two young demigods, and during the battle, he reveals some disturbing new information about Kronos's growing army. The hunters of Artemis turn up just in time to save Percy, Grover, and Thalia, but Annabeth disappears with the retreating manticore, and the heroes are forced to return to Camp Half-blood without her. A quest is quickly dispatched to find Artemis, who's gone awol since the manticore battle (Annabeth is presumed dead). Rejected from the quest team, Percy trails them in secret, hoping to find Annabeth on the way. It becomes progressively clearer that Artemis is in the West, and that her disappearance is tied to Kronos's gathering army and its new General.

Suggested book for April 2012

 Alanna: 
The First Adventure 
by Tamora Pierce

Alanna of Trebond wants to be a knight. But, her father intends to send her to the convent to learn to be a lady and wife. With the help of the village healing woman and her man-at-arms, Alanna trades places with her twin brother: he will travel to the convent and study sorcery, while she will go the castle as "Alan" and train to be a knight. In the first book of Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness quartet, readers will discover a spellhinding adventure where mystery, magic, and chivalry meet.

Along with The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley, I can credit this book with setting me on the path to lifelong reading. Reading about Alanna not only captivated my interest, but helped me appreciate from a young age that the difference between men and women, both in their abilities and the activities they enjoy, is negligible. 

View my suggested books by Tamora Pierce