Staff Recommendations
Daryl M.
Pages
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The windup girl
by Bacigalupi, Paolo.
November 25, 2014
Call Number: SF
Imagine our world in the 23rd century. What will it be like? Will something like Gene Roddenberry’s vision of the 23rd century, as seen in Star Trek, be the reality? Will mankind learn to embrace diversity and no longer judge others based on appearance? Will we create/discover solutions to our energy problems and find ways to feed the millions of people starving on our planet? Will humanity become less concerned with wealth and acquisition, more interested in bettering ourselves and our neighbors? Or will humanity remain essentially unchanged? Will we continue to be bigoted... Read Full Review
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Lock in
by Scalzi, John, 1969-
October 6, 2014
Call Number: SF
Imagine, in the very near future, our world being hit with a medical pandemic unlike anything we’ve experienced in recent history. This influenza-like disease would spread through the world’s population disguised as a common flu. While the overall death toll from the disease would be over 400 million, most would come through unscathed. About four percent of sufferers would be affected with a second stage of meningitis-like inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. Those affected by this stage of the disease would experience one of these possible outcomes: 1) death; 2) significant... Read Full Review
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Lexicon
by Barry, Max, 1973-
August 31, 2014
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“Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts.” From The Name of the Wind by Patrick RothfussWords have power that can inflict irreparable harm or heal an old wound. They can be used to instruct, obfuscate and persuade. In Lexicon, Max Berry weaves a world where words are... Read Full Review
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Ruin and rising
by Bardugo, Leigh.
July 29, 2014
Call Number: YA
Trilogies, or any multi-volume story-telling, can be tricky. No matter how good the initial offering, readers can lose “reading momentum” in the wait between volumes and/or dislike the developments in the middle books, and never read through to the conclusion. Or, the alternative can happen where readers will love and enjoy the material so much that their expectations will dwarf anything the writer can reasonably accomplish, leaving readers disappointed (at best) with the resolution. And then there are the exceptions those stories that grab you from the very beginning, build... Read Full Review
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Vicious
by Schwab, Victoria.
July 21, 2014
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In comic books, and movies based on comic books, it is generally easy to identify the hero and the villain. In these types of media, and many others for that matter, the lines between right and wrong, dark and light, good and evil are obvious and evident. In life, however, the lines between these extremes are rarely clear. That lack of clarity is explored compellingly in V.E. Schwab’s Vicious.Eli and Victor are college roommates, friends and colleagues in Lockland University’s medical program. While they are polar opposites in their looks, demeanors, and approaches, they share... Read Full Review
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The ocean at the end of the lane
by Gaiman, Neil.
July 14, 2014
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Neil Gaiman is one of the world’s best known fantasy writers. His work can be found in comics/graphic novels (Sandman, Batman and Swamp Thing), television (Neverwhere, Babylon 5), motion pictures (Coraline, Mirror Mask) and radio--and, of course, in his novels and short stories. Gaiman’s books range from picture books (Chu’s Day, The Dangerous Alphabet, The Wolves in the Walls) to large adult “doorstop” novels (American Gods) and almost any and... Read Full Review
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Brutal youth
by Breznican, Anthony.
June 16, 2014
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“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. This quote from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities has been used to describe many and various situations and circumstances. One place for which this quote can be particularly apt is high school. For some people, the time they spent in grades 9-12 will come to be the happiest in their lives, their “glory days,” and will represent the lifelong pinnacle of their personal achievements. Others will experience the opposite: four years of seemingly endless antagonism and disrespect possibly alternating... Read Full Review
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Dorothy must die
by Paige, D. M,
June 9, 2014
Call Number: YA
Oz. The mere mention of the name can conjure up images of roads of yellow brick cutting through landscapes of oversaturated colors (and, we imagine, scents), towards the Emerald City. For more than a century, children and adults alike have cherished L. Frank Baum’s original The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its 34 sequels (13 written by Baum, and the remaining 21 written after his death by Ruth Plumly Thompson). But the original novels can be just... Read Full Review
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Kinslayer
by Kristoff, Jay.
June 2, 2014
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At the end of Stormdancer (book one of The Lotus War series), chaos is reigning. Yoritomo-no-miya, Seii Taishogun of the Shima Isles, is dead, and he has no heir. The other clans look at the throne with hunger, making plans and hurtling the entire country towards civil war.As Kinslayer begins, Yukiko and Buruu, her thunder tiger (what we would call a gryphon), are now seen as heroes of the Kagé rebellion. As Yukiko struggles with the death of her father, her power to hear the thoughts of other living things has begun to grow erratic and dangerous. More concerning is the... Read Full Review
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Gideon Smith and the mechanical girl
by Barnett, David, 1970 January 11-
May 5, 2014
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Take some traditional pulp elements (a heroic protagonist, a grand adventure, a hidden treasure awaiting discovery); mix them with some features of a decidedly steampunk variety (airships, fantastical technologies and, of course, Queen Victoria); throw in some horror (mummies and vampires – okay, these could be found in the pulps as well); add a heaping helping of historical figures and alternate history; and for good measure put in some contemporary sensibilities and a strong sense of fun. Mix well and, if you’re lucky, you’ll end up with David Barnett’s new... Read Full Review
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Cress.
by Meyer, Marissa.
March 24, 2014
Call Number: YA
When we last left Linh Cinder, the cyborg mechanic who may or may not be the lost Lunar Princess Selene, at the end of Scarlet (the second book in the Lunar Chronicles series), the situation was dire. She had escaped from prison (making the acquaintance of Captain Carswell Thorne in the process), secured a spaceship, The Rampion, and rescued Scarlet Benoit from certain death. On the run and now the most notorious escaped convict on both Earth and... Read Full Review
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The Martian : a novel
by Weir, Andy.
March 3, 2014
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SURVIVAL. It’s an impulse hardwired into us as humans. The idea of separating an individual from his peers and civilization and pitting him against the forces of nature is the launching point for many, many stories, such as Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen,... Read Full Review