Wow, I think I may have a hard time trying not to gush about this book. I loved it. It was written in a way that was interesting, the writing style was different and the words were beautiful. You know when someone is telling a story and they sometimes trip over their words? Well there was some tripping in this book. Just a enough to keep it interesting. The style was different from what I am used to, and it took me a while to get into it. Once I was accustomed to the way the story was told, I flew through it. Couldn’t put it down. It was so moving. I guess I should tell you what it’s about.

This is a story narrated by Death. He is telling the story of a young girl in Nazi Germany during the war. Already you should know that this book is not going to be a happy go lucky kind of book. How could a book narrated by Death be anything but depressing? Yet the book is not all grief ridden. It has it’s moments, but there are also moments of fun and humour. It managed to make me laugh and then subsequently, cry. But by the end of the book, I was satisfied.

For your reading pleasure, here is a small excerpt from the book, just to show how beautiful the words are:

When Leisel left that day, she said something with great uneasiness. In translation, two giant words were struggled with, carried on her shoulder, and dropped as a bungling pair at Ilsa Hermann’s feet. They fell off sideways as the girl veered with them and could no longer sustain their weight. Together, they sat on the floor, large and loud and clumsy. I’M SORRY (p. 146).

The Book Thief

Markus Zusak. Alfred A. Knopf 2007, Paperback, 576 pages, $6.60

Imagine America suddenly being thrust back into the nineteenth century. Everything is very quickly in short supply as the massively fragile web of distribution across the country goes down. Neighbors turn on neighbors and martial law is enforced. Tough decisions are faced as John increasingly takes on a more prominent roll in the community and tries to navigate crime, punishment, outside threats, starvation, and the increasingly dire prognosis for his diabetic daughter. I found this novel balanced with just the right amount of large scale crisis and drama while dealing with everyday impact and personal choices. Not to sound like a horrible human being, but I found this scenario quite frightening just for the fact that no people are actually killed from the high altitude EMP blast. While most post apocalyptic books wipe out a LARGE percentage of the population in the initial attack, with an EMP everyone survives and will have to struggle through the second stage of the catastrophe and resulting die off. I noticed the film rights were sold to Warner Brothers so I will keep an eye out for the eventual release of the movie.

One Second After

William R. Forstchen. Forge Books 2009, Hardcover, 352 pages, $13.32

All slight sarcasm aside I actually liked this book. It was well written, well paced, and draws an interesting and complex new world. I felt the author did a great job of thinking the plot through and eliminating any large plot holes. (A pet peeve of mine with some science fiction.) I enjoyed the character portrayals, most of them torn between love and duty, and driven by love, fear, loyalty, and hate. I found it interesting the powerful women characters in the book were not wives and liked the way that was portrayed. Some of the most interesting plot lines in the book revolved around the planet itself. On a planet with such small amounts of available water it was very interesting to imagine the incredible importance of it and the ways in which your life would revolve around acquiring, retaining and reusing that precious resource. I have been trying to branch out and get my feet wet in science fiction and only wish I had read Dune at the beginning of my foray, and not towards the end as I’m starting to burn out. Did I love it? Not really, but it is the best science fiction book I’ve read in the last five years (I think) and I will get the next one in the series. I said before I read it I would be done science fiction after Dune, but now I guess I have to find out what happens next. Good heavens, what have I done, I think there are about a million and one books in this series. Ahkk, maybe i’m becoming a fan, ha ha. I’m also a little apprehensive to watch the 1984 film by David Lynch (but how can I not?).

As a side note, I noticed on Wikipedia that (unnamed) ’scholars’ have compared Dune to Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Ummmmm, Wikipedia said the same thing about Foundation by Isaac Asimov. So I’m beginning to think I just need to read Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and imagine it in space.

Dune, 40th Anniversary Edition (Dune Chronicles, Book 1)

Frank Herbert. Ace Trade 2005, Paperback, 544 pages, $8.84

Do these, teen issue driven stories make for good reading? Yes. She keeps the tone in check, so it’s never too emotional. I wouldn’t consider it misery lit or chick lit. It’s somewhere in the middle. There is usually a love story, but that doesn’t dominate. Her stories tend to be about self progress that is facilitated or not (in the case of Dreamland) by a someone. Her leading men are not usually considered super hot either. In This Lullaby, the love interest is funny and kind of cute but not hot. In this novel, the guy is tall, has small dark eyes and blond hair. That’s what we got. I guess my point is, that these stories are not your typical teen drama. There is some substance to them and not a lot of whipping cream.

Just Listen

Sarah Dessen. Speak 2008, Paperback, 400 pages, $3.79

The tone of the this novel had a depressive feel to it. A pallor was cast on the parts that were meant to be funny. It even put on damper on the climax, if there was one.  I kept waiting for something to happen. The love story was sweet, but that’s pretty much it. It was just a love story with not much else happening.

Shiver

Maggie Stiefvater. Scholastic Press 2009, Hardcover, 400 pages, $10.40

Body Surfing is set in the same house as The Pilot’s Wife. The owners bought the house from the pilot’s widow (as she is called in the book). The main character is a young woman of 29 who is both divorced and a widow. The novel starts shortly after she lost her first husband. She is working for the family who owns the house, as a tutor to their daughter. She meets the girl’s two brothers and the plot moves forward from there. One thing about an Anita Shreve novel, there are rarely ever truly happy endings. If you’re expecting something sappy, pick up an Erica James novel. She usually ends things  on a upbeat.

Body Surfing

Anita Shreve. Little, Brown and Company 2007, Hardcover, 304 pages, $0.55