The Yellow Birds / Kevin Powers 226 pages

For all those who have followed the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the past decade or at least knew there were two wars going on, read this book.  The story follows two soldiers, Bartle and Murphy, who become friends (or really, acquaintances) from basic training through their deployment.  Throughout the book, you learn the struggle soldiers experience when they are deployed (IEDs, mortar attacks, fire fights, girlfriends writing the “Dear John” letters) and what happens to them when they return home as well as what happens to their families.  It takes place between the years 2004-2005, a period where the military and government did very little in response to PTSD and mental health.  The Yellow Birds can be a heavy read and somewhat depressing at times (be sure you have a light, humorous read next in line) but it is also one of the most beautifully written books on the Iraq War.  I have read many books written by soldiers or about soldiers during the current conflicts, but this one really stood out to me because of the way it was written… the writing itself, the flow of the words, the vivid illustrations make you feel as if you are there and really immerses you into the mind of the main character.

Roots of the Olive Tree / Courtney Miller Santo / 306 pages

Debut novelist Courtney Miller Santo tells a wonderful story of 5 generations of women who seem to have the genes that not only ensure longevity but also health.  Santo is wonderful at creating varied and rich characters and showing their relationships.  There's also an underlying theme of the ethics and moral dilemmas of extending life and what if the secrets and experiences that people carry make a long life less than desirable.  Loved reading about the process of growing, cultivating and harvesting olives as well.  All in all a great read and one that would work well for book discussion groups.

Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There / Catherynne Valente / 258 pages

In this sequel to The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her own Making, September must save Fairyland by going to Fairyland Below.  In a series of fantastic adventures with the shadows of her friends Saturday and Wyverary, she uses her courage and determination and becomes the heroine who saves the day.   The world created by Valente is very rich and highly creative.  As a reader, I was totally mesmerized by her imaginative characters, language and settings.   The art by Ana Juan is perfect and helps to make the creature characters real.  Readers of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland will delight in this excellent book.

The Last Musketeer / Stuart Gibbs / 244 pages

"It was incredible how quiet the world in 1615 was after dark."  Greg Rich thinks this after he travels through time by means of a family heirloom crystal and a painting in the Louvre.  His family had fallen on hard times and agreed to sell everything they owned, including his mother's necklace with the crystal.  Museum director, Michel Dinicoeur, insisted that it be part of the deal.  Greg has had to undergo many changes in a short time.  He had to leave Connecticut, his fencing lessons, and their fifty room mansion, for a small New York City apartment and public school.  Now he has left his time period and journeyed four hundred into the Paris past...and meets the Three Musketeers and is named D'Artagnon...  Mr. Gibbs, author of Belly Up, has given us an outstanding tale of medieval Paris, friendship, loyalty, and bravery.  Carefully integrating the personalities of the 4 Musketeers, he has wrought a tale sure to please...and challenges one to read Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers.

La Mort Triste - The Sad Death - was the worst prison in Paris.  It was a disease pit.
"When Paris was a walled city, the medieval Louvre guarded the main entrance.  But when the city expanded beyond the walls in the 1500's, the Louvre...became the royal palace...for over 200 years..."

Bliss / Kathryn Littlewood / 374 pages

"It was the summer Rosemary Bliss turned ten that she saw her mother fold a lightning bolt into a bowl of batter and learned - beyond a shadow of a doubt - that her parents made magic in the Bliss Bakery."  The magic is a family secret, as is the Bliss Cookery Booke, and ancient, leather-bound volume of enchanted recipes.  When her mother and father accompany the mayor of the neighboring town to end a flu epidemic, they entrust Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme with their secrets.  Perhaps all would have been well had no mysterious, previously unknown, "Aunt Lily" shown up on her huge motorcycle.  This was a fun, tantalizing read!

Killer Librarian / Mary Lou Kirwin / 308 pages

This debut novel is an absolute delight...irresistible to librarians.  "You know how it feels when you open the pages of a new book, the sense that all is possible, that this might be the book that will sweep you up so completely that you will lose yourself in its story, not stopping to eat or sleep or answer the phone, and when it ends, you will be close to weeping, knowing this experience might never happen again?"  Well that's how Karen Nash, a killer librarian, felt the morning of her first trip ever.  She was to go to England with her boyfriend of four years, Dave the plumber.  She was "an efficient and organized packer.  Of course, she'd made a list of all she'd need, but the most important thing was figuring out what books to bring..."  Unfortunately, Dave not only cancels the trip, he breaks up with her the morning they are supposed to leave.  She decides to go anyway, and is in for one surprise, including murder, after another.  Her librarian friend, Rosie, from back home advises her to "try not to kill or get killed on [her] trip to bookland - Hay on Wire.

"The important things if life:  books, reading, and chocolate..."
"Reading next to someone can be the most companionable thing to do in all the world."
"You can make anyone a reader, if you match them with the right book."

THE FALSE PRINCE / Jennifer A. Nielsen / 342 pages

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen is a historical fantasy and the first book in The Ascendance Trilogy. 

Conner, a mysterious nobleman, selects four orphan boys to compete against one another in a deadly plot to save the kingdom of Carthya. One of the boys will be chosen to impersonate Prince Jaron, the King's lost son, murdered by pirates but who's body has never been found.

As the plot is revealed, the lies become more complicated because Conner is not the only one with secret plans. The clever but independent orphan Sage is determined to play Connor's dangerous game and be named the false prince, no matter what the cost.

 

Boys and adults who like YA cross-over titles, historical adventure tales and stories with mystery and suspense should enjoy this fast-paced novel and will look forward to reading Book Two, The Runaway King due to be published March 2013.

APPEAL TERMS: Complex, Suspenseful, Fast-paced 

A '6 DEGREES OF READING' connection: Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson is a YA adventure story centered around an orphan and 1st in a series.

[6 Degrees of Reading is similar to the game '6 degrees of Kevin Bacon' but with books. Select an aspect of the current title which is shared in another title and describe the connection using a single sentence. 
Source : http://www.readersadvisoronline.com/ranews/mar2007/cords.html]

COLD DAYS / Jim Butcher / 515 Pages

Cold Days: a Novel of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher is the 14th title in the fantasy series featuring Harry Dresden, the only wizard listed in the Chicago phone book. Harry is back from the dead and must deal with the consequences of becoming the Winter Knight of the Fae (Changes, 2010).

He also needs to contact his friends who still believe him to be dead (Ghost Story, 2011) and let them know he is alive. Figuring out 'how' to explain his resurrection will have to come later though.

Harry's first assignment from Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness? Kill an immortal! He is to assassinate the Winter Lady but Maeve, who doesn't like Mab's new Knight, has her own plans for Harry! Butcher doesn't hold back any punches with this installment - the ending will leave reader's gasping, crying, or both and anxious for the next book!

This is a must read for fans of the series. Cold Days has Butcher's unique brand of humor mixed with pop trivia and continues the story-line from previous titles while carrying it forward. Newcomers who like urban fantasy with humor and mystery may also enjoy the book but should be aware they might end up wanting to read the earlier titles in the series too.

APPEAL TERMS: Humorous, fast-paced, poignant.

A '6 DEGREES OF READING' connection: Badass: the Birth of a Legend  by Ben Thompson is a snarky, fun guide to gods, monsters, heroes, villains, and mythical creatures with plenty of movie, TV, and literary references. (annotation posted 05/11/2011) 

[6 Degrees of Reading is similar to the game '6 degrees of Kevin Bacon' but with books. Select an aspect of the current title which is shared in another title and describe the connection using a single sentence. 
Source : http://www.readersadvisoronline.com/ranews/mar2007/cords.html]

Probable Future / Alice Hoffman 322 p.

The Sparrow women unusual gifts (able to discern liars, to know other's dreams, or even to sense another’s future) bring upheaval into their lives and their relationships even to the edge of catastrophe when Stella’s father is jailed for suspicion of murder when he reported Stella’s foretelling of a young woman’s violent death giving all the Sparrow women and their loves a great shakeup in this telling of their lives and their ancestors.

Fobbit / David Abrams 369 pages

“Fobbit: A U.S Army employee stationed at a Forward Operating Base, esp. during Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-2011).”

Everyone hears the stories of the conflicts fought during Operation Iraqi Freedom, such as Fallujah, Mosul, Sadr City, Basra and the heroic men behind those battles.  However, little is mentioned about what happens on the FOB (forward operating base) regarding those who sit at a desk for twelve hours a day determining what gets published in the press releases, the incredibly long emails from HQ about whether the enemy is an “insurgent” or “terrorist,” or the true definition of “death by PowerPoint.”  Fobbit starts off a little slow and can be slow in some spots (who wouldn’t want to cringe every time you start to read an email from the higher ranks?) but the wit and humor of the writer with the occasional vivid, nail biting scene (e.g. suicide bomber lodged underneath a tank) is worth the read.  Most might see this book as a satire on Fobbits, maybe even criticizing those who are not on the front lines, but I believe this book satirizes the war in general because whatever occurs during the war, the Fobbits are on it making sure the American people (or the public, for that matter) only see what they want them to see.  To understand what I mean, read the book…

New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2012

Publishers Weekly Top 10 Pick for Fall Literary Fiction

Barnes and Noble Best Books of 2012

Sugar Queen / Sarah Addison Allen 276 p.

Books she will need to read just appear magically for Josey Cirrini, self-judged as a sorry excuse for a Southern belle especially a rich heiress; Finding Forgiveness intrudes into her presence repeatedly as waitress Della Lee Baker makes Josey her tough love project starting with Josey's addiction to sweets, moving to her love life and beyond as Josey's life expands dramatically, sometimes cataclysmically as family secrets are exposed when Della Lee makes Josey's closet, a her safe hideaway.  Della Lee engineers a meeting between Josey and Chloe.  Chloe loves books, and they too, appear as she needs them, even to following her; a connection?

Once Upon a Secret/Mimi Alford/198 pages

Once Upon a Secret tells the story of an intern in Washington, D.C. that engages in a secret affair with the President of the United States for about 18 months. No, it's not that President. Mimi Alford went to Washington to be a summer intern in 1962. She met President Kennedy four days later, and their affair began right after that. In November, 1963, she was getting ready to end it because she was getting married, and he was getting ready to end it because he was moving on. It ended because he was assassinated. They were scheduled to meet after he came back from Dallas; sadly, he returned in a coffin.

This is an almost clinical report of how they met and how the affair was arranged. She doesn't give up much in emotion until she hears of the shooting in Dallas. Only then did I feel any empathy for her. She was "outed" as an affair in 2003, but she waited until now to tell her story.

Peach Keeper / Sarah Addison Allen 273 p.

Southern Willa Jackson catches Colin Osgood's eye as she secretly observes the restoration of her family's old Victorian home, when he returns to Walls of Water, South Carolina to landscape the Madam for his sister, Paxton; Willa and Paxton are thrust into a friendship as they work to solve long-dead family secrets surround the skeleton found in the roots of a old peach tree--and something magical seems to be at work too.

The Ivy / Lauren Kunze and Rina Onur / 312 pages

When Callie arrives for her freshman year at Harvard, she encounters her three vastly different roommates, new friendships, steamy romance, and scandalous secrets.  She learns that five crucial things you should know before you set foot in historic Cambridge, or any college town:  What to read, What to drink, What to eat, What to wear, and Who to meet...and unspoken rule #6 - Freshman girls stay away from the upperclassmen boys.  She's not quite who she is anymore without soccer.  "A busted ACL had put Callie out of commission at the end of last season for possibly forever."  She'd like to write for the college paper.  Unfortunately, the editor has become her sworn enemy.   This is an eye-opener focusing attention on the perils of ivy league life.

"It is less mortifying to believe oneself unpopular than insignificant, and vanity prefers to assume that indifference is a latent form of unfriendliness."

"People can't see talent or passion when they first meet you.  They can only see how you present yourself."

"You can take back a lot of things in this world.  But you can never take back a first impression."

Good Omens, The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch / Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett / 354 pages

If you wondered why the world did not end on 12-21-12...read this book and you'll find out!  This wickedly hilarious apocralyse tale features two bumbling but good-natured good and bad angels, one is actually a demon, if you will, who have become so attached to life on earth that they hate to see it end.  We also have a bumbling baby swap involving the Anti-Christ and four riders of the apocalypse on Harley's as Hell's Angels.

The Billionaire's Curse / Richard Newsome / 344 pages

This is the first book written by Australian Richard Newsome and won for him Text Publishing's inaugural Young Adult Writing Prize.  It started out as a bedtime story for his children and he finally set it to paper over the course of ten years.  In researching the story, he traveled across England, studying many places that appear in the book, and he traveled to India for the second book in the trilogy.  When thirteen year old Gerald finds himself the heir to twenty billion pounds from an aunt he never met, he inherits with it a mystery surrounding his aunt's death and various artifacts in the British Museum.  39 Clues fans should enjoy this set in England mystery.

Killing Kate / Julie Kramer / 324 pages

TV reporter Riley Sparks knows the murder victim, Kate.  She is - or was - the sister of her college roommate and Riley's best friend until they had a falling out senior year.  Riley discovers a legend dating back a century involving a Black Angel.  Could the killing be related to this legend?  The chalk outline of the body looked to Riley like an angel silhouette and sparked her investigation of the killer's spree and, in fact, endangers her own life.  This is a great human interest page turner with insights into TV journalism.

Notes from a Liar and Her Dog / Gennifer Choldenko / 216 pages

Antonia MacPherson is a liar.  She is sure she is adopted as she is nothing like her two perfect sisters.  Her best friend, Harrison, smells like a salami sandwich and her other best friend, Pistachio, her tiny dog, is getting very old.  She has devised a nefarious plan for getting him his much needed vet services without her parents' knowledge.  Ant's parents are too busy with her sisters and jobs to be available when Ant needs them.  A teacher at Ant's school, just Carol, becomes Ant's advocate.  The author of Al Capone Does My Shirts has once a gain crafted a tale sure to please.

Doc/Mary Doria Russell/394 pgs.

I don't like historical fiction. I don't like westerns. I loved this book! It's the fictionalized account of John Henry Holliday a.k.a. Doc Holliday. The author takes the reader back to the 1870s during the peak of Texas cattle trade. The main setting is Dodge City, Kansas, and involves the lives of Wyatt Earp and his brothers, Doc Holliday, and  his mistress Kate Harony.  Ms. Russell describes a time in U.S. history when the country was still recovering from the Civil War, and people were heading west to make their fortune.  Ms. Russell does such a thorough job in bringing her characters to life that the reader is easily immersed in the story. Highly recommended!

Dark Places/Gillian Flynn/349 pgs.

This is Gillian Flynn's second novel, following Sharp Objects, and before Gone Girl, and it's a doozey! Libby Day was 7 years old when her mother and two sisters were murdered in Kinnakee, Kansas. The murders took place at the Day farmhouse, and Libby escaped the massacre by leaving the house through a window. Because of Libby's testimony, Ben Day (Libby's 15 year old brother, at the time) was accused of the murders and sent to prison. Fast forward 25 years, and Ben is still in prison, but a group known as "The Kill Club" has contacted Libby about the murder. The Kill Club researches old murders that they think may not have been tried accurately, or whose outcome wasn't consistent with the evidence or testimony provided. Libby is short on funds, and agrees to make contact with key players in the murder for the Kill Club members--for a price, of course. The discoveries Libby makes along the way makes her start to doubt the testimony she gave years ago. So, if Ben didn't kill her mom and sisters, who did? It's a suspenseful read, and keeps the reader wondering where it will all lead. I have to give it to the "Jayhawk" author, she knows how to keep the reader guessing!