Books!

[Fen Shen]

Spoiler: responding to some of your spoilers • show

Unfortunately, I can't think of any well-written, platonic male-female relationships either. The only relationship that came to my mind was Akkarin and Sonea from "The Magician's Guild", which I also found unconvincing and over-hasty (and unnecessarily dramatic at the end  ).
However, as someone who married her former sensei, I can only say teacher-student relationships don't necessarily have to be "squicky" 

[Lazy8]

Book Review: The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord

Okay, so this one comes with the necessary disclaimer that it was an instance of me deciding to give a fair trial to a book that I normally would have passed over because it got a good review. (Hint: it's a romance. A romance with a science fiction setting, but still very much a romance.)

The plot in a nutshell is that of an alien (but humanoid, and distantly related to humans) race who survived an attempted genocide that also wiped out their home world, and the efforts of the survivors and their human allies to preserve both their bloodlines and their culture - which, since the survivors were overwhelmingly male, necessitated arranging marriages with the natives who were best able to help them do that.

As a romance, I'd say that it was... not amazing, but decent. Then again, when it comes to romance my "decent" might as well be another person's glowing endorsement. The most refreshing aspect of the romance between the mains was the complete lack of melodrama; yes, they had their disagreements and culture clashes, but on the whole resolved them respectfully and with a minimum of angst, and the narrative managed to avoid most of your typical unhealthy relationship tropes between the main couple. No controlling behavior passed off as romance, no slap-slap-kiss, just two characters who got along well from the beginning and gradually realized they liked each other more. There's nothing wrong with that, and I wish more writers would realize that bucketloads of interpersonal angst does not an interesting romance make. Yes, there was some legitimate angst - but it felt real, and with good reason, and not overdone.

If I had one complaint about this book, it was that I found the various side plots to be more interesting than the main event - but then, this is me, so take that with a grain of salt. Still, I wish more time had been spent on the political aftermath of the genocide, on the heroine's troubles with her family, and on some of the cultures they encountered along the way. This book could have stood to be longer - it could even have stood to be a whole series. Of course, a series would also leave room for a lot of obnoxious "Will they or won't they", so maybe it's just as well.

Overall? Not exactly my cup of tea, but if you're someone who likes romance more than I you might very well enjoy it.

[Róisín]

I'm reading 'The Gone-Away World' by Nick Harkaway. He is an author I had never encountered, and I wish I had done so sooner. A friend gave me the book a few weeks ago, and I've only just made time to read it. Not sure how to define it - science fiction, dark humour, adventure, puzzle story of the 'exactly what is even going on here' kind, buddy story - but the writing style is really gripping.

[Lazy8]

Review: "Stranger" by Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith

This one takes place in a post-apocalyptic Las Angeles (or Las Anclas, as it's now called). What exactly caused said apocalypse isn't specified, at least not in this book, but the ways in which it's altered the landscape and the various animal and plant life are refreshing, unique, and manage to be simultaneously genuinely menacing and fascinatingly beautiful.

The characters are well-written and diverse in temperament (even if one of them does remind me a bit too much of Prince Zuko for his own good ), and even though they're mostly teenagers with varying degrees of teenage angst, for the most part they're likable and even the unlikable ones are decently well-rounded. Just off the top of my head, we've got one character with severe PTSD, another living in permanent exile, one who reads as demisexual to me, and one who's struggling with internalized racism. Speaking of which...

Take it or leave it, according to the individual reader's taste

Yes, there is a large degree of racism portrayed in this book. It's of the Fantastic Racism variety, directed against a group of people that doesn't exist in real life, but it's still there. I thought it was well done, portraying the negatives without resorting to strawmen, but I also understand that that's not going to appeal to everyone.

Another thing that's not going to appeal to everyone is how they resolved the love triangle that eventually cropped up. To me, it felt really refreshing and was a nice twist to a plotline that had me dreading "Okay, is this going to get to bad fanfic levels of awfulness or will it stop at Legend of Korra Season 2?", buuuuuut I also understand that not everyone will approve. I could put up further detail under a spoiler if anyone wants to know more.

In short: Good worldbuilding, good characters, highly recommended. I've ordered the next book in the series and will read it. Sometime. Once I get through the multiple other books that have already been sitting in my queue for far too long.

[Athena]

I found Tolkien's "The Children Of Húrin" at the bookstore today!

[Agrasshopper]

So... I just finished a book and feel the need to recommend it now to everyone I can, so here we go.

If anyone on here is interested in YA fiction I highly recommend Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows series. I just finished the second and last (sadly) book and it was amazing! It follows a gang of young criminals in a fictional world as they attempt to pull of a heist from the most secure facility in their world. It's sort of victorian feeling era, but with some magic. I can't really do the book justice with my descriptions, but the various schemes the characters create to achieve their goals are incredibly complex and the characters themselves are funny and interesting. But I just really highly recommend the Six of Crows and I'm having a hard time stoping gushing about it, so I'm just going to cut myself off now.

Also, if anyone has any YA fiction recommendations I'm nearly always looking for something new to read so they would be greatly appreciated!

[Athena]

So... I just finished a book and feel the need to recommend it now to everyone I can, so here we go.

If anyone on here is interested in YA fiction I highly recommend Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows series. I just finished the second and last (sadly) book and it was amazing! It follows a gang of young criminals in a fictional world as they attempt to pull of a heist from the most secure facility in their world. It's sort of victorian feeling era, but with some magic. I can't really do the book justice with my descriptions, but the various schemes the characters create to achieve their goals are incredibly complex and the characters themselves are funny and interesting. But I just really highly recommend the Six of Crows and I'm having a hard time stoping gushing about it, so I'm just going to cut myself off now.

Also, if anyone has any YA fiction recommendations I'm nearly always looking for something new to read so they would be greatly appreciated!

I would recommend Stormdancer, the first book in The Lotus War series (Th either two being Kinslayer and Endsinger), but it isn't really YA its kinda really adult - be warned. It's a really good book though, set in a steampunk-style feudal Japan, with lots of awesome technologies and mythological creatures and magic. (griffons and psychic bonds with animals, yay!) I don't want to give much of the story away but its a really good series.

[Kiraly]

So... I just finished a book and feel the need to recommend it now to everyone I can, so here we go.

If anyone on here is interested in YA fiction I highly recommend Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows series. I just finished the second and last (sadly) book and it was amazing! It follows a gang of young criminals in a fictional world as they attempt to pull of a heist from the most secure facility in their world. It's sort of victorian feeling era, but with some magic. I can't really do the book justice with my descriptions, but the various schemes the characters create to achieve their goals are incredibly complex and the characters themselves are funny and interesting. But I just really highly recommend the Six of Crows and I'm having a hard time stoping gushing about it, so I'm just going to cut myself off now.

Also, if anyone has any YA fiction recommendations I'm nearly always looking for something new to read so they would be greatly appreciated!

HECK YEAH Six of Crows! I'm impatiently waiting for my copy of Crooked Kingdom to come in at the library, it's such a good series!

If you like that one...hmm, let's see. I don't know what you've already read, but I can recommend pretty much anything by Maggie Stiefvater (The Raven Cycle series is amazing, but I also really love The Scorpio Races which is a stand-alone.) You might also like the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor (though I haven't read the third book yet so I can't make any promises about the ending). It gets pretty dark, but Six of Crows does too I suppose. And if you enjoy sci-fi, These Broken Stars (and sequels) by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner is AMAZING. Kaufman also co-wrote a book called Illuminae with Jay Kristoff, and I highly recommend that as well (as long as you like books about outer space). I'm anxiously awaiting the sequel to that, too...I think it either just came out or comes out this month.

I'm sure there are more, these are just the first things that sprang to mind, so if you're looking for more suggestions let me know!

[LooNEY_DAC]

Also, if anyone has any YA fiction recommendations I'm nearly always looking for something new to read so they would be greatly appreciated!

A number of books by Ellen Raskin come to mind:

The Westing Game is the obvious and most easily obtained,

Figgs and Phantoms was also quite good, and

The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) is fun, but

The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues is my favorite of hers.

[Kelpie]

Also, if anyone has any YA fiction recommendations I'm nearly always looking for something new to read so they would be greatly appreciated!

*rubs hands together* My time has come...

My book that I automatically recommend to anyone who asks is Foundling by D.M. Cornish. It has alternative titles depending on where you live but his name should be enough. It's fantasy in a 1700's-ish non cookie cutter kinda setting (think frock coats and flintlocks). It has incredible world building, detailed, interesting characters, and did I mention there are people who can shoot lightning because there are people who can shoot lightning. It's actually a trilogy too, and since every book doubles as a brick you'll have material for weeks._{Also there are pictures}

If steampunk floats your boat (or your giant whale airship hahaha_{ha I'm sorry}, Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld is a book about a girl who poses as a boy to join the Royal Navy at the start of World War I, the twist being that the Allied powers fight with genetically engineered war machines, while the Central powers have things that are basically mechs. This also happens to be a trilogy..._{*cough*and there are pictures}

For funnier fare, I recommend Lockwood & Co. by Jonathan Stroud. It's set in a world where suddenly ghosts started popping up everywhere. They can touch anyone and send them into a comatose state, but only children can see them. So their brilliant solution was to form companies and train children to hunt and trap ghosts. The book follows Lucy, a girl who gets a job at one such establishment, run by one guy named Lockwood and his friend George. Hilarity ensues. So far there are three. I'm sensing a theme.

I don't know what you've already read, but I can recommend pretty much anything by Maggie Stiefvater (The Raven Cycle series is amazing, but I also really love The Scorpio Races which is a stand-alone.)

I wholeheartedly support this as I was actually going to recommend these too, but you beat me to it!

[Kiraly]

For funnier fare, I recommend Lockwood & Co. by Jonathan Stroud. It's set in a world where suddenly ghosts started popping up everywhere. They can touch anyone and send them into a comatose state, but only children can see them. So their brilliant solution was to form companies and train children to hunt and trap ghosts. The book follows Lucy, a girl who gets a job at one such establishment, run by one guy named Lockwood and his friend George. Hilarity ensues. So far there are three. I'm sensing a theme.
I wholeheartedly support this as I was actually going to recommend these too, but you beat me to it!

Oooh yeah, I love the Lockwood & Co. books too! I'm also waiting for the most recent one of those to come in at the library too. *fidgets impatiently*

*high-fives you about Maggie Stiefvater* Good taste.

[Kelpie]

Oooh yeah, I love the Lockwood & Co. books too! I'm also waiting for the most recent one of those to come in at the library too. *fidgets impatiently*

*high-fives you about Maggie Stiefvater* Good taste.

*hive fives back*

I'm very lucky in that one of my volunteering perks is that the staff will ask for requests when they're about to order a new book shipment, so I pretty much begged when the new one came out.

[Tr]

A number of books by Ellen Raskin come to mind:

The Westing Game is the obvious and most easily obtained,

Figgs and Phantoms was also quite good, and

The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) is fun, but

The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues is my favorite of hers.

Yessss Ellen Raskin. I had to read The Westing Game for school, and it is easily one of my favorite assigned books ever.

[Lazy8]

Book Review: Silver on the Road by Laura Anne Gilman (Does anyone actually read these?)

This one is a fantasy western, and most of the plot involves a deal with the devil - except that in this narrative, the devil is not necessarily the villain. (It's even left ambiguous whether he even is the literal devil, or if that's just the label the Spanish Catholics have given him.) The main character, Isobel, is training to take on her role as the Devil's Left Hand, a sort of guardian of the land, with the aid of another mentor who's teaching her the ways of living on the road.

I'm not sure what exactly prompted me to pick up a book of a genre (Western) I normally detest, but in this case, I'm really glad that I did. The story resonated with me - I was reading this at a point where I'm getting ready to take the next step in my life, leaving the place I've lived in and the master I've trained with for six years in favor of running off into the great unknown, so Isobel's journey really struck a chord.

Also, for anyone who remembers my primary complaint about Uprooted, Silver on the Road gave me exactly what I wanted in terms of the relationship between Isobel and her mentor, Gabriel. I really enjoyed watching their relationship play out, and with no hint of romance - because romance wasn't needed in this story. The place they were left off at by the time the story ended was well and truly heartwarming, and I look forward to seeing where their relationship goes in the next book.

Your Mileage May Vary

For reasons that ought to be blatantly obvious, this book might not appeal to devout Christians and especially not to devout Catholics.

[Yuuago]

I've read a lot of books lately, but there are two I'd love to recommend.

First, The Snow Walker by Farley Mowat. It's a collection of short stories centred around Inuit characters living in Canada's north. Some of the stories are set during pre-colonial times; others are set during colonization. Some deal with the supernatural; others are focused around relations (between families, between different groups of Inuit, between the Inuit and the Europeans...) It's a really well-rounded collection, I think. (I would like to note, however, that the author is not Inuit himself, though he has lived in the arctic.)

Secondly, Lady Franklin's Revenge by Ken McGoogan. It's a biography of Jane Franklin, the wife of polar explorer Sir John Franklin, and it puts a lot of emphasis on her efforts to send people out to look for him (or evidence of what happened to him) after he disappeared during his search for the northwest passage. To be honest, I'm not even halfway through it, so maybe reccing it is premature, but I'm enjoying it so much so far. *_*