Books 2017: Five Stars

So here's the thing. I don't typically write a lot about books I give five stars to (which denotes amazingness), because I'm busy being, you know, amazed. Also, I am heartily sick of my own reviewing voice at the moment. See everyone next year?

The Convulsion Factory by Brian Hodge. Synopsis from Goodreads: Thematic collection of 12 stories based around the theme of urban decay.

In all honesty, I had another look at this last night and almost decided to leave it off this post. I actually did find it quite amazing, but there's a lot of taboo and fetish-y sex stuff, and I'm not sure exactly who I would wholeheartedly recommend it to. All of the stories are extremely dark, in a way that serves the theme rather than just for shock value; I also found a strong compassion, though, for the disenfranchised and anyone who feels lost, including sympathetic portrayals of the transgender community. There was a tender recognition of the yearning for human connection. 

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. Synopsis from Goodreads: 100,000 years ago, at least six human species inhabited the earth. Today there is just one. Us. Homo sapiens. 
How did our species succeed in the battle for dominance? Why did our foraging ancestors come together to create cities and kingdoms? How did we come to believe in gods, nations and human rights; to trust money, books and laws; and to be enslaved by bureaucracy, timetables and consumerism? And what will our world be like in the millennia to come? 
In Sapiens, Dr Yuval Noah Harari spans the whole of human history, from the very first humans to walk the earth to the radical – and sometimes devastating – breakthroughs of the Cognitive, Agricultural and Scientific Revolutions. Drawing on insights from biology, anthropology, paleontology and economics, he explores how the currents of history have shaped our human societies, the animals and plants around us, and even our personalities. Have we become happier as history has unfolded? Can we ever free our behaviour from the heritage of our ancestors? And what, if anything, can we do to influence the course of the centuries to come? 
Bold, wide-ranging and provocative, Sapiens challenges everything we thought we knew about being human: our thoughts, our actions, our power ... and our future.

"I do not love mankind". That was the first line of a book I loved - The Giant's House by Elizabeth McCracken. Yuval Noah Harari also does not love mankind, which added a really interesting flavour to the history here. Anyone with a high-level knowledge of human history might find this too glib, but for me it was a fascinating survey with some intriguing curve balls. It's fair to assume that this was so amazing to me because it's so far from anything I could ever write. 

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Synopsis from Goodreads: In a series of essays, written as a letter to his son, Coates confronts the notion of race in America and how it has shaped American history, many times at the cost of black bodies and lives. Thoughtfully exploring personal and historical events, from his time at Howard University to the Civil War, the author poignantly asks and attempts to answer difficult questions that plague modern society. In this short memoir, the "Atlantic" writer explains that the tragic examples of Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, and those killed in South Carolina are the results of a systematically constructed and maintained assault to black people--a structure that includes slavery, mass incarceration, and police brutality as part of its foundation. From his passionate and deliberate breakdown of the concept of race itself to the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement, Coates powerfully sums up the terrible history of the subjugation of black people in the United States. A timely work, this title will resonate with all teens--those who have experienced racism as well as those who have followed the recent news coverage on violence against people of color.

Not a comfortable read for a privileged person. Should probably be required reading for all of us, though. This is the poem from which the title is taken: Between the World and Me  Richard Wright And one morning while in the woods I stumbled     suddenly upon the thing, Stumbled upon it in a grassy clearing guarded by scaly     oaks and elms And the sooty details of the scene rose, thrusting     themselves between the world and me.... There was a design of white bones slumbering forgottenly     upon a cushion of ashes. There was a charred stump of a sapling pointing a blunt     finger accusingly at the sky. There were torn tree limbs, tiny veins of burnt leaves, and     a scorched coil of greasy hemp; A vacant shoe, an empty tie, a ripped shirt, a lonely hat,     and a pair of trousers stiff with black blood. And upon the trampled grass were buttons, dead matches,     butt-ends of cigars and cigarettes, peanut shells, a     drained gin-flask, and a whore's lipstick; Scattered traces of tar, restless arrays of feathers, and the     lingering smell of gasoline. And through the morning air the sun poured yellow     surprise into the eye sockets of the stony skull.... And while I stood my mind was frozen within cold pity     for the life that was gone. The ground gripped my feet and my heart was circled by     icy walls of fear-- The sun died in the sky; a night wind muttered in the     grass and fumbled the leaves in the trees; the woods     poured forth the hungry yelping of hounds; the     darkness screamed with thirsty voices; and the witnesses rose and lived: The dry bones stirred, rattled, lifted, melting themselves     into my bones. The grey ashes formed flesh firm and black, entering into     my flesh. The gin-flask passed from mouth to mouth, cigars and     cigarettes glowed, the whore smeared lipstick red     upon her lips, And a thousand faces swirled around me, clamoring that     my life be burned.... And then they had me, stripped me, battering my teeth     into my throat till I swallowed my own blood. My voice was drowned in the roar of their voices, and my     black wet body slipped and rolled in their hands as     they bound me to the sapling. And my skin clung to the bubbling hot tar, falling from     me in limp patches. And the down and quills of the white feathers sank into     my raw flesh, and I moaned in my agony. Then my blood was cooled mercifully, cooled by a     baptism of gasoline. And in a blaze of red I leaped to the sky as pain rose like water, boiling my limbs Panting, begging I clutched childlike, clutched to the hot     sides of death. Now I am dry bones and my face a stony skull staring in     yellow surprise at the sun....

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. Synopsis from Goodreads: Unburdened by the material necessities of the more fortunate, the denizens of Cannery Row discover rewards unknown in more traditional society. Henry the painter sorts through junk lots for pieces of wood to incorporate into the boat he is building, while the girls from Dora Flood’s bordello venture out now and then to enjoy a bit of sunshine. Lee Chong stocks his grocery with almost anything a man could want, and Doc, a young marine biologist who ministers to sick puppies and unhappy souls, unexpectedly finds true love.
Cannery Row is just a few blocks long, but the story it harbors is suffused with warmth, understanding, and a great fund of human values.
First published in 1945, Cannery Row focuses on the acceptance of life as it is—both the exuberance of community and the loneliness of the individual. John Steinbeck draws on his memories of the real inhabitants of Monterey, California, and interweaves their stories in this world where only the fittest survive—creating what is at once one of his most humorous and poignant works. In Cannery Row, John Steinbeck returns to the setting of Tortilla Flat to create another evocative portrait of life as it is lived by those who unabashedly put the highest value on the intangibles—human warmth, camaraderie, and love.

Here is another thing. It's pretty rare for me to be poleaxed and ecstatic about a book that is termed a classic. I read them. I often admire them. But I don't worship them and adore them and reach for them in a crisis the way I do with books I really truly love, which are most often genre fiction. I don't know if that's a lack of sophistication on my part (as Eleanor Shellstrop says in The Good Place, "goodbye modern architecture that I was too trashy to appreciate") but whenever I read one of those pieces where a public figure names their ten favourite books, I always sneakily wonder if they padded it to make themselves sound smarter. There are exceptions, of course - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn springs immediately to mind. I'm pretty comfortable with my possibly low-brow literary appreciation at this point, but I keep reading the classics because even if they don't set my mind on fire, it's worth seeing what other people find worthy. Anyway. I read Cannery Row and was completely, almost shockingly, smitten. What a vivid and visceral sense of place and character. If I had one slight quibble, it might be the sense that poverty and squalor were perhaps ever-so-slightly romanticized, but what the hell do I know? I felt like I was walking down the street, feeling the sun and smelling the smells and hearing the voices of the people. I was helpless with laughter over the frog hunt. The earnestness of the flophouse philosophers planning the party for Doc was heartbreaking. I felt like this completely captured that place in that time. It was wonderful.

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett. Synopsis from Goodreads: Blending literature and memoir, Ann Patchett, author of State of  Wonder, Run, and Bel Canto, examines her deepest commitments—to writing, family, friends, dogs, books, and her husband—creating a resonant portrait of a life in This is the Story of a Happy Marriage.
As she shares stories of the people, places, ideals, and art to which she has remained indelibly committed, Ann Patchett brings into focus the large experiences and small moments that have shaped her as a daughter, wife, and writer. This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage takes us into the very real world of Ann Patchett’s life. Stretching from her childhood to the present day, from a disastrous early marriage to a later happy one, it covers a multitude of topics, including relationships with family and friends, and charts the hard work and joy of writing, and the unexpected thrill of opening a bookstore

I saw this as an ebook from the library so grabbed it because I generally read everything by Ann Patchett that I can get my hands on, and was stupidly halfway through the introduction before I realized that it WAS, in fact, a book of essays. ("Why is she banging on about non-fiction so much? Oh. Wait"). I actually read her non-fiction book Truth and Beauty about her friendship with the poet Lucy Grealy before I read her fiction, and I liked the non-fiction book but not nearly as much as I adore her fiction, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I never am with her - often I read the plot synopsis and it doesn't sound particularly captivating at all. Because with Ann Patchett, it's never what she's writing, but how she writes about it. It's dreamy without being imprecise. It's exuberant without being saccharine. It's romantic and yet clear-eyed. I loved this book - her wry, intelligent, compassionate voice comes through so clearly in everything. It's wide-ranging in subject and I read it over a few days, finishing it at 3:30 a.m. one insomnia-ridden night. I was sad when it was over. It's important to note, I think, that it contains the phrase "little old nun toes". You're welcome. 


Turtles All the Way Down by John Green. Synopsis from Goodreads: Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis.
Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts. 
In his long-awaited return, John Green, the acclaimed, award-winning author of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars, shares Aza’s story with shattering, unflinching clarity in this brilliant novel of love, resilience, and the power of lifelong friendship.

It's almost boring at this point, how predictably, ludicrously wonderful every goddamned John Green book is. Oh, another teenager with an issue, rendered in wholly realistic, compassionate, convincing detail. More heartwarming relationships and a search/quest and coming of age stuff and superlatively witty banter that many people say is unrealistic because 'teenagers don't really talk like that'. Look, haters, I hang out with four fourteen-year-old girls on the regular. They talk like that. 

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel. Synopsis from Goodreads: In this graphic memoir, Alison Bechdel charts her fraught relationship with her late father.
Distant and exacting, Bruce Bechdel was an English teacher and director of the town funeral home, which Alison and her family referred to as the Fun Home. It was not until college that Alison, who had recently come out as a lesbian, discovered that her father was also gay. A few weeks after this revelation, he was dead, leaving a legacy of mystery for his daughter to resolve.

I never thought I'd be five-starring a graphic novel, but oh, I don't even know how to articulate how much I loved this. I often feel like graphic novels cheat the reader on really fantastic writing - a picture, a few words, some in bold or a bigger font - but that is so emphatically not the case here. This is so funny, twisted, sad, sensitive, insightful, kind, bittersweet, gracious and wonderful. The way she finds resonance between her life and her father's, between literature and her family's circumstances, the way themes and phrases echo and reverberate is completely masterful, and then there's incredibly detailed and wonderful art that echoes it all. I laughed out loud. I cried real tears. I am now going to search out every single thing she has done and devour it.

Books 2017: Four-Star Mysteries

Mystery

City of the Lost (Casey Duncan #1) by Kelley Armstrong. Synopsis from Goodreads: Casey Duncan is a homicide detective with a secret: when she was in college, she killed a man. She was never caught, but he was the grandson of a mobster and she knows that someday this crime will catch up to her. Casey's best friend, Diana, is on the run from a violent, abusive ex-husband. When Diana's husband finds her, and Casey herself is attacked shortly after, Casey knows it's time for the two of them to disappear again.
Diana has heard of a town made for people like her, a town that takes in people on the run who want to shed their old lives. You must apply to live in Rockton and if you're accepted, it means walking away entirely from your old life, and living off the grid in the wilds of Canada: no cell phones, no Internet, no mail, no computers, very little electricity, and no way of getting in or out without the town council's approval. As a murderer, Casey isn't a good candidate, but she has something they want: She's a homicide detective, and Rockton has just had its first real murder. She and Diana are in. However, soon after arriving, Casey realizes that the identity of a murderer isn't the only secret Rockton is hiding—in fact, she starts to wonder if she and Diana might be in even more danger in Rockton than they were in their old lives.

This has some of that sorcery that somehow renders a fairly mediocre book un-put-downable. Once I finished it I had a couple of quibbles; in some ways it was almost Harlequin romance-like, in that Casey is the female character who's beyond reproach, while most of the other female characters are weak and easily corrupted (man, the word 'bitch' is thrown around a lot). Dalton is kind of a Harlequin hunk too. But I've been putting down books unfinished a lot lately and this one had an interesting premise and great narrative energy. A Song of Shadows (Charlie Parker #13) by John Connolly. Synopsis from Goodreads: Grievously wounded, private detective Charlie Parker investigates a case that has its origins in a Nazi concentration camp during the Second World War.Broken, but undeterred, private detective Charlie Parker faces the darkest of dark forces in a case with its roots in the second world war, and a concentration camp unlike any other . . .Recovering from a near-fatal shooting and tormented by memories of a world beyond this one, Parker has retreated to the small Maine town of Boreas to recover. There he befriends a widow named Ruth Winter and her young daughter, Amanda. But Ruth has her secrets. She is hiding from the past, and the forces that threaten her have their origins in the Second World War, in a town called Lubko and a concentration camp unlike any other. Old atrocities are about to be unearthed, and old sinners will kill to hide their sins. Now Parker is about to risk his life to defend a woman he barely knows, one who fears him almost as much as she fears those who are coming for her.His enemies believe him to be vulnerable. Fearful. Solitary.But they are wrong. Parker is far from afraid, and far from alone.For something is emerging from the shadows . .  I can't quit this series. It manages to combine mystery and dark fantasy in a magical realism style that makes it seem completely acceptable. This was a particularly good offering.  Harvest by Robert Pobi. Synopsis from Goodreads: From the internationally bestselling author of Eye of the Storm comes a new novel introducing the fiery Alexandra “Hemi” Hemingway as she tracks down a serial killer cutting a swathe across New York City. A stifling heat wave rolls into New York City, amplifying the already critical level of tension in the fragile concrete ecosystem. Recently recovered from a shoot-out that nearly killed her, homicide detective Alexandra “Hemi” Hemingway is already on edge. But then, on the morning Hemi discovers she is pregnant, a twisted serial killer makes his debut. And the heat goes up. Soon, Hemi is besieged on all fronts as she struggles to catch up to a killer who always seems one step ahead. And as she pieces together the clues along the trail, it isn’t long before tensions boil over and Hemi finds herself a target in the deadly competition. Not for the faint of heart, Harvest is a relentless ride that takes you through the fractured world of a nascent killer. And you will never feel safe again. Okay. I know I read this. It's in this list because Goodreads told me I read this. And yet now Goodreads has no record of my having read this. OMG, it's a mystery about a mystery. *looks around in paranoid fashion*. It's not a spoiler, is it, if I admit that after reading this I did actually feel safe again? Sorry, I'm just being a dick, I enjoyed this. You can feel the oppressive heat, and the characters all have family drama weighing them down besides, and then there's the actual mystery, which is also well done.

Daisy in Chains by Sharon J. Bolton. Synopsis from Goodreads: Famous killers have fan clubs.
Hamish Wolfe is no different. Locked up for the rest of his life for the abduction and murder of three young women, he gets countless adoring letters every day. He's handsome, charismatic and very persuasive. His admirers are convinced he's innocent, and that he's the man of their dreams.
Who would join such a club?
Maggie Rose is different. Reclusive and enigmatic; a successful lawyer and bestselling true-crime writer, she only takes on cases that she can win.
Hamish wants her as his lawyer, he wants her to change his fate. She thinks she's immune to the charms of a man like this. But maybe not this time . . . 
Would you?

I always enjoy this author. Workmanlike prose here, for the most part, but tight plotting and an engaging story.

Persons Unknown (DS Manon Bradshaw #2) by Susie Steiner. Synopsis from Goodreads: The sequel to Susie Steiner’s bestselling MISSING, PRESUMED
Manon has settled back into life in Cambridgeshire with her adopted son Fly. She’s perfectly happy working on cold cases until a man is stabbed to death just yards from the police station, and both the victim and the prime suspect turn out to be much closer to home than she would like. How well does Manon know her loved ones, and are they capable of murder?

Another enjoyable entry in a fresh and  promising series. Manon Bradshaw is a great character - absolutely flawed, but believably and relatably so. I found the mystery strained credulity a little more here, but I was willing to go along with it. I was really absorbed by the subplot too. 

Nothing Stays Buried (Monkeewrech #8) by P.J. Tracy. Synopsis from Goodreads: The Monkeewrench crew returns to face the city of Minneapolis s worst nightmare a rampant serial killer on the loose in the electrifying new thriller. 
When Minneapolis homicide detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth are called to a crime scene in a heavily wooded city park, everything about the setting is all too familiar. And when they discover a playing card on the victim's body, their worst fears are confirmed there s a serial killer operating in the city for the first time in years. 
Across town, Grace MacBride and her unconventional partners at Monkeewrench Software find themselves at both personal and career crossroads. Weary of the darker side of their computer work for law enforcement, they agree to take on a private missing-persons case in a small farming community in southwestern Minnesota. 
As the violence accelerates in Minneapolis, Magozzi and Gino soon realize their killer is planning to complete the deck, and they enlist Monkeewrench to help stop the rampage. As a baffling tangle of evidence accumulates, the cops and Monkeewrench make the unlikely connections among a farmer s missing daughter, a serial killer, and a decades-old stabbing that brings them face-to-face with pure evil."

After a couple of snooze-worthy entries, and the sad loss of one of the members of this mother-daughter writing duo, this series hits its stride again with this book. A great story, with the quirks and strengths of the Monkeewrench team and Leo and Gino showcased to good effect. 

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins. Synopsis from Goodreads: In the last days before her death, Nel called her sister. Jules didn’t pick up the phone, ignoring her plea for help.
Now Nel is dead. They say she jumped. And Jules has been dragged back to the one place she hoped she had escaped for good, to care for the teenage girl her sister left behind.
But Jules is afraid. So afraid. Of her long-buried memories, of the old Mill House, of knowing that Nel would never have jumped.
And most of all she’s afraid of the water, and the place they call the Drowning Pool . .

I thought this was quite a bit better than The Girl on the Train, which was a decent mystery. This is not a perfect mystery - too many things are too heavily foreshadowed - but it's still a pretty good one, and a leap forward in literary merit. The theme of 'troublesome women' is very effective, as is the thread of childhood trauma reverberating through adult lives.

The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter. Synopsis from Goodreads: Two girls are forced into the woods at gunpoint. One runs for her life. One is left behind.
Twenty-eight years ago, Charlotte and Samantha Quinn's happy small-town family life was torn apart by a terrifying attack on their family home. It left their mother dead. It left their father—Pikeville's notorious defense attorney—devastated. And it left the family fractured beyond repair, consumed by secrets from that terrible night.
Twenty-eight years later, and Charlie has followed in her father's footsteps to become a lawyer herself—the ideal good daughter. But when violence comes to Pikeville again—and a shocking tragedy leaves the whole town traumatized—Charlie is plunged into a nightmare. Not only is she the first witness on the scene, but it's a case that unleashes the terrible memories she's spent so long trying to suppress. Because the shocking truth about the crime that destroyed her family nearly thirty years ago won't stay buried forever.

Right before I read this I kept saying I was in a reading slump. Then I realized that I just really wanted to read a really great mystery and all the ones I tried were crap. My experience with this author is curiously uneven - nothing really awful, but some books are pretty tame while others just blast it out of the park. This is the latter - all the right ingredients for a dark, dense, utterly satisfying read. Fantastic complex characters and astute character studies. A complicated and engaging plot. Snappy dialogue and some black humour used as a coping mechanism, which I personally love. Realistic depictions of trauma and its aftermath. No false notes.

Black Flowers by Steve Mosby. Synopsis from Goodreads: This is not a story about a girl who disappears. This is the story of a little girl who comes back. As if from nowhere, she appears one day on a seaside promenade, with a black flower and a horrifying story about where she's been. But telling that story will start a chain reaction of dangerous lies and deadly illusions that will claim many more victims in the years to come. Neil Dawson has grown up wanting to be like his father—a writer. When his father commits suicide, he is devastated. But through his grief, Neil knows something isn't right. Looking through his father's papers, he finds a copy of an old novel, The Black Flower. Opening it will take Neil into an investigation full of danger, pain and subterfuge. Hannah Price is also mourning her father. She followed his footsteps into the police force, and knows she has a big reputation to live up to. When she gets assigned to Neil's father's case, it will lead her on a journey into her own past and to the heart of a shattering secret. 

OMG, so good. A layered, multi-generational mystery, reality echoed in fiction, which bounces back to reality, good people that might be bad, people that might actually be other people, and just when you think there might be too many plates spinning in the air he brings it all home beautifully. Sets up a wicked labyrinth of a mystery and entirely lives up to its promise. I read about half of this before realizing that I had already read one book by this author, and immediately resolved to read more.

The 50/50 Killer by Steve Mosby. Synopsis from Goodreads: Mark Nelson is a young police officer, newly assigned to the team of John Mackey--a highly-decorated and successful detective, and author of a bestselling true crime book based on his years of experience catching killers. Mackey is a legend in the force and it's a huge opportunity for Mark, who has dedicated his life to his job ever since the death of his girlfriend years before. 
When a man is found burned to death in his own home, Mackey's team is thrown into an investigation that grows darker and more complex at every turn. The evidence points to a man known as the Fifty-Fifty Killer. His targets are young couples, who he stalks and subjects to a single night of torture and manipulation, testing and destroying the love between them. 
Only one of them ever survives until dawn. Soon afterwards, a young man walks into a police station badly tortured and with his memory in tatters. He knows only that his girlfriend is still being held captive in the woods he's escaped from. But the team know that by fleeing, the man has sealed his girlfriend's fate. If they can't piece together his experience by daybreak then she will die in his place. However, all is not what it seems.

First read in January 2013 This was the book I had already read by Mosby, and I reread it after Black Flowers. Superb mystery. Mosby faintly reminds me of Belinda Bauer, another great British mystery-writer. This is dark and twisted and bittersweet, with a tortured detective figure who is both familiar and his own character . It asks uncomfortable questions about the limits of love and loyalty, and features nuanced characters.

Dog Will Have His Day (Three Evangelists #2) by Fred Vargas. Synopsis from Goodreads: HOW DO YOU SOLVE A MURDER WITHOUT A BODY?
Keeping watch under the windows of the Paris flat belonging to a politician's nephew, ex-special investigator Louis Kehlweiler catches sight of something odd on the pavement. A tiny piece of bone. Human bone, in fact.
When Kehlweiler takes his find to the nearest police station, he faces ridicule. Obsessed by the fragment, he follows the trail to the tiny Breton fishing village of Port-Nicolas – in search of a dog. But when he recruits ‘evangelists’ Marc and Mathias to help, they find themselves facing even bigger game.

The novels of Fred Vargas are a singular pleasure. You won't find propulsive plotting, or chisel-jawed detectives, or straightforward answers to any questions. You will find lateral thinking, and meandering avenues of investigation, and characters that are infuriating and charming in almost equal measure. This is not a Commissaire Adamsberg book, but Louis Kehlweiler fits into the Vargas universe admirably. After all "the world is full of horrors and bloodshed", what can one do but put one foot in front of the other, and periodically conclude that "I could do with a beer." Do read The Three Evangelists first, though, to get the full effect of the three of them together. 

Books 2017: Four-Star YA Fantasy

YA Fantasy

Verdigris Deep (Well-Witched) by Frances Hardinge. Synopsis from Goodreads: "Verdigris n. a blue-green rust that tarnishes ageing and forgotten copper coins, altering them entirely . . ."When Ryan and his friends are caught stranded and penniless late one night, they steal some coins from a well for their bus fare home. Soon after, strange things begin to happen. Peculiar marks tingle on Ryan's knuckles, light bulbs mysteriously explode and a terrified Chelle starts speaking words that aren't her own.
Then the well witch appears, with her fountains for eyes and gargled demands. From now on, the friends must serve her . . . and the wishes that lie rotting at the bottom of her well.
In the tradition of truly fantastic storytelling, VERDIGRIS DEEP is darkly witty, utterly unexpected and shiver-down-the-spine sinister.

I maintained my tradition of beginning my reading year with a Frances Hardinge book last January. GodDAMN this chick can write, you guys. When I stumbled on my first of her books, I could hardly believe I had never heard of her before, or that she was still alive and writing - the stories have that ageless feel that mean they could have been written two hundred years ago or yesterday. This book, like most of her others, uses familiar tropes and archetypes, and yet manages to render them new and different, and underneath the suspense and dread beats a heart full of compassion and a fierce tenderness. She's a freaking national treasure (which nation? England, I think), and I don't understand why she isn't more well-known. 

Ready Player One (Ready Player One #1) by Ernest Cline. Synopsis from Goodreads: In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. When Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape. 

This is my review from when I first read this back in 2011:
Maybe you did have to be a video gamer to fully appreciate this. But I'm a sucker for a little-guy against big-evil-corporate-entity story, AND a shy-guy-learns-how-to-talk-to-girls-through-mediating-force-such-as-avatar-chat story AND near-future dystopic fiction, so I liked it. It dragged a tiny bit through the middle, but mostly I was right on board. Wade and his friends are great characters, the adolescent friendship thread rings true and the world-making is convincing. The eighties pop culture references are fun too.

More recent review:

It's weird and slightly frightening how little of this I remembered - other than the first chapter or so it was like reading a whole new book. I'm not sure why I only gave it three stars the first time (well, I guess the review says it, but it's like a review by a person I barely know), but this time it was pure enjoyment and refuge from a tough week. Looking forward to the movie.

The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stiefvater. Synopsis from Goodreads:
Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after…

As soon as I read the first book in this series, I bought the next three. For some reason, I didn't devour them all at once, not because I didn't love the second just as much, but I think because I like the feeling of having something dependable to read when I really, really need it. There's all the usual great Stiefvater stuff here - great characters, a feeling of fate and inevitability, witty banter, plus a sleeping Welsh king, ghosts, dreams that become real, a dead-sexy Bad Boy and a host of psychic relatives. It's fun and rewarding. 

Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies by Lindsay Ribar. Synopsis from Goodreads: Twin Peaks meets Stars Hollow in this paranormal suspense novel about a boy who can reach inside people and steal their innermost things—fears, memories, scars, even love—and his family’s secret ritual that for centuries has kept the cliff above their small town from collapsing.
Aspen Quick has never really worried about how he’s affecting people when he steals from them. But this summer he’ll discover just how strong the Quick family magic is—and how far they’ll go to keep their secrets safe.
With a smart, arrogant protagonist, a sinister family tradition, and an ending you won’t see coming, this is a fast-paced, twisty story about power, addiction, and deciding what kind of person you want to be, in a family that has the ability to control everything you are.

A solid three and half - maybe three and three-quarters. I love the title so much, and the concept is exceedingly clever. I was torn between thinking I wanted the story to be just a tad meatier, more layered, and thinking it was actually done just right without unnecessary weight, which is why I often love Y.A. so much. Five months or so later I remember most of it, which is often not the case, so I think upon further reflection that it is fine as is. It's a really good illustration of the old 'be careful what you wish for' aphorism.

Say Her Name by James Dawson. Synopsis from Goodreads: Roberta 'Bobbie' Rowe is not the kind of person who believes in ghosts. A Halloween dare at her ridiculously spooky boarding school is no big deal, especially when her best friend Naya and cute local boy Caine agree to join in too. They are ordered to summon the legendary ghost of 'Bloody Mary': say her name five times in front of a candlelit mirror, and she shall appear... But, surprise surprise, nothing happens. Or does it?
Next morning, Bobbie finds a message on her bathroom mirror... five days... but what does it mean? And who left it there? Things get increasingly weird and more terrifying for Bobbie and Naya, until it becomes all too clear that Bloody Mary was indeed called from the afterlife that night, and she is definitely not a friendly ghost. Bobbie, Naya and Caine are now in a race against time before their five days are up and Mary comes for them, as she has come for countless others before... A truly spine-chilling yet witty horror from shortlisted 'Queen of Teen' author James Dawson.

Very, very good, in its own right but particularly for teen-targeted horror. Great characters, some nice coming-of-age stuff, realistic dialogue, and the story is fleshed out really convincingly. I'm sort of a sucker for urban legend retellings, and this is definitely one of the better ones.

A Curious Tale of the In-Between by Laura DeStefano. Synopsis from Goodreads: Pram Bellamy is special--she can talk to ghosts. She doesn't have too many friends amongst the living, but that's all right. She has her books, she has her aunts, and she has her best friend, the ghostly Felix.
Then Pram meets Clarence, a boy from school who has also lost a parent and is looking for answers. Together they arrive at the door of the mysterious Lady Savant, who promises to help. But this spiritualist knows the true nature of Pram's power, and what she has planned is more terrifying than any ghost.

This is probably more accurately a children's book, but it is so, so lovely. Reminded me of Liesl and Po. Loved it. 

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black. Synopsis from Goodreads: Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.
Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.
At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.
Until one day, he does…
As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?

I seem to remember that the first time I read a Holly Black book, I didn't like it that much. This seems inconceivable to me now. This one was just wonderful. Magical realism in perfect balance, wonderful characters, great story. The brother-sister relationship is a nice change from the typical isolated heroine thing, and the parallel romances are extremely smile-inducing. Extremely satisfying. Read first time in February 2016. Started reread on 2017 camping trip after my daughter read it, finished at home next day.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne-Jones. Synopsis from Goodreads: Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady. Her only chance at breaking it lies in the ever-moving castle in the hills: the Wizard Howl's castle. To untangle the enchantment, Sophie must handle the heartless Howl, strike a bargain with a fire demon, and meet the Witch of the Waste head-on. Along the way, she discovers that there's far more to Howl—and herself—than first meets the eye.

Diana Wynne Jones is a phenomenal story-teller (I realize this is not a secret). I love how the three sisters are all beautiful and not in competition with each other. I love how there's a stepmother but she's lovely and treats the stepchildren the same as her own child. I love how Sophie just gets on with it despite being cursed. I love how a man cold is nothing compared to a wizard cold.

Hunted by Meaghan Spooner. Synopsis from Goodreads: Beauty knows the Beast’s forest in her bones—and in her blood. Though she grew up with the city’s highest aristocrats, far from her father’s old lodge, she knows that the forest holds secrets and that her father is the only hunter who’s ever come close to discovering them. 
So when her father loses his fortune and moves Yeva and her sisters back to the outskirts of town, Yeva is secretly relieved. Out in the wilderness, there’s no pressure to make idle chatter with vapid baronessas…or to submit to marrying a wealthy gentleman. But Yeva’s father’s misfortune may have cost him his mind, and when he goes missing in the woods, Yeva sets her sights on one prey: the creature he’d been obsessively tracking just before his disappearance. 
Deaf to her sisters’ protests, Yeva hunts this strange Beast back into his own territory—a cursed valley, a ruined castle, and a world of creatures that Yeva’s only heard about in fairy tales. A world that can bring her ruin or salvation. Who will survive: the Beauty, or the Beast?

Absolutely fantastic Beauty and the Beast re-telling in a very distinctive voice. Yeva is a wonderful character, and the story is much more about her yearning for independence and freedom than about any kind of conventional romance. There is snow, and cold, and hunting, a lot of hunting, and family, and the beast is very much a beast. Really, really good. 

Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer #1) by Laini Taylor. Synopsis from Goodreads: The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.
What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?
The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?

Welcome to Weep.

I had mixed feelings when I saw this coming out - excitement at a new Laini Taylor book and trepidation because the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy was a near-perfect reading experience for me, with that perfect storm of world-building, characters and flat-out splendid storytelling coming together just right. I loved this almost as much, though. Taylor has a gift for setting up conflicts in a way that makes it understandable how people who consider themselves good can end up doing horrible things. She weaves the most beautiful love stories and kills off characters like a psychopath. And her world-building is beyond reproach.

Books 2017: Four-Star YA Fiction and Mystery

YA Fiction

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon. Synopsis from Goodreads: Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.
Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.
The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?

I've seen this author's books around for years and thought the covers were gorgeous (I mean come on, look at it), so I finally picked one up. This was really quite good, especially given that the set-up seems to strain all credulity. There is something called 'insta-love' in YA literature - pretty much exactly what it sounds like - and insta-love is always pretty much an instant turn-off. This, however, isn't really insta-love; it's more of a serendipitous meeting that turns into an acknowledgement of instant interest and attraction - not love, but the possibility of love, which I'm all for. Anyone who is completely dismissive of any kind of coincidence or intimation of fatefulness probably wouldn't like this. I found it charmingly optimistic with just enough realism to keep it grounded. 

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler. Synopsis from Goodreads: Fifteen-year-old Virginia Shreves has a larger-than-average body and a plus-size inferiority complex, especially when she compares herself to her slim, brilliant, picture-perfect family. But that’s before a shocking phone call — and a horrifying allegation — about her rugby-star brother changes everything. With irreverent humor and surprising gravity, Carolyn Mackler creates an endearingly blunt heroine who speaks to every teen who struggles with family expectations, and proves that the most impressive achievement is to be true to yourself.

I joined a Facebook Book Bingo Challenge this year for the first time. It was started by a lovely woman that I only ever got to talk with online a little. She died of cancer yesterday, and I am very far from a primary mourner, but I'm sad for her family and for my friends who knew her well and are devastated by her loss. I'm also grateful for the books that I wouldn't have read without her prompts, of which this is one. This is a wonderful book - I gave it to my daughter to read and she thought it was great too. Virginia is a wonderful, fully realized character and some really important topical issues (sexual assault, bodily autonomy, body image issues) are addressed in a way that doesn't feel forced or artificial at all. A really great coming-of-age story - maybe even an Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret for a new generation. 

Every Exquisite Thing by Matthew Quick. Synopsis from Goodreads:
Nanette O'Hare has played the quintessential privileged star athlete and straight-A student for as long as she can remember. But when a beloved teacher gives her his worn copy of The Bubblegum Reaper--a mysterious, out-of-print cult classic--the rebel within Nanette awakens. 
As the new and outspoken Nanette attempts to insert her true self into the world with wild abandon, she learns that rebellion can sometimes come at a high price...and with devastating consequences.

Also very good, again offering a realistic coming-of-age scenario and addressing youth mental illness without melodrama or romanticization. And the out-of-print cult classic author? Yeah, it's gimmicky, but it's a gimmick I'm a sucker for, and it's done really well here. It's rare for someone who's not John Green to hold my attention with YA that doesn't offer zombies or vampires - this did it. 

YA Mystery

The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas. Synopsis from Goodreads: The Darkest Corners is a psychological thriller about the lies little girls tell, and the deadly truths those lies become.
There are ghosts around every corner in Fayette, Pennsylvania. Tessa left when she was nine and has been trying ever since not to think about it after what happened there that last summer. Memories of things so dark will burn themselves into your mind if you let them.
Callie never left. She moved to another house, so she doesn’t have to walk those same halls, but then Callie always was the stronger one. She can handle staring into the faces of her demons—and if she parties hard enough, maybe one day they’ll disappear for good.
Tessa and Callie have never talked about what they saw that night. After the trial, Callie drifted and Tessa moved, and childhood friends just have a way of losing touch.
But ever since she left, Tessa has had questions. Things have never quite added up. And now she has to go back to Fayette—to Wyatt Stokes, sitting on death row; to Lori Cawley, Callie’s dead cousin; and to the one other person who may be hiding the truth.
Only the closer Tessa gets to the truth, the closer she gets to a killer—and this time, it won’t be so easy to run away.

Quite good - a little more gritty and realistic than a lot of YA mystery. You really get a sense of how poverty and isolation can shape how a person reacts to trauma and interacts with other people. Tessa wears the same clothes for days on end because she doesn't have any others, and she is literally unable to accept comfort even when she desperately needs it. I felt like this dragged slightly in the middle and could have used a bit of tightening - it was an endless round of searching and not really finding anything, Tessa worrying that Maggie was going to send her away based on Callie's behaviour, and nothing actually happening - but then things start happening again and the ending is very satisfying.

Little Monsters by Kara Thomas. Synopsis from Goodreads: Kacey is the new girl in Broken Falls. When she moved in with her father, she stepped into a brand-new life. A life with a stepbrother, a stepmother, and strangest of all, an adoring younger half sister.
Kacey’s new life is eerily charming compared with the wild highs and lows of the old one she lived with her volatile mother. And everyone is so nice in Broken Falls—she’s even been welcomed into a tight new circle of friends. Bailey and Jade invite her to do everything with them.
Which is why it’s so odd when they start acting distant. And when they don’t invite her to the biggest party of the year, it doesn’t exactly feel like an accident.
But Kacey will never be able to ask, because Bailey never makes it home from that party. Suddenly, Broken Falls doesn’t seem so welcoming after all—especially once everyone starts looking to the new girl for answers.
Kacey is about to learn some very important lessons: Sometimes appearances can be deceiving. Sometimes when you’re the new girl, you shouldn’t trust anyone.

I read this based on my favourable impression of The Darkest Corners book - also very good. Similar in theme and tone, but different enough to not feel derivative.