Alison's bookshelf: all en-US Sat, 15 Feb 2025 01:03:13 -0800 60 Alison's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Old Kingdom Chronicles 18655780
Sabriel: Every step she takes brings her closer to a battle that will pit her against the true forces of life and death - and bring her face-to-face with her own destiny.

Lirael: With only her faithful companion, the Disreputable Dog, Lirael must undertake a desperate mission under the growing shadow of an ancient evil, which threatens the fate of the Old Kingdom.

Abhorsen: The Abhorsen Sabriel and King Touchstone are missing, and Lirael must search in both Life and Death for some means to defeat the evil Destroye - before it is too late.

Also including the exciting tale 'Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case'.]]> 1365 Garth Nix 1742370969 Alison 5
Early in the story, Sabriel discovers that her father, the Abhorsen, is missing. When she first sets out to find him, her mission is personal, but she soon realizes just how much his services mean to the Old Kingdom. The Abhorsen keeps the Dead in check, keeps them banished to Death where they should be. Without him, the Dead are at the beck and call of others who would use them. And so Sabriel sets off on a dangerous journey, through the kingdom, and also through Death.

Normally, I might not enjoy a book where the undead walk, their fleshlesh joints grinding and clacking as they go. But this story also has many of the things I love--characters who become friends, a fascinating world with magic that feels real, heart-pumping action, and even a bit of romance.

I also love it when a good book has sequels. Lirael and Ahorsen are excellent follow-ups. I'm so looking forward to the newest in the sequence, Clariel. ]]> 4.36 The Old Kingdom Chronicles
author: Garth Nix
name: Alison
average rating: 4.36
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/02/15
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review:
From the moment the Abhorsen entered Death--about five pages into Sabriel--I was hooked. Here was a place I'd never been in a book. And I think that's why Sabriel has a spot in my top ten list of favorite books. Garth Nix has opened a door into a world that's so fully realized and so unique, you can't help but want to go back, even if that world is not always pleasant.

Early in the story, Sabriel discovers that her father, the Abhorsen, is missing. When she first sets out to find him, her mission is personal, but she soon realizes just how much his services mean to the Old Kingdom. The Abhorsen keeps the Dead in check, keeps them banished to Death where they should be. Without him, the Dead are at the beck and call of others who would use them. And so Sabriel sets off on a dangerous journey, through the kingdom, and also through Death.

Normally, I might not enjoy a book where the undead walk, their fleshlesh joints grinding and clacking as they go. But this story also has many of the things I love--characters who become friends, a fascinating world with magic that feels real, heart-pumping action, and even a bit of romance.

I also love it when a good book has sequels. Lirael and Ahorsen are excellent follow-ups. I'm so looking forward to the newest in the sequence, Clariel.
]]> <![CDATA[The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement]]> 203956674 America’s favorite government teacher offers thrilling, heartfelt stories of ordinary American heroes.Most pundits and historians sell a dangerously naĂŻve version of the American story—either praising its most consequential figures uncritically or criticizing them unfairly.ĚýSharon McMahon believes the truth is more human. In her debut book The Small and the Mighty, she tells the inpiring stories of twelve Americans--regular people with human foibles--whose extraordinary heroism in the face of mounting trials created the character of our country.ĚýWith the same clarity and candor that's earned her millions of fans, McMahon follows the daughter of formerly enslaved parents who sparked a reformation in Black education, a Japanese immigrant who nearly died in combat and became a consequential Senator, and even the electrician who saved her husband’s life. Her unforgettable prose and meticulous research tell the story of America from the perspective of the unsung heroes whose devotion to their country will restore your faith in the American dream.The portraits of our nation’s most improbable champions, innovators, and rebels in this book celebrate the United States and reveal our common humanity. The Small and the Mighty is the encouragement we all need in an age of doomscrolling and division.]]> 320 Sharon McMahon 0593541677 Alison 0 4.45 2024 The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement
author: Sharon McMahon
name: Alison
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/06
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]]> Star Splitter 61813282 Crash-landed on a desolate planet lightyears from Earth, sixteen-year-old Jessica Mathers must unravel the mystery of the destruction all around her--and the questionable intentions of a familiar stranger.

For Jessica Mathers, teleportation and planetary colonization in deep space aren't just hypotheticals--they're real. They're also the very real reason her scientist parents left her behind six years ago. Now she is about to be reunited with them, forced to leave behind everyone she knows and loves, to join their research assignment on Carver 1061c, a desolate, post-extinction planet almost 14 lightyears from Earth.

Teleportation is safe and routine in the year 2198, but something seems to have gone very, very wrong. Jessica wakes up in an empty, and utterly destroyed, landing unit from the DS Theseus, the ship where she was supposed to rendezvous with her parents. But Jessica isn't on the Theseus orbiting Carver 1061c. The lander seems to have crashed on the planet's surface. Its corridors are empty and covered in bloody handprints; the machines are silent and dark. And outside, in the alien dirt, are the carefully, and recently, marked graves of strangers.]]> 320 Matthew J. Kirby 0735231664 Alison 5 3.81 2023 Star Splitter
author: Matthew J. Kirby
name: Alison
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/12/28
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]]> The Only Girl in Town 75305007
For July Fielding, nothing has been the same since that summer before senior year.

Once, she had Alex, her loyal best friend, the one who always had her back. She had Sydney, who pushed her during every cross-country run, and who sometimes seemed to know July better than she knew herself. And she had Sam. Sam, who told her she was everything and left her breathless with his touch.

Now, July is alone. Every single person in her small town of Lithia has disappeared. No family. No Alex or Sydney. No Sam. July’s only chance at unraveling the mystery of their disappearance is a series of objects, each a reminder of the people she loved most. And a mysterious GET TH3M BACK.]]> 336 Ally Condie 0593327179 Alison 5 3.18 2023 The Only Girl in Town
author: Ally Condie
name: Alison
average rating: 3.18
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/12/28
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]]> The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe 40944082
Poe has vowed to annihilate the river raiders who robbed her of everything two years ago. But as she navigates the treacherous waters of the Serpentine and realizes there might be a traitor among her crew, she must also reckon with who she has become, who she wants to be, and the ways love can change and shape you. Even - and especially - when you think all is lost.]]> 328 Ally Condie 0525426450 Alison 0 3.47 2019 The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe
author: Ally Condie
name: Alison
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/28
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]]> Atlantia 17731926
For as long as she can remember, Rio has dreamed of the sand and sky Above—of life beyond her underwater city of Atlantia. But in a single moment, all Rio’s hopes for the future are shattered when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected choice, stranding Rio Below. Alone, ripped away from the last person who knew Rio’s true self—and the powerful siren voice she has long silenced—she has nothing left to lose.

Guided by a dangerous and unlikely mentor, Rio formulates a plan that leads to increasingly treacherous questions about her mother’s death, her own destiny, and the corrupted system constructed to govern the Divide between land and sea. Her life and her city depend on Rio to listen to the voices of the past and to speak long-hidden truths.]]> 368 Ally Condie 0698135601 Alison 0 3.43 2014 Atlantia
author: Ally Condie
name: Alison
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/28
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]]> The Unwedding 199262864
To add insult to injury, there’s a wedding at Broken Point scheduled during her stay. Ellery remembers how it felt to be on the cusp of everything new and wonderful, with a loved and certain future glimmering just ahead. Now she isn’t certain of anything except her love for her kids and a growing realization that this place, although beautiful, is unsettling.]]> 339 Ally Condie 1538757583 Alison 5 3.16 2024 The Unwedding
author: Ally Condie
name: Alison
average rating: 3.16
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/12/28
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[Illuminae (The Illuminae Files, #1)]]> 23395680
The year is 2575, and two rival mega-corporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than a speck at the edge of the universe. Now with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra � who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to evacuate with a hostile warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A plague has broken out and is mutating with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a web of data to find the truth, it’s clear the only person who can help her is the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents � including emails, maps, files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more � Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.]]> 608 Amie Kaufman 0553499114 Alison 4 4.23 2015 Illuminae (The Illuminae Files, #1)
author: Amie Kaufman
name: Alison
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/12/28
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]]> Silver in the Blood 22929540 358 Jessica Day George 1619634317 Alison 5 3.45 2015 Silver in the Blood
author: Jessica Day George
name: Alison
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/12/28
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]]> <![CDATA[This Is How You Lose the Time War]]> 43352954 Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.

Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them. There's still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war.]]> 209 Amal El-Mohtar Alison 0 to-read 3.87 2019 This Is How You Lose the Time War
author: Amal El-Mohtar
name: Alison
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Ministry of Time 199798179 A time travel romance, a spy thriller, a workplace comedy, and an ingenious exploration of the nature of power and the potential for love to change it all:

In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats� from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.

She is tasked with working as a “bridge�: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as �1847� or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as “washing machines,� “Spotify,� and “the collapse of the British Empire.� But with an appetite for discovery, a seven-a-day cigarette habit, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts.

Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic, evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry’s project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how—and whether she believes—what she does next can change the future.]]> 339 Kaliane Bradley 1668045141 Alison 0 to-read 3.54 2024 The Ministry of Time
author: Kaliane Bradley
name: Alison
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/28
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]]> James 173754979 A brilliant reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—both harrowing and satirical—told from the enslaved Jim's point of view

When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

Brimming with nuanced humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a literary icon, this brilliant and tender novel radically illuminates Jim's agency, intelligence, and compassion as never before. James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first-century American literature.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780385550369.]]> 303 Percival Everett Alison 0 to-read 4.47 2024 James
author: Percival Everett
name: Alison
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/28
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]]> <![CDATA[Born Confused (Born Confused #1)]]> 766319 512 Tanuja Desai Hidier 0439510112 Alison 4 3.81 2002 Born Confused (Born Confused #1)
author: Tanuja Desai Hidier
name: Alison
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/31
date added: 2024/01/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (National Book Award Winner)]]> 843804
Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.

With a forward by Markus Zusak, interviews with Sherman Alexie and Ellen Forney, and four-color interior art throughout, this edition is perfect for fans and collectors alike.
]]> 230 Sherman Alexie 0316013692 Alison 0 to-read 4.17 2007 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (National Book Award Winner)
author: Sherman Alexie
name: Alison
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/02/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> My Name Is Asher Lev 11507 This is a previously-published edition of ISBN 9781400031047.

Asher Lev is a Ladover Hasid who keeps kosher, prays three times a day, and believes in the Ribbono Shel Olom, the Master of the Universe. Asher Lev is an artist who is compulsively driven to render the world he sees and feels, even when it leads him to blasphemy. In this stirring and often visionary novel, Chaim Potok traces Asher’s passage between these two identities, the one consecrated to God, the other subject only to the imagination.

Asher Lev grows up in a cloistered Hasidic community in postwar Brooklyn, a world suffused by ritual and revolving around a charismatic Rebbe. But in time, his gift threatens to estrange him from that world and the parents he adores. As it follows his struggle, My Name Is Asher Lev becomes a luminous portrait of the artist, by turns heartbreaking and exultant, a modern classic.]]> 369 Chaim Potok Alison 5 4.23 1972 My Name Is Asher Lev
author: Chaim Potok
name: Alison
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1972
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2017/01/24
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]]> Anna Was Here 14757280
Ten-year-old Anna Nickel's worst nightmare has come true. Her father has decided to move the family back to Oakwood, Kansas—where he grew up—in order to become the minister of the church there. New friends, new school, a new community, and a family of strangers await, and what's even worse, it's all smack-dab in the middle of Tornado Alley. Anna has always prided herself on being prepared (she keeps a notebook on how to cope with disasters, from hurricanes to shark bites), but she'll be tested in Oakwood! This beautifully written novel introduces a family who takes God's teachings to heart while finding many occasions to laugh along the way, and an irrepressible and wholesome ten-year-old who, with a little help from Midnight H. (her cat), takes control of her destiny.]]> 288 Jane Kurtz 0060564938 Alison 5 3.50 2013 Anna Was Here
author: Jane Kurtz
name: Alison
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/12/13
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1)]]> 17675462 “There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,� Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.�

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.]]> 409 Maggie Stiefvater 0545424925 Alison 0 to-read 4.05 2012 The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1)
author: Maggie Stiefvater
name: Alison
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/05/30
shelves: to-read
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]]> Summerlost 17731927
Infused with emotion and rich with understanding, Summerlost is the touching middle grade debut from Ally Condie, the international bestselling author of the Matched series, that highlights the strength of family and personal resilience in the face of tragedy.]]> 249 Ally Condie 0399187197 Alison 5 3.86 2016 Summerlost
author: Ally Condie
name: Alison
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2016/04/18
date added: 2016/04/20
shelves:
review:
This would be a delicious summer read for a kid. Yes, it's about loss, but it's also about finding a best friend and having adventures together and helping each other through hard times. There's a bit of mystery thrown in and some comedy, too. Even a bit of ghostliness. It might even spark a kid's interest in Shakespeare because of its vivid Shakespearean festival setting. A rich, heart-warming read.
]]> All Better Now 25776223 I ask myself:Ěýhow am I living still?
And how I ask it depends on the day.
Ěý
All her life, Emily has felt different from other kids. Between therapist visits, sudden uncontrollable bursts of anger, and unexplained episodes of dizziness and loss of coordination, things have always felt not right. For years, her only escape was through the stories she’d craft about herself and the world around her. But it isn’t until a near-fatal accident when she’s twelve years old that Emily and her family discover the truth: a grapefruit sized benign brain tumor at the base of her skull.Ěý

In turns candid, angry, and beautiful, Emily Wing Smith’s captivating memoir chronicles her struggles with both mental and physical disabilities during her childhood, the devastating accident that may have saved her life, and the means by which she coped with it all: writing.]]> 304 Emily Wing Smith 0525426248 Alison 5 3.90 2016 All Better Now
author: Emily Wing Smith
name: Alison
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2016/03/15
date added: 2016/03/21
shelves:
review:
All Better Now is a memoir, written for a YA audience, detailing Smith’s young life as the thank-God-she-got-hit-by-a-car girl. She uses episodic chapters to tell the story of her awkward and angry childhood and the aftermath of a car accident that was also a blessing. The chapters are interspersed with such things as pictures, medical records and letters from her imaginary boyfriend, “Rembrandt,� which serve as a reminder to the reader that this is not fiction, but a real person’s story. The narrative is so rich in detail that it reads like fiction and Smith’s voice so vivid on the page that she could be sitting next to the reader, telling her story as a good friend would tell secrets to another. She’s funny, quirky and real. A must read for anyone who’s ever felt broken, awkward or alone. I loved this book.
]]> Blood Red, Snow White 1369831 There never was a story that was happy through and through.

When writer Arthur Ransome leaves his unhappy marriage in England and moves to Russia to work as a journalist, he has little idea of the violent revolution about to erupt. Unwittingly, he finds himself at its center, tapped by the British to report back on the Bolsheviks even as he becomes dangerously, romantically entangled with Trotsky's personal secretary.

Both sides seek to use Arthur to gather and relay information for their own purposes . . . and both grow to suspect him of being a double agent. Arthur wants only to elope far from conflict with his beloved, but her Russian ties make leaving the country nearly impossible. And the more Arthur resists becoming a pawn, the more entrenched in the game he seems to become.

Blood Red Snow White, a Soviet-era thriller from renowned author Marcus Sedgwick, is sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats.

]]> 304 Marcus Sedgwick 1842551841 Alison 0 to-read 3.68 2007 Blood Red, Snow White
author: Marcus Sedgwick
name: Alison
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/03/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Golem and the Jinni (The Golem and the Jinni, #1)]]> 15819028
Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire born in the ancient Syrian desert, trapped in an old copper flask, and released in New York City, though still not entirely free.

Ahmad and Chava become unlikely friends and soul mates with a mystical connection. Marvelous and compulsively readable, Helene Wecker's debut novel The Golem and the Jinni weaves strands of Yiddish and Middle Eastern literature, historical fiction and magical fable, into a wondrously inventive and unforgettable tale.]]> 486 Helene Wecker 0062110837 Alison 5 4.11 2013 The Golem and the Jinni (The Golem and the Jinni, #1)
author: Helene Wecker
name: Alison
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2015/09/24
shelves:
review:

]]> Behemoth (Leviathan, #2) 7826116
Deryn is a girl posing as a boy in the British Air Service, and Alek is the heir to an empire posing as a commoner. Finally together aboard the airship Leviathan, they hope to bring the war to a halt. But when disaster strikes the Leviathan's peacekeeping mission, they find themselves alone and hunted in enemy territory.

Alek and Deryn will need great skill, new allies, and brave hearts to face what's ahead.]]> 481 Scott Westerfeld 1416971750 Alison 5 4.17 2010 Behemoth (Leviathan, #2)
author: Scott Westerfeld
name: Alison
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2015/07/22
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review:

]]> Leviathan (Leviathan, #1) 6050678
Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.

With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.]]> 440 Scott Westerfeld 1416971734 Alison 5 3.92 2009 Leviathan (Leviathan, #1)
author: Scott Westerfeld
name: Alison
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2015/07/22
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Burning Glass (Burning Glass, #1)]]> 23677316
Tasked with sensing the intentions of would-be assassins, Sonya is under constant pressure to protect the emperor. But Sonya’s power is untamed and reckless, and she can’t always decipher when other people’s impulses end and her own begin. In a palace full of warring emotions and looming darkness, Sonya fears that the biggest danger to the empire may be herself.

As she struggles to wrangle her abilities, Sonya seeks refuge in her tenuous alliances with the charming-yet-volatile Emperor Valko and his idealistic younger brother, Anton, the crown prince. But when threats of revolution pit the two brothers against each other, Sonya must choose which brother to trust—and which to betray.]]> 512 Kathryn Purdie 0062412361 Alison 0 to-read 3.38 2016 Burning Glass (Burning Glass, #1)
author: Kathryn Purdie
name: Alison
average rating: 3.38
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/06/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Charlotte's Rose 842625 I will carry that baby to Zion,� I shout at them, “just see if I don’t!�

Well! I did it! I have left them all quite speechless.

In 1856, 12-year-old Charlotte and her widowed father are members of a Welsh handcart company on the Mormon Trail, so poor they cannot afford wagons but must push carts from Iowa City to Utah. When a woman in the company dies giving birth, and her husband is too distraught to care for the baby girl, Charlotte grandly offers to care for the baby, whom she names Rose. But taking care of Rose turns out to be much harder than Charlotte expected. She’s stuck; she can’t give Rose back. As she struggles along the trail with the infant, she comes to love Rose, and to dream of life with “her� baby, even though Papa and others remind her that she will have to give Rose back to her father when they part ways at the end of the trail.]]> 256 Ann Edwards Cannon 0385729669 Alison 5 4.08 2002 Charlotte's Rose
author: Ann Edwards Cannon
name: Alison
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2002
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2015/06/02
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave]]> 22718731
Instead of moping around and being scared, Liberty takes matters into her own hands. On their journey to get home, they encounter a shady, bald-headed gas station attendant, a full-body tattooed trucker, free Continental breakfast, a kid obsessed with Star Wars, a woman who lives with rats, and a host of other situations.

When all seems lost, they get some help from an unlikely source, and end up learning that sometimes you have to get a little bit lost to be found.]]> 320 Jen White 0374300844 Alison 5 It has
1. an endearing 12-year-old protagonist who takes her job as protector of her little sister very seriously.
2. a heart-pounding plot, where the palpitations begin on page one.
3. achingly beautiful prose in which every word seems to be exactly the right one.
and
4. enough fun and interesting animals facts woven throughout to delight boys and girls alike.
I thought about this book long after I finished it. I'm pretty sure you will, too. ]]> 3.98 2015 Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave
author: Jen White
name: Alison
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2015/05/13
shelves:
review:
Welcome to the most perfect middle grade book I've read in a long while.
It has
1. an endearing 12-year-old protagonist who takes her job as protector of her little sister very seriously.
2. a heart-pounding plot, where the palpitations begin on page one.
3. achingly beautiful prose in which every word seems to be exactly the right one.
and
4. enough fun and interesting animals facts woven throughout to delight boys and girls alike.
I thought about this book long after I finished it. I'm pretty sure you will, too.
]]> The Forgotten Sisters 17983740
Instead of returning to her beloved Mount Eskel, Miri is ordered to journey to a distant swamp and start a princess academy for three sisters, cousins of the royal family. Unfortunately, Astrid, Felissa, and Sus are more interested in hunting and fishing than becoming princesses.

As Miri spends more time with the sisters, she realizes the king and queen’s interest in them hides a long-buried secret. She must rely on her own strength and intelligence to unravel the mystery, protect the girls, complete her assignment, and finally make her way home.

Fans of Shannon Hale won’t want to miss this gorgeously woven return to this best-selling, award-winning series.]]> 324 Shannon Hale Alison 0 to-read 4.07 2015 The Forgotten Sisters
author: Shannon Hale
name: Alison
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/04/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Far West (Frontier Magic, #3)]]> 12291646
When spring comes, the explorers realize how tenuous life near the Great Barrier Spell must stop a magical flood in a hurry. Eff's unique way of viewing magic has saved the settlers time and again, now all of Columbia is at risk.]]> 343 Patricia C. Wrede 0545512697 Alison 5 4.12 2012 The Far West (Frontier Magic, #3)
author: Patricia C. Wrede
name: Alison
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2015/03/06
date added: 2015/03/06
shelves:
review:

]]> Clariel (Abhorsen, #4) 7489530
Set approximately six hundred years before the birth of Sabriel, Clariel will delight Old Kingdom fans as well as new readers hungry for epic fantasy adventure.]]> 432 Garth Nix Alison 5 3.78 2014 Clariel (Abhorsen, #4)
author: Garth Nix
name: Alison
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2015/02/04
date added: 2015/02/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Across the Great Barrier (Frontier Magic, #2)]]> 6965998 339 Patricia C. Wrede 0545033438 Alison 4 3.94 2011 Across the Great Barrier (Frontier Magic, #2)
author: Patricia C. Wrede
name: Alison
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2015/02/04
date added: 2015/02/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Not in the Script (If Only . . . #3)]]> 18480474
Jake Elliott’s face is on magazine ads around the world, but his lucrative modeling deals were a poor substitute for what he had to leave behind. Now acting is offering Jake everything he wants: close proximity to home; an opportunity to finally start school; and plenty of time with the smart and irresistible Emma Taylor . . . if she would just give him a chance.

When Jake takes Emma behind the scenes of his real life, she begins to see how genuine he is, but on-set relationships always end badly. Don’t they? Toss in Hollywood’s most notorious heartthrob and a resident diva who may or may not be as evil as she seems, and the production of Coyote Hills heats up in unexpected—and romantic—ways.

This novel in the deliciously fun If Only romance line proves that the best kinds of love stories don’t follow a script.]]> 384 Amy Finnegan 1408855534 Alison 5 Another thing I enjoy is when a book takes me to a place I've never been before. I most often have to read fantasy or historical fiction to get that fix, but Amy Finnegan did that for me with a contemporary. Her behind-the-scenes at a TV series is fascinating, and from what I've read from those in the know, she nailed the details.
What a fun read!]]> 4.16 2014 Not in the Script (If Only . . . #3)
author: Amy Finnegan
name: Alison
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/12/01
date added: 2015/01/13
shelves:
review:
For me, one of the things that elevates a book to I'll-read-it-again status is when the characters feel like friends. Not in the Script has that quality in spades. The characters are multi-layered and so well imagined and written, that I felt like I would recognize them on the street (or the TV screen) if they walked by. Their banter is real-sounding and laugh out loud funny at times. By the end of the book, I had feelings for all of the characters, even those who'd made some questionable choices.
Another thing I enjoy is when a book takes me to a place I've never been before. I most often have to read fantasy or historical fiction to get that fix, but Amy Finnegan did that for me with a contemporary. Her behind-the-scenes at a TV series is fascinating, and from what I've read from those in the know, she nailed the details.
What a fun read!
]]> <![CDATA[Thirteenth Child (Frontier Magic, #1)]]> 5797595 344 Patricia C. Wrede 054503342X Alison 4 3.81 2009 Thirteenth Child (Frontier Magic, #1)
author: Patricia C. Wrede
name: Alison
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2015/01/12
shelves:
review:

]]> Rose Under Fire 17262236
Elizabeth Wein, author of the critically-acclaimed and best-selling Code Name Verity, delivers another stunning WWII thriller. The unforgettable story of Rose Justice is forged from heart-wrenching courage, resolve, and the slim, bright chance of survival.]]> 360 Elizabeth Wein 1423183096 Alison 5 4.10 2013 Rose Under Fire
author: Elizabeth Wein
name: Alison
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2015/01/12
shelves:
review:

]]> The Bronze Bow 24408 He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. –from the Song of David (2 Samuel 22:35)
The Bronze Bow, written by Elizabeth George Speare (author of The Witch of Blackbird Pond) won the Newbery Medal in 1962. This gripping, action-packed novel tells the story of eighteen-year-old Daniel bar Jamin—a fierce, hotheaded young man bent on revenging his father’s death by forcing the Romans from his land of Israel. Daniel’s palpable hatred for Romans wanes only when he starts to hear the gentle lessons of the traveling carpenter, Jesus of Nazareth. A fast-paced, suspenseful, vividly wrought tale of friendship, loyalty, the idea of home, community . . . and ultimately, as Jesus says to Daniel on page 224: “Can’t you see, Daniel, it is hate that is the enemy? Not men. Hate does not die with killing. It only springs up a hundredfold. The only thing stronger than hate is love.� A powerful, relevant read in turbulent times.]]> 256 Elizabeth George Speare Alison 5 4.00 1961 The Bronze Bow
author: Elizabeth George Speare
name: Alison
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1961
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/12/08
shelves:
review:
Just finished my nearly annual reading. How I love this book.
]]> <![CDATA[Code Name Verity (Code Name Verity, #1)]]> 11925514
When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.

As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage and failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?

Harrowing and beautifully written, Elizabeth Wein creates a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other. Code Name Verity is an outstanding novel that will stick with you long after the last page.]]> 452 Elizabeth Wein 1405258217 Alison 5 3.99 2012 Code Name Verity (Code Name Verity, #1)
author: Elizabeth Wein
name: Alison
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/08/18
shelves:
review:
The story itself deserves 5 stars but listening to it on audio book takes it beyond amazing,
]]> <![CDATA[Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption]]> 8664353
The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he'd been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.]]> 475 Laura Hillenbrand 1400064163 Alison 5 4.38 2010 Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption
author: Laura Hillenbrand
name: Alison
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/08/08
shelves:
review:

]]> The Scarlet Letter 12296 279 Nathaniel Hawthorne 0142437263 Alison 4 3.43 1850 The Scarlet Letter
author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
name: Alison
average rating: 3.43
book published: 1850
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/08/08
shelves:
review:

]]> The Martian 18007564
Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error� are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills � and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit � he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

]]> 384 Andy Weir 0804139024 Alison 4 4.41 2011 The Martian
author: Andy Weir
name: Alison
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/08/08
shelves:
review:
A hard science sci-fi novel that is gripping and compelling. Even so, I'm giving it four stars because of the language. One would wish that in the future people would be sophisticated enough to find more interesting ways to express themselves, especially the character who deals with PR.
]]> The Fault in Our Stars 11870085
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.]]> 313 John Green Alison 4 4.13 2012 The Fault in Our Stars
author: John Green
name: Alison
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> Remake (Remake, #1) 22299642
But Nine isn't like every other batcher. She harbors indecision
and worries about her upcoming Remake Day -- her seventeenth birthday, the age when batchers fly to the Remake facility and have the freedom to choose who and what they'll be.

When Nine discovers the truth about life outside of Freedom
Province, including the secret plan of the Prime Maker, she is
pulled between two worlds and two lives. Her decisions will test
her courage, her heart, and her beliefs. Who can she trust? Who does she love? And most importantly, who will she decide to be?]]> 304 Ilima Todd 1609079248 Alison 0 to-read 3.80 2014 Remake (Remake, #1)
author: Ilima Todd
name: Alison
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/07/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The End or Something Like That]]> 18608005 Can a friendship last forever?

Emmy would like to think so. But even though she and her late best friend, Kim, planned every detail in advance, from when and where to meet to what snacks to bring, Kim has yet to make an appearance from the afterlife. Which is making Emmy wonder if what happened right before Kim died changed everything.

Alternating between the past and the present and between the heartbreaking and the truly hilarious, Ann Dee Ellis's latest novel is an achingly authentic take on friendship, family, and what it means to let go and truly live.]]> 352 Ann Dee Ellis 0803737394 Alison 5
So begins Ann Dee Ellis’s quirky, funny and sweetly sad novel, THE END OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

Ellis’s simple opening sentence accomplishes several things at once. The reader learns the problem, that a best friend, Kim, is dead. We understand, through the short, clipped prose, that the protagonist is hurting. And we take our first taste of Ann Dee Ellis’s concentrated style of writing. Her words are spare but each practically shouts in the voice of the protagonist. We hear Emmy talk, see the world through her eyes. By not very many pages into the book, she’s as real to the reader as though she were sitting next to us, telling her story aloud.

And that’s important because Emmy’s story is strange. It might even be unbelievable if Emmy weren’t so darned believable. Her dead friend, Kim, has made Emmy promise to try to contact her. Emmy tries but it’s the dead science teacher who appears instead, and Emmy didn’t even like her. Through flashbacks, we learn the story of Emmy and Kim’s friendship and come to know quirky Kim through Emmy’s memories. We ache with Emmy and we learn with her.
I loved this book.
]]> 3.47 2014 The End or Something Like That
author: Ann Dee Ellis
name: Alison
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/05/15
date added: 2014/05/23
shelves:
review:
One day my best friend named Kim died.

So begins Ann Dee Ellis’s quirky, funny and sweetly sad novel, THE END OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

Ellis’s simple opening sentence accomplishes several things at once. The reader learns the problem, that a best friend, Kim, is dead. We understand, through the short, clipped prose, that the protagonist is hurting. And we take our first taste of Ann Dee Ellis’s concentrated style of writing. Her words are spare but each practically shouts in the voice of the protagonist. We hear Emmy talk, see the world through her eyes. By not very many pages into the book, she’s as real to the reader as though she were sitting next to us, telling her story aloud.

And that’s important because Emmy’s story is strange. It might even be unbelievable if Emmy weren’t so darned believable. Her dead friend, Kim, has made Emmy promise to try to contact her. Emmy tries but it’s the dead science teacher who appears instead, and Emmy didn’t even like her. Through flashbacks, we learn the story of Emmy and Kim’s friendship and come to know quirky Kim through Emmy’s memories. We ache with Emmy and we learn with her.
I loved this book.

]]> <![CDATA[Between Two Thorns (The Split Worlds, #1)]]> 15797394 Something is wrong in Aquae Sulis, Bath’s secret mirror city.

The new season is starting and the Master of Ceremonies is missing. Max, an Arbiter of the Split Worlds Treaty, is assigned with the task of finding him with no one to help but a dislocated soul and a mad sorcerer.

There is a witness but his memories have been bound by magical chains only the enemy can break. A rebellious woman trying to escape her family may prove to be the ally Max needs.

But can she be trusted? And why does she want to give up eternal youth and the life of privilege she’s been born into?]]> 384 Emma Newman 0857663208 Alison 0 to-read 3.66 2013 Between Two Thorns (The Split Worlds, #1)
author: Emma Newman
name: Alison
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/04/18
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Something Wicked This Way Comes]]> 248596 Something Wicked This Way Comes, now featuring a new introduction and material about its longstanding influence on culture and genre.

For those who still dream and remember, for those yet to experience the hypnotic power of its dark poetry, step inside. The show is about to begin. Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois, to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery. The carnival rolls in sometime after midnight, ushering in Halloween a week early. A calliope’s shrill siren song beckons to all with a seductive promise of dreams and youth regained. Two boys will discover the secret of its smoke, mazes, and mirrors; two friends who will soon know all too well the heavy cost of wishes…and the stuff of nightmares.

Few novels have endured in the heart and memory as has Ray Bradbury’s unparalleled literary masterpiece Something Wicked This Way Comes. Scary and suspenseful, it is a timeless classic in the American canon.]]> 293 Ray Bradbury 0380729407 Alison 0 to-read 3.92 1962 Something Wicked This Way Comes
author: Ray Bradbury
name: Alison
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1962
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/04/15
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Forgotten Garden 3407877 The Forgotten Garden is a captivating, atmospheric and compulsively readable story of the past, secrets, family and memory from the international best-selling author Kate Morton.

Cassandra is lost, alone and grieving. Her much loved grandmother, Nell, has just died and Cassandra, her life already shaken by a tragic accident ten years ago, feels like she has lost everything dear to her. But an unexpected and mysterious bequest from Nell turns Cassandra’s life upside down and ends up challenging everything she thought she knew about herself and her family.

Inheriting a book of dark and intriguing fairytales written by Eliza Makepeace—the Victorian authoress who disappeared mysteriously in the early twentieth century—Cassandra takes her courage in both hands to follow in the footsteps of Nell on a quest to find out the truth about their history, their family and their past; little knowing that in the process, she will also discover a new life for herself.
]]> 648 Kate Morton 0330449605 Alison 0 to-read 4.14 2008 The Forgotten Garden
author: Kate Morton
name: Alison
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/04/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, #2)]]> 17332218 From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, Words of Radiance, Book Two of the Stormlight Archive, continues the immersive fantasy epic that The Way of Kings began.

Expected by his enemies to die the miserable death of a military slave, Kaladin survived to be given command of the royal bodyguards, a controversial first for a low-status "darkeyes." Now he must protect the king and Dalinar from every common peril as well as the distinctly uncommon threat of the Assassin, all while secretly struggling to master remarkable new powers that are somehow linked to his honorspren, Syl.

The Assassin, Szeth, is active again, murdering rulers all over the world of Roshar, using his baffling powers to thwart every bodyguard and elude all pursuers. Among his prime targets is Highprince Dalinar, widely considered the power behind the Alethi throne. His leading role in the war would seem reason enough, but the Assassin's master has much deeper motives.

Brilliant but troubled Shallan strives along a parallel path. Despite being broken in ways she refuses to acknowledge, she bears a terrible burden: to somehow prevent the return of the legendary Voidbringers and the civilization-ending Desolation that will follow. The secrets she needs can be found at the Shattered Plains, but just arriving there proves more difficult than she could have imagined.

Meanwhile, at the heart of the Shattered Plains, the Parshendi are making an epochal decision. Hard pressed by years of Alethi attacks, their numbers ever shrinking, they are convinced by their war leader, Eshonai, to risk everything on a desperate gamble with the very supernatural forces they once fled. The possible consequences for Parshendi and humans alike, indeed, for Roshar itself, are as dangerous as they are incalculable.]]> 1088 Brandon Sanderson 0765326361 Alison 5 4.76 2014 Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, #2)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Alison
average rating: 4.76
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/04/15
shelves:
review:

]]> The Secret Keeper 13508607
Now, fifty years later, Laurel is a successful and well-regarded actress living in London. The family is gathering at Greenacres farm for Dorothy’s ninetieth birthday. Realizing that this may be her last chance, Laurel searches for answers to the questions that still haunt her from that long-ago day, answers that can only be found in Dorothy’s past.

Dorothy’s story takes the reader from pre–WWII England through the blitz, to the �60s and beyond. It is the secret history of three strangers from vastly different worlds—Dorothy, Vivien, and Jimmy—who meet by chance in wartime London and whose lives are forever entwined. The Secret Keeper explores longings and dreams and the unexpected consequences they sometimes bring. It is an unforgettable story of lovers and friends, deception and passion that is told—in Morton’s signature style—against a backdrop of events that changed the world.]]> 484 Kate Morton 1439152802 Alison 0 to-read 4.14 2012 The Secret Keeper
author: Kate Morton
name: Alison
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/03/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Divided We Fall (Divided We Fall, #1)]]> 18114594
Danny Wright never thought he'd be the man to bring down the United States of America. In fact, he enlisted in the National Guard because he wanted to serve his country the way his father did. When the Guard is called up on the Idaho governor's orders to police a protest in Boise, it seems like a routine crowd-control mission ... but then Danny's gun misfires, spooking the other soldiers and the already fractious crowd, and by the time the smoke clears, twelve people are dead.

The president wants the soldiers arrested. The governor swears to protect them. And as tensions build on both sides, the conflict slowly escalates toward the unthinkable: a second American civil war.

With political questions that are popular in American culture yet rare in YA fiction, and a provocative plot that could far too easily become real.]]> 384 Trent Reedy 0545543673 Alison 0 to-read 3.96 2014 Divided We Fall (Divided We Fall, #1)
author: Trent Reedy
name: Alison
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/01/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Rithmatist (Rithmatist, #1)]]> 10137823
As the son of a lowly chalkmaker at Armedius Academy, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students learn the magical art that he would do anything to practice. Then students start disappearing—kidnapped from their rooms at night, leaving trails of blood. Assigned to help the professor who is investigating the crimes, Joel and his friend Melody find themselves on the trail of an unexpected discovery—one that will change Rithmatics—and their world—forever.]]> 378 Brandon Sanderson 0765320320 Alison 5 4.23 2013 The Rithmatist (Rithmatist, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Alison
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2013/11/01
date added: 2013/11/01
shelves:
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What can I say? He's a genius.
]]> <![CDATA[Without a Summer (Glamourist Histories, #3)]]> 15793208 Without a Summer the master glamourists return home, but in a world where magic is real, nothing—even the domestic sphere—is quite what it seems.

Jane and VincentĚýgo to Long Parkmeade to spend time with Jane’s family, but quickly turn restless. The year is unseasonably cold. No one wants to be outside and Mr. Ellsworth is concerned by theĚýharvest, since a bad one may imperilĚýMelody’s dowry. And Melody has concerns of her own, given the inadequate selection of eligible bachelors. When Jane and Vincent receive a commission from a prominent family in London, they decide to take it, andĚýtake Melody with them. They hopeĚýthe change of scenery will do her good and her marriage prospects—and mood—willĚýbe brighter in London.

Once there, talk is of nothing but theĚýcrop failures caused by the cold and increased unemployment of the coldmongers, which haveĚýprovoked riots in several cities to the north. With each passing day, it’s more difficult to avoid getting embroiled in the intrigue, none of which really helpsĚýMelody’s chances for romance.ĚýIt’s not long before Jane and Vincent realize that in addition to getting Melody to the church on time, they must take onĚýone small task: solving a crisis of international proportions.]]> 361 Mary Robinette Kowal 0765334151 Alison 4 3.92 2013 Without a Summer (Glamourist Histories, #3)
author: Mary Robinette Kowal
name: Alison
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2013/11/01
date added: 2013/11/01
shelves:
review:
The best of the series so far. Nice mix of political intrigue, family relationships, romance and courtroom drama. The fantasy elements are there but don't play as huge a role in the plot as they have in past books. Looking forward to more.
]]> Steelheart (Reckoners, #1) 15704458 ĚýĚý Epics are no friends of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man, you must crush his will.
ĚýĚý Now, in what was once Chicago, an astonishingly powerful Epic named Steelheart has installed himself as emperor. Steelheart possesses the strength of ten men and can control the elements. It is said that no bullet can harm him, no sword can split his skin, and no fire can burn him. He is invincible. Nobody fights back . . . nobody but the Reckoners.
ĚýĚý A shadowy group of ordinary humans, the Reckoners spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them. And David wants in.
ĚýĚý When Steelheart came to Chicago, he killed David’s father. For years, like the Reckoners, David has been studying, and planning, and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.
ĚýĚý He has seen Steelheart bleed.
ĚýĚý And he wants revenge.]]> 361 Brandon Sanderson 1299859291 Alison 4 4.13 2013 Steelheart (Reckoners, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Alison
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2013/10/17
date added: 2013/10/17
shelves:
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]]> The Lost Kingdom 17219052 348 Matthew J. Kirby 0545274265 Alison 4 3.70 2013 The Lost Kingdom
author: Matthew J. Kirby
name: Alison
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2013/10/07
date added: 2013/10/07
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Emperor's Soul (The Cosmere)]]> 13578175 Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection.

A heretic thief is the empire’s only hope in this fascinating tale that inhabits the same world as the popular novel, Elantris.

Shai is a Forger, a foreigner who can flawlessly copy and re-create any item by rewriting its history with skillful magic. Condemned to death after trying to steal the emperor’s scepter, she is given one opportunity to save herself. Though her skill as a Forger is considered an abomination by her captors, Shai will attempt to create a new soul for the emperor, who is almost dead.

Probing deeply into his life, she discovers Emperor Ashravan’s truest nature—and the opportunity to exploit it. Her only possible ally is one who is truly loyal to the emperor, but councilor Gaotona must overcome his prejudices to understand that Shai’s forgery is as much artistry as it is deception.

Brimming with magic and political intrigue, this deftly woven fantasy delves into the essence of a living spirit.]]> 192 Brandon Sanderson 1616960922 Alison 5 4.38 2012 The Emperor's Soul (The Cosmere)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Alison
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2013/09/27
date added: 2013/09/27
shelves:
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]]> Warbreaker 1268479
Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren's capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as breath that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people.

By using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be accomplished. It will take considerable quantities of each to resolve all the challenges facing Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris; Susebron the God King; Lightsong, reluctant god of bravery, and mysterious Vasher, the Warbreaker.]]> 688 Brandon Sanderson Alison 5 4.29 2009 Warbreaker
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Alison
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/09/26
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Going Postal (Discworld, #33; Moist von Lipwig, #1)]]> 64222
It was a tough decision.

But he has to see that the mail gets through, come rain, hail, sleet, dogs, the Post Office Workers' Friendly and Benevolent Society, the evil chairman of the Grand Trunk Semaphore Company, and a midnight killer.

Getting a date with Adora Bell Dearheart would be nice, too.

Maybe it'll take a criminal to succeed where honest men have failed, or maybe it's a death sentence either way.

Or perhaps there's a shot at redemption in the mad world of the mail, waiting for a man who's prepared to push the envelope...]]> 394 Terry Pratchett 0060502932 Alison 4 4.40 2004 Going Postal (Discworld, #33; Moist von Lipwig, #1)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Alison
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/09/26
shelves:
review:

]]> Kiss Me Twice 13520236 116 Mary Robinette Kowal Alison 0 to-read 3.89 2011 Kiss Me Twice
author: Mary Robinette Kowal
name: Alison
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/09/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Glamour in Glass (Glamourist Histories, #2)]]> 12160890 Shades of Milk and Honey , a loving tribute to the works of Jane Austen in a world where magic is an everyday occurrence. This magic comes in the form of glamour, which allows talented users to form practically any illusion they can imagine. Shades debuted to great acclaim and left readers eagerly awaiting its sequel. Glamour in Glass continues following the lives of beloved main characters Jane and Vincent, with a much deeper vein of drama and intrigue.In the tumultuous months after Napoleon abdicates his throne, Jane and Vincent go to Belgium for their honeymoon. While there, the deposed emperor escapes his exile in Elba, throwing the continent into turmoil. With no easy way back to England, Jane and Vincent’s concerns turn from enjoying their honeymoon...to escaping it. Left with no outward salvation, Jane must persevere over her trying personal circumstances and use her glamour to rescue her husband from prison...and hopefully prevent her newly built marriage from getting stranded on the shoals of another country's war.]]> 331 Mary Robinette Kowal 0765325578 Alison 4 3.75 2012 Glamour in Glass (Glamourist Histories, #2)
author: Mary Robinette Kowal
name: Alison
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/09/26
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Shades of Milk and Honey (Glamourist Histories, #1)]]> 7295501 Shades of Milk and Honey is an intimate portrait of Jane Ellsworth, a woman ahead of her time in a version of Regency England where the manipulation of glamour is considered an essential skill for a lady of quality. But despite the prevalence of magic in everyday life, other aspects of Dorchester’s society are not that different: Jane and her sister Melody’s lives still revolve around vying for the attentions of eligible men.

Jane resists this fate, and rightly so: while her skill with glamour is remarkable, it is her sister who is fair of face, and therefore wins the lion’s share of the attention. At the ripe old age of twenty-eight, Jane has resigned herself to being invisible forever. But when her family’s honor is threatened, she finds that she must push her skills to the limit in order to set things right–and, in the process, accidentally wanders into a love story of her own.]]> 304 Mary Robinette Kowal 076532556X Alison 4 3.49 2010 Shades of Milk and Honey (Glamourist Histories, #1)
author: Mary Robinette Kowal
name: Alison
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/09/26
shelves:
review:

]]> The Snow Child 11250053
This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place, things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.]]> 386 Eowyn Ivey 0316175676 Alison 4 It's been a long time since a book captivated me like that. So, why can I not give it five stars? I want to. But something holds me back.
I think it's that the ending--the fact that Faina disappears--seems inevitable from the moment the fairy tale book enters the story. It seems there's nothing anyone can do to change that, not the story characters, not the reader, not even the author.
That bothered me. I don't believe in fate. I believe in choice and consequence. And it seemed to me that Faina had no choice, that her fate was sealed by an already written fairy tale.
I wish the writer had had enough trust in her considerable abilities to give us a fresh ending for Faina, not the one we knew was coming.
]]> 3.94 2012 The Snow Child
author: Eowyn Ivey
name: Alison
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/01/17
shelves:
review:
From other books I've read about it, the Alaskan Wilderness has always seemed other-worldly to me. What better setting then for a story based on a Russian fairy tale. Ivey's language is haunting in quality and brings to mind and bone the Arctic cold and the loneliness there. I was frozen, book in hand, unable to release it until the end.
It's been a long time since a book captivated me like that. So, why can I not give it five stars? I want to. But something holds me back.
I think it's that the ending--the fact that Faina disappears--seems inevitable from the moment the fairy tale book enters the story. It seems there's nothing anyone can do to change that, not the story characters, not the reader, not even the author.
That bothered me. I don't believe in fate. I believe in choice and consequence. And it seemed to me that Faina had no choice, that her fate was sealed by an already written fairy tale.
I wish the writer had had enough trust in her considerable abilities to give us a fresh ending for Faina, not the one we knew was coming.

]]> <![CDATA[Palace of Stone (Princess Academy, #2)]]> 12926132
Coming down from the mountain to a new city life is a thrill to Miri. She and her princess academy friends have come to Asland to help the future princess Britta prepare for her wedding. There, Miri also has a chance to attend school--at the prestigious Queen's Castle.

But as Miri befriends sophisticated and exciting students, she also learns that they have some frightening plans for a revolution. Torn between loyalty to the princess and her new friends' ideas, between an old love and a new crush, and between her small mountain home and the bustling city, Miri looks to find her own way in this new place.]]> 336 Shannon Hale 1599908735 Alison 4 This book had some high expectations to live up to, then, and in most aspects it matched up to its predecessor. Shannon Hale's writing is as lyrical as ever. Her ending was exciting, astonishing and completely satisfying, all at the same time. I did, however, find some of the plotting to be a bit predictable. I knew exactly where some of the characters would end up as soon as they were introduced. That small weakness is the reason, the only one, that it got 4 stars from me instead of 5. And actually, I would give it 4.5 stars, if I could. I loved how Shannon was able to bring the magic of quarry speak into this book, even though it takes place so far from Mt. Eskel. That she was able to pull off such a thing shouldn't surprise me, though. Creating magic is something Shannon Hale is good at.
]]> 3.99 2012 Palace of Stone (Princess Academy, #2)
author: Shannon Hale
name: Alison
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/01/17
shelves:
review:
I read the first Princess Academy book shortly after it came out. There was no shiny medal on the cover then, but when I'd finished, I decided it deserved one. The Newbery Committee and I thought alike that year.
This book had some high expectations to live up to, then, and in most aspects it matched up to its predecessor. Shannon Hale's writing is as lyrical as ever. Her ending was exciting, astonishing and completely satisfying, all at the same time. I did, however, find some of the plotting to be a bit predictable. I knew exactly where some of the characters would end up as soon as they were introduced. That small weakness is the reason, the only one, that it got 4 stars from me instead of 5. And actually, I would give it 4.5 stars, if I could. I loved how Shannon was able to bring the magic of quarry speak into this book, even though it takes place so far from Mt. Eskel. That she was able to pull off such a thing shouldn't surprise me, though. Creating magic is something Shannon Hale is good at.

]]> <![CDATA[The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)]]> 7235533 From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings, book one of The Stormlight Archive begins an incredible new saga of epic proportion.

Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.

It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them.

One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.

Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by over-powering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.

Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar's niece, Jasnah. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan's motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.

The result of over ten years of planning, writing, and world-building, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making.

Speak again the ancient oaths:

Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination.

and return to men the Shards they once bore.

The Knights Radiant must stand again.]]> 1007 Brandon Sanderson 0765326353 Alison 5 The payoff for that investment? Huge. One twisting plot point near the end actually made me teary-eyed. I guess you could say I became attached to certain characters and cared what happened to them. That, to me, is the mark of a good writer. And Sanderson certainly is that. ]]> 4.66 2010 The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Alison
average rating: 4.66
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/01/17
shelves:
review:
This book was an investment in time and patience because I had no idea what was going on at the beginning. Also, the world is so different it was many pages before I could visualize the plants and creatures. Despite all that, I kept reading, mostly because my son and nephew liked it so much, and also because I've enjoyed Sanderson's other books.
The payoff for that investment? Huge. One twisting plot point near the end actually made me teary-eyed. I guess you could say I became attached to certain characters and cared what happened to them. That, to me, is the mark of a good writer. And Sanderson certainly is that.
]]> <![CDATA[Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set (Mistborn, #1-3)]]> 6604209 New York Times bestselling series from Brandon Sanderson.

This boxed set contains:
Mistborn: The Final Empire
The Well of Ascension
The Hero of Ages ]]> 2176 Brandon Sanderson 076536543X Alison 4 The trilogy isn't perfect. It seemed a bit slow at times and some of the characters weren't developed enough for me. kelsier's crew members, especially in the first book, seemed to blend together. It took me quite a while to remember who they were and what they could do.
Other characters, though, felt quite real and I was surprised how much I came to care about a certain Kandra (who shall remain nameless for spoilers sake).
And then there are the endings--Sanderson definitely has a knack for finishing a book in a surprising but satisfying way. If the books could be judged by that alone, I'd give them all five stars. ]]> 4.60 2009 Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set (Mistborn, #1-3)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Alison
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2012/05/03
date added: 2012/05/25
shelves:
review:
Brandon Sanderson has some sort of twisted brain that allows him to come up with the most interesting and unique magic systems. I'd recommend the Mistborn trilogy for that reason alone--to walk around in a world created by that gifted brain and see what it can do.
The trilogy isn't perfect. It seemed a bit slow at times and some of the characters weren't developed enough for me. kelsier's crew members, especially in the first book, seemed to blend together. It took me quite a while to remember who they were and what they could do.
Other characters, though, felt quite real and I was surprised how much I came to care about a certain Kandra (who shall remain nameless for spoilers sake).
And then there are the endings--Sanderson definitely has a knack for finishing a book in a surprising but satisfying way. If the books could be judged by that alone, I'd give them all five stars.
]]> <![CDATA[The Alloy of Law (Mistborn, #4)]]> 10803121
Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of history—or religion. Yet even as science and technology are reaching new heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to establish order and justice.

One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will.

After twenty years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a noble house. Or so he thinks, until he learns the hard way that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be even more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs.]]> 325 Brandon Sanderson 0765330423 Alison 4 I was glad we got to spend some time in this world after its amazing rebirth. Some new allomantic abilities have been discovered. Others have evolved or been watered down. It was also interesting to see what had happened to the mythology and religion. I could spend more time here and I hope Sanderson has a sequel planned because he sure left lots of things hanging. ]]> 4.20 2011 The Alloy of Law (Mistborn, #4)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Alison
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2012/05/07
date added: 2012/05/25
shelves:
review:
The idea of a world progressing and evoloving its technology is logical, so why don't more fantasy authors do it? Sanderson takes his mistborn world and advances it 300 years into an age with guns and carriages. It's an old-west kind of feel with an allomantic twist. Since allomancers can Push bullets faster or influence their trajectory, gun fights like these have never been seen--or read about--before. Sometimes the fights got a little long and involved for my taste, but he did throw in a hint of romance for me.
I was glad we got to spend some time in this world after its amazing rebirth. Some new allomantic abilities have been discovered. Others have evolved or been watered down. It was also interesting to see what had happened to the mythology and religion. I could spend more time here and I hope Sanderson has a sequel planned because he sure left lots of things hanging.
]]> Waiting 12267664 After her brother’s death, a teen struggles to rediscover love and find redemption in this gripping novel.

Growing up in Africa and Latin America as the children of missionaries, London and Zach were as close as could be. And then Zach dies, and the family is gutted. London’s father is distant. Her mother won’t speak. The days are filled with what-ifs and whispers: Did Zach take his own life? Was it London’s fault?

Alone and adrift, London finds herself torn between her brother’s best friend and the handsome new boy in town as she struggles to find herself—and ultimately redemption—in this authentic and affecting novel from award-winning novelist Carol Lynch Williams.

From Simon & Schuster]]> 352 Carol Lynch Williams 1442443537 Alison 5 London's skin is not a comfortable place to be--and yet, I didn't want to leave. I wanted to know more about her and to stay long enough to make sure she would be okay. And when the story was over, I was glad I stayed. I was glad I took that difficult journey with her. Because at the end, there was hope, and faith, and life. Imagine all that coming from a death.
If you're a fan of Williams's books, you won't be disappointed. She tackles tough topics and WAITING is no exception. I found her teenage protagonist to be very realistic. What teen--what adult, even--doesn't do some things that might be confusing to those around them, especially as she's grasping at straws to heal herself and her family. For instance, London seems to be attracted to two boys. But is she, really? Read and find out.
I also found London's friends a refreshing group in a teen lit world of backstabbers. Not at all the cliche that London feels her life to be.
If you want to read a book about grief and healing, go elsewhere. If you want to live one, WAITING is it.
]]> 3.93 2012 Waiting
author: Carol Lynch Williams
name: Alison
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2012/03/10
date added: 2012/03/10
shelves:
review:
Reading a book by Carol Lynch Williams is like slipping into someone else's skin, walking around as her, breathing her air, and, especially, feeling what she feels. In the case of WAITING, we're inside the skin of London, a teenage girl who's lost her brother and whose family is crumbling because of his death.
London's skin is not a comfortable place to be--and yet, I didn't want to leave. I wanted to know more about her and to stay long enough to make sure she would be okay. And when the story was over, I was glad I stayed. I was glad I took that difficult journey with her. Because at the end, there was hope, and faith, and life. Imagine all that coming from a death.
If you're a fan of Williams's books, you won't be disappointed. She tackles tough topics and WAITING is no exception. I found her teenage protagonist to be very realistic. What teen--what adult, even--doesn't do some things that might be confusing to those around them, especially as she's grasping at straws to heal herself and her family. For instance, London seems to be attracted to two boys. But is she, really? Read and find out.
I also found London's friends a refreshing group in a teen lit world of backstabbers. Not at all the cliche that London feels her life to be.
If you want to read a book about grief and healing, go elsewhere. If you want to live one, WAITING is it.

]]> Icefall 10626639 Those charged with protecting the king's children are all suspect, and the siblings must choose their allies wisely. But who can be trusted so far from their father's watchful eye? Can Solveig and her siblings survive the long winter months and expose the traitor before he succeeds in destroying a kingdom?

]]> 324 Matthew J. Kirby 0545274249 Alison 5 So, what can I mention?
I loved the Nordic setting and the Norse myths woven thoughout the narrative. The stories within a story lent a rhythm to the novel and added beauty to the already beautiful language.
I loved the main character. I could relate to her struggles to embrace a talent that was, at times, uncomfortable for her.
And, yes, I did love the ending. Just read it and we'll talk later. ]]> 4.00 2011 Icefall
author: Matthew J. Kirby
name: Alison
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2012/02/01
date added: 2012/03/10
shelves:
review:
There are so many things I loved about this book but I can't mention some of them because it would give away the ending. I'm afraid, though, that the cover already does that and if I could change one thing about this book it would be the cover.
So, what can I mention?
I loved the Nordic setting and the Norse myths woven thoughout the narrative. The stories within a story lent a rhythm to the novel and added beauty to the already beautiful language.
I loved the main character. I could relate to her struggles to embrace a talent that was, at times, uncomfortable for her.
And, yes, I did love the ending. Just read it and we'll talk later.
]]> Elantris (Elantris, #1) 68427
Arelon's new capital, Kae, crouches in the shadow of Elantris. Princess Sarene of Teod arrives for a marriage of state with Crown Prince Raoden, hoping—based on their correspondence—to also find love. She finds instead that Raoden has died and she is considered his widow. Both Teod and Arelon are under threat as the last remaining holdouts against the imperial ambitions of the ruthless religious fanatics of Fjordell. So Sarene decides to use her new status to counter the machinations of Hrathen, a Fjordell high priest who has come to Kae to convert Arelon and claim it for his emperor and his god.

But neither Sarene nor Hrathen suspect the truth about Prince Raoden. Stricken by the same curse that ruined Elantris, Raoden was secretly exiled by his father to the dark city. His struggle to help the wretches trapped there begins a series of events that will bring hope to Arelon, and perhaps reveal the secret of Elantris itself.

A rare epic fantasy that doesn't recycle the classics and that is a complete and satisfying story in one volume, Elantris is fleet and fun, full of surprises and characters to care about. It's also the wonderful debut of a welcome new star in the constellation of fantasy.]]> 638 Brandon Sanderson 0765350378 Alison 4 4.16 2005 Elantris (Elantris, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Alison
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2012/03/08
date added: 2012/03/08
shelves:
review:
Fascinating book of high fantasy that kept me glued to it until the last page. Sanderson's world is unique, but at first the slime covered city of Elantris wasn't a pleasant place to be. However, like the Elantrians themselves, I became comfortable with the place then came to love it, and them, as the novel progressed. Sanderson grapples with some interesting themes here and proves to us that you can't judge a person, or a city, by what it looks like on the outside.
]]>