The Rad Librarian

Five of the titles were on the blog already this year, so I’ll start with the new ones and list the others at the end.  I try and read less, but it’s like breathing-need to continue to be alive.

Hark! A Vagrant- Kate Beaton

History and literature pared down to the funny bits.  She is a genius of the quick comic strip.  Can’t stop loving her wit!

Claire Dewitt and the City of the Dead- Sara Gran

This is a Post-Katrina surreal mystery with a masterful sense of place.  I felt the wards, and the city for weeks afterwards.  Give this one a chance.

Steampunk!  : An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories. Edited by Kelly Link and Gavin Grant

Steampunk is dead.  Long live Steampunk!!!  Ok, so everybody is coming out with a steampunk book to try and cash in, but this is the best of the best short stories collections of the year.  And like the great editors they are-these tales take place everywhere but Victorian England.  There wasn’t a bad read in the bunch which almost never happens.

Reamde- Neal Stephenson

When he’s on, he rocks the techno thriller like nobody out there.  Not since Cryptonomicon did 1000 pages seem too short.  Race around the world and come back to a fun and fast read.

Duncan the Wonder Dog, book one

I stopped being overwhelmed with the creativity of this graphic novel, and just let the emotional weight bring me to honor the moments reading Duncan.  Animals are sentient and really really unset about how they are being treated by people.  Hines plans on nine more volumes in the next 18 year!  Unlike any comic you will have read.

And the other 5 see below:

Open City- Teju Cole

Quantum Thief- Hannu Rajaniemi

Family Fang- Kevin Wilson

Ready Player One- Ernest Cline

Among Others- Jo Walton

I always judge sequels more harshly than an original work.  If I’m thrilled with the freshness of a book, why would I want anything else or risk critically re-evaluating a beloved text.  So when the sequel is as good as or better than the first, it’s a cause for celebration.  This is a long way to saying that even though I loved loved loved The Magician, this is even better.  It adds more depth and pathos in the tale of Quentin and Julia as they leave Fillory as they desperately try to return.  This is not a stand alone work.  You will need to read the first to understand the second.  May Lev write 5 more and kick Narnia to the curb.

Performance artists Caleb and Camille Fang have always used their children as unwilling participants in their public pieces.  The siblings need each other to keep themselves sane, and try and move on with the lives.  Yet, when circumstances put them back home at the same time, they know their parents are up to another major piece that will disrupt their sense of family forever.  Insightful, funny, and cringeworthy, this is a great debut novel with very memorable characters.

The geektastic 80′s pop culture book of the summer!  Virtual gamers around the world try and find the Easter egg left in OASIS- a full immersive digital world to win billions in this near future tale.  Our teen hero must solve the puzzles by immersing himself in 80′s culture to look for clues to help him on his quest.  There was no name checking of my first computer the Commodore Vic-20, but remembering playing Joust as an arcade going boy was worth the whole great reading experience.  Good for YA and adult alike.

Just when I thought I was too tired for another talking animals YA book, this sweet and charming tale won me over.  Max the Wolf, who is not a wolf, and his animal friends are trying to understand why they don’t have any memories of their lives before they meet in a big forest.  They are being hunted by the Cutters who will change their personalities if they are caught.  Nice message about creativity and world building by the author of my favorite comic series going-  Fables.

All the buzz on this debut SF title is true.  The thief is trying to recover memories.  Some gamers have evolved into billion souled megaminds.  Exomemories can be shared with others through neural pathways, and the Detective is trying to figure what has been corrupted.  Engaging from start to finish- can’t wait to read what’s next.

One of my favorite YA authors creates a unique novel for adults from an A to Z dictionary of words about love. What I liked the most was the absence of information that forces the reader to fill in the blanks.  I’m often suspicious about gimmicky novels, but this one works really well at telling an interesting story in a new way.

This is a Semi-Hard-Boiled Noir parody placed in a high school to maximum effect.  Great puns, inventive use of language,  and social hierarchy commentary make this a fun and engaging read.  Even though it’s marketed as a YA novel, much of the humor is more accessible to middle aged readers- so I would recomend it to teens and adult fans of noir. 

Another first novel that’s leaving a tremendous impression on me.  Mostly a walking tour of New York City and Brussels with flashbacks to Nigeria as our protagonist ruminates and interacts with the build environment.  This is W G Sebald territory, but I for one, welcome philosophical meanderings when done with real history and thoughtful reflections.  Lovely book club choice.

A fresh take on the slacker coming of age story, “I’m learning I’m a very powerful Necromancer, but my friend’s severed head in the bowling bag is really hard to stomach”, yet it remains delightfully tongue in cheek.  And I dare you not to sing the title out loud over and over again.  Fun, fun, fun. For teens and grownups.