The Rad Librarian

Mindbending comic about a mad botanist researching a new plant in 2060.  The art is exquisite and paints the overlapping realities in an visually stunning manner.  Great to own and refer back to.

When I tell people that 9 out of the 20 largest economies in the world are virtual, they just don’t believe me.  “But it’s just fake gold/whuffies/tokens right?”  People buy and sell and speculate on these games with real money.  Put it this way.  World of Warcraft’s economy is worth more than  either Portugal’s or Poland’s.  Which leads to a great young adult novel about the workers who make their living in these games and their global effort to organize their labor.  Doctorow creates a believable, fast paced adventure novel across many countries with important economic lessons.  Just the relationship between the IWW and the IWWWW  is worth the price of the novel.  Teens and adults will like this in equal measures.

Winner of the Man Asian Literary prize as an unpublished manuscript, this is a dazzling debut about the Philippines and its search for identity; both personal and political.  The multiple voice used to tell the narrative were complex and played off each other in a lovely ruminating way.  Highly recommended.

Fun and adventurous young adult dystopian tale of a Prison who becomes self aware.  My teen bookclub loved this the most this year, and the surprise ending made it even better.  The adults who have read it also enjoyed the world building and twists and turns. 

Great premise-  A man pens his memoirs while being trapped on a zeppelin controlled by mechanical men while he searches for his lover who must be on board somewhere.  All hail the editor of this well paced strange tale.  The short narratives make this unique story build well, and readers will delight at the level of imagination on display.

Just like the title suggests- these are 40 short stories of possible afterlives.  Eagleman, a nueroscientist who studies brains and consciousness, has created a very thoughprovoking collection.  My wife and I took turns reading the tales out loud to each other which sparked great conversation.  Simply lovely.

An artificial Alien barrier is placed around the earth which keeps it sealed while time outside the “Spin” moves millions of years in the future.  Are the Hypotheticals who created the barrier benevolent or sinister?  The human drama is well developed within the science fiction framework.  It’s a very engaging story that keeps the reactions of people  plausible when they think the world is going to end.  Highly recommended for readers who don’t usually try a SF novel

Very inventive Montreal based novel of synesthesia and hypermnesia (perfect memory) that used multiple narrative devices to good use.  Noel, who has the above mentioned abilities,  tries to cure his mother’s Alzheimer’s disease as well as growing to maintain his own relationships.  

A dead cop trying to solve his own murder works on a number of levels in this interesting and well paced novel.  The Chinese mythology, complex characters, and exciting action makes it a quick fun read. 

Okay, here’s my first negative review.  I was bored by the glacial pace of this year’s Newbery winner.  100 pages in and I would have stopped reading, but I’m asked often for award winner J and YA titles, so I toughed it out.  What a big waste of time.  A gentle New York in the 70’s time travel story that would be forgotten if it was written in the  70’s and now it’s just as boring.  Nothing new plot -weak characterization. No no no.