I’ve been going on a bit of a YA reading spree lately, but I’ve been fairly disappointed by the fact that so many of the protagonists in this genre are female. I have nothing against female protagonists, but the imbalance in the genre is overwhelming. Where are the books for boys? Where are the coming-of-age…
Read MoreAll articles filed in fiction
This Is What Obsession Feels Like
Obsession [uh b-sesh–uh n] (noun) 1. The domination of one’s thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, desire, image, etc. What was the last thing you were obsessed with? Something so gripping that you just couldn’t get it out of your mind, that your waking and dreaming moments were defined almost exclusively by that one thing? Maybe…
Read MoreBook Review: “Shatter Me” by Tahereh Mafi
I finally did something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. I bought the first book in Tahereh Mafi’s new series, SHATTER ME, which was released in November of 2011 by Harper/Harper Collins. Her second book, UNRAVEL ME, was just released on Feb. 5, which made me think, “Oh, how easy it will…
Read MoreBook Review: “Ready, Player One” by Ernest Cline
READY, PLAYER ONE is a vivid and compelling story: a fast-paced sci-fi novel that takes place largely in virtual reality, with a double helping of 1980s pop culture references and video game trivia. Centered around the quest to find an “egg” hidden inside this virtual world that contains the key to the largest private fortune…
Read MoreBook Review: “Days of Blood and Starlight”
In June of this year, I read and reviewed the first book in Laini Taylor’s bestselling series, “Daughter of Smoke and Bone”. I called it–and I was not alone in this–“young adult fiction”, for its fantasy elements, its playful and inspired prose, and its plot-driven, fast-paced machinery. This second book, however, defies that categorization. Maybe…
Read MoreBook Review: “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius”
A critic’s darling, a national bestseller, winner of a plethora of book awards (I’m sure, though my politico fact checkers have yet to comment on this unverified claim), a not-quite heartbreaking work of perhaps some form of genius—and yet at the heart of it all I get the sense that Dave Eggers is mocking both…
Read MoreBook Review: “Insurgent” by Veronica Roth
We’re back this week with a review of INSURGENT, the second book in the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth. I reviewed DIVERGENT, the first one in the series, last week, with an ish-ish review explaining that I wasn’t terribly fond of that one, but it was worth it to read the second. In INSURGENT, we…
Read MoreBook Review: “Divergent” by Veronica Roth
Hello to all my … loyal … readers! Wow, it’s been a long time since I blogged. I went from doing a post a week, to a post every two weeks, to … a post a month … well, at least I’m writing one now, right? That makes up for it, doesn’t it? Well, anyway.…
Read MoreBook Review: “Daughter of Smoke and Bone”
Wrote this one out in advance—snagged a few minutes of internet time to post it online. Expect lots more book reviews in coming weeks – with internet access once every few days, I have plenty of time to read. Because I am in the process of working on a young adult fiction novel myself, I’ve…
Read More
The Z-Axis 