Steelheart

By Brandon Sanderson

What can I say: I saw evil superheroes and underground freedom fighters in the description and was instantly sucked in. This could have ended in disappointment and disillusionment. I am pleased to say it didn't. This book was awesome. It was a cautionary tale on absolute corruption following on the heels of absolute power. There were no noble supers like Superman, Thor, and Batman fighting for the powerless. Instead, Sanderson created a completely believable account of what would really happen if an individual or group could do anything or take anything without fear of being stopped. It was a little terrifying.

As a child, David witnessed the rise of the Epics, human beings with remarkable superpowers that set them apart from everyone else, and he continued watching as the Epics descended into terror and cruelty. Then, David's father was murdered in a battle between two Epics, a battle that ended with Steelheart's rise to power over the city. Although he won, the battle exposed Steelheart's weakness: he can bleed. Steelheart believes that he successfully destroyed everyone who witnessed his moment of vulnerability, but David escaped. Years later, David has dedicated his life to discovering the weaknesses of all Epics and finding ways to defeat them, and he is now ready to find and join the shadowy rebel organisation known only as the Reckoners.

There was a lot to like in this book. The first chapter was background, but it didn't read like a history lesson. Instead, it was a fantastic scene full of action and gut-churning disdain for human life on the part of the Epics. It got me angry and invested and it hooked me instantly into the rest of the story. The hero was original and his actions were always situationally understandable and clearly explained, which really cut down on the time I usually spend yelling at random book characters and telling them what to do! The villains were equally believable. They were simply regular people with far too much power and, although horrifying, it was understandable why someone with that much uncontrollable power would start to unravel and how they could end up seeing people without such powers as inferior, even disposable.

This book was easy to pick up and hard to put down. Those who enjoy a good sci-fi or dystopian book will devour this one, but fans of superheroes, action, and fantasy will also find a lot to love in this fast-paced and unique story.

Book of the Month: July - Wanderlove

by Kirstin Hubbard

18-year-old Bria Sandoval has just graduated from high school, and already her life is not going as planned. Her parents are fighting a lot. Her boyfriend Toby has broken up with her. A talented artist, she has been accepted to the art school of her dreams, but she's decided not to go. Her friends bail on their planned backpacking trip. Bria then makes a life changing decision - she will still go on that backpacking trip to Central America, alone, in hopes of getting away from it all.
 
Arriving in Guatemala City, she is imme­di­ately dis­ap­pointed in her organized tour group and regretting every decision she's ever made. Then right in the airport, she meets a wild, adventurous girl named Starling and her younger half-brother, Rowan; experienced backpackers urging Bria to ditch her lame tour group and come with them instead. It's the perfect opportunity to do something she, and everyone back home, never thought she'd do.

As Bria joins them in their journey through an amazing part of the world, she realizes much about herself and what she's capable of. She can travel alone. She can make new friends. She can lose her camera and it's not the end of the world. In fact, it ends up being a blessing in disguise, because it encourages her to return to her true love...drawing. Bria starts to draw things that catch her eye through her travels, things and people that touch her heart, and the experiences she doesn't want to forget. These illustrations are included through the book and add a beautiful, moving element to the story.

There is a romantic subplot with Rowan that is a real slow burn, and fits the story perfectly. Both characters evolve as they get to know each other better and understand their common desire to run away from their old lives, and to discover their true selves.

A teen recommended this book to me a few years ago, and it became one of my most favourite books of all time. I hope that someone else enjoys it as much as I do!

The Boomerang Effect

The Boomerang Effect

By Gordon Jack

This is the first book that I have read in a really long time that actually had me laughing out loud. Let's just say the domino effect is in full force here, one bad decision can start a landslide!

Lawrence Barry is a junior and reminded me a little bit of Ferris Bueller except Lawrence's charm doesn't always hit the mark and readers end up feeling a little sorry for him rather that feeling he's "the coolest." There is a masked prankster on the lose and Lawrence is the prime suspect due to his "not-so-great" reputation. Thanks to a men-tee program Lawrence gets the chance to redeem himself showing a hidden intelligence and heart when he is forced to quit smoking pot. He's under the threat of reform school and there is nothing like threatening to take a person away from their friends to sober you up.

The Boomerang Effect is a pretty quick read and I would recommend it to the reluctant reader who, like myself, can find some books a little daunting. With a mystery, plenty of pranks and a good number of laughs the pages will fly by. With relatable characters and some silly situations Gordon Jack has created one entertaining read!

Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood

by Trevor Noah

You probably know Trevor Noah from Comedy Central's The Daily Show.  Trevor was a surprise pick to replace the indomitable Jon Stewart, but the South African comedian has slowly come into his own and as you read his new memoir, Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood, you might start to think perhaps Jon Stewart had a very good reason to pick Trevor as his successor.

Noah's story doesn't begin with his birth.  It goes back much further than that, when the white South African government imposed the system known as apartheid on its inhabitants, hitting black South Africans the hardest with repercussions that continue to this day. Noah's mother, Patricia, rebelled against apartheid as much as possible, becoming a secretary and then making the momentous decision to have a child.  But not just with anyone.  Patricia turned to a friend, Robert, who also just happened to be a white Swiss expat.  In South Africa at that time, it was not only illegal for Trevor's parents to have a sexual relationship, it was punishable by several years in prison.  Trevor's very existence was, in fact, evidence of a crime.

Trevor describes his childhood in a series of eighteen essays, that cover everything from his mother's insistence they attend three different churches on Sundays to his laughably inept attempts to woo girls in high school to the difficult and often turbulent relationship Trevor had with his abusive stepfather.  The essays are by turns funny, moving, and heartbreaking.  Throughout the essays, Trevor is careful to not only describe the effect apartheid had on his family and other black South Africans, but to multi-racial people labeled as "Colored,"  Trevor also points out the often arbitrary rules of apartheid that sometimes popped up seemingly overnight, with no other purpose than to further divide South Africa's black and Colored peoples.  He even devotes several pages to how apartheid affected his father and other whites who disagreed with apartheid.

If Trevor is the star of the show, his mother, Patricia, often steals the spotlight as his determined supporting actress.  If nothing else in the world, Patricia is often the voice of Trevor's conscience and the force nudging him to reach for something better.

The book is an easy read in terms of readability.  Trevor's voice shines through the page, and he makes it sound like he's sitting at a table in a coffee shop regaling his friends with the most meaningful moments of his childhood.  His language does get a bit salty at times, but it never comes off as gratuitous.  Another thing to keep in mind is the book doesn't move in a straight line from Trevor's birth to his early 20s.  I had a really hard time putting it down.  If you like memoirs, this is definitely one to read.

Book of the Month- June - We Are Still Tornadoes

We Are Still Tornadoes

We Are Still Tornadoes by Michael Kun and Susan Mullen follows the friendship of Catherine and Scott as they move on from high school. 

We learn about the ups and downs of Cath and Scott's lives this first year out of high school through their letters to each other. Cath has gone off to college and Scott has stayed behind in their home town to work in his father's store and to try to get his band up and running.

This tale of growing up takes place in the 1980's so there is no texting or email, just good old fashioned letters on school (Cath) and store (Scott) letterhead.  The letters back and forth make for a fast read, and the occasional urgent page turner (did Scott get that letter?!?!) to make sure the friends are up to date on the latest news from home and college. 

Through their letters to each other we meet their families, old school friends, old boy and girl friends, new friends and roommates. We experience the trials and tribulations of their first year out of the safe high school community with humour, sadness and joy as they support and offer honest guidance to each other. 

Having been best friends forever, it is logical that they are able to share their innermost thoughts about their lives and can fight, and laugh, and cry together and have such an honest relationship. Even though you know how it is going to end, it is a great fast read that I highly recommend.

Strange the Dreamer

 by Laini Taylor 

As a young orphan, Lazlo Strange loved nothing more than listening to a good story.  At the monastery where Lazlo was raised, an old monk would tell him countless stories of a wondrous place far from their war torn land. Two hundred years ago this mysterious land of riches was cut off from the outside world by an unknown force. Memories of the land slowly faded to myth, ultimately becoming but a fairy tale to most people. The monk recounted these fairy tales to young Lazlo, until, one day the name of the land was stricken from their minds and Lazlo and the monk could only call it Weep.  For years, Lazlo obsessed over the name of this place but only the name Weep would come to mind. 

Through a fortunate turn of events, Lazlo became a junior librarian in his capital city, a place that stored all manner of records on anything and everything, including fairy tales of the lost city of Weep.  Seven years pass and Lazlo, now a young man, has amassed a great wealth of knowledge on the city of Weep.

Enter the Godslayer. After 200 years of zero contact, an embassy from Weep has come to Lazlo’s city to offer the greatest minds of the land an opportunity to solve a mysterious problem.  An opportunity of a lifetime has presented itself, now it’s up to Lazlo to make it happen!  His knowledge of the lost city just might be his ticket to getting into the city itself!
  
Beautiful narrative and intriguing characters keep you guessing the whole way through.  Weep was a tantalizing enigma that had me tearing through chapters desperate to find out what happens next.

Book of the Month: May - Dragon Spring Road

by Janie Chang

Dragon Springs Road by B.C. author Janie Chang combines historical fiction and fantasy to present a coming of age story for a Eurasian girl named Jialing. Jialing is abandoned by her mother and taken on as a bond slave by the Yang family. She develops a friendship of sorts with the family’s daughter Anjuin. The story follows Jialing as she grows up and also chronicles the history of China, and in particular Shanghai from 1908-1919. As an ancient imperial dynasty collapses, a new government struggles to life and Jialing and Anjuin are bound together in friendship that will be tested by duty, honour, and love.

Dragon Springs Road is beautifully written and Jialing’s narration always feels honest. Jialing’s struggles and experiences as a Eurasian child are powerful; it’s painful growing up in a world where everyone looks down on a mixed race child. I really enjoyed the magical realism woven throughout  the book in the form of Fox spirit, and the gates. Fox keeps Jialing safe and shows her what is possible in the world. This enthralling story includes gangsters, racism, corruption and more.

The story telling flows in a lovely way, keeping you turning the pages. Dragon Springs Road is a testament to the strength of women shunned by society, who have their destiny tangled up with those who control them. It invites us to re-examine our relationship to place, identity and ancestry. It was both a pleasure and an education to read this sensitive, intelligent novel of our times. 

Note: There is some sexual content in the novel.

For read-alikes try Snow Flower and Secret Fan.