Books Read in August
1. Whit – Iain Banks. I read this as a teenager and upon re-read, I found it a lot funnier than I remembered. A great book told from the point of view of a girl raised in a cult (rather gentler on the whole than, say, the People’s Temple) who has to go into the big, wide world to find her possibly apostate cousin.
2. Otherbound – Corinne Duyvis. I got to read this well in advance. Are you jealous? You should be jealous. It’s a wonderful book about a boy who’s transported into the life of a mute girl in another world every time he blinks.
3. Little Star - John Ajvide Lindqvist – A very creepy tale about a psychopathic young girl who goes on Swedish Idol. But it’s a lot more than that.
4. The Bone Season – Samantha Shannon – I think the hype sort of jaded me going in. I was left a little cold by it, but because it starts so slow, I think I’ll give the sequel a chance to see what happens now that the world has been set up.
5. Saga Volume 1 - Brian K. Vaughan – I loved Y: The Last Man so borrowed this when I was in Amsterdam visiting Corinne. A great opening to a new series and I’ll be continuing. Love the mesh of sci fi and fantasy.
6. The Diamond Age – Neal Stephenson – Another re-read. I loved it when I was 15 and loved it now. So complicated and wonderfully written. I love Nell!
7. Blood and Feathers – Lou Morgan. A Mushens agent-sister book. I’ll admit that angels aren’t my favourite supernatural creatures to read about, but this was snappily written and lots of fun.
8. The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making – Cat Valente. This was on sale for Kindle so I snapped it up. Beautifully written but a bit too twee for me. Think I wasn’t quite in the right mood for it. It’ be something great to read to an 11-12 year old, though.
Total for the year:
