Thursday, February 28, 2013

Hedgie's Must Reads: February 2013


While other people made themselves sick on too many candied hearts and caramel-filled chocolates, and ruined their noses with smelling too many flowers and their own perfume, the Reading Hedgehog and I made ourselves sick on books. And while they made dates with their beaus and peer sadly into their now-depleted pocket-books, we hung out with a ton of books in my library, staying up to ungodly hours and whispering sweet good-nights when the clock finally announced that I was being ridiculous - did I want to look like a nocturnal creature in the morning? This didn't bother the hedgie, of course, since he is a nocturnal creature. There were a few book-dates that I would rather have canceled, but there were quite a few good ones, too, and here they are!

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Review: Death Cloud - Andrew Lane

Death Cloud by Andrew Lane
Series: Young Sherlock Holmes #1
Genre: YA, historical fiction, mystery, Sherlockian fiction
Published on February 1, 2011
Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Pages: 311
Read From: 2.21.13 - 2.24.13










SYNOPSIS
It is the summer of 1868, and Sherlock Holmes is fourteen. On break from boarding school, he is staying with elderly relatives in the country and expecting a tedious vacation. Instead, he finds himself in the midst of a shocking murder mystery. Two local men have died from symptoms resembling the plague. Soon it is clear they have not died from natural causes. 

Monday, February 25, 2013

Review: The Steam Mole - Dave Freer

The Steam Mole by Dave Freer
Series: Cuttlefish #2
Genre: YA, alternate history, steampunk
Published on December 4, 2012
Published by Prometheus Books
Pages: 300
Read From: 2.17.13 - 2.21.13










SYNOPSIS
Tim Barnabas is a submariner from the Cuttlefish, a coal-fired submarine.  Clara Calland is the daughter of a scientist who carries a secret formula that threatens British Imperial power. After a daring chase across the globe, they have brought the secret to Westralia. Here, much of Australia is simply too hot to be habitable by day. People are nocturnal, living underground and working outside at night. To cross the deserts they use burrowing machines known as "steam moles." With the Cuttlefish out of action, her crew take jobs on these submarine-like craft. 

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Review: Fever - Lauren DeStefano

Fever by Lauren DeStefano
Series: The Chemical Garden Trilogy #2
Genre: YA, futuristic, romance
Published on February 21, 2012
Published by Simon & Schuster
Pages: 341
Read From: 2.15.13 - 2.17.13










SYNOPSIS
Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago - surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness. 

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Review: Cinder - Marissa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #1
Genre: YA, fairytale retelling, science fiction, futuristic
Published on January 3, 2012
Published by Feiwell & Friends
Pages: 387
Read From: 2.11.13 - 2.14.13











SYNOPSIS
Sixteen-year-old Cinder is considered a technological mistake by most of society and a burden by her stepmother. Being a cyborg does have its benefits, though: Cinder's brain interface has given her an uncanny ability to fix things (robots, hovers, her own malfunctioning parts), making her the best mechanic in New Beijing. This reputation brings Prince Kai himself to her weekly market booth, needing her to repair a broken android before the annual ball. He jokingly calls it "a matter of national security," but Cinder suspects it's more serious than he's letting on. 

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Review: Prodigy - Marie Lu

Prodigy by Marie Lu
Series: Legend Trilogy #2
Genre: YA, dystopian, futuristic, action
Published on January 29, 2013
Published by Putnam
Pages: 371
Read From: 2.9.13 - 2.11.13










SYNOPSIS
After escaping from the Republic's stronghold of Los Angeles, June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the pair joins a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and who offer them passage to the Colonies. The Patriots have only one request - June and Day must assassinate the new Elector. 

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Review: The Book of Blood and Shadow - Robin Wasserman

The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman
Genre: YA, adventure, mystery
Published on April 10, 2012
Published by Knopf Books
Pages: 432
Read From: 2.1.13 - 2.9.13












SYNOPSIS
Nora's best friend, Chris, is dead. His girlfriend, Adriane, is catatonic. And Max, Nora's sweet, smart, soft-spoken Prince Charming, is gone. He is also - according to the police, according to her parents, according to everyone - a murderer. 

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Review: On a Foreign Field - Hazel West

On a Foreign Field by Hazel West
Genre: YA, historical fiction
Published on July 25, 2012
Published by CreateSpace
Pages: 360
Read From: 2.1.13 - 2.7.13











SYNOPSIS
Sir Reeve Montgomery is an Englishman born and bred, proud of her heritage and the right to serve his country fighting against the Scottish rebels. But when the tide is turned unexpectedly during the Battle of Stirling Bridge, he is wounded by an English arrow, left for dead by his comrades, and taken captive by Wallace's army. Wounded, and alone on a foreign field, he knows he should expect nothing but torture and death at the hands of the Scottish rebels who are known to be complete savages. 

Monday, February 11, 2013

Review: Seconds Away - Harlan Coben

Seconds Away by Harlan Coben
Series: Mickey Bolitar #2
Genre: YA, mystery, suspence
Published on September 18, 2012
Published by Putnam
Pages: 338
Read From: 1.30.13 - 2.1.13













SYNOPSIS
When tragedy strikes close to home, Mickey Bolitar and his loyal new friends - sharp-witted Ema and the adorkably charming Spoon - find themselves at the center of a murder mystery involving their friend Rachel. Now, now only does Mickey have to continue his quest to uncover the truth about the Abeona Shelter and the Butcher of Lodz, he needs to figure out what happened to Rachel - no matter what it takes. 

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Review: The Beggar Queen - Lloyd Alexander

The Beggar Queen by Lloyd Alexander
Series: Westmark Trilogy #3
Genre: Middle Grade, adventure
Published on April 12, 1984
Published by E.P. Dutton
Pages: 237
Read From: 1.23.13 - 1.31.13










SYNOPSIS
The war within Regia is over, but the people who fought together for freedom now fight each other in the streets. Theo, Florian, and Justin, once comrades in arms, now leaders in Westmark's government, are themselves locked in conflict. 

Friday, February 1, 2013

Review: Rootless - Chris Howard

Rootless by Chris Howard
Series: Rootless #1
Genre: YA, futuristic
Published on November 1, 2012
Published by Scholastic
Pages: 336
Read From: 1.26.13 - 1.30.13











SYNOPSIS
Seventeen-year-old Banyan is a tree builder. Using scrap metal and salvaged junk, he creates forests for rich patrons who seek a reprieve from the desolate landscape. Although Banyan's never seen a real tree - they were destroyed more than a century ago - his father used to tell him stories about the old world. But that was before his father was taken. . . .