July Retrospective

 It's been a while since I just went rogue and read according to my whims. It was a pretty successful month. I read 14 books and liked or loved just about everything that I read. I finally got around to reading Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz. I have this thing (just ask Ryan) where anything that is pushed too hard as being the next great whatever causes me to get reflexively resistant. I don't do it on purpose and I don't know whether its a natural skepticism or anxiety that it can't live up to the hype, but I just get entrenched and avoidant. Aristotle and Dante won about 20 awards the year it came out, and even though I try to read all the award winners, somehow I just couldn't get around to it. I'm not sure it's as transcendentally awesome as it's hype would suggest, but it is an extraordinary book about identity and growing up. Completely worthwhile on any reading list.

I read four books by Victoria Schwab. Yes, four! I finished out the Cassidy Blake series (which I already posted about) and started the Monsters of Verity Series. Victoria (or V.E.) is swiftly emerging as one of my favorite writers. I love her fantasy worlds. While they are far from drear, there's a darkness to all of them and they are all so very different. 

I also read five books that weren't YA, which is none too shabby. I particularly liked The 22 Murders of Madison May by Max Barry which is delightfully surreal. So, it's been a great month in reading. Below is the list of read books for July:

1. City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
2. John Eyre: A Tale of Darkness and Shadow by Mimi Matthews
3. Dance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman
4. The 22 Murders of Madison May by Max Barry
5. A Fatal Grace by  Louise Penny
6. Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab
7. Phantom Dream, Vol 1 by Natsuki Takaya
8. Liselotte &Witch's Forest, Vol 1 by Natsuki Takaya
9. Bridge of Souls by Victoria Schwab
10. Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
11. This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab
12. Phantom Dream Vol 2 by Natsuki Takaya
13. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
14. When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson

 There are different kinds of science fiction. Some varieties are pretty light on the science and really are more like fantasy with aliens. Those books are easy to read. If there is something challenging, it is usually the ordinary character line sorts of things. Spin isn't the easy kind of science fiction. It's an intense read from beginning to end and it's a long book. 

Spin walks the line between speculative fiction and hard science fiction. The premise is that one day a mysterious membrane envelopes the earth. All the stars go out and the moon disappears, but a facsimile of the sun rises and sets each day. The biggest problem is that for ever second on earth, about three years goes by outside the membrane. Clearly it is not a natural occurrence and at that rate, the life cycle of the sun quickly becomes a concern. From their perspective, the expansion of the sun is imminent event; the world is going to end.

The novel is from the perspective of Tyler Dupree who is a child at the beginning of the story. He is with his friends, the twins Jason and Diane, when the membrane shuts down the sky. He later becomes a doctor and ends up working at a super elite aero-space agency for his friend Jason who is now the leading genius researching the membrane, which they end up calling the spin. Diane joins one of the many extreme religious groups that pop up.

The central line of the story is the mystery of the membrane. Who created it and why? The more they figure out about it, the less sense it seems to make. It really feels like the world is ending and society's reaction to it is down-right depressing mainly because it feels accurate. 

I had a hard time reading this one, not because it wasn't good, but because it crawled into my head and tanked my mood. Spin is the first of a series and I spent most of the read convinced of two things: 1. I was absolutely going to finish the book and 2. I was absolutely never going to pick up the second book. Well, I did finish it and the last 100 pages changed my mind on the second point.

It's a fascinating read, but you have to have faith in the story. Otherwise, it's just incredibly grim and depressing for over half the book.

Cassidy Blake Series by Victoria Schwab

 Part of the reason for my renewed interest in reading YA is that I've had a lot of requests lately for genres that I just didn't have a lot of ideas for. The two big ones causing difficulty are horror and mystery. For many of my kids, I have no problem handing them a non-YA if it's in their interest area, but I don't feel as comfortable doing that with either Horror or Mystery.  It's probably already obvious, but both those genres tend to have disturbing or graphic scenes. (There can also be a surprising amount of sex.) Classic authors are a little safer than contemporary ones, but getting a kid to read something described as classic has its own pitfalls. 

In any case, I'm delighted when I find something good that meets my needs. I've been a fan of V.E. Schwab for a while, but this is my first foray into her YA material. I just finished the Cassidy Blake series and I really hope that she's planning to write more (although I suspect she's done with this one.) Cassidy is a 12 year old who had a nearly tragic accident the year before the beginning of the series. She fell into an icy river and temporarily died. She was saved by a ghost named Jacob who is now tangled up with her and is, in effect, haunting her. Additionally, she can now cross the veil and interact with ghosts.

Cassidy's parents are co-authors of a series of books about ghosts. Their books get optioned for a television series, so Cassidy gets to go on a whirlwind tour of the most haunted cities in the world. Of course, this turns into a problem since A-it turns out that Cassidy is supposed to be doing something with the ghosts and B-not all ghosts are friendly.

City of Ghosts - set in Edinburgh. Cassidy meets a fellow veil-walker and encounters a murderous ghost. In this volume Cassidy transitions from a miserable pre-teen to a young woman with a purpose. It's a solid self-discovery story with a seriously creepy opponent.

Tunnel of Bones - set in Paris. After the events of the previous book, Cassidy has to work to regain the trust of her parents while dealing with a violent poltergeist she accidently attracted. None of the methods she learned in the previous book seem to be working. In this volume, Cassidy solidifies her abilities and gains confidence.

Bridge of Souls - set in New Orleans. Maybe the end of the series...maybe not. This one's all about relationships. Cassidy must work to save both Jacob (her ghost) and Lara (the other veil-walker from the first book) after she attracts the attention of an Emissary of Death. 

Overall, it's an excellent series with a lot of good character growth for Cassidy. I'm really pleased to add them to my classroom library.