As you can tell by the title, this is not a YA book. Nor is it about a typical centenarian. This is a humorous romp whose cohesive factor is booze, namely the power of booze to overcome conflict.  Jonas Jonasson's Allan Karlsson is a funny codger who's been instrumental in almost every major political event in the last 80 years, popping up a la ( Read more... )

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This is what I read after Kadrey's incredibly good Sandman Slim series. After effortless prose, I had to read the overwrought, underplotted Boneshaker. I don't like to leave a book unfinished, but I should have. Mom chases runaway teen, battles mad scientist. Ugh. Paper-thin characterizations, bad science (is steampunk an excuse for bad science?), ( Read more... )

I like Benedict Cumberbatches' Sherlock, sometimes more than I like the BBC's writing, so when I heard I could read about a similarly Aspergian detective, I was intrigued. It's a whodunit set in an alternate Victorian England steeped in magic, Steampunk by way of Mieville (people are remade as in Perdido Street Station), and introduces a Boadicean ( Read more... )

Interesting read about subconscious information acquisition and decision-making. Lots of studies and anecdotes illustrating that: 1) too much information impairs decision-making and 2) we filter out a lot of what we notice, which means that, at worst, we are all pretty easily manipulated and often act out of prejudice, and at best, we know things ( Read more... )

With death, war, racism and superstition as her needles, Obreht has knitted the Balkans a surprisingly sympathetic portrait. Strange media, you say? True. But that's art.  This first novel is about a young doctor driving on war-torn backroads to inoculate orphans, along the way seeing things from too close to make sense of them and, at other times ( Read more... )

I'd love to be able to talk to someone about this book. It won't leave my head ( Read more... )

I enjoyed this sword and sorcery tale set in an Arabic world. Ahmed does a good job of sketching believable characters in interesting relationships complicated by generation gaps; religious intolerance, and class, educational and cultural divides. Whether it's two geriatric friends lovingly cussing each other out or two teenagers painfully avoiding ( Read more... )

Habibi, graphic novel by Craig Thompson ( Read more... )