Superior Saturday--Garth Nix

If you're a "regular" reader of this barely updated blog, you'll know of my love affair with Garth Nix. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do when this series ends... I guess I'll have to wait for his next one.

Superior Saturday is the 6th in a 7 book series. I reviewed the last one here. You can get links to the others there as well.

Arthur, the rightful heir, has collected 5 parts of the will and 5 keys. Since using the keys are slowly turning him into a denizen, he has only kept one key in an attempt to keep himself human. In this book Arthur tries to find the 6th part of the will and 6th key, as he also tries to keep the House from disappearing into nothing.

I cannot tell you if he is successful. Not because of a desire to keep you unspoiled. But because this book is a MAJOR CLIFFHANGER.

This series is just amazing. There's adventure and fantasy and mystery. But there's also a lot of deep stuff for adults. There's the religious framework underlying the series...the 7 deadly sins... and so much more. This would make a great book discussion title. Or series discussion title.

Lock and Key--Sarah Dessen

17 year old Ruby didn't plan on her alcoholic mom abandoning her. She didn't plan on living alone and taking care of herself. She sure didn't plan on getting caught and being sent to live with her older sister Cora--who she hadn't seen in 10 years. But what she didn't plan most of all was finding a home.

I love Sarah Dessen and I've heard mixed reviews of this book. It wasn't her strongest, but I still enjoyed it. It was kind of funny how I could pick up on little things that have changed in her writing because of her life-changes... she recently had a baby and she had a character who was trying to have a baby and not successful. In one scene she's taking her temperature in the morning and Ruby assumes that she must be sick, but because things in MY life have changed as well, I instantly knew what she was doing (charting). I don't think that would have been in there 10 years ago.

There was definitely a message in this book, but I don't think it was as heavy-handed as I've read from other reviewers. Certainly not enough to detract from the overall quality. I'm a big Dessen fan though so maybe I'm biased.

Something to Blog About--Shana Norris

I picked this book up because of the title. It was a nice quick read. Here's the summary from the library catalog:

When pages from tenth-grader Libby Fawcett's password-protected blog are posted all over Yeardley High by her nemesis Angel Rivera, whose father is dating Libby's mother, the whole school finds out her humiliating secrets, as well as those of her friends and acquaintances.

I enjoyed the story and I liked the blogging aspect of it. I read it last month but forgot to post about it. It's your typical high school girl has her diary exposed story, but the blogging twist is new.

Powers--Ursula K. Le Guin

Title: Powers
Author: Ursula K. Le Guin
Pages: 502 p.
Publisher: Harcourt
ISBN: 9780152057701

This is the third book in the Annals of the Western Shore series. The first was Gifts
The second one was Voices and I have somehow not posted it here. I must have been pregnant.

Powers is about a young slave boy named Gavir who is able to both remember the past exactly (photographic memory) and remember things that haven't happened yet (predict the future). He doesn't understand his visions until after they have already happened. He is happy enough for a slave, trusting his "Family" completely, until a tragedy strikes and he questions his entire existence. He escapes slavery and begins looking for his true home and identity.

Le Guin is a good story teller and has created a likable, albeit naive character. All of her main characters are flawed in some way--Orrec, Memer (from Voices) and now Gavir. The ending of this book links it to the previous two and hints at more stories to come. It looks as though Le Guin is gathering her heroes... perhaps in the end they will change their oppressive world and get rid of the conflict of occupied countries and slavery?

Although the story itself does stand alone, fans of the first two will want to read this one as well.
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