Category Archives: Year

House of Many Ways, by Diana Wynne Jones (audio)

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Thistle

House of Many Ways is the third book in the Howl series, and like Castle in the Air, it is more a companion novel than a direct sequel. Once again, this book takes place a couple years after the last … Continue reading →

Posted in 2012, Prose, Young Adult | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Cinder, by Marissa Meyer

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Thistle

Cinder is a retelling of Cinderella, set in future-world China on a background of cyborgs and plague and intergalactic politics. I’ll be short with this review. I wasn’t sure I would like this book. It seemed everyone was reading it, … Continue reading →

Posted in 2012, Prose, Young Adult | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Castle in the Air, by Diana Wynne Jones (audio)

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Thistle

In Zanzib, a city in a land south of Ingary, a carpet merchant named Abdullah dreams of meeting and falling in love with a princess. He buys a magic carpet from a stranger one day, and that night, finds himself … Continue reading →

Posted in 2012, Prose, Young Adult | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Howl’s Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones (audio)

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Thistle

Sophie Hatter is the eldest of three girls in a land where fairy tale is the norm. She doesn’t expect much from herself, since nothing ever happens for the oldest daughter in fairy tales, and is resigned to a life … Continue reading →

Posted in 2012, 2013, 2016, 2020, Prose, Young Adult | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Dream, by Émile Zola

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Thistle

In a small town outside of Paris, a nine-year-old orphan named Angelique sits outside a cathedral the night after Christmas. It’s snowing, and she has nothing on but rags. She stares up at the images carved into the cathedral’s wall, … Continue reading →

Posted in 2012, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

You’re (Not) the One, by Alexandra Potter

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Thistle

I’m not really big into chick-lit. In fact, I think I can count on one hand the number of chick-lit novels I’ve read, and still have fingers left. I can only recall one other one off the top of my … Continue reading →

Posted in 2011, Adult, Prose | Leave a comment

Protected: The Raising, by Laura Kasischke

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Thistle

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Posted in 2011, Adult, Prose | Tagged , | Enter your password to view comments.

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern, are Dead by Tom Stoppard

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Thistle

Hard to know what to say about this one. I saw the play about 18 months before I read it. I quite enjoyed the performance, though I felt a little lost every time they switched into Shakespeare-speak, because Shakespeare’s language … Continue reading →

Posted in 2011, Adult, Drama | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, by Michelle Hodkin

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Thistle

I’m in two minds about this book, so I’ll get the negative out of the way first. The writing was not my favorite, and the characterization of the teens seemed really stereotypical/cliched, particularly in the beginning. The plot meandered a … Continue reading →

Posted in 2011, 2012, Prose, Young Adult | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Thistle

So this book has been big news for the last few months. Unfortunately, I was not really blown away by it the way many people seem to be. The story was fun enough, and creative, but I had quite a … Continue reading →

Posted in 2011, Prose, Young Adult | Tagged , | 1 Comment