Trancendence

Transcendence by C.J. Omololu
A librarian’s book review

Transcendence started out like a light chick-lit romance type read, but quickly became much more complicated. In Transcendence, the main character, Cole, finds that she has very strong deja vu and sometimes blacks out with flashbacks when she goes certain places. While on vacation with her family, Cole blacks out at the Tower of London and has an incredibly strong flashback where she sees herself beheaded. A guard is called to her aid and the guard’s son, Griffin, is given the duty of helping her to a café to make sure she is alright. Griffin and Cole are immediately attracted to each other, but Cole doesn’t understand why. Eventually, this bomb shell is answered later in the book. Griffin lives in the same town as Cole and they continue to see each other after her vacation. Cole discovers that both she and Griffin are ‘Ahket’ which means they can see past lives they have lived and can remember them. Cole finds out that there are good and bad Ahket in the world and in one of her past lives she may have caused a rogue ahket to hate her. Cole is a strong character, but flawed, and Griffin is almost too good to be true. The characters in Transcendence were very well thought out and had great depth. I really enjoyed this book and had a hard time putting it down after the first few chapters . It’s a very quick read. There is a great mystery at the heart of the book and even though it is a little predictable, it is still a great read. Transcendence leaves you on a bit of a cliff-hanger to lead into the next book in the series. I’m curious to see where this one ends up. I will be ordering it for my library for sure.

Star Fighters 1: Alien Attack!

Another review!

Star Fighters 1: Alien Attack by Max Chase
Star Fighters was the first book I’ve read in a long time that was for a younger audience. It is geared toward ages 7-10 and it is perfect for that age. It was a great little read, but ended too abruptly for my taste. I understand it was because the audience is so young, and also to bring readers to the next book in the series. The characters were well developed and even though it was a little predictable, it kept my interest. I recommended it to our children’s department for purchase. I may also buy a copy to read to my own daughter who is 5. It seemed like something she would enjoy.

Supernatural Devices - Review

Supernatural Devices: A Steampunk Scarlett Novel #1
By Kailin Gow

Supernatural Devices is really more of a historical paranormal novel, rather than a steampunk novel, which makes the title very misleading. The Devices are the only steampunk elements in the book and they don’t come into the story until almost the end. Most of the book is instead about a seventeen year old girl named Scarlett Seely who has second sight, which is the ability to see things such as ghosts and other paranormal beings. She is asked to help out on a case of theft by none other than the famous Sherlock Holmes. Because of her gift, Scarlett is very good at finding things, which is why Mr. Holmes calls for her assistance. As the story goes on, you find out that the item she is searching for is, in fact, a magic ring. There is a love triangle, a kidnapping, and a few attempted surprises which were very easy to predict. While this book will appeal to any paranormal fan, it was not very original and certainly will not appeal to those looking for a steampunk book. As the series continues, it has potential to turn into a steampunk series, but Supernatural Devices was nothing more than a pretty girl deciding “do I want the vampire or the bad boy fae?” The heroine was your stereotypical beauty who had long golden hair and a beautiful body and knew how to fight anything and everything. Scarlett was a strong character but she wasn’t very unique, and she also wasn’t very smart. This would be an additional purchase to a public library system.

Homework Help

So, I got a comment a few days back on one of my reviews from this kid who asked for my help. Now normally I'd be like oh yeah I'll help what do you need? Help researching something, help learning about something? No, he wanted me to explain to him exactly what a particular book was about, and the point of the book. Here's the exact comment: can u tell me the main proiblem in the book like whats the point of the book what do they need to do and what do they do i need the info for a book thin plz help. Now like I said, I don't mind helping with homework. But I will not do it for you. If you are searching and find one of my reviews only to ask me something that sounds like an assignment so you don't have to read the book, save your fingers. If you have read the book and want to discuss it then I'm more than willing to discuss it with you or help point out particular points. Happy Reading!

The Ripper by Amy Carol Reeves

The Ripper
by Amy Carol Reeves

The Ripper is a different take on the Jack the Ripper murders in 1888. It is the story of a young lady, Arabella (Abbie), who has a mental connection to The Ripper. Abbie is a very strong heroine who is new to London. She lives with her Grandmother in a large estate. Her mother and father are dead and Abbie has only recently moved in with Granny. Abbie is impulsive, stubborn, and not the cultured young woman her grandmother wants her to be. Instead, she is what her mother raised her to be; strong, smart, and tough. After a late night romp through the east end in pursuit of a pickpocket, Abbie’s grandmother is furious. Grandmother decides to punish Abbie in order to make Abbie realize how wonderful her life of ease is. A friend of Grandmother’s, Dr. Bartlett, has asked that Abbie assist him at Whitechapel Hospital. Whitechapel is a hospital for prostitutes and other women who are poor and have no where else to go for medical care. Grandmother expects Abbie to come running back after a week of hard work, but instead Abbie is immediately hooked on the job. She has a passion for caring for others and for helping the underdog. She meets two young doctors who become very important to her: one is a possible love interest and one is more of a friend and brother figure. The first murder occurs after Abbie has worked in Whitechapel for a few weeks. The victim is a prostitute who has recently been discharged from the hospital. Abbie sees the murder happen in her dreams, but thinks it’s a nightmare. The next day she finds out it was real.

The Ripper is a great read. It grabs you almost immediately and is very hard to put down. I was very surprised by the ending. The Ripper is not easy to predict, at least not for most of the book. There are always a few things that are easy to predict in most books, but this one kept me guessing. The only predictable part was which guy she would ultimately end up with, and who her real father was. The ending was a little unrealistic, but great for showing what an underestimated tough girl can do when she puts her mind to it. I do wish that Grandmother was a little more developed. It was easy to tell that she cared a lot for Abbie and didn’t want to lose her the way she had lost her daughter, Abbie’s mother. I also would have liked to know more about the butler, Richard. There was enough of a cliff-hanger ending that there could possibly be a sequel, but it was also wrapped up well enough that there doesn’t have to be one. This is a great book for opening discussions on several social problems in the past that are still going strong today, such as medical care for the poor and inequality among different classes of people. The Ripper would be a good choice for any public library.

Coming back to blogging...

It's been a while since I added a review on here but thanks to a new to me website I'm going to start again. I've joined a site called netgalley.com that will let me download free prepublished ebooks (Being a librarian has some cool perks!). I finished one recently so look for the review soon!

The Peculiars by Maureen doyle McQuerry

The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry

The Peculiars is a story that is mostly historical fiction, with a bit of steampunk, fantasy and sci-fi mixed in for good measure. It is the story of Lena, who has a birth defect. Her hands and feet are much longer than normal and because of this her grandmother says she is a goblin. Lena isn't sure, but after hearing her grandmother tell her this throughout her entire life, Lena wonders herself if it's true. Goblins are one of the 'peculiar' races, which are seen as inferior and have no rights. Lena's father, also a goblin according to her grandmother, deserted his family when she was five years old. Lena is afraid that the bad traits goblins have will cause her problems, and she sees some of these traits in herself. These traits and a hidden letter from her father, encourages Lena, on her 18th birthday to look for her missing father. Her mother assures her that he wasn't a goblin, but that he was just not made to be a family man. She leaves the comfort of her city and travels by train to a border-town called Knob Knoster.

After making a friend and having a bit of an adventure on the train to Knob Knoster, Lena arrives mostly safe and sound. Once she gets to town things really get interesting. She is hired to spy on a doctor who may or may not be breaking the law, and ends up learning a lot more than she bargained. I really liked Lena because she is a strong character who doesn’t want to conform in the way that society expects her to conform. Lena is adventurous, smart, and naive. She makes mistakes and learns from them, and she cares about her friends. Most of the 'goblin' traits are the traits of a smart, motivated young woman who wants more from her life than sitting in a parlor sewing and waiting suitors to come visit her. Most of the main characters were pretty well developed, but there were a few things that I would have liked to have cleared up; perhaps that will happen in a sequel. Although parts of the plot were predictable, there were quite a few things I didn't see coming. I will be purchasing this one for my library when it comes out. Ms. McQuerry did a very good job of describing what it feels like to be different and to want to hide the parts of our bodies that we don't see as 'beautiful'.

Thank You to Netgalley.com and Abrams for letting me read this one!