Angelfall

I good friend of mine presented me with Angelfall on my 36th Birthday.  Knowing what kinds of books I love, she took a leap of faith, having not read it herself. I'm so glad she did!

Angelfall is the first novel by writer Susan Ee and fits right into the YA books I seem to love so much.  Even though I had promised myself to stay away from all of the post-apocalyptic books out there (with December 21, 2012 coming and going without a bang), I immediately felt compelled to read the book after reviewing the book description. 

For those who've read The Hunger Games, you'll want to give Angelfall a read.  Angelfall's protagonist Penryn is reminiscent of Katniss.  Penryn is a caring, loving, protective daughter and sister whose mother has failed to live up to her motherly role, leaving her to protect her sister as their mother should.  She's strong willed and determined to help her family find a safe haven in a world that has been shattered by war.  In this case, their splintered world isn't decades after a man-made battle, it's only weeks after Angels have fallen from the skies, to completely obliterate the Earth as we know it. 

Without giving too much away, the book starts off with Penryn trying to escape her apartment with her mother and wheelchair bound sister.  They've been living as long as possible in an area that has become overwhelmed with street gangs, and during their attempted escape, Penryn's sister is taken by Angels.  She makes a deal with Raffe, an Angel whose wings were cut off, in hopes of finding her sister in exchange of finding someone to help Raffe reattach his wings.  On their journey to a location protected and inhabited by powerful Angels, they come across many obstacles, both humans and Angels, and they all discover there is much more to the post-apocalyptic world Earth has become. 

Shortly after reading Angelfall, I started following Susan Ee on Facebook. She was pleased to announce Angelfall becoming a movie in the near future. I can't wait to see Susan Ee's book brought to life on the big screen.  With all the action sequences and Angel wings flapping and flying, I expect it may even have a 3D release. Readers should also expect to see a sequel to the book in late 2013. I really hate having to wait this long, but I will be one of the first ones to purchase the book, and to see the movie. 

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Dark Places was another book I picked up on my Kindle because it had a high star rating and I was looking for a new author to follow.  I had also read some great reviews about her newest book, Gone Girl: A Novel, but I wanted to purchase something that was less expensive (I'm cheap that way). 

Normally I read more paranormal books or books that fall into the young adult reading category, but I lept outside of my reading comfort zone to a darker, murder mystery.  I'm happy I did and look forward to reading more by Gillian Flynn. 

Dark Places is exactly what the title states.  Libby Day's family was murdered when she was a child and hasn't been able to grow into a fully-functioning adult.  She's run out of money and as a means to generate some cash, she teams up with a member from a local Kill Club (a group obsessed with famous crimes).  By involving herself with the Kill Club, she takes cash in exchange for information and leads to satisfy their cravings for facts on the murders so they can prove the innocence of Ben, Libby's brother who was accused of the crime and has spent his life in prison. 

Gillian Flynn writes the book from various perspectives, and does a great job at arranging the time line so it is completely fluid.  Libby's perspective provides us with the present-day account of her life and all its pitfalls.  When the past comes up, a chapter written in the perspective of either Libby's brother Ben, or her mother's, gives the reader insight into what was actually going on in the days before the murders.  Libby was a young child at the time, and the reader gets to see what Libby is missing and working to find out. 

The ending of the book wasn't predictable at all.  In fact, I was quite surprised and impressed by the twists and turns Flynn's writing takes.  Since I don't normally read Murder Mysteries, I can't really compare this to any others out there.  It truly does take the reader to some dark places, and for someone who is normally reading YA, paranormal stories, it was something I had to read a little at a time.  I truly did enjoy the book and when I'm ready to go down that path again, I will be picking up another Gillian Flynn book. 

Beautiful Creatures

While anxiously awaiting the beginning of The Hobbit: An Unxpected Journey to start, 3D glasses on, popcorn in hand, with my son and husband seated to my left, I was saw the Beautiful Creatures movie trailer.  Instantly I knew this must have been based on a book, and was probably another YA (young adult) series.  Sure enough, I went home and found it on my Kindle.  As always, I started with the free preview download and sped through it, making my purchase for the book in no time.

For those YA readers out there, especially those who enjoy propular series like the Twilight Saga and The Hunger Games Trilogy (both of which I thoroughly enjoyed), you will most likely enjoy the first installment in the Beautiful Creatures series.  Think Bella and Edward.  However, this time we have Lena, a beautiful, mystical Caster (witch) and Ethan, a mere mortal who has fallen in love with the one girl he is told he can never have.  Like Bella and Edward, they refuse all laws of their respective supernatural worlds, and are determined to be together. 

Other interesting characters are mixed into the little southern town of Gatlin, where nothing is as it seems.  There's Macon, Lena's reclusive uncle the entire town seems to be scared by, and Amma, Ethan's surrogate mother with a deep family history rooted in mysticism.  The local Librarian is more than meets the eyes, and Ethan's dad is hopelessly stuck living in a room that embodies the smells and memories of Ethan's mother, who passed away within the past year.  There are good witches, bad witches, and something else in between.  Cheerleaders (think Mean Girls), jocks, the Ladies' Auxillary, and more can be found in Gatlin, all creating bumps on the way to Lena and Ethan's ultimate purpose: to halt Lena's destiny to cross over to the dark side, so to speak.

Personally, I love YA books because they are normally quick reads and are free from the adult romance that leads to affairs and, well, you know...  The series seems to have potential and I look forward to seeing it on the big screen.  Adults may not enjoy this book like the Twi-Hard Moms do, but I can see teens and early twenty-year-olds enjoying it.  If you're looking for something to read over a weekend or during a holiday break, Beautiful Creatures might be the one for you.

The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal

For the off-beat book readers and lovers of literature, The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal supply much of what these types of readers are looking for - energy, imagination, and friendship. Although the characters are far from your garden-variety, everyday people, the story itself is unique and witty. If you enjoy storytelling and the artistry of epic literary works, The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal is worth picking up and delving into.

The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal
by Sean Dixon

“A heavily embroidered coming-of-age tale.... Energetic....Full of sound and fury.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Imaginative.” —Library Journal

“An unapologetically high-concept novel that is both giddy and reverential.” —Quill and Quire

The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal by Sean Dixon is a mischievous rites of passage tale that takes place just as the Iraq war is exploding. The misfits and oddballs that make up the members of the Lacuna Cabal Montreal Young Women’s Book Club pride themselves on their good taste, intelligent discussions, and impeccable opinions. But what makes them different from other clubs is that they actually enact the books they are reading—until one of the books starts enacting their lives, so to speak.

And this book is The Epic of Gilgamesh—one of the earliest known works of literary fiction. As we know from the start, this epic poem begins “as an adventure story about a hero and his friend, but then somebody dies and everything changes and the hero goes on a long journey, in search of wisdom and the secret of eternal life.” Life imitates art, and our cast of characters set out on their own parallel journey to break their archetypes, discover their identities and places in the world, and grapple with the uncertainty of their futures.

The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal is a wildly ambitious novel that is infused with literary references from Margaret Atwood to Anne Carson to Michael Ondaatje. While the story has a surface veneer of playfulness with its raucous dark humor, underneath lies a deep exploration of human fragility and loneliness. Sean Dixon has succeeded in creating an original work that resolutely redefines the postmodern canon of literature by bringing it back to its core—the power of storytelling.

About the Author
Sean Dixon is a writer, occasional essayist, stage actor, and banjoist. His work has been published in The Globe and Mail, This Magazine, Canadian Theatre Review, and Brick, A Literary Journal. He gave up jobs as a shipper-receiver, a poster boy (of the putting up on billboards variety), and a prison driver to become a writer. He lives and plays banjo in Toronto and is currently working
on his next novel.