The Thing About Thugs

The Thing About Thugs by Tabish Khair
ARC provided by the publisher through TLC Book Tours
Description from back cover of the book:
In a small Bihari village, Captain William T. Meadows finds just the man to further his phrenological research back home: Amir Ali, confessed member of the infamous Thugee cult. With tales of a murderous youth redeemed, Ali gains passage to England, his villainously shaped skull there to be studied. Only Ali knows just how embroidered his story is, so when a killer begins depriving London’s underclass of their heads, suspicion naturally falls on the “thug.” With help from fellow immigrants led by a shrewd Punjabi woman, Ali journeys deep into a hostile city in an attempt to save himself and end the gruesome murders.
Ranging from skull-lined mansions to underground tunnels concealing a ghostly people, The Thing about Thugs is a feat of imagination to rival Wilkie Collins or Michael Chabon. Short-listed for the 2010 Man Asian Literary Prize, this Victorian role reversal is a sly take on the post-colonial novel and marks the arrival of a compelling Indian novelist to North America.

My take:
The Thing About Thugs is such an interesting book on many different levels.The premise of the book is intriguing and has enough potential scandal to draw the reader in. But there is so much more to this book.  Tabish Khair, the author, uses more than one type of storytelling in the novel. There is first-person narration, third-person narration, personal letters, and newspaper articles - all used to tell the story from different perspectives and in some cases, different versions of the same story. Once I got the various voices straight in my own mind, I thoroughly enjoyed the transitions from voice to voice and really loved the different views of the characters, events, motivations, and the world presented in each different type of storytelling. I especially enjoyed the disparity between the excerpts from the writings of Captain Meadows and Amir Ali's version written in his personal letters.

The mystery of exactly who is killing the members of London's underclass is never a mystery to the reader, but the general public and the authorities jump to all the wrong conclusions in the matter. The way the elites reason and the complete wrongness of their beliefs is quite fun to read. The limited views held by many about class, race, gender, etc. are all dealt with in the novel. While I did enjoy Amir Ali and his quest to find the real murderer, I found that the character I was the most interested in was Qui Hy - an intriguing, mystery of a woman who is more capable than most of the well-educated, wealthy men of the city. I so want to read more about her and her Irish husband. Such great characters!

The Thing About Thugs is a beautifully written book. Khair is a wonderful writer with great skill in descriptive writing. I absolutely loved his many, beautiful descriptions of Victorian London throughout the book. To compare this book to Wilkie Collins is quite apt. The atmosphere is similar and I feel the book should be savored in much the same way as one would savor a Wilkie Collins novel. The book is only 244 pages long, but I read it as slowly as I could to savor the words -- until a certain point in the story and then I just couldn't stop reading until I had reached the end. I would highly recommend this book.


About Tabish Khair

Tabish Khair is an award-winning poet, journalist, critic, educator and novelist. A citizen of India, he lives in Denmark and teaches literature at Aarhus University.Here is his website.

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book You can find the rest of the blog tour stops here.

The Prisoner of Heaven

The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
review copy provided by Harper Collins via TLC Book Tours
Description from book cover:
The internationally acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Carlos Ruiz Zafón takes us into a dark, gothic Barcelona and creates a rich, labyrinthine tale of love, literature, passion, and revenge in which the heroes of The Shadow of the Wind andThe Angel’s Game must contend with a nemesis that threatens to destroy them.

Barcelona, 1957. It is Christmas, and Daniel Sempere and his wife, Bea, have much to celebrate. They have a beautiful new baby son named Julián, and their close friend Fermín Romero de Torres is about to be wed. But their joy is eclipsed when a mysterious stranger visits the Sempere bookshop and threatens to divulge a terrible secret that has been buried for two decades in the city’s dark past. His appearance plunges Fermín and Daniel into a dangerous adventure that will take them back to the 1940s and the early days of Franco’s dictatorship. The terrifying events of that time launch them on a search for the truth that will put into peril everything they love and ultimately transform their lives.

Full of intrigue and emotion, The Prisoner of Heaven is a majestic novel in which the threads of The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel’s Game converge under the spell of literature and bring us toward the enigma hidden at the heart of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a collection of lost treasures known only to its few initiates, and the very core of Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s enchanting fictional world.

My take:

How should I start my review of The Prisoner of Heaven? This is the question that has been plaguing me for days now. I absolutely loved The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - this is the book I always recommend to absolutely everyone.  When The Angel's Game was released, I wanted to read it but I was so worried that it couldn't possibly live up to The Shadow of the Wind that I kept putting off actually reading it. I just really didn't want to be disappointed. But when I was given the opportunity to read The Prisoner of Heaven, I just had to jump at it. As the author says, each book can be read on its own. I think this is true because I had no problem following the storyline and was able to enjoy the book through to the end.

As with The Shadow of the Wind, I was drawn into the story from the first few pages. Once the mysterious stranger shows up and makes it necessary for Fermin to tell Daniel the story he has hinted at in the past, the reader is plunged into a terrific and horrific tale about Fermin's time in prison and fills in many gaps of history and explains a great many things. It also raises many more questions. This is one of the many things I love about Carlos Ruiz Zafon's writing. There are layers upon layers of story here. So much to think about and plots to try to unravel.

I'm a sucker for a book about books and, of course, The Shadow of the Wind fit that bill perfectly. I found The Prisoner of Heaven to be about books in a different way. While part of the story is about a writer, I found some of the motivation for much of the horror of events to be caused by the desire of  and envy of the ability to write well -- ambition above talent and total lack of morals. Everything seems to lead back to books and their ability to draw the reader into a new magical world.

After reading The Prisoner of Heaven, I can see that there is a much bigger story being woven here. The books seem to be piecing together the whole picture slowing and beautifully. The writing is absolutely beautiful and the way the story unfolds is masterful. There is just something about these books. I can't get them out of my head. I find myself thinking about them long after I have closed the book. This is always a sign that I've found something worth reading again and again. I will be reading The Angel's Game and anxiously looking forward to the next book in the series.


About Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Carlos Ruiz Zafón, author of two critically acclaimed and internationally bestselling novels, The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel’s Game, is one of the world’s most read and best-loved writers. His work, which also includes prizewinning young adult novels, has been translated into more than fifty languages and published around the world, garnering numerous international prizes and reaching millions of readers. He divides his time between Barcelona and Los Angeles.

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book. You can find the rest of the blog tour stops here.

The Car Thief

The Car Thief by Theodore Weesner
ARC provided by Blue Dot Literary
Description from Goodreads:
It’s 1959. Sixteen year-old Alex Housman has just stolen his fourteenth car and frankly doesn’t know why. His divorced, working class father grinds out the night shift at the local Chevy Plant in Detroit, kept afloat by the flask in his glove compartment and the open bottles in his Flint, Michigan home.

Abandoned and alone, father and son struggle to express a deep love for each other, even as Alex fills his day juggling cheap thrills and a crushing depression. He cruises and steals, running from, and to, the police, compelled by reasons he frustratingly can’t put into words. And then there’s Irene Shaeffer, the pretty girl in school whose admiration Alex needs like a drug in order to get by. Broke and fighting to survive, Alex and his father face the realities of estrangement, incarceration, and even violence as their lives hurtle toward the climactic episode that a New York Times reviewer called “one of the most profoundly powerful in American fiction.”

In this rich, beautifully crafted story, Weesner accomplishes a rare feat: He’s written a transcendent piece of literature in deceptively plain language, painting a gripping portrait of a father and a son, otherwise invisible among the mundane, everyday details of life in blue collar America. A true and enduring American classic.

My take:
The premise of the novel sounded interesting to me and I looked forward to reading it. When I started the book, I was in for a shock to my system.  This novel is unlike most other "young adult" books I have read in recent years. It has a much different feel to it. I have to say that it has a much older and more literary style than most contemporary fiction.  Believe me when I say that this is not a bad thing. Once I adjusted to the writing style, this was a wonderful read. It seems obvious that it was written about an earlier time and was written during an earlier time - it kind of reminded me of reading The Outsiders for the first time. Does anyone read The Outsiders anymore? Although Alex Housman, the protagonist of The Car Thief, is not a member of a gang, his life is similar to the boys in The Outsiders - absent or ill-equipped parents, dreary homes, poor school attendance and performance, very little to look forward to in life, depressing circumstances, etc.

I found the book to be refreshing in the way the author doesn't try to make Alex into a hero, or a hunky heart throb - he is just a kid who has a difficult life and he tries to deal with things. The story feels authentic, real, not some kind of modern fairy tale. Alex has a tough life - no doubt about that, but Weesner doesn't attempt to make excuses for the things Alex chooses to do - stealing cars, peeping in windows, treating his brother badly, skipping school, stealing money - he just describes the way Alex thinks and what he does. Often Alex doesn't seem to really know why he does things, but he has no other coping mechanism, so he copes the only way he knows, he leaves the school building, sneaks off to the movies, steals cars, follows girls around. Over time, Alex attempts to get his life in order, but he runs into many obstacles and has to learn to cope on his own because his father isn't equipped with any better coping skills and doesn't really know how to be a parent.

This isn't a feel-good book, it is often depressing and just plain sad. However, the simple, eloquent way that Weesner describes Alex's eventual growth and maturing is wonderful. I felt that this was in many ways, much more believable and interesting than many current books about teens today. For the careful, patient reader, this book can be quite a literary treat. It is not fluff and not trite. The sense of hope and promise of a better life at the end felt authentic and satisfying for the reader without being unrealistic or silly. I am quite happy to have had the opportunity to read this fine novel.

Bloodline

Bloodline by James Rollins
review copy provided by William Morrow/HarperCollins
Description from Goodreads:
In a thrilling masterwork that will make you rethink your perceptions of life and death, New York Times bestselling author James Rollins takes you to the edge of medicine, genetics, and technology, revealing the next evolutionary leap forward: immortality.

Galilee, 1025. Infiltrating an ancient citadel, a Templar knight uncovers a holy treasure long hidden within the fortress's labyrinth: the Bachal Isu -- the staff of Jesus Christ -- a priceless icon that holds a mysterious and terrifying power that promises to change humankind forever.

A millennium later, Somali pirates hijack a yacht off the coast of the Horn of Africa, kidnapping a young pregnant American woman. Commander Gray Pierce is enlisted for a covert rescue mission into the African jungle. The woman is no rich tourist: she's Amanda Gant-Bennett, daughter of the U.S. president.

Suspicious that the kidnapping masks a far more nefarious plot, Gray must confront a shadowy cabal which has been manipulating events throughout history...and now challenges the current presidency.

For this unique mission, SIGMA is aided by a pair of special operatives with unique talents: former Army Ranger Captain Tucker Wayne and his military war dog, Kane. But what should be a straightforward rescue turns into a fiery ambush and a deadly act of betrayal, as Gray and his team discover that the hostage is a pawn in a shattering act of terrorism with dark repercussions. And the danger is only beginning...

Halfway around the world, a firebombing at a fertility clinic in South Carolina exposes a conspiracy that goes back centuries...a scheme that lies within our genetic code. With time against them, SIGMA must race to save an innocent unborn baby whose very existence raises questions about the nature of humanity, asking:

Could you live forever?

Would you live forever?

My take:

Until Bloodline, I had never read any of James Rollins books. I'm not sure exactly why that is, now. I had so much fun reading this book! First of all, who doesn't love a good conspiracy? I mean, really? And I absolutely love a good Knights Templar conspiracy, so it also had that going for it. This book kept me on the edge of my seat from very early on. The story is very fast paced and exciting. I don't like to explain too much about conspiracy books -- I always end up giving too much away.


Apparently, this is Sigma Force novel #8, so I will have to go back and read the other books. However, this did not diminish my enjoyment of the book or my ability to follow the story. I would classify Bloodline as a definite Thriller but with a whole lot of science as well. I might have said science fiction instead of science, but after reading the Author's Note to Readers: Truth or Fiction at the end of the book, I have to just go with science. And that is actually more disturbing. The robotics in the book are quite fascinating and fun to read about, the DNA work and some of the experiments described are disturbing and very unsettling. 


One of my favorite parts of the book was everything pertaining to Captain Tucker Wayne and his military dog Kane. I loved the descriptions of their bond and the way they worked together as a team. The characters in Bloodline are well drawn and there is obviously much more to their relationships that has been built over their time together.  I would like to read the previous books so I can get to know these characters better. 


Rollins can definitely write a conspiracy novel - I loved the way things twist and turn and keep the reader just on the edge of figuring it all out and then there is another twist and everything is uncertain again. Nothing is quite what it seems. Everyone is suspect. This is one of the better conspiracies I've read in a long while.

Beach Colors

Beach Colors by Shelley Noble
review copy provided by William Morrow/Harper Collins
Book Description from publisher website:
While renowned designer Margaux Sullivan was presenting her highly praised collection during New York City's Fashion Week, her husband was cleaning out their bank account. A week after he disappeared, the bank foreclosed on Margaux's apartment and business.

Suddenly broke, betrayed, and humiliated, Margaux has nowhere else to turn to but home: the small coastal town of Crescent Cove, Connecticut, where she once knew love, joy, and family before she put them behind her on the climb to fame. When she's stopped for speeding by local interim police chief Nick Prescott, Margaux barely remembers the "townie" boy who worshipped her from afar every summer. But Nick is all grown up now, a college professor who gave up his career to care for his orphaned nephew, Connor. Though still vulnerable, Margaux is soon rediscovering the beauty of the shore through young Connor's eyes . . . and, thanks to Nick, finding a forgotten place in her heart that wants to love again.

But as she continues to work on a bold new line that will get her back into the game, Margaux realizes that soon she will have to make the most important, most difficult decision of her life. . . .

My Take:
Beach Colors by Shelley Noble is a great summer book. In fact, I'd say it is just about the perfect beach read. It takes place mostly at Crescent Cove, Connecticut and follows Margaux as she deals with the betrayal by her husband and finds her true creative side, finds out who her true friends are and just who she really wants to be. I enjoyed this book so much. I loved the descriptions of the beaches, the cottages, the people and all the amazing colors visible in nature if one just takes the time to see them.  I found the story to be an uplifting one of self-discovery, recovery from trauma  with a bit of romance. The story deals with long-time friendship, loyalty, being true to yourself, importance of family, and the whole townie vs. summer people thing all while giving wonderful descriptions of a lovely little coastal town - great combinations for a summertime book. This isn't an earth shattering book, but it is just so much fun. Perfect for summer. This is the book I'll be suggesting to friends for a summertime read.

FEED

Feed by Mira Grant
purchased from local bookstore
Description from Goodreads:

In 2014, two experimental viruses—a genetically engineered flu strain designed by Dr. Alexander Kellis, intended to act as a cure for the common cold, and a cancer-killing strain of Marburg, known as "Marburg Amberlee"—escaped the lab and combined to form a single airborne pathogen that swept around the world in a matter of days. It cured cancer. It stopped a thousand cold and flu viruses in their tracks.

It raised the dead.

Millions died in the chaos that followed. The summer of 2014 was dubbed "The Rising," and only the lessons learned from a thousand zombie movies allowed mankind to survive. Even then, the world was changed forever. The mainstream media fell, Internet news acquired an undeniable new legitimacy, and the CDC rose to a new level of power.

Set twenty years after the Rising, the Newsflesh trilogy follows a team of bloggers, led by Georgia and Shaun Mason, as they search for the brutal truths behind the infection. Danger, deceit, and betrayal lurk around every corner, as does the hardest question of them all:

When will you rise?

My Take:
The first thing I have to say is that I absolutely loved this book! I have recommended it to everyone who would listen to me. I didn't write a review of it after I first read it, because, quite honestly, I was afraid that I wouldn't do the book justice. I had just started this blog and felt really intimidated by the idea of trying to get my thoughts down.  I re-read Feed and Deadline in the last couple of days to get ready for the last book in the trilogy, Blackout, which is out this month. Even the second time reading the books was great. I cried just like the first time I read it. I never thought that I would cry while reading a zombie book.  Mira Grant (Seanan McGuire) does a really great job with these books and I have to give her credit for creating such a complex story while maintaining all the fun and urgency required by the genre.

Now, here's the thing. The zombies in this series are not so much the bad guys as hapless victims. They can't help what they become after they die. This was something done to them without their permission or knowledge. The whole process on how the zombies came to be is really fascinating and fun to read about.

Georgia and Shaun Mason are adopted siblings who grew up after The Rising and this is the only life they know. How unfortunate  . . . horrifying. . . exciting for them. Georgia and Shaun really have only each other growing up since their adoptive parents pretty much just use them as a way to get higher ratings for their blogs. Georgia and Shaun make a great team. They're both smart mouths with sarcastic senses of humor.  I loved the banter back and forth between Georgia and Shaun and Buffy and Mahir and -- well you get the picture. Great dialogue.

I thought the world building was well done  and the conspiracies in the story are just so crazy-wicked-great. (I know that's not a real term, but tough.) The story is fast-paced and I ended up reading straight through - even the second time around. Also, any book series that has this many references to The Evil Dead, Bruce Campbell, and Joss Whedon is going to be a hit with me. Just sayin'.  I thought that Feed is just what a zombie book should be - fun, scary (but not in the way you might think) and extremely hard to put down.

Now excuse me, but I have to get back to reading Blackout now. My review . . . (or geeky fan-girl gush-fest) of Deadline will be forthcoming.

The Unseen

The Unseen by Katherine Webb
review copy provided by William Morrow
Description from Goodreads:
England, 1911. The Reverend Albert Canning, a vicar with a passion for spiritualism, leads a happy existence with his naive wife Hester in a sleepy Berkshire village. As summer dawns, their quiet lives are changed for ever by two new arrivals. First comes Cat, the new maid: a free-spirited and disaffected young woman sent down from London after entanglements with the law. Cat quickly finds a place for herself in the secret underbelly of local society as she plots her escape. Then comes Robin Durrant, a leading expert in the occult, enticed by tales of elemental beings in the water meadows nearby. A young man of magnetic charm and beauty, Robin soon becomes an object of fascination and desire. During a long spell of oppressive summer heat, the rectory at Cold Ash Holt becomes charged with ambition, love and jealousy; a mixture of emotions so powerful that it leads, ultimately, to murder.

My take:
Once again Katherine Webb drew me into her story from the very first chapter. This story really captured my imagination. The dual story line works for me here just like it did in Webb's The Legacy. There is a modern story line which tels of the search for the identity of a soldier to who died during WWI.  The 1911 thread gives the story of the Reverend Albert Canning and his wife Hester during the summer that the new maid Cat joins the household as well as the visit of  occult  expert, Robin Durrant.  The 1911 story line is just chock full of interesting, conflicted, confused, manipulative, and naive characters.

The Reverend Albert Canning and his wife Hester are an interesting, troubled, naive couple. Even for the time, 1911, they seem incredibly sheltered. Albert is clearly confused and conflicted about his marriage and his role therein. Hester is confused as well, but is at least trying to figure things out. Hester has hired a new maid, Cat, and views this as an act of charity due to Cat's troubled past. Just what this past was is revealed gradually through the book. Cat is an intelligent, independent, strong-willed young woman who refuses to let anyone limit her. I really liked her and wanted to see her make a new life for herself.

Albert Canning is a troubled soul. His innocence, naivete,  and religious convictions all contribute to his being susceptible to the particular charms of one Robin Durrant, a self-proclaimed expert of the occult. Durrant is obviously a manipulative person and trouble from the start - to an observant, intelligent, perceptive person, anyway. While the Cannings are unaware of his past or his manipulative way, Cat sees through Durrant and tries to warn Hester.

There are so many things I want to discuss about the book, but they would give even more of the plot away. I loved this book so much! It was a fast-paced page-turner that I couldn't put down until I finished it. At the last minute before it happened, I could see the tragedy that was about to unfold, but I couldn't stop reading. I was saddened by the story, but I was so happy to have the opportunity to read such a great book.

Feature & Follow Friay

I'm back for another Feature & Follow Friday!  I really love this week's question! But first, this week's featured blog:

Our Feature – Addicted2Heroines

When did you start blogging?
I started blogging back in February 2012. The lovely and talented Cat from Addicted2Heroines, who was a friend of mine on GoodReads, asked if I would be interested in blogging on her site. I immediately agreed and have been blogging with her ever since. How lucky am I?

What is your favorite part of book blogging?
My favorite part about blogging is meeting fellow bloggers and readers who share the same interests as I do. I’ve met a lot of smart, funny and all-around awesome people in the last few months.
What is your favorite book(s)?
This is a tough one, but I’ll narrow it down to my top three series. Downside Ghosts by Stacia Kane, Fever by Karen Marie Moning and Night Huntress by Jeaniene Frost. My favorite YA series right now is Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments.
What has been the best thing that has happened to you because of book blogging?
The best thing about blogging is that I have the opportunity to review, interview and collaborate on guest posts with my favorite authors. I would have never had this opportunity had I not started book blogging.

                                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Q: Summer Break is upon us! What would be the perfect vacation spot for you to catch up on your reading & relax?

A: A beach on Cape Cod would be my perfect vacation spot. But I can be just a happy in Door County, Wisconsin. It is a great place to relax with a good book.

Be sure to follow the featured blog and our hosts Parajunkee's View  and Alison Can Read.

An Uncommon Education

An Uncommon Education by Elizabeth Percer
review copy provided by TLC Book Tours via Harper Collins
Description from Goodreads:
Afraid of losing her parents at a young age—her father with his weak heart, her deeply depressed mother—Naomi Feinstein prepared single-mindedly for a prestigious future as a doctor. An outcast at school, Naomi loses herself in books, and daydreams of Wellesley College. But when Teddy, her confidant and only friend, abruptly departs from her life, it's the first devastating loss from which Naomi is not sure she can ever recover, even after her long-awaited acceptance letter to Wellesley arrives.

Naomi soon learns that college isn't the bastion of solidarity and security she had imagined. Amid hundreds of other young women, she is consumed by loneliness—until the day she sees a girl fall into the freezing waters of a lake.

The event marks Naomi's introduction to Wellesley's oldest honor society, the mysterious Shakespeare Society, defined by secret rituals and filled with unconventional, passionate students. Naomi finally begins to detach from the past and so much of what defines her, immersing herself in this exciting and liberating new world and learning the value of friendship. But her happiness is soon compromised by a scandal that brings irrevocable consequences. Naomi has always tried to save the ones she loves, but part of growing up is learning that sometimes saving others is a matter of saving yourself.

An Uncommon Education is a compelling portrait of a quest for greatness and the grace of human limitations. Poignant and wise, it artfully captures the complicated ties of family, the bittersweet inevitability of loss, and the importance of learning to let go.

My Take:

I thought that An Uncommon Education  was just beautiful – from the cover, to the settings, to the story itself.  I love the way Percer writes . She writes in long, flowing sentences that seem to meander through thoughts and history.  After Naomi’s father has a heart attack: “I walked away from that hospital believing that I could one day learn to heal,  that healing itself was something that could be hounded and captured, like a quarry that only needed to be chased to be won. It was a belief so strong that I would continue to build myself upon it, unable to let it go until I had tried and failed to save three of the people I most loved: two who, at very different times in my life and in very different ways, became the sort of friends we think we might never be able to live without, and then my mother, who in the end might have saved me.”

An Uncommon Education is one of those exquisite books that I have a difficult time writing about because I don’t want to mess up my review and inadvertently keep someone from reading it.  The first  part of the book details Naomi’s childhood and her father’s attention to her education. Naomi went to school, but her father also spent a great deal of time supplementing her education. I loved the details about all the books he gave her to read, all the museums they would visit and his gentle, loving lessons about life. As a homeschooling mom, I love these details.  Naomi’s mother is seriously depressed and this puts a strain on the family and Naomi’s social life. But being such a book worm and not susceptible to the shallow life views of most of her classmates, she had few friends anyway.  Well, until Teddy moves in next door. The arrival of Teddy begins the next phase of Naomi’s life.  About this time Naomi is falsely accused of cheating and this is another of the big defining moments in her young life.  She comes to understand that not everyone has the extraordinary memory that she has and some people will be jealous and make false accusations.

Teddy and Naomi have a special friendship and his abrupt departure from her life has a profound effect on her life. Naomi throws herself into her studies, work and running to get through her unhappiness.  She manages to be a top student and get into her dream school, Wellesley. Once she goes off to school, she thinks things will fall into place for her. Unfortunately, things don't usually work out quite that neatly and they don't for Naomi either.  I particularly enjoyed the college years as described by Percer.  So many things about her descriptions rang true for me. Naomi seems somewhat overwhelmed and continues to be sad and lonely until she happens upon a fellow student as she falls or jumps into a freezing lake. This is the catalyst for Naomi joining The Shakespeare Society and finding some real friends among the passionate, quirky members.

While Naomi seems pretty passive through a great deal of her college years, I thought that in a lot of ways this was an accurate picture of how college life can seem sometimes. Things are happening so fast and the students are so busy with classes, studying, writing papers, social activities, trying to figure out who they are and who they want to be. Even though Naomi is certain she wants to be a doctor, she spends far more time working on performances of Shakespeare plays with the society than she probably should and she just can't seem to make herself do the things she know she should do in order to get admitted to a prestigious medical school. The scandal involving her close friend and her mother's advancing illness  help her to finally figure out what she really wants to do and the person she wants to be. I was so happy to see the maturing Naomi discover herself and make decisions as an adult and not stubbornly following an idea she had as a child.

This book was just a joy to read. I plan to read it again this summer. I highly recommend it. Amazon has chosen An Uncommon Education as one of their Top 10 books for the month of May, and I can definitely see why. (You can see the official Best Books of the Month page here.)

About Elizabeth Percer

Elizabeth Percer is a three-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize and has twice been honored by the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Foundation. She received a BA in English from Wellesley and a PhD in arts education from Stanford University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship for the National Writing Project at UC Berkeley. She lives in California with her husband and three children. An Uncommon Education is her first novel.

Socialpunk

Socialpunk by Monica Leonelle
e-galley provided  by author
Description from Goodreads:
Ima would give anything to escape The Dome and learn what’s beyond its barriers, but the Chicago government has kept all its citizens on lockdown ever since the Scorched Years left most of the world a desert wasteland. When a mysterious group of hooded figures enters the city unexpectedly, Ima uncovers a plot to destroy The Dome and is given the choice between escaping to a new, dangerous city or staying behind and fighting a battle she can never win.

My take:
I am not sure exactly where to start with this one.  The premise for this novel just grabbed me and I had to agree to read and review it. I love - I mean absolutely love - cyberpunk. (Thank you William Gibson, Bruce Sterling and Neal Stephenson for giving me so many hours of reading joy.) The premise of this story felt like it was a continuation of what has been built into the genre already. That is basically what made me want to read it.

The idea that the main character of the story is part of a virtual reality and her world may or may not be real plays a major part of the story.  I found the world created in Socialpunk to be unusually new and creative. I haven't read anything quite like it. I am still intrigued and really want to read more about the whole world - both the real and virtual world in the novel.  I thought that Ima was an interesting character and the previous knowledge that she was created to live in the virtual world with all her strengths and weaknesses was just really cool to think about while reading. (Or is she real? Ah! So much fun!)

The story is fast paced with lots of action, dubious allies, shady villains, huge, probably evil corporations, rival gangs, conspiracies -- everything you could want for an exciting read.

The only thing I wasn't crazy about was how the book ended. There is a big reveal and cliff-hanger at  the end that bugs me because now I have to wait to see what happens next and how it will be handled. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.