New Releases: September 2016

Sept. 6

Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5) by Sarah J. Maas

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

The Throne of Glass Coloring Book by Sarah J. Maas

Genre: Fantasy Coloring Book

Leave Me by Gayle Forman

Genre: Contemporary Adult Fiction

Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

As Old As Time (Twisted Tales #3) by Liz Braswell

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

And the Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich

Genre: Horror

Bad Girls Throughout History: 100 Remarkable Women Who Changed the World  by Ann Shen

Genre: Non Fiction-History

Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939

Genre: Non Fiction-Biography

How This Book was Made by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Adam Rex

Genre: Children's Picture Books/Humor

Sept. 13

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Genre: Historical Fiction

The Reader (Sea of Ink and Gold #1) by Traci Chee

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Every Falling Star: The True Story of How I Survived and Escaped North Korea by Sungju Lee, Susan Elizabeth McClelland

Genre: Memoir

Sept. 20

Three Dark Crowns (Untitled #1) by Kendare Blake

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Frost Like Night (Snow Like Ashes #3) by Sara Raasch

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

A Shadow Bright and Burning (Kingdom on Fire #1) by Jessica Cluess

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Stealing Snow (Stealing Snow #1) by Danielle Paige

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd (Flavia de Luce #8) by Alan Bradley

Genre: Mystery

The Queen of Blood (The Queens of Renthia #1) by Sarah Beth Durst

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Death's End (Remembrance of Earth's Past #3) by Liu Cixin

Genre: Science Fiction

Every Hidden Thing by Kenneth Oppel

Genre: Young Adult Historical Fiction

Sept. 27

Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) by Leigh Bardugo

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

The Fever Code (The Maze Runner #0.6) by James Dashner

Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction

Bright Smoke, Cold Fire (Untitled #1) by Rosamund Hodge

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Like a River Glorious (The Gold Seer Trilogy #2) by Rae Carson

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Time Travel: A History by James Gleick


Genre: Science

Suicide Reviews: A Cold Season by Alison Littlewood

 

Summary: After the battlefront loss of her husband, a soldier, in the sands of the Middle East, a distraught Cass moves to the bucolic, picture-perfect village of Darnshaw with her young son. Since Cass's website design business can be run from anywhere with an internet connection and Ben could benefit from a change of scenery, a move to the highlands village seems like just the thing. 

But the locals aren't as friendly as she had hoped and the internet connection isn't as reliable as her business requires. And when Ben begins to display a hostility that is completely unlike his usual gentle nature, Cass begins to despair. Finally, the blizzards thunder through, marooning Darnshaw in a sea of snow.

When things look their blackest, Cass finds a sympathetic ear in the person of Mr.Remick, the substitute headmaster at Ben's school. But Remick's attentions can't put to rest her growing anxiety about her son and her business. And soon, she finds herself pitted against dark forces she can barely comprehend. The cold season has begun.

Date Published: January 1, 2012

Published By: Jo Fletcher

Number of Pages: 290

Rating: 3.5/5

A Cold Season is the kind of story that will discourage you from ever moving to a small town. Or going outside during winter. Or just going outside, period. 

Cass and her son Ben find themselves stranded in Darnshaw after a snowstorm makes all the roads impassable. This gives the book an incredibly claustrophobic atmosphere - the feeling of being smothered by snow leeches out of the pages and into the reader's brain. The gnawing sense of isolation and paranoia continues to build as ominous things keep happening. Twice, Cass tries to escape - and both times, she fails. You get the sense that she is trapped there and it's pretty darn freaky.

There are a lot of disturbing moments in the book but they're never in-your-face terrifying - it's a more subtle kind of uneasiness. Something strange will happen and it will kind of sit there in the back of your head, and then the next thing will happen, and the next - so the tension slowly builds and builds until all of a sudden you find yourself gripping the pages, overwhelmed by dread. It's incredibly effective - more so, I would say, than splattering guts and gore all over the place. 

I will say I found the climax to be a little underwhelming and predictable, but the author makes up for it by delivering a truly chilling final page. Once I finished reading it, I had to go snuggle with my cat for awhile to make myself feel better. 

A Cold Season reads like a mash-up of The Shining and The Exorcist. I wouldn't say it's a must-read, but fans of occult horror will probably enjoy it. Or, if you like horror but not gore, this book is perfect for you.

Suicide Reviews: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

  

Synopsis: No one in the grip of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, with its mythic-minded hero and its man-made monster who reads Goethe and longs to be at peace with himself, can fail to notice how superior the original is to all the adaptations, imitations, and outright plagiarisms that have followed in its ample wake. Controversial for addressing the topic of artificially creating life in the nineteenth century, the most sympathetic character in the novel is the monster himself. But when Dr. Frankenstein, the 'father' of the creature, refuses to bring life to a companion for his creation, the plot takes an even darker turn. Mary Shelley's first novel, written at the instigation of Lord Byron and published in 1818, Frankenstein is one of English Romanticism's finest prose fiction works and a novel that has continued to inspire and terrify its readers. 

Date Published: March 11, 1818

Number of Pages: 231

Rating: 5/5

Most people are familiar with Frankenstein and his monster in some shape or form. Since Frankenstein's publication there have been numerous interpretations of the story in the form of plays, books, and films. And of course there are the Halloween decorations. 

What is so incredible to me is how much these adaptations differ from the original text. There is no sign of the hunchback assistant, Igor. The bride of the monster is never fully realized. And far from being the stiff, groaning creature we know from pop culture, Frankenstein's monster is actually articulate and learned, making lofty speeches about love and humanity. 

This story is often described as a work of horror. This is definitely true (what could be more horrifying than a man creating a living thing from dead body parts) but the work is also very philosophical. It raises some deep questions: are people born evil or does a prejudiced society make them that way? Who is the real monster: Frankenstein or the creature he created? Where is the line between ambition and obsession? Should we advance science as far as it can go - no matter the consequences? 

Don't be scared off by the philosophical aspect of the novel - Frankenstein is still highly entertaining. The most fascinating aspect of the book is when the monster tells his own tragic story - how he fled from Victor's lab, was chased by villagers, and how he came to educate himself and learn about the world. The tragic ending is fitting - how could a story like this possible have a happy ending?

Frankenstein has been around for almost 200 years and with good reason. It should be read by everyone in general and horror fans in particular.