christianreader | books of a new year!

Erratum by Walter Sorrells- Jessica Sternhagen's life gets pretty strange after she finds a book that features her as the main character. This is a pretty fast read & a fun mystery/suspense story. As long as you are OK with hand-wave-y science (it's... the 29th dimension! yes, that's it!), this is a good little fantasy.

The Almost True Story of Ryan Fisher by Rob Stennett- Real-estate agent Ryan Fisher tries to become the next big megapastor... even though he's not a Christian. I kind of love this author, now. He uses meta-references, footnotes, and appendices along with his sarcasm to craft a style all his own. Stennett is able to point out a lot of the flaws of modern Evangelicalism in the U.S. while at the same time telling an interesting story. I don't love the ending, as a lot of threads are left loose, but maybe that's part of the point.

Something Rotten by Alan Gratz- Modern spin on Hamlet, in which one Horatio Wilkes goes to visit his friend Hamilton Prince and tries to figure out who killed Hamilton Prince Sr. I admit I went into this book unsure whether or not I would like it (I've read a lot of bad YA spins on Shakespeare), but I ended up loving it. The novel isn't exactly the same as Shakespeare's tale, but it retains enough of the original to keep it recognizable to those who know the story. The novel focuses on the mystery aspect of Hamlet, and modernizes it for a teenage audience. It is fun and funny, and there are a lot of fun Bonus Shakespeare References from other plays for the nerds out there (and I am definitely one of them), like the fact that Horatio has sisters named Miranda, Rosalind, and Desdemona (among others).

Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale & Dean Hale, ill. by Nathan Hale- This graphic novel is an old-west adaptation of the Rapunzel fairy tale. A fairly fun, girl-power spin on the old tale, and the drawings are visually rich as well. The old west conceit does get a little old sometimes, but other than that, this is an enjoyable read.

Something Wicked by Alan Gratz- Sequel to Something Rotten, this time based on MacBeth. When Horatio goes with his friend Mac to a Scottish festival, he finds himself investigating the murder of Mac's grandfather, Duncan. This was a quick read, but I didn't like it quite as well as Something Rotten. All the right references were in there (I liked how Gratz did the "pricking of my thumbs" part), but then again, some felt pretty forced ("Out, damned spot"). But it was still a pretty good read.

Peeled by Joan Bauer- Hildy Biddy is a high school journalist in apple country who investigates truth behind a series of local hauntings. This book is another fast read, and it's great to see a book about someone (especially a teen) pursuing the truth. However, you can probably (at least I was able to) figure out "who done it" way before the book does (did), and the basic story seems very familiar, to the point of being overdone.

Chalice by Robin McKinley- Mirasol- a new, untrained, unconventional Chalice- must help the new Master of her domain- formerly a priest of Fire- hold their land together. This book was fairly engrossing, all Magical Lands Yay, only I don't think I (even now) understand what a Chalice really is. Another book where I figured out what the ending would be before the end. Also, vaguely pagan (?) religious practices make me think I shouldn't be reading your books. Plus, some of the sentence structure was really distracting. And there was one kinda-racist-if-you-think-about-it part.