YA - we all looked up by tommy wallach

we all looked up by tommy wallach is the modern day Breakfast Club in a pressure cooker.  An asteroid is on a collision course with Earth, and based on the science, The Jock, The Princess, The Slut, The Stoner, The Outcast and The Criminal have less than two months to live. As all of their lives begin to intersect, they realize that theirs is a "karass", bound to be together until the final moments.  How this plays out is the story.
I was speaking to a co-worker the other day about how much fun it is to write reviews filled with snark when you really dislike a book.  It just seems more fun.  This is not one of those reviews.  we all looked up is a stellar debut by tommy wallach and I wouldn't be surprised if his name becomes very familiar to us all.  This book was so much fun to read.  The chapters flip back and forth between the different character's POVs.  They're all flawed in ways that ring true - self conscious, dependent, lost, confused - especially so in high school. I highly recommend you give this book a try BEFORE it becomes the next hot title.

YA - The Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudsen

Cyn has a major thing for Ryan, but her best friend Annie has a HUGE thing for the new librarian Mr. Gabriel.  Cyn's problems with this are many.  First, he's like 30 and second, Cyn's pretty sure that he's a demon.  As Annie falls deeper in love with Mr. Gabriel, Cyn sees him for what he is.  He is slowly sucking the life out of everyone at their high school.  With all of this going on Cyn is still focused on being the best Tech Manager she can be for the school's upcoming production of Sweeney Todd.  After a little while, Mr. Gabriel can no longer be ignored.  People are dying!  Worst of all, Annie is completely under his spell.

Honestly, I picked up this book because of the title, I mean, I am a librarian after all.  I'm so happy I did.  The characters are well developed.  We have a strong female heroine, and while she is a tad bit boy crazy (for Ryan only), she never loses sight of her missions - putting on the best school play in history and saving her best friend from a demon's clutches.  This book was really fun.  Lots of twists and turns, and quite a few laugh out loud moments.  Michelle Knudsen has quite a few children's books under her belt, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see some really good YA from her in the future.

Fict - In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

Amazing fictional account of real-life heros - the Mirabel sisters -  in the Dominican Republic of the 1960's.  Their code name was "las mariposas",  Spanish for butterflies.

The communist movement was sweeping 3rd world countries, Fidel Castro was mobilizing rebels in Cuba, private property and businesses were being confiscated, and people were disappearing in the night. 

Told from the perspective of the lone surviving sister, it's a  moving story of  family ties and relationships during the rise of the brutal Trujillo dictatorship.  Families everywhere had hard choices to make for themselves, their businesses, and their futures.

 Perfect blend of history and drama.

Fict - The Vacationers by Emma Straub

I almost stopped reading after the first few pages after finding out that Sylvia (frustrated 17 yr old virgin) is upset about HAVING to go to Spain with her family before heading off to the Ivy Leagues.  Boo Hoo! Then we meet mother Franny (famous journalist who thinks cooking fabulous gourmet meals cures anything); father Jim (serious NY editor who has just been caught cheating on his wife with a summer intern); Bobby (lazy, suntanned prodigal son dabbling in real estate in Florida; and Carmen (Bobby's Latino gym-rat Lucite-heeled cougar girlfriend). Add a middle-aged gay married couple contemplating adoption, then mix well and bake for 2 weeks in a gorgeous vacation home in the hills on the Spanish island of Malorca.  We are non-discriminatory here with our stereotypes: the aging, scowling, handsome continental tennis pro; a seductive, tan Adonis Spanish tutor with rippling muscles; a reed-thin JetSet English land lady popping in; and a puzzling person named Terry who recklessly whizzes around dirt roads on a motorcycle. The only thing missing is the Mafia hit man I hoped would show up to make all these self-absorbed, annoying people go away. (Except for Carmen - I think he would have liked her.)

Fict - "The Martian" by Andy Weir

So good! This book had my attention from the first sentence to the last. The science was interesting and I appreciated that the author assumed you could follow along and didn't repeat the details over and over. I know nothing about Mars and space travel, but the author certainly made me believe that all of this was possible. I was on the edge of my seat at the end waiting to find out what happened to Mark. Fingers were crossed!

This is currently being made into a movie starring Matt Damon. I don't go to a lot of movies, but I'll definitely go see this one.

Fict - Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris

Anyone who has worked in an office setting, and especially anyone who has faced layoffs, can relate to this book. The paranoia, the office politics and awkward social situations. The author did a great job getting in the heads of the various characters. The descriptions of office social situations were on point. They were laugh out loud funny, cringe inducing, sad, but definitely relateable.

I did have some trouble keeping track of all the characters, especially the ones who were were introduced, or just mentioned, and then never heard from again. The timing of the book was also a little hard to follow since it jumped back and forth. Both of these resolved about halfway through when the story followed a more linear path. This was about the time that I really started to enjoy the book. All in all, I'd recommend it.

Fict - Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato

This review has a spoiler so I'm saving you from reading this annoying book that promised to be a good historical mystery/thriller.  Where to start?
Englishwoman goes to 60's Venice to study art.  Meets Italian Adonis vaporetto driver (who looks like a painting), & is descended from the most famous glass blower in Murano:  Corradino Manin.   Woman gets pregnant, returns to England, never hears from Adonis again & becomes a bitter feminist.
Fast forward 20 yrs: their daughter Leonora Manin, now a divorced women artist in search of her own roots, goes to Italy. The story alternates between Leonora's life in Italy and her ancestor Corradino Manin's life in Venice in the 1600s.  This was the only interesting part of the book - where you actually learned something of the ancient glassworks and how that society functioned.
Improbable coincidences/plot turns:
- Despite having received divorce proceeds of an English manor grand enough to have its own name, Leonora promptly runs out of money.
- She lands an impossible job at the ancient prestigious Murano glassworks, which for hundreds of years has only hired native male Venetians.
- Enter another Italian Adonis - a policeman this time (who also looks like a painting), who proceeds to find her an oh-so-cute, affordable (impossible to find) apartment in the heart of Venice.  Leonora makes an enemy at work, a descendant of a rival glass blower to Corradino Manin. Think Hatfield-McCoys, except these people hold grudges for CENTURIES! Then, surprise? Leonora gets pregnant to Adonis, who has a stiletto heeled, hell-on-wheels ex-girlfriend/reporter who writes a damning article about Lenora's ancestor. Leonora spends the rest of the book, (and pregnancy) trying to clear her ancestor's name and wondering why Adonis won't become her baby-daddy.
- You would think that Corrado Manin not having fingerprints, which the author emphasizes several times, would be crucial to the plot at some point?
- And why focus on the feminist mother at the beginning, when that fact is never again relevant?
- I also anxiously waited (in vain) for the reporter ex-girlfriend to wreak havoc on the relationship, as promised.
Incipid, with inconsistent time sequences, improbable events, and annoying stylistic tics (italic "thoughts" direct from the characters' brains.)
Yawn . . . . zzzzz