Loved this book! I don't even know where to begin. Such an amazing look at the Hasidic Jews in Borough Park, Brooklyn. The author, who wrote this anonLoved this book! I don't even know where to begin. Such an amazing look at the Hasidic Jews in Borough Park, Brooklyn. The author, who wrote this anonymously, really delves into the underbelly of life in the insular Hasidic communities there. I was so on edge the whole time I was reading this because it is pretty nerve wracking. READ this!!!...more
This book is a blast to read! I'm kinding of digging this whole steampunk genre (I mean, the Parasol Protectorate series rocked this girl's world!) anThis book is a blast to read! I'm kinding of digging this whole steampunk genre (I mean, the Parasol Protectorate series rocked this girl's world!) and this novel just made me giddy. The Importance of Being Earnest meets Twelfth Night (and I don't even like Shakespeare) are referenced all over the place and just make this even more fun. This is a tale of cross dressing, science, romance, rampaging automatons, and a brilliantly inventive young woman, Violet, who longs to be accepted into THE science college that, unfortunately, doesn't admit women. What else is a girl genius to do? She swaps identity with her brother -- this fabulously gay blade who is witty and sharp as a tack -- and heads off to Illyria to attend classes, immersing herself in the life of a young male college student (drinking, talking about women and sex, etc.) while trying to dodge the innocent advances of Cecily, the Duke of Illyria's ward, herself a smart young inventor. The problem, of course, is that Violet is falling for the duke, who is worried that his attraction to here is not acceptable. All sorts of mischief ensues and it is a blast getting to the very satisfying ending. I want MORE!!!!...more
I loved this book and have been recommending it like crazy to kids at school (and making them read The Magicians if they haven't yet). Super dark, supI loved this book and have been recommending it like crazy to kids at school (and making them read The Magicians if they haven't yet). Super dark, super creepy at times, but such a good fantasy adventure (did I just say that?) and I think it is a natural for upper school students who liked Harry Potter and want to go to a darker, less safe place. Can't wait for the third one!!!...more
Oh, this book was so good! Like a gripping adventure novel with an ending that, sadly, you already know, since it is about Joan of Arc, but which is sOh, this book was so good! Like a gripping adventure novel with an ending that, sadly, you already know, since it is about Joan of Arc, but which is so compelling you can't put it down. And to think she was an illiterate teenage girl and she led armies of thousands. This story is violent and beautiful and very, very readable. Publication is in October, so keep it on your list of definite reads!...more
I literally just finished the last page five minutes ago and I can't stop crying...what an amazing story full of characters, real and imagined, who haI literally just finished the last page five minutes ago and I can't stop crying...what an amazing story full of characters, real and imagined, who have been such a part of my week since I began Brook's latest book. They will stay with me for a very long time. Read this book!...more
Good, good stuff and a really creepy mystery! I can see giving this to lots of students in my upper school who want that creepy adult mystery, the kinGood, good stuff and a really creepy mystery! I can see giving this to lots of students in my upper school who want that creepy adult mystery, the kind that makes hair on your neck stand up a bit. And to borrow a phrase from "The Simpsons": "no one who speaks German could be evil"
Who would have thought that I, the original science fiction hater, would love this book? So brilliant. And I'm stopping with it, not reading the sequeWho would have thought that I, the original science fiction hater, would love this book? So brilliant. And I'm stopping with it, not reading the sequels. Why ruin perfection?...more
Of course after finishing Homer and Langley I was immediately driven to go to the internet and look up everything I could on the two. This is what I bOf course after finishing Homer and Langley I was immediately driven to go to the internet and look up everything I could on the two. This is what I both love and don't love (hate is too strong a word) about Doctorow. He loves to use historical figures in his novels but then changes all of the facts around so you don't actually know what is true and what isn't. Doctorow's Collyer brothers are fascinating and completely fictional and I couldn't put this book down...it was like reading the pilot episode of Hoarders: Buried Alive (and yes, spoiler alert, the brothers were eventually found dead in the house, Langley buried under one of his own piles of salvage after tripping one of his own booby traps on the way to feeding blind Homer, who starved to death). The story will definitely stay with you, and you will feel compelled, as I did, to go on a hunt through historical newspaper collections (to which, as a librarian, I have access :-) and to search all over the internet to find out more about these two brothers who obviously loved each other deeply. Good stuff!...more
Loved this! So fun! Vampires, werewolves, a touch of romance! Not normally my kind of book, but the Victorian setting, the absolutely cheeky style, juLoved this! So fun! Vampires, werewolves, a touch of romance! Not normally my kind of book, but the Victorian setting, the absolutely cheeky style, just so damn much fun. I can't wait to read Changeless, the sequel :-)...more
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