Monthly Recommendations

With NaNoWriMo now at a close, I present to you my monthly recommendations.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
YA Dystopian
I had to admit, looking at the premise of the story, I was a little skeptical as to whether or not I would like it.  Uglies is the first book of Westerfeld's series - and it is based on looks.  Everyone is ugly until they are 16, then they get an operation and turn pretty.  But life isn't so easy for Tally Youngblood and nothing seems to go as she planned.  The end of the first book put me in a daze, although it did take me awhile to really start loving Tally as a MC.  She seemed very boring at first, very run of the mill, but as you soon find out, her coming of age story brings her into excellence.  I quickly grabbed the second book in the series, Pretties, and was not disappointed.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young
YA Dystopian (of sorts, more futuristic, but in a society that is so dystopian that our main character doesn't even know that much about the past - they don't even have guns - bows and arrows all the way!)
Do not judge this book within the first 25 pages, I almost did - and I almost missed out.  Moira Young action packs the book, it's 460 pages of dialogue and action.  What was hard to swallow was the way the main character, Saba, talks (writes).  She doesn't use quotations, she uses "an" instead of "and" but once you get past the dialect, this book is fantastic.  I couldn't put it down - and literally finished reading it in a day.  Though the style was hard to get into, once you are into it, you are there.  Saba's world comes to life and you are enthralled by this strong girl that is going across the world to save her brother.  This is the "princess saves the prince" story, and it's really incredible.  For a debut novel, Moira Young certainly hits the mark.  Highly recommended.

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
Adult Fiction
Another debut novel that is fantastic.  Tom Rachman creates the world surrounding the newsroom.  This book is great to pick up once and awhile if you don't have time for longer works - each chapter is a very fluid, brilliantly written short story that focuses on one of that staff members, and even a reader, of the same newspaper.  The story is interwoven to an extent, and each comes to its own brilliant ending.  This is worth a read, because the stories are beautiful.  His characters are deep, flawed, and perfect all at once.  Some of the stories are funny, heart-wrenching, or downright disastrous.