The Age of Miracles - February Book Club Book!

The slowing... What happens to the world when the days simply start to get longer and the earth no longer turns every 24 hours? What changes do we see in the lives and behavior of the human and animal kingdoms? And how will the flora and fauna be affected by the changing levels of light? In this "end of the world as we know it" novel, reactions are varied because the reason for the change and the questions about what is to come cannot be answered by anyone in the scientific community. Despite the point of view from the eyes and level of understanding of a middle school girl, the story is interesting and engaging. Julie and her parents live in California on a quiet cul-de-sac in a nondescript suburb when news of the lengthening of days is announced on television one ordinary Saturday morning in October. After an initial panic and widespread disaster preparedness, families, communities and nations settle into a kind of watchful complacency. The US government orders the population to "clock time" but the rebels want to live using dark and light as their guide. Eventually those free timers become outcasts as the days inexorably lengthen and that's when the changes occur that affect daily life and all living things on the planet. I really enjoyed the details about how the slowing affected principles of gravity, magnetic fields, weather and temperature, and health and welfare of the planet's inhabitants. The book was riddled, however, with melodramatic foreshadowing and portents of doom! Julia comes of age as more an observer rather than an active participant in the story. Her age progression from 11 to 23 at the end is sudden! I would guess this is suitable for older teens and might make a great young adult book club book. It does make one think about how to contact far flung family and friends should modern methods of communication not be available! I'd recommend this to anyone who likes end of the world scenarios because this one is a little different using a novel concept of the cause of demise. How do Julie and her family fare? What happens to our planet, Earth? Read it and find out!  Ms C. ** I will share my rating later! I read this as an ARC in July and can't wait to discuss in book club.

Changeling--Reveiwed by Alexandra Lopez

  

   Changeling by Phillipa Gregory

   Reviewed by Alexandra Lopez

  Luca Vero is locked up for speaking heresy, and chased out of his religious order. Soon a secret sect,The Order of the Dragon, commissioned by Pope Nicholas V, recruits him. Luca's job is to discover and destroy the evil that is occurring across Europe. Along his journey, he is sent to investigate a cursed nunnery. This is were he meets Isodle, that was sent there because she did not want to marry right away and she cannot inherit her father's estate.Since she arrived to the Nunnery, they blame her for the weird things happening to the nuns; nuns sleep walking, and seeing weird visions. Will Luca be able to prove Isolde is innocent? Or will he only prove that she might be a real witch?

   I loved Changeling, but not so much the characters. For example, Luca is this smart person, that uses math solve problems, but he rarely used them. Which is what gotten him in trouble to begin with. And he doesn't do anything, he is a very bland character. However this does leave room for development in the later books, which I pray there will be. It had a steady pace, but in the beginning it was a bit slow, but once we met Isolde, things took off. 

Distant Waves - Reviewed by Stephanie Best

 

   

Author: Suzanne Weyn

Review: Stephanie Best   

         Set in the turn-of-the-century 1900s, when cars were just being born, and nickelodeons had very little existence, Distant Waves follows the young lives of the five Oneida-Taylor sisters Mimi, Jane, twins Emma and Amelie, and Blythe, but most specifically Jane. After experiencing a man-made earthquake produced by the scientist and inventor Nikola Tesla, Jane, at the age of four, moves with her mother and sisters from New York City, New York, to the small town of Spirit Vale, New York, a popular town for all assortments of spiritualists. Yet, Jane’s young encounter with Tesla stays with her, becoming obsessed and reading anything she can about him. When Jane is sixteen, Mimi, the oldest and wanting to escape the small town, convinces Jane and herself to take a visit back to New York City so Jane can interview Tesla for a journalism contest. While there, Mimi meets a wealthy woman who asks Mimi to be her companion which she accepts. While there, Jane meets a boy, Thad, who is Tesla’s assistant, and whom Jane instantly feels attracted to. What will become of Jane and Thad? Will Jane ever see Mimi again? And how does the Titanic tie into all of this? A story of love, loss, history, and the frequent spirits, Distant Waves takes on a new version of the story of the Titanic and is sure to surprise you at every turn.

 

            I absolutely loved this book and I give it five stars. I found all of the characters to be very relatable to. I really enjoyed all of the historical references mentioned, and if one has a good recollection with history and historical persons, one can easily foreshadow events, even some which may not be mentioned in the book. I highly recommend this book for all.

The Fault in Our Stars--Reviewed by Alexandra Lopez

Author:John Green

Review:Alexandra Lopez

   Hazel Lancaster, dying from cancer, only has three friends (meaning her parents and her favorite author), because she doesn't want to have to hurt any more people than she will, when she dies. However her parents are worried that Hazel is distancing herself from everyone, so they beg her to go to a support group. Hazel finally agrees to it, even though she herself really doesn't want to go.

  Little did she know Hazel will meet someone that will change her life? It must have been love at first sight, but the boy named Augustus Waters has caught her eye. They hit it off; sharing medical stories, their life and even what brought them there. Young teenage romance blossoming, everything is going okay. But is it really? Augustus starts to look worse each day. Hazel worries, but she is reassured by him, everything will be okay. But will it?

  Reading this book was enjoyable. But, there was one thing that was unrealistic to me, but I did enjoy the characters. The great part of this book was that the author made each teenager real. They acted like a real teenager; these were kids literally dying, maybe not now, maybe a few weeks or even days. They don't know, so it makes it a compelling story.  As the reader, you delve in the story more. You cry, laugh and even start to understand what they are going through.

   However I had one major problem with one scene. Both of their parents left them alone for a day. I don't want to spoil it but something happens between the two lovers. But I find this unrealistic; your own children are dying, any minute they could drop dead. Why would you leave them alone? Regardless of this one scene it was a great book to read. Get it while it’s hot, located in your Celtic library.



Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick - Reviewed by Stephanie Best

Author: Becca Fitzpatrick
Reviewed: Stepanie Best
     Patch is a fallen angel. Nora is Nephilim. Together, trouble is bound to follow. Nora has sworn an oath to lead her late father's army of Nephilim against the fallen angels. If she doesn't, she and her mother will die. The problem is, she doesn't want anyone to fight, let alone kill. She has only one option: convince the Nephilim to stop the war. To gain their trust, she must pretend to break up with the love of her life, Patch, and date a highly ranked Nephilim, Dante. All goes well for a while until covers begin getting blown. Can Nora trust anyone? Even Patch? And what will become of her new addiction to devilcraft, a drink that extremely enhances her strenth but is slowly rotting her body away as well?
     I liked this book, but I didn't love it. The fourth and final book of the Hush Hush series, I found Finale to be average. I felt like a lot of the story dragged on. I did enjoy the ending, and the plot twist completely took me off guard. One thing I know for sure is that this book should not be read before the others in the series starting with Hush Hush, then Crescendo, and Silence. If any of the books are read out of order, I can almost guarantee the reader will get lost and confused. All in all, I'm glad the series has come to an end; I just wish that the final book had been better. 

Bunker 10-- Reviewed by Alexandra Lopez

Author: J.A. Henderson
Review: Alexandra Lopez

At eight o'clock in the evening, 24 December 2007, Pinewood Military Installation exploded. The blast ripped apart acres of forest and devastated the remote highland valley where the base was located. No official cause was given for the incident. Inside Pinewood were 185 male and female personnel a mixture of scientists and soldiers. There were also seven teenagers. This is the story of their last day . . .

I enjoyed it, but felt it was a cliche, to predictable. I didn't get to know the main charcter, Jimmy Hecks on a personal level/ the book was very plot driven. I'm not one for full blown science, but I would appreciate a bit of actual science to occur, some of the science mentioned seemed made up. However I didn't look it up, so either it was pointless or I just don't care in general. Overall enjoyed the story, but did not really think it was one of my best reads.