The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is ostensibly a book about one kid, born on the reservation, but now leaving it to go to a better school. However, it is also about how Indians fit into the wider world (in his school, "the only other Indian is the school mascot"), and life on the rez (alcoholism, casinos, education, pretty much anything). This was the first book I read where one story is in the middle of another, larger story, and it's probably the one that's done it best so far.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is about Charlie, a boy who would rather fit in than stand out, and his friends. Well, it's not really fitting in either. Maybe blending in would be a better phrase. Charlie's friends range from Patrick (a flamboyantly gay guy with a closeted boyfriend) to Mary Elizabeth (a hipster who runs a Rocky Horror Picture Show 'zine).

God Save The Queen - Mike Carey & John Bolton

God Saves The Queen is a high concept story about fairy heroin, a mythic revolution and the 70s punk scene (well, it's supposed to be about the modern punk scene-but really, the author didn't have time for any research). Unfortunately, its concept falls flat on its face. This is partly due to Carey's writing, and partly due to Bolton's illustrations.

The Animals of Farthing Wood - Colin Dann

[This review is part of my 30 Day Book Challenge - a book that reminds me of someone]

The Animals of Farthing Wood is an epic. An honest-to-god lengthy-narrative epic poem, except without the poetry part. Which maybe defeats the entire purpose of calling it an epic poem. In any case, it feels like an epic. It's to do with a bunch of animals, foxes and badgers and mice, having to relocate from one park to another. That makes it sounds really simple, which it isn't. It's an epic.

Lyra's Oxford - Phillip Pullman

[This book is part of my 30 Day Book Challenge - a book that reminds you of somewhere]

I don't remember much of Lyra's Oxford no matter the different techniques I try (so far I've tried prenatal and tantric yoga, fasting and Ouija). I can't imagine I had a particularly high opinion of it, unless it laid off the religious stuff (I felt that it deteriorated in quality as it went along-much the same way I felt with The Chronicles of Narnia, though with Chronicles it was just that it became boring-too much seafaring-and with His Dark Materials it was its preachiness).

The Islands of Chaldea - Diana Wynne Jones & Ursula Jones

[This is part of my 30 Day Book Challenge - a book that successfully builds a world]

The Islands of Chaldea is a bittersweet little book-mostly because it is Wynne Jones' last. It was published posthumously, and it wasn't completely when it was found, and thus it had to be completed by her sister, herself a children's author. It takes place in an alternate universe Great Britain, where all the countries are separated by water-but water is not the only thing that separates them. Culture does too-and a magical barrier put up by Logra (England) ten years before. It concerns a quest involving the heir to a powerfully gifted (in magic, of course) family named Aileen, and her companions-Ivar, a prince of Skarr (her Scotland), Aunt Beck, her aunt and a powerfully gifted wise woman, and Ogo, an stranded Logran-to take down Logra's barrier. Well, originally. They also pick up passengers from the three islands they visit in the meantime (Bernica, her representation of Ireland, Gallis, her representation of Wales and Lone, maybe a representation of Orkney and the Isle of Man).

Becoming Bindy Mackenzie - Jaclyn Moriarty

[This book is part of my 30 Day Book Challenge - a book that made you cry]

Becoming Bindy Mackenzie is the first book that made me cry (that I can remember, anyway- perhaps The Cat in the Hat was a real tearjerker when I was young). This was probably for a variety of reasons-most importantly, that it was very early in the morning when I read it. It's not a good book to cry to-it's a funny book with small smears of sadness, about a socially awkward girl who gets put in a class she didn't want to be in.