August 7, 2019 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
Daughter of Smoke and Bone is the story of a 17 year old art student, Karou, who lives in Prague. When she gets together with her friends they share the art they have been working on, Karou has wonderful drawings of fantastical creators in her journal that tell stories about …
June 11, 2019 by David McCan | Humor, Literary, Romance | No Comments
I really liked Wildlife by Fiona Wood. It is about two 16 year old girls, Sib and Lou, whose school has a “term in the woods” program. Lou is new. She just transferred in. Her boyfriend died in an accident and she is trying to cope with her grief. Lou …
April 21, 2019 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
The Red Knight by Miles Cameron is a sword and magic type of fantasy story. The Red Knight is a bit of a mysterious character. He is the leader of a mercenary company and is unusually young to hold that position. In the early part of the book we know …
November 3, 2018 by David McCan | Fantasy, Romance | No Comments
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi is a pretty amazing book. It is a story that takes place in a dystonian future and is about Juliette, who has survived alone in prison without seeing another person. This isn’t a story of someone wrongly accused. Juliette is in for murder and she believes she …
October 19, 2018 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater is a young adult paranormal story about Blue, her family, and some boys from a nearby private school. Everyone in Blue’s family is psychic … except for her. Blue does have a gift, she acts as an amplifier for other psychics. Blue has had …
August 25, 2018 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
A Dance of Cloaks is a story with a very large cast of characters. At it’s heart there is Thren Felhorn, master of the Spider Guild, and his son Aaron. There are several other thieves guilds with their leaders and lieutenants. There is the king and his main adviser. There are …
August 18, 2018 by David McCan | Fantasy, Historical Fiction | No Comments
Sky in the Deep is an amazing, well written book based on Viking lore. It is an incredibly rich well told story about a young Aska warrior, Eelyn. The story begins on the battlefield where once again the Aska face off against their traditional enemy, the Riki. Five years previously, Eelyn …
August 17, 2018 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
Daughter of the Pirate King is a fun story. Like many pirate tales, there is a good mix of action, adventure, and romance. A difference is that the main character, Alosa, is female. She is the daughter of the pirate king and captain of a ship in his fleet. The …
Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller Read More »
December 31, 2017 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
Have you noticed the tendency of authors to focus on books and reading? Take The Reader by Traci Chee as an example of this self-reflective preoccupation. This is not surprising given that writing and books, and readers and reading, are at the center of an author’s life. However, there are …
Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine – Of Books and Libraries Read More »
August 25, 2017 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
I listened to the audiobook version of The Queen’s Poisoner by Jeff Wheeler, read by Kate Rudd. The story opens with the Duke of Kiskaddon returning home from battle. His side was victorious, but there was a small problem, or rather a major problem. At a crucial point in the battle, …
July 9, 2017 by David McCan | Science Fiction | No Comments
“According to science, humans have no souls. There is no afterlife or guardian angels or ghosts or spirits or anything at all supernatural. Our world is purely physical. The government has systematically removed God from society.” So begins The Gifting by K.E. Ganshert, a dystopian science fiction story where “science won.” …
June 25, 2017 by David McCan | Science Fiction | No Comments
I enjoyed reading The Enhanced by T.C. Edge. It is the first book of a series. The story takes place in the city of Haven which is a relatively safe place in a world that has been decimated by nuclear war. It is a class-based society. At the top are …
June 14, 2017 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
I’m a big Scott Westerfeld fan and was pretty psyched to start reading Zeroes. It is the story about 6 teenagers who each have a unique, special power. I wouldn’t call them “super powers,” though they were pretty cool: Flicker is blind but can see through other people’s eyes. Crash …
Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, and Deborah Biancotti Read More »
April 9, 2017 by Cindy McCan | Non-Fiction | No Comments
This is a great Graphic Novel for movie and photography buffs as well as more serious film students. Filmish looks at the history of the film and movie industry, referencing over 300 movies. Instead of looking at individual movies, one at a time, Ross looks at various cinematic concepts and …
Filmish: A Graphic Journey through Film by Edward Ross Read More »
April 7, 2017 by Cindy McCan | Humor | No Comments
Giant Days is a British graphic novel that follows three “dorm-mates” through their first year in university. The three, Daisy Wooton, homeschooled and unworldly; Esther De Groot, a bit rash and overly dramatic; and Susan Ptolemy, who thinks she is the only one with common sense; become fast friends despite …