Book #168 of 2022: Dracula by Bram Stoker First published in 1897, this gothic horror novel remains an influential classic. Its characters like Van Helsing and the bloodsucking Count himself are now household names, and so many of our cultural ideas about vampires that subsequent stories have either reiterated or consciously pushed back against can …
Tag Archives: reread
Book Review: A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
Book #167 of 2022: A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (Earthsea #1) Author Ursula K. Le Guin’s first Earthsea novel — following two short stories in the setting she’d already published elsewhere — recounts the early life of its titular character, whom we are repeatedly told will someday be the most powerful …
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Book Review: The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
Book #159 of 2022: The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (Wax and Wayne #1 / Mistborn #4) [Disclaimer: I am Facebook friends with this author.] Brandon Sanderson’s original Mistborn trilogy from 2006 to 2008 fits squarely in the genre of high fantasy, presenting a sword-and-sorcery world in which gifted individuals can push and pull …
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Book Review: The Beginning by K. A. Applegate
Book #148 of 2022: The Beginning by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #54) Well… Here we are. Sixteen months later, I have finally finished my full reread of the complete Animorphs saga, and am ready to review its final volume. Spoilers ahead, obviously. Thematically as a series, Animorphs has always been focused on the deep trauma …
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Book Review: A Land Remembered by Patrick D. Smith
Book #145 of 2022: A Land Remembered by Patrick D. Smith This 1984 bestseller about a fictional family’s frontier history is required reading in many Florida schools, which is where I first encountered and absolutely loathed the title. But it has plenty of accolades and its fair share of adherents, and so I’ve always wanted …
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Book Review: The Answer by K. A. Applegate
Book #142 of 2022: The Answer by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #53) (A quick note from your reviewer here. If you’ve read my past few Animorphs reviews, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve been giving away more and more of the plot each time. These final volumes are just so jam-packed with major developments that it’s …
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Book Review: The Sacrifice by K. A. Applegate
Book #136 of 2022: The Sacrifice by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #52) The last story with Ax as its sole narrator is also the strongest one yet. The plot is deceptively simple: together with the rest of their small resistance force, the Animorphs propose, debate, and ultimately carry out a bombing assault on the local …
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Book Review: The Absolute by K. A. Applegate
Book #130 of 2022: The Absolute by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #51) Another thrillingly propulsive installment of the ongoing Animorphs endgame. Since the Yeerks gained the alien cube that bestows morphing powers at the end of the previous story, this one immediately feels like no other volume before it in the saga. Though the team’s …
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Book Review: The Ultimate by K. A. Applegate
Book #124 of 2022: The Ultimate by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #50) The Animorphs franchise has a complicated relationship with disability, which I think can charitably be described as author K. A. Applegate occasionally straying into insensitivity while generally having her heart in the right place. Thus, “crazy” is used as a go-to insult, but …
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Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien
Book #121 of 2022: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien (Rats of NIMH #1) I’m happy to revisit this beloved childhood classic today and discover that yes, it’s still an outstanding (though quick) story. The characters make an indelible impression, and the structure is fun, with a relatively lengthy nested …
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