Book Log: Jovah's Angel, by Sharon Shinn

Oh man, I am so behind on book logs. The problem with reading mostly YA books, coupled with the fact that my job seems to have magically increased my reading speed, is that I've been going through books way too fast to keep up with writing about them. We'll see how much of the backlog I can get through before someone finds something for me to do (yeah, it's another one of those days).

So. Jovah's Angel. Honestly, I read this one long enough ago (all of a couple weeks, I think) that I don't remember all that much about it. It's a sequel of sorts to Archangel, set 150 years later. The characters were, on the whole, less whiny and OMGANGST than those in Archangel, which I liked, and I was pretty pleased that my suspicions regarding the relationship of technology to the Samarians' god were proven correct. Other than that... I got nothin'. Angels + sci-fi = A+ escapist subway reading, but I'd recommend borrowing the books from a friend or the library rather than buying them.

Book Log: Life as We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer

This is an utterly depressing book about the end of the world, and it is wonderful. I bought this, in hardcover no less, on penmage's recommendation and I couldn't be more impressed.

Life as We Knew It takes the form of a diary written by a teenager named Miranda. At first, this diary is almost frustratingly ordinary: Miranda writes about school, spats with her friends, an Olympics-bound ice skater from her hometown on whom she has a fangirl crush. News coverage of an asteroid that is going to hit the moon is only given glancing, grudging notice as the subject for several homework assignments. Then the asteroid hits the moon hard enough to change its orbit, and Miranda's world falls apart.

The sudden change in the moon's gravitational pull causes tidal waves, earthquakes, and massively increased volcanic activity, killing millions; the ash generated by the volcanoes, in turn, causes extreme climate change almost overnight. Miranda's fast-thinking mother stockpiles supplies as soon as the extent of the catastrophe becomes apparent, but as the outside world becomes more and more hostile, Miranda and her family realize that their only hope is each other--and a rapidly dwindling supply of food and other necessities.

I think the thing that I loved the most about this book is that its focus is so small, almost claustrophobic. We never learn about the catastrophic damage and death tolls in the rest of the world, except through the same word of mouth that Miranda hears. Our world, like Miranda's, narrows from her school and town, to her house, to one floor of the house, and, finally, to a single room. The writing is incredibly compelling, and, if it seems a wee bit polished and adult for a 16-year-old's diary, I can forgive that in view of the sheer power of the story.

This is right up there with The Book Thief when it comes to books that you should all go out and buy immediately even though they're still in hardcover. Have I steered you wrong thus far? I think not.

Unsettling observation of my Friday night

It is more than a little alarming to watch Cruel Intentions for the first time in years and think to myself, "Huh. I've dated that guy."