Say hello to our “new kids on the block”- the team at QBD Miranda! Today they give us a peek at what they’ve been reading… and their beautiful smiling faces!
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
This is the first book in the Dresden Files series. Harry Dresden is a detective who free-lances for the Chicago P.D. He’s also a wizard with attitude, and that’s what makes this urban fantasy series so wonderfully addictive. To be honest, the first book is average com-pared to the rest of the books in the series. It’s a solid start, but it just continues to ramp up from here. Each book contains a stand-alone story, but there’s also some long-running arcs to sink your teeth into. There are vampires, faeries, demons, spirits, werewolves and more. If you love Buffy the Vampire Slayer, then this is for you. There are already 15 books in the series, with more to come. Give it a try – you won’t regret it! – Glenn (Store Manager)
A Thousand Pieces Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
The first instalment of the Firebird Trilogy follows the journey of Marguerite Caine as she, with the help of the Firebird device created by her physicist parents, travels through multiple different dimensions to track down her father’s assistant and murderer, Paul Markov. She finds herself facing different versions of reality, and begins losing her initial goal as she discovers that Paul may not be as guilty as she once thought.
If you want to read a book that is an absolute page-turner from start to finish, then I cannot recommend A Thousand Pieces of You enough! The plot and characters of this story are so gripping, and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series. – Holly (Store 2IC)
Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk
Thrilling, intense and gripping. If these are the fundamental things you look for when trying to choose your new book then please look no further. Chuck Palahniuk’s ‘Survivor’ is a non-stop roller-coaster ride of a novel. We meet the protagonist for the first time on a aeroplane that he has hijacked and is ready to plummet towards the ground with no passengers on board. But first he wants to tell us his story of death-cults and violence, all things he has first hand experience of. Good holiday reading! 4 stars out of 5 with this one. – Sami
Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden
The start of an incredible heart-thumping, sweat inducing series by John Marsden, Tomorrow When the War Began will compel you to reflect on what you would do if war was to suddenly emerge in your home town. Ellie Linton, a headstrong pro-active teenager from the rural town of Wirrawee decides to go camping with six of her school friends. When they return, their lives are forever altered, forcing them to make decisions no one should ever have to make and question the worth of not just their own lives, but the lives of their enemies. A catalyst for moral interrogation, the novel delves into the importance of courage as a friend against the foe that is fear.
Oh, and the main character is named after me, so how bad can it be?
If you’re an adrenaline junkie who is looking for a series to immerse yourself in, try it today. – Ellie
Spark by Rachel Craw
Set in the present day with a science-fiction twist, Spark is definitely one of my top YA reads to date. Evie is a ‘Shield’, who needs to protect her ‘Spark’ Kitty from the ‘Stray’ who is threatening her friend’s life. Added to the mix is Affinity, the secret agency who is responsible for the Optimal gene which causes these anomalies, and you get a book that is electrifyingly addictive. Sounds like a lot to take in? It is – but the worldbuilding and smaller details are what make the plot plausible, and that’s something essential to any scifi novel. I really enjoyed seeing Evie develop as a character, testing out her new skills and always looking out for the best interests of her friend. She turned out to be a strong protagonist, who didn’t let her budding romance with Jamie get in the way of the task at hand. That being said, they are genetically perfect for each other – so you can’t argue with the science! (let’s just say he’s perfect book boyfriend material). At the end of a day, you know a book is good when you can’t turn the pages fast enough and the twists send you into mind-blown territory; Spark definitely delivered on that.
As a debut author, Rachael Craw has blitzed the YA stage with this phenomenal novel. It’ll definitely leave you wanting more, and thankfully the sequel Stray , released this year, is just as action packed! – Eugenia
Chaos Walking Trilogy by by Patrick Ness
From PAGE ONE I knew this series would kill me and boy oh boy I’m surprised I haven’t had my funeral yet! This is the kind of series that you keep thinking about weeks, months even YEARS after you have finished it. There are NO 2D characters here people! You’ll feel everything they feel from loss, hatred, unbelievable pain, love and fear.
Patrick Ness paints with words so well that you can see the dog wag his tail, feel the pain that Todd felt when he was forced to leave home without a real explanation, want to hurt Mayor Prentiss so bad it hurts and feel the confusion when Todd finds Viola for the first time (the first girl he’s ever seen before after the female population was killed off!). You’re with them throughout the whole trilogy as they run for their lives from Prentisstown in The Knife of Never Letting Go (you’ll feel as tired and emotionally drained as they do), you’ll feel their desperation as they get seperated and try to find each other in The Ask and The Answer (it’s so frustrating that they’re always so close to seeing each other!) and finally you’ll be as determined to fight, protect each other and end a decade long war like Todd and Viola in Monsters of Men (you almost don’t want to finish it because then HOW WILL YOU GO ON?!).
This series is a journey, a rollercoaster that keeps twisting and turning and just when you think all that is over BAM! Think again! Pick it up and you won’t be disappointed however, have a box of tissues handy and call everyone you know to reassure them you’re okay and that you’re going to be MIA for a while because you’re about to go on the best adventure of your life! – Ashlea
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Fantasy reader or not, you will enjoy this book. Now, I could wax on about the technical aspects of The Name of the Wind: the poetic prose, the meta-fictional structure that would have postmodernists rejoicing, or the aspects of performativity and self-reflexivity that tell you, again and again, that you cannot completely trust what this character is narrating. And yet, Rothfuss weaves something so delicate, so clever and just so heart wrenchingly beautiful that you have no qualms about suspending judgment and immersing yourself. Go ahead; bathe in the pool of Rothfuss genius.
Still not convinced? There are two story lines, that of present day Kote, apathetic barkeep extraordinaire, relating his life as the enigmatic Kvothe- fiery haired wizard of renown. In true bildungsroman style, it follows his tragic youth into his (mostly) triumphant adolescence. This plot device mixed with very well placed arrogance of the central character and a primary magic system that stems from contradiction and you have my favourite fantasy book to date. – Rachel
Bartimaeus: The Amulet Of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
Harry Potter meets Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy! A fast-paced magival journey through 19th century London following an unlikely pair of the in a story of magical intrigue, murder and rebellion! The sarcastic footnotes will crack you up and make you want to keep coming back for more. Lucky for you, there are two more books in the series. – Rob
