What We're Reading: Cathy

One of Our Thursday's is Missing by Jasper Fforde

The written Thursday Next is asked by Jursifiction (the police of the BookWorld) to investigate the break up of a novel that has spread debris over a large area of Fiction Island. The ISBNs have erased from the novel to prevent its identification. While she's investigating, Thursday rescues a mechanical butler named Sprockett, who becomes her assistant in investigations as well as a supplier of odd cocktails. She ends up following clues all over the various genres of Fiction Island and finds out that the Real Thursday Next, who's supposed to help negotiate a peace settlement between Racy Novel and Women's Fiction, is missing. So written Thursday impersonates the real Thursday while hunting for her and even makes a journey into the Real World to find information. Nobody in either world knows where the real Thursday is. Following Thursday through the craziness of BookWorld is great fun but I don't recommend it as an introduction to the series. Start with one of the earlier books like The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, or The Well of Lost Plots.

What We're Reading: Cathy

All Clear by Connie Willis.

This is the last in Willis' time travel series. Oxford historians Michael Davies, Merope Ward, and Polly Churchill realize that something has gone wrong with the time travel mechanism and they are stuck in 1940 at least for the time being. Each of them worries whether something they did has altered time and maybe even lost the war for Britain. They struggle through the Blitz and the aftermath of Dunkirk, taking nightly shelter in Underground stations or church basements. Each of them struggles with things like ration coupons, clothing, housing, and fuel shortages, bombing raids, and making some kind of living just like the rest of the population. This is a marvelous look at what living through the war in England must have been like. (I hadn't realized that St. Paul's was damaged in the Blitz until I read this.) Alf and Binnie show up again causing chaos as usual. Back in 2060 Oxford, Mr. Dunworthy and Colin are desperately trying to figure out what's gone wrong and to get the historians back. If you haven't read "Blackout" yet, read it first. This one picks up right where "Blackout" leaves off. And if you haven't read the others in the series ("Doomsday" and "To Say Nothing About the Dog") - do it.

What We're Reading: Cathy

Blackout by Connie Willis.

Finally! Fans of Connie Willis have been waiting for this one a long time. It's the conclusion to her time travel series (The Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog). This one takes place in England during WWII. Polly, Michael, and Merope have gone back to 1940 to observe life in London during the Blitz, Dunkirk, and the lives of the child evacuees respectively. Each of them gets more than they bargained for of course. As they try to get back to Oxford in 2060 to report in or get help, they each find that their "drops" don't work and they're stuck. So they hunt each other down and try to figure out what has happened. The most dreadful theory is that one of them has changed history so that "their Oxford" doesn't exist and they can never go back. Oh, by the way. This book is just part 1 of the series' conclusion. Ms. Willis had so much story that it became two books and the next and last part won't be out until November. So we have to wait till then to see if all of our time travellers survive the bombings intact, whether Colin and Mr. Dunworthy will come rescue them, and whether it is possible to change history.

What We're Reading: Cathy

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde.

Eddie Russett is a very curious person. This has caused him problems in the past but nothing like the situation we find him in at the opening of this book: he is being eaten by a Yatevero tree. He is questioning a society that determines how you make your living, who you marry, and who is your "better" by what color(s) you can see. (The violet seeing people are the best by the way.) He questions the rules like, why can't you talk to Apocryphal people, or did the town's last healer (they're called swatchmen as in color swatches) really commit suicide? Why were the knowledge- and technology-taking Leapbacks necessary? His inexplicable attraction for Jane - a Grey - complicates his life but also enlightens him. If Eddie isn't careful he'll get sent for a reboot. And just what is The Something That Happened?

Jasper Fforde has created another totally unique and crazy world. I urge you to give this one a try, especially if you're a fan of his Thursday Next or Nursery Rhyme series.

What We're Reading: Barbara

the dead & the gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

If you had to steal food to survive, would you? What if you had to steal food in order to feed your little sisters, and their survival depends on yours? These are some of the tough decisions seventeen-year-old Alex Morales must make after an asteroid hits the moon, wreaking devastating climate changes on Earth. These changes have isolated their New York City neighborhood, making it difficult to get food and other dwindling supplies. Uncertain of what has befallen their parents and their older brother, Alex turns to their church for help and guidance.

Think this could never happen? Think again – check out http://www.spaceweather.com/ or http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/ for information about near earth asteroids.