Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

When Jacob Portman was a little boy, his grandfather would tell him incredible stories about a magical orphanage on an island in Wales. Among the peculiar residents was a girl who could levitate, an invisible boy, and a child who was so powerful he could lift a boulder. When Jacob cast doubt on the truth of these tales, his grandfather produced a series of old photographs to prove that he lived there as an orphan.

However, after getting teased at school after retelling these stories, Jacob told his grandfather that he no longer believed him. In response, his granddad stopped recounting the tales of when he lived in the Welsh orphanage. Years later, when Jacob was 16, he received a panicky call from his grandfather, in which he yelled that the monsters had found him. After rushing to his granddad's house, he realized to this horror that his grandfather had been savagely attacked. As he lay dying in Jacob's arms, he told his grandson to "go to the island" where he could be safe.

The death of Grandpa Abe leads to a series of events that take Jacob to a mysterious island off the coast of Wales. On the island, he discovers the remains of the old orphanage that his grandfather told him about, where he discovers that the stories he heard as a child were true. During this fantastic journey he learns a truth that he could never have imagined.

This wonderful novel spent 63 weeks on The New York Times  best sellers list for children's chapter books. Between April 29 and May 20, 2012, it was #1 on the list (see source here). While listed in the children's category, this work is aimed at adolescents, although its great writing also makes it enjoyable for adults. A highly original book, this work combines writing with a collection of fascinating pictures. In fact, this mix of words and photos result in a wonderful work of art, with the first-half of the novel being absolutely brilliant. Unfortunately, the second-half of the story descends into a regular action packed thriller, which takes away from the originality of the book. If it weren't for the ending, I would call this novel outstanding. That being said, this is still an excellent work and I would recommend reading it.

4 stars out of 5

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Three members of a family of four are murdered by a man named Jack. Before he can kill the final member (who is a young toddler), the little boy escapes from the house and toddles up a hill to a graveyard. The spirits who live in the graveyard are surprised to see a child in their midst, but sensing that something is wrong decide to take action. Following a flurry of discussion, a childish ghost couple adopt the boy and call him Nobody. Thus begins the story of Nobody Owens, a little boy who is raised in a graveyard while hiding from the man who has set out to kill him.

Nobody, or Bod for short, lives a strange existence among ghosts, supernatural creatures and other peculiar characters. As he grows up in this surreal environment, he begins to build friendships with the dead, living and those who are neither. In time, he not only learns how to read and write, but also how to fade away so he can't be seen, as well as how to haunt the living. Amidst this strange upbringing, he begins to track the man who tried to murder him, and in the process discover the secret of why he was almost killed.

This highly original novel by the creator of the Sandman comic book series, won the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Novel and the Locus Award for Best Young Adult novel, among other prizes. It is exquisitely written and a joy to read. That being said, if I had one complaint it's that I felt that the story ending was a tad forced. This relatively small bump, however, can be overlooked from what is in general an excellent work of fiction.

4 out of 5 stars

A Princess of Roumania by Paul Park

This could be the worst book that I have read in the past five years. The plot seems straightforward enough: A teenage girl in the U.S. is suddenly transported to an alternate world with two of her friends where Romania (or Roumania is the parallel world) is a global power. With this interesting beginning -- and I did enjoy the first 50 pages or so -- the reader is taken through a fantasy ride. But then things completely fall apart. In fact, I wonder if the expression, "losing the plot," was not invented specifically for this novel. The main story is such a mess that the reader has no idea what is going on. I ended up forcing myself to finish this book out of principle, but in the end all I did was confirm that this book is just awful.

1 out of 5 stars

Therefore Repent! by Jim Monroe and Salgood Sam

Following the rapture two lovers, Mummy and Raven, arrive in Chicago looking for a place to stay. With the help of a local boy they move into an empty apartment that use to belong to inhabitants that ascended into heaven. Those left behind on earth are split between Splitters (humans who strive to become Christians in order to ascend to heave during the hoped for second rapture), and those who reject religion outright.

As the world begins to get used to its post-apocalyptic reality, a series of strange events begin to unfold: Mummy and Raven's dog begins to speak; militaristic angels dressed as modern soldiers start to kill sinners with
machine guns; and the use of magic begins to appear.

This ingenious plot -- and it truly is brilliant -- is coupled with amazing illustrations that are absolutely gorgeous. The only downside (if I can use that word) is that this fantastic story is not allowed to fully develop. The relatively short length of this book left me with the sensation that the story was rushed. That said, this is a truly wonderful graphic novel that should be read by anyone who loves fantasy, cyberpunk and / or first-rate comic stories.

4 out of 5 stars

Lisey's Story by Stephen King

This a brilliant but deeply flawed book. The beginning is extremely slow (at times I had to force myself to continue slogging through the book) while large sections of the middle section seemed like excessive acts of literary self-indulgence on the part of Stephen King. To be blunt, the narrative was such a rambling mess at times that I thought on more than one occasion of quitting this book.

Despite these flaws, however, one must confess that the plot is wonderful. Based on the story of Lisey Landon, the widow of the late best-selling author Scott London, the novel is a captivating love story that revolves around two main plots: the life of Lisey (pronounced LEE-see, which rhymes with cc) after her husband's death; and the life history of her late husband, with a particular emphasis on his troubled childhood.

Though the story is way too long (the paperback is more than 650 pages, with at least 200 of those pages been prime candidates for cutting) it does contain a wonderful mash of different styles, somehow managing to mix romance, horror, fantasy and -- especially at the end of the book -- wonderful writing that is pure literature. If you can survive the rambling beginning, and don't get frustrated after 200 pages, you will find that the ending is well worth the read.

2 1/2 out of 5 stars

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Quick, does this plot sound familiar: a teenage boy, who is unhappy with his life, suddenly finds himself in a mysterious school that teaches magic, where he begins a series of adventures that reveal his destiny? If you said Harry Potter you are not alone, for even The Magicians can't help but make reference to the book series by J.K Rowling, as if to say, “yes, Ms. Rowling, I know I stole your idea.”

If that wasn't bad enough, this book is riddled with awful dialogue that sounds like an over eager child trying to look cool. “I drop the F-bomb!” the book seems to proudly boast. “And I mention things like sodomy, and the drug ecstasy, as well as other controversial things.” But instead of being intrigued (or for that matter shocked), the audience is left rolling their eyes.

As a big science fiction and fantasy fan this book was not a complete waste, for I enjoy tales of magic and parallel worlds. Objectively speaking, however, this book was pretty awful.

1 1/2 out of 5 stars

Living Dead in Dallas (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 2) by Charlaine Harris

Beware! Reading this book can be harmful to your sense of pride. With horrible dialogue, clunky narrative structure, and plot twists that are downright juvenile, this terrible mess of a novel somehow manages to be enjoyable. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I liked this campy vampire book, which is the second volume in the Sookie Stackhouse series. It also reconfirmed that the people from HBO are geniuses for turning this flaky book series into a gritty TV drama.

2 1/2 out of 5 stars