Cat Weatherill

Dec 31 2010

My Favorite Reads of 2010

I mentioned on Twitter last night that it looks like I will close out 2010 having read about 60 or so books. A few people asked about my favorites so I figured it would be worth it to wrap up 2010 with a post.

After looking at the list I decided to do so by breaking it out a bit. The list breaks down into three categories which divide my reading into roughly thirds: Young Adult Fiction, Fiction, and Non-Fiction.  So below are my favorite reads in each of those categories.

Young Adult Fiction

Cover of "Leepike Ridge"

Cover of Leepike Ridge

Yes, I’m a grown man and I read young adult fiction. As I have explained a few times, I do this because I find the YA fantasy fiction genre creative and entertaining. Some of them are just fun relaxing reads (admittedly quick and easy as well) but some of them are complex and imaginative in ways that make the label superfluous. They are just great books.

The List (in no particular order):

  1. Factotum (The Foundling’s Tale, Part Three) by D. M. Cornish (If you love epic fantasy that is a mix of Tolkien and Dickens you will enjoy this series.)
  2. Boom! by Mark Haddon (A great little story – action, adventure, intrigue and humor all in less than 200 pages.)
  3. The Necromancer by Michael Scott (An enjoyable fantasy thriller where you race to read the book only to be forced to wait for the next release to dive back in again.)
  4. Leepike Ridge by N.D. Wilson (“An original mix of Robinson Crusoe, King Solomon’s Mines, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and The Odyssey”)
  5. Wild Magic by Cat Weatherill (A creative and intelligent mix of myth, mystery and coming of age stories.)

“Adult” Fiction and Non-Fiction below.

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Feb 27 2010

Barkbelly by Cat Weatherill

I was inspired by Wild Magic to check out more books by Cat Weatherill so I started with Barkbelly. I am not sure if it was my mood or the style of this particular work but it didn’t have quite the same – ahem – magic as I had hoped.

It is creative and again clearly influenced by oral storytelling but if feels a bit more like episodes tied together rather than a seamless story. The hook – an orphaned wooden boy seeking to find his place in the world – was interesting, and the story has some well done ingredients, but it just never quite “took off” for me.

Here is the teaser from the publisher:

One silver-starry night, a shiny, wooden egg falls from a flying machine high in the air . . . down, down, down through the midnight sky . . . down to the small village of Pumbleditch, where Barkbelly is born. Where he’s the only wooden boy. And where he’s the cause of a tragic accident.

Suddenly, Barkbelly’s only choice is to flee for his life—to run. As he tries to escape his haunting past, he faces extraordinary adventures and dangers. Every wooden step leads Barkbelly toward the dark and startling truth about where he comes from and the burning question of where he really belongs. With deliciously imaginative storytelling, Cat Weatherill creates an utterly magical world—and one wooden boy who’s sure to melt readers’ hearts.

More of my take below. (Some spoilers involved)

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By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , ,

Feb 18 2010

Wild Magic by Cat Weatherill

For some odd reason my kids love to visit Barnes & Noble. They love to hang out on the stage in the children’s section or play with the train set. My son in particular likes two story stores but that is just because he loves to ride on escalators.

The problem with this is that it only leads to trouble on my part (as if I don’t already have a book problem, right?). And it can be frustrating too. Standing there in the Children’s/Young Adult section one is tempted by the ever more creative and interesting books that are out there for young people. And the kids always beg to stay longer.

It was on one such trip that I noticed Wild Magic by Cat Weatherill on an end-cap and made a note to put it on the wish list. Due to financial constraints that we – like so many – are feeling I avoided the temptation to buy it and instead checked it out from the library (sorry B&N, publishers & authors).

Having read it, however, I can cheerfully suggest you purchase it should you have the necessary discretionary funds to do so (yikes, starting to sound like a lawyer here). It is a creative and intelligent mix of myth, mystery and coming of age stories.

Here is the publishers blurb:

The Pied Piper had his reasons for enchanting the children of Hamelin and stealing them away—ones rooted in a deep history of wild magic. Mari and her brother Jakob are among the children who followed the piper’s song, and they are now trapped in a beautiful but cruel world inhabited by a horrid Beast. They must remain there until he finds the right child, the chosen one, who can lift his century old curse. But the price of breaking the curse is a terrible one. This fast-paced, richly fantastical continuation of a familiar tale is a powerful story of a family torn apart by tragedy, and the magical adventure that heals them.

More of my take below.

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By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 1 • Tags: , , , ,