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Powell's Staff:
Five Book Friday: In Memoriam
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Every year, the booksellers at Powell’s submit their Top Fives: their five favorite books that were released in 2023. It’s a list that, when put together, shows just how varied and interesting the book tastes of Powell’s booksellers are. I highly recommend digging into the recommendations — we would never lead you astray — but today...
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Brontez Purnell:
Powell’s Q&A: Brontez Purnell, author of ‘Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt’
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Rachael P.:
Starter Pack: Where to Begin with Ursula K. Le Guin
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Customer Comments
BookListOfBooks has commented on (11) products
City of Heavenly Fire
by
Clare, Cassandra
BookListOfBooks
, July 30, 2014
City of Heavenly Fire. How do I begin to describe this book? This book is flawless. Well, as close to flawless as a book can get. It was the perfect conclusion to The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. From the action to the suspense to the character development, all of it was on point and kept me hooked until I finished the book (which may have been a very bad thing, considering my copy had arrived during finals week). Not to mention the fact that this book is huge (725 pages)! The plot, oh my. I have virtually no words to describe it. Whatever I was expecting from this book, it wasn’t this. It was better. There isn’t much I can say about the plot itself without spoiling anything, but I can say that there are a lot of twists - some of those ending happily, others ending in intense feels. Most of the loose ends have been tied up, though there is an introduction to some new characters that will be appearing in The Dark Artifices. And let’s not forget the characters. Though the timeline in the series is only about six months, I feel like all the characters have grown up and matured since the first book. The character development is amazing. Overall, I am giving this book a five out of five. Yes, a perfect score! There were no extremely awkward parts to read in terms of poor writing. The characters were all well developed. The book held me right to the end with its perfection.
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Gatekeepers 05 Oblivion UK
by
Anthony Horowitz
BookListOfBooks
, March 28, 2014
This book is easily one of my favourite books ever written, no doubt about it. I don't even know where to begin when describing the amazingness that is Oblivion. It's the last book in the Power of Five/The Gatekeepers series and is probably the darkest out of all of them. It provides a very conclusive ending to the series, despite the fact that I wouldn't complain if he found a way to continue these books. The writing in this book is amazing and I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning finishing the book. It's extremely suspenseful and as usual, full of Horowitz-style details. This book is told from the perspective of all of the five, as well as a few other characters such as Richard. I highly recommend this book to anyone (keep in mind, this book can be read as a standalone), even though parts of it may have you watching your back in the middle of the night.
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Mortal Instruments 01 City of Bones
by
Cassandra Clare
BookListOfBooks
, March 12, 2014
This book follows fairly true to the original myths of creatures (or Downworlders, as they’re called in the books), such as vampires, fairies, and werewolves, a nice change from all these Twilight-esque books that are finally falling out of popularity. Vampires in this series can’t go out in the sun and sleep during the day. Werewolves are made up of those infected with Lycanthropy and they change on the full moon. Fairies aren't the innocent creatures that Disney makes them out to be. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw these details in the book, and so I applaud Cassandra for doing her research. The thing that struck me the most out of this book was the societal aspect of it. This book was written in 2007, right around the time that people started to get riled up about the fact that gays couldn't get married. This is one of the few books that I've read that actually includes gay characters and I couldn't be happier about this (other books include Harry Potter and Perks of Being a Wallflower). The main character, Clary, is a very round, dynamic character. She starts the book as a girl who loved art and didn't always get along with her mum. She ended the book more independent and with a new perspective of the world around her. Overall, I'd give the book a 5 out of 5 rating. I like the way it was written and I love the characters.
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Champion: Legend 3
by
Marie Lu
BookListOfBooks
, February 22, 2014
This book was absolutely brilliant! It provided a perfect conclusion to the series. There were some sad bits, but that's to be expected. It isn't a tear-jerking as other series concluders I have read. The ending of this book doesn't compare to anything else that I've read before. It was perfect!
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Social Code
by
Sadie Hayes
BookListOfBooks
, February 17, 2014
The Social Code (originally published as The Start-Up in 2011), by Sadie Hayes, takes place in the sunny Silicon Valley. It’s about two orphaned twins, Adam and Amelia Dory, who both received scholarships to go to Stanford University. Amelia is a computer nerd with incredible coding skills, while Adam has an impressive business sense. It’s told from the perspective of numerous characters - not just the main two characters. It’s the first book in the series The Star-Up, which currently has two books released. The original version of the series has a third book to it, but it’s only available as an ebook and is noticeably shorter (as are all the books in the original publication of the series). The plot was basically Gossip Girls, but with hacking. From the back of the book, it had sounded mildly interesting. Personally, I’m a pretty big fan of books that involve technologically competent characters. What I hadn’t expected was a book that about the rich or the ones trying to become rich. There were more scandals that happened in this book than there is in an episode of daytime television.
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Legend: Legend #1
by
Marie Lu
BookListOfBooks
, January 03, 2014
Legend takes place on the west coast of the states in a future (dare I say a dystopian one) where the country is split into two - the Republic and the Colonies - and they are at war with each other. The story is told from two perspectives: June, a talented girl who grew up in an elite family and is trained to be a solider for the Republic, and Day, who is an infamous criminal who was born in the slums. They end up meeting through certain events involving the death of June's brother and become unlikely allies. The book is written in first person present tense, but unlike some books (is totally not looking at Allegiant), Lu does a good job at writing this way. Usually this type of writing bothers me, but she managed to keep it interesting. There were varying sentence lengths and sometimes slightly more complex vocabulary. Also, the characters have a very distinct voice when the story is being told from their perspective. And if that voice wasn’t enough for you to tell the difference (as well as the character’s name at the start of the chapter), the font actually changes colour in my edition depending on whether you were reading from Day’s or June’s perspective. Something strange that stood out was the fact that almost all of the characters mentioned seemed to be left handed. I’m not sure the reason for this, but it was mentioned enough that it caught my attention. A bit strange, really, considering most of the human population today seems to be right handed. The setting of the book is very well written. The description is phenomenal, making a clear picture of what was going on and what everything looked like - something that is very important in a book where the setting is different than it would normally be if it was set today.
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Alex Rider 10 Russian Roulette
by
Anthony Horowitz
BookListOfBooks
, December 14, 2013
Anthony Horowitz has been one of my favourite authors for the longest time. I've gone through my Riordan and, regretfully, my Stephanie Meyer phases, but I always come back to the author who had written Alex Rider. I had high hope for this book when I ordered it, and I have to say, this book does not disappoint. I devoured the book in less than two days and just wow. This book honestly shocked me. I always knew that Yassen had a rough childhood ��" I mean, he’s an assassin and clearly not a newbie. But I never realised how bad it was. The book, despite how quickly it moves along, is very descriptive without being over the top. It pulls you into young Yasha’s life (Yasha is Yassen’s real name) and doesn't let you go until the end. The settings are described very well to the point where even if one had never been there, they can picture it almost perfectly in their mind. The plot itself was brilliant. It’s not often that books make me cry, but this one managed it within the first 25 pages. It was the perfect backstory for Yasha/Yassen, describing the hardships and the pain that he went through to get where he was in Stormbreaker. It explains almost everything about him that one may have wanted to know. As I mentioned earlier, the plot does move along pretty quickly since it’s most of Yasha/Yassen’s life in 400+ pages, but it doesn't detract from any of the details. Overall, I’d give Russian Roulette a rating 5 out of 5. This book easily made my top ten books, with its illustrative details and intricate plot. I would recommend this book to anyone ages 14 and up. Maybe older, depending on their maturity is. A quick warning is that there is a moderate use of drugs, violence, and mentions of torture in this book, so if that makes you uncomfortable or is a trigger for you, you might want to avoid this book. But besides that, I would highly recommend this book to any YA reader who has read the Alex Rider books up through the fifth one, Scorpia.
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Mortality Doctrine 01 Eye of Minds
by
James Dashner
BookListOfBooks
, December 14, 2013
Well, the book started off fairly regular. Somebody spending time in the VirtNet, except something weird happens. It’s the type of formula that has been seen before multiple times in multiple books. The book seemed fairly average until about halfway through, when things started to get good. I can’t say what happened because of spoilers, but things got dark and crazy and the book ended with a twist that had me wishing autumn 2014 would come a lot sooner. Overall, I’d give this book a five out of five. It was very well written, very interesting, and overall just a good read. I’d recommend this book to people who want a break from extreme fantasy or crazy sci-fi. This book is a bit of a cross between those genres, while keeping a very realistic element to it. It isn't a very difficult book to read, but I wouldn't recommend giving it to someone under the age of 12. There are some dark elements that had even me slinking under my blankets once I turned out the lights.
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Divergent 03 Allegiant
by
Veronica Roth
BookListOfBooks
, December 14, 2013
I loved Divergent and Insurgent, and Allegiant was no disappointment. The book was full of plot twists and turns that left you, as a reader, wanting more. As it was the conclusion of the series, I feel that it succeeded in wrapping up thoughts and questions with a shiny red bow. It was a perfect ending for such an amazing series. One thing unique about this series in particular is the way that it's written. First person present tense. This is something that is very abnormal to read about and, to be quite honest, I am impressed with the fact that Roth took on such a difficult feat and succeeded. I would recommend this book to anyone thirteen and up. There is a little bit of content that may not be okay for younger eyes, such as violence and romance, but in general it is a fairly good book and definitely works perfectly to conclude the young adult dystopian novel.
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Warriors Dawn of the Clans 02 Thunder Rising
by
Erin Hunter
BookListOfBooks
, December 14, 2013
This book is entrancing and a brilliant continuation of the first. The whole idea of this series is something that I'm glad Erin Hunter had decided to do, and the idea itself is executed perfectly. I'd highly recommend this book to any Warriors fan!
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Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief
by
Rick Riordan
BookListOfBooks
, December 14, 2013
Some kids had Harry Potter. Some kids had Warriors. My childhood was Percy Jackson. Being a person diagnosed with both ADHD and dyslexia, I found it difficult to get into reading. The fact that I could relate to Percy, the main protagonist in this book, actually made it fun to read. Besides that, it's very well written with the perfect amount of sarcastic humour that would keep anyone from all ages entertained.
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