Great teaser website for Poison Diaries

Here is a beautiful website promoting the new Harper Teen novel Poison Diaries, which goes on sale today.

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The Host: A Novel

The Host: A Novel
By Stephanie Meyer
Published by Little, Brown and Company
May 2008

I began this post in November 2008, after finishing The Host for the second time. Something in it reflected whatever pain I was living through right then enough to leave me crying. I just read it a fourth time and it still moved me to tears, which may be praise enough.

Stephanie Meyer of Twilight fame came out with a novel for an older crowd and instead of vampires, we get aliens. In a twist on Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the Host looks at a post-invasion world through the eyes of a newly landed alien. When all goes according to plan, the aliens, or souls as they call themselves, happily inhabit a human's body (aka a host). However, when our protagonist (the Wanderer) is placed in her host, she finds that she isn't alone.

What happens next is a touching look at what it means to be human. Comparable perhaps to Edward E. Hale's The Man Without a Country, Meyer presents us with an introspective look at what we take for granted. A surprising shift from the teenage angst found in her earlier series, I look forward to more soulful writing like The Host.

Oh dear, no pun intended.

Walter Moers

As a follow up to City of Dreaming Books, I read Moers other books based on the fantasy continent of Zamonia: Rumo and The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear. Both excellent books but they don't hold a candle to Dreaming Books. There is one customer at the store who I hooked on Moers who read them Bluebear first, then Rumo, and finally Dreaming Books and I think that might be the way to do it.
The 13 and 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear follows a blue bear named Bluebear (a couple waves named him, you'll have to forgive the lack of originality) through half of his lives. It's a great introduction to Zamonia because of the variety of creatures he meets and crazy places he travels. Bluebear is a likely hero and finds himself in life after life of dangerous situations. This book also offers an explanation of the scarcity of humans in Zamonia. If Dreaming Books is the dessert, Bluebear is the salad and appetizers.

Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures is Moers's best story of love and adventure. Rumo is a Wolperting, a species of dog known for its fighting skills and loyalty. He has a talking sword with a split-personality, befriends a sharkgrub (who is surprisingly moral in this book) and all his young life follows a silver thread in the sky. This book is truly the meat and potatoes of Moers's three Zamonia tales, right down to the violent, bloody fights and quests for true love. Rumo will be coming with me to Kentucky, just as soon as I can get it back from my friend who is hoarding it now.

When will Walter Moers have more Zamonia for his English readers? Can his other books possibly be as good as these??

City of Dreaming Books

The City of Dreaming Books
by Walter Moers
Published by Overlook Press
September 2007
(hits paperback in August)

The City of Dreaming Books is my pick for "Best All-around Book of 2007." My usual description of it reads like something from William Goldman's The Princess Bride: "Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest ladies. Snakes. Spiders. Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passions. Miracles." Ok, there aren't beautiful ladies, and fencing is generally left out, but the rest stands true.

Don't be fooled, this is not a story for children. This is a book for people who love books. It is a fantasy set in the land of Zamonia and told to us by a young writer named Optimus Yarnspinner, a dinosaur who travels to Bookholm in search of the author of a manuscript left to him by his godfather. Bookholm is a city built on the book industry with thousands of bookstores and coffee shops, publishers everywhere, people reading on the streets and an underground labyrinth full of hidden libraries and the dangerous Shadow King.

Oh, and this books is beautiful. Walter Moers is a brilliant cartoonist as well as a fabulous writer. The words dance off the pages. This book is comparable to flourless chocolate cake: rich, smooth and goes wonderfully with strawberries. I have no higher praise.