msjamgochian'sinfinitebooklist

The Book of Memory Gaps by Cecilia Ruiz My rating: 4 of 5 stars What a lovely, lyrical, little book! I'm fascinated by the multitudinous manifestations of memory; Cecilia Ruiz deftly defines, describes, and depicts its influence on our lives via pages of illustrated vignettes. View all my reviews

Spark picks up right where Glow left off: a diminished Waverly has returned to the Empyrean, after escaping Anne Mather's clutches on enemy spaceship the New Horizon, to nurse her wounds and assess conditions. Wracked with guilt over the acts she was forced to commit on the New Horizon, she is surprised to find her boyfriend, Kieran, in self-imposed charge of the ship, acting as a semi-evangelical spiritual leader with an authoritarian approach. When Waverly discovers that Kieran has incarcerated hunky Seth Ardvale in the brig for treason, she decides he's taken his power too far. After an unxplained and frightening explosion rocks the Empyrean, Kieran points his paranoid finger at Waverly and Seth, who set out to discover the truth behind the terrorist act. Plenty of action will keep readers turning the pages, even though the plot gets a bit convoluted towards the end, and Waverly's new alliance with Seth turns up the heat on the romance angle. A solid follow-up that wil...

A delectable and delightful collection of 40 essays about food around the world, brought to you by the erudite and entertaining Vogue food critic, Jeffrey Steingarten (whose credentials include a host of James Beard awards, a Chevalier of the Order of Merit appointment by the Republic of France, and a stint as a judge on Iron Chef). Both informative and hilarious, TMWAE is the perfect dish for anyone who loves food. Includes recipes! Click here for a full review.

If you only read one ya novel this year, All The Bright Places should be it. Theodore, suffering from bipolar disorder, and Violet, griefstruck after her beloved sister's untimely death, meet on top of a tower: he's about to jump off and she's considering it. He pulls her back from the edge, beginning a friendship that turns into a sweet, sad, intense romance as the two of them pair up on a class project that involves tooling around their home state of Indiana. Is there anything better than two broken misfits finding happiness, albeit temporarily, in each other? Ms. Niven masterfully, authentically, and mindfully depicts teen suicide (she is a survivor herself) without over-dramatizing or alienating her readers. The perfect match for fans of Eleanor & Park and The Fault in Our Stars. View all my reviews

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven made both of our top picks lists this year. A gorgeous, haunting, lyrical novel that made us nostalgic for the future. We were both equally enamored with The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender , by Leslye Walton. Jeff Vandermeer's Southern Reach Trilogy and Ramez Naam's Nexus enchanted us with scintillating and supernatural science. Rounding out this year's list are Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's award-winning novel, Americanah , and Helen Oyeyemi's postmodern riff on post-race ideology, Boy, Snow, Bird .

A compelling, crafty, and often times funny look at Seattle comic artist Ellen Forney's battle with bipolar disorder, from diagnosis to finally finding the correct medication cocktail. Forney doesn't allow personal vanity to get in the way of this raw depiction of mental illness, and her beautiful artwork stands on its own. She deftly confronts the questions that many artists face when weighing 'fixing themselves:' Will it destroy my art? Will I be less creative? Not to be missed for Forney fans, Seattleites, or readers who enjoy Alison Bechdel's work. Grade 11+

"The war tried to kill us in the spring." So begins this unforgettable, unflinching, uncompromising look at the Iraq war and its impact on the life of a soldier from debut novelist, national book award finalist, and former soldier Kevin Powers. 21 year-old Private John Bartle unravels his story in poetic prose that shifts between his preservice days in 2003, his time as a private in Al Tafar in 2004, and his personal aftermath in 2009. The perfect addition to a study of war and not to be missed. Click here for a full review. Grade 10+