August 2014 Reading List

August didn’t see as much reading time as July, and more books fell into the required reading category. Nonetheless, I did finish three speculative novels, interestingly all for teens and all third books in their series.

Title: Michael Vey: Battle of the Ampere

Series: Michael Vey #3

Author: Richard Paul Evans

Genre: Teen Superhero

Synopsis: A teen with electrical powers works to free his friends before they’re executed as traitors.

Review: This secularly published series might never qualify for great literature, but these books provide a fun and fast afternoon read. This third book has a couple of nice twists I didn’t see coming, a few scenes of surprisingly intense emotions, and some good thematic material on sacrifice, guilt, and responsibility.

Title: Merlin’s Nightmare

Series: The Merlin Spiral #3

Author: Robert Treskillard

Genre: YA Arthurian Legend Retelling

Synopsis: As threats grow on every side, Merlin tries to protect a young Arthur as he takes his rightful position as king.

Review: This book provides for late teens and adults a richly drawn and highly suspenseful twist on the familiar legends. Although the book contains fairly high amounts of violence and magical elements, they seem well handled, and this book will thrill, I believe, any ardent fan of Arthurian Legend.

Title: Rebels

Series: The Safe Lands #3

Author: Jill Williamson

Genre: YA Dystopia

Synopsis: Three outsider brothers seek to unmask the truth about the land of their captivity.

Review: I don’t want to say too much about this book yet as I will be reviewing it in full later this month for the Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Tour. Let it suffice to say, this final book will not disappoint!

In addition to these books, I’ve continued to read through my list in Artful Exposure. This month I breached the mid-grade level (8-12 years) with great reads like My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett and A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond. I’ve also discovered with great delight the whimsical animal tales by Dick King-Smith, perhaps best known for The Sheep-Pig (or, as it is called here in the U.S., Babe, the Gallant Pig), the book which inspired the movie—you guessed it—Babe.

Now it’s your turn. What have you been reading of late? What was the book about and did you like it, why or why not?