I firmly believe that some of the best literary work today is being done in the Young Adult field. It is a genre that bristles with heart and plot and is devoid of much of the despair and cynicism in more contemporary adult literature. Many of these books deal with issues that cut across age lines and speak to the heart of the condition (ex. The Hunger Games trilogy is a passionate feminist paean to peace).

Two books coming out in the coming months are a great addition to this boon in quality YA literature and serve as the first two entries in what is being dubbed “The Horsemen of the Apocalypse” series. Both titles are penned by Jackie Morse Kessler and bring a novel approach to deadly serious subjects.

The first book, due out on October 18th, is entitled Hunger. Lisabeth Lewis, a 17 year old girls battling anorexia, is tapped to become Famine and is equipped with the matching horse and scales.

In the second book Rage, releasing in April, a 16 year old girl named Missy, who is a cutter, becomes War.

Both of these books are filled with heart and delve into some pretty dark, yet important, subjects. Kessler does a fine job of bringing these characters to life and treats their struggles with warmth, humor and care. Through the lens of the horsemen these girls are able to confront their afflictions by placing them in the larger context of the pains of mankind.

These are books not to be missed.

The 13th Hour by Richard Doetsch–This thriller is the best fiction book I have read this year and is a likely contender for my best books of the year list. What separates this thriller apart from others is that it is told in reverse. Nick Quinn is accused of murdering his wife and has 12 hours to figure out how to stop her murder. Starting with chapter 13 the book works in reverse by moving to the previous hour with each. What could be a distracting gimmick turns into a fresh approach and reminds me of a literary Memento. A Must Read.

Panic Attack by Jason Starr–At the other end of the spectrum this thriller is morally bankrupt and devoid of any redeeming quality. What starts out as good suspense quickly devolves into a mess of unlikeable characters and a wholly unsatisfying resolution. I’ll spare you even the synopsis and simply say avoid it.

Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan–The second entry in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series finds Percy and Annabeth on a mission to rescue Grover from a pissed-off Cyclopes. Riordan has put together a highly entertaining series that puts Greek Mythology in a new light.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins–Years after the United States comes to a violent end a new empire, named Panem, has risen up to take its place. Each year the Capital of Panem selects a boy and girl from each of the 12 districts to fight to the death in The Hunger Games. I listened to the audio version and was pleasantly surprised with this young adult novel that hits all the right dystopian notes.

Point Omega by Don Delillo–I complain often about books that are overly long or fail to be concise. Delillo is a master when it comes to the economy of words. This slight novel, a treatise on the nature of war, solitude and sorrow is one that will stick with you long after you are done. With Delillo it is never about what he writes but about what he doesn’t that resonates so strongly. A middle aged filmmaker goes to the remote mountains of Colorado to film a retired war advisor for a documentary film. When the old man’s daughter visits the facade of loneliness comes shattering down. A solid piece that ranks up there with the greatness that was Falling Man.

Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music by Greg Kot–Kot has written a serviceable look at the progression of music formats over the last 25 years. Chapters on Bright Eyes and Death Cab are revealing but what is missing is a narrative thread that weaves it all together. I was looking for a unity that was not to be found.

Horns by Joe Hill–This has been my most anticipated title of the year. Hill, the son of Stephen King, had a tremendous debut with Heart Shaped Box a couple of years back. However, this novel is not a straight horror tale. Ignatius wakes up one morning to find that horns have sprouted from his temples and now people tell him their deepest secrets. Several days later I still don’t know what I think of this book. I liked it and Hill is an accomplished storyteller. It kept my interest as a real page turner. But there is something about the book that bothers me. I’m just not sure what that is yet.

The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci–Although I was not the target audience for this graphic novel I enjoyed it. If you like comix then this is a fun and fast read.

There have been a number of political novels that have launched salvos in recent weeks. Alongside Jenny Sanford’s memoir and the Andrew Young tell-all, Game Change has been a source of discussion across the country.
Written by two highly regarded political writers, this book is a behind the scenes look at the 2008 campaign that purports to go behind the scenes unlike any of the other books that have already been released. The authors claim that all of this is substantially backed up, although there are no footnotes.
Regardless of the exactitude of the book it is an engrossing read. John Edwards is painted as an empty suit whose delusions of power even at the time that he was most in the snares of Rielle Hunter is staggering. Palin is, of course, portrayed as the political idiot that she is. McCain’s campaign is of course ineffectual.
I have read several books about the campaign thus far. This is, by far, the most enjoyable. I just would have liked a little bit of citation to go along with it.

This is the first 2010 book thatt I have read this year. Joshua Ferris is an highly acclaimed young writer and I really wanted to like this book much more than I did. A man has a condition that forces him to walk until he drops with exhaustion. This unnamed malady is a compulsion that affects not only him but his long-suffering wife and daughter.

This book is less about the condition that manifests in such an odd manner but the strain that it causes upon the marriage. This book is a maudlin take that garners neither hope nor redemption.

Ferris is, no doubt, a talented writer. He has a mastery with words that is rare among the schlock that is often churned out today. However, this is a threadbare story that offers no resolution. If like like artful prose and a bleak story this is for you.

This is a fun and inspiring little book. It will not take you long to read and is almost guaranteed to lift your spirits.

Greive has assembled 75 images of animals and provides the captions that serve as a motivational pick-me-up. I don’t usually like this sort of thing but the images were worth the time to flip through.

This is a passable and enjoyable mystery novel. Two kids witness an assassination in the woods of Northern Idaho and ind themselves on the run from the retired LAPD officers who pulled the trigger.

C.J. Box, until this point, had written only novels featuring game warded Joe Pickett. This was his first standalone novel and was a fun read. If you like easy read mysteries than this is worth picking up.

This novel, by Sapphire, is the inspiration for the current movie Precious. I decided to pick it up in advance of catching the film. It is a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination and I like to read all of the adapted works.

However, I was not prepared for the emotional gut-punch that this book, written by Sapphire, had in store. Written in the language of a 16 year old abused Harlem girl named Precious this book is a devastating look at hopelessness, despair and the resolve to overcome what life throws your way. Very rarely do I find a book where I feel like my heart is in my throat the whole time. But Push delivers. over and over.

This one will stay with me for a long time and is highly recommended.

Apparently, this work by Alexander Kabakov created quite a stir at it initial publication in his native Soviet Union. The novella looks at a post-Perestroika Soviet Union in which those attempts at restructuring failed.

It was a decent read and has some insight for us about the dangers that lie in overcompensating for world events (take draconian measures fueled by fear and paranoia in the post 9/11 Bush regime). Outside of that there is not much to recommend it.

My favorite part of the work was in the introduction by Konstantin Sheherbakov which really captures the importance of dystopian literature:

Yet what comes to mind is this: If such dystopias had been read earlier, if the warnings in them had been heeded, then maybe things in our recent past might have been different–more humane, more intelligent. The capacity for experiencing terror and the apocalypse in the imagination gives the strength to withstand it and diminishes the likelihood that it will actually come to pass.