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51. A Darkling Plain by Philip Reeve
The last and, in my opinion, the best of the Mortal Engines quartet. This book is twice as long as the rest in the series, and is really not noticeably a "young adult" book in any way. Still steampunk as all hell, with non-stop adventure. There's a genuinely sad moment when Fishcake the Lost Boy is treated like a child for just one day.
Just go read it, if you haven't already.
52. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
Bryson, best known as a travel writer and his introduction to science, A History of Nearly Everything, writes here about his childhood in the 50s in Des Moines, Iowa. He gives a remarkably balanced view of the things that were great about the 50s and the things that weren't so good, even though he was too young to be aware of most of the bad things. He acknowledges that he had a lot of advantages over most other children of his time because his parents were, even in their community, relatively affluent. He certainly makes 1950s Iowa sound like a great place and time to have been a kid.
Having said that, I'm glad I got it out of the library. For a start, it took me less than 24 hours to read.
A lot of the things that were supposed to be funny (especially his mother's absent-mindedness) I found plain annoying.
Probably worth what little effort I put into it.
The last and, in my opinion, the best of the Mortal Engines quartet. This book is twice as long as the rest in the series, and is really not noticeably a "young adult" book in any way. Still steampunk as all hell, with non-stop adventure. There's a genuinely sad moment when Fishcake the Lost Boy is treated like a child for just one day.
Just go read it, if you haven't already.
52. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
Bryson, best known as a travel writer and his introduction to science, A History of Nearly Everything, writes here about his childhood in the 50s in Des Moines, Iowa. He gives a remarkably balanced view of the things that were great about the 50s and the things that weren't so good, even though he was too young to be aware of most of the bad things. He acknowledges that he had a lot of advantages over most other children of his time because his parents were, even in their community, relatively affluent. He certainly makes 1950s Iowa sound like a great place and time to have been a kid.
Having said that, I'm glad I got it out of the library. For a start, it took me less than 24 hours to read.
A lot of the things that were supposed to be funny (especially his mother's absent-mindedness) I found plain annoying.
Probably worth what little effort I put into it.
